Maintaining the union of Burma : the role of the ethnic nationalities in a Shan perspective between 1946-1962

Abstract

This thesis seeks to re-examine the period 1946-62 from the viewpoint of the ethnic nationalities, using a Shan perspective with an emphasis on trends in Shan State. Some examination is made of the drafting of the constitution, the federal system and the federal movement of the early 1960’s. Finally, the idea of national ‘unity’ is reconsidered as a factor in the failure of the ‘Union of Burma’ of this period. This paper ultimately contends that the nation which won independence in 1948 was unlike any political entity that had previously existed in the region. The legitimacy of the new government’s rule was not based on hereditary kingship, ultimate moral authority or divine right, but supposedly on its adherence to the rule of law and constitutionality. This new ‘nation’ was new for all its members and the political complexities of British administration in maintaining a separate Burma proper and Frontier Areas were not adequately discussed or considered when the inhabitants of these two areas proposed to join to form a Union. Different political ideologies meant that leaders from various parts of the new country and representatives of different groups sometimes disagreed strongly later on. During the precarious early years of independence and consistent revolt, the initially weak central government relied heavily on the military to assert state control. The growth and extent of the army’s sometimes oppressive control led to discontent in many former border areas. As political solutions to central government failure seemed ineffective, armed resistance grew. State governments had to contend with rebels in their own territories as well as aggressive Burma Army forces. The politicization of the military led to a diffusion of ideas that minority groups, by virtue of being minorities, were synonymous with rebellion and disunity.