When somebody mentions “Myanmar Army”, people immediately think of Ne Win’s army, Than Shwe’s army and Min Aung Hlaing’s army, which staged successive coups in the history of Myanmar. “Myanmar Army” is an institution that has never hesitated to torture generations of Myanmar people both physically and mentally. In reality, the history of “Myanmar Army” goes way beyond the modern miltary dictators. As the current army institution is on the brink of a total collapse, let’s look back on the history of how this army was born, who were the founding fathers and how did such institution transform from good to an evil?
Royal Burmese Army (KongBaung Dynasty – 1752 to 1885)
Royal Burmese Army in Kongbaung Dynasty was a powerful army and earned respect by its contemporaries from neighboring countries. The first Monarch of the KongBaung dynasty, Alaungpaya himself was a warlord, who rebelled the second Burmese empire and successfully overthrown the last dynasty of ToungOo and created “The Third Burmese Empire.” Since its formation, eleven Kings ruled the Kobaung Empire. In the early stage of the dynasty, the first Monarch of the Kobaung, Alaungpaya, was able to restore the unification of Burma, which had been torn apart by the fall of last kingdom. Once its dynasty was stabilized, the first King deployed its troops and invaded parts of Siam (Thailand). And another milestone was set when the Chinese invaded central Myanmar (Sino – Burmese war); King Hsinbyushin and his comrades were able to stop the waves of Chinese invasion and secured assurances of Burma’s independence from the Qing Dynasty. The third Burmese Empire’s success continued until the 6th King of KongBaung Dynasty, Bodawpaya conquered Mrauk-U Kingdom, in Arakan (Rakhine).
However, when the British invaded Burma (the first Anglo – Burmese war, 1824 – 1826), Bagyidaw, the 7th King of the dynasty surrendered Arakan and Tenasserim (Taninthayi) to the British due to the inferior weaponry and technology, despite the fierce defense by the Royal Burmese Army. Later, the British controlled the Lower Burma after their second invasion (1852 – 1853) while the dynasty was under King Pagan Min. Over thirty years later, the last King of KongBaung Dynasty, Thibaw Min, was captured and expelled to India after the Royal Burmese army failed to defend against the British in their last invasion in 1885. In contrast, apart from some minor controversial issues and major defeats to the British invaders, the Royal Burmese Army performed well throughout 130 years of the third Kingdom’s reign.
Reborn of Burmese Army (1885 – 1941)
As colonialism was adopted after the British occupied Burma in 1885, the KongBaung Dynasty collapsed and the Royal Burmese Army was dissolved. Once the British set up to rule Burma, those who were still loyal to the Kingdom revolted. Many soldiers from the former Royal army, officials and outcasted royal princes waged guerrilla warfare against the British army. During their over 50 years ruling Burma, the invaders experienced various forms of opposition against the empire. However, Burmese royalists failed to build a decent army to face the British to reclaim the independence. And then in 1940, a Burmese youth student named Aung San was issued a warrant by the British government as he led “nationalist movement” during World War II. He escaped and went on to realize his dream of forming an army to fight back the British Empire with the help of Japanese. Aung San was later appointed as a commander of Burmese newly formed army.
After thirty comrades led by Aung San finished military training with the Japanese during World War II, they formed the Burmese Independence Army (BIA) in Thailand in 1941. This was the very first time in 50 years of Burma history since 1885, the new proper Burmese Army was born again by the students and nationalists. BIA solemnly pledged to fight against anyone who would attempt to invade, colonize the country and to retain Independence. After the thirty comrades formed BIA, they marched back to Burma along with the Japanese imperial army.
The BIA’s reentry to the country was astounding. The whole country was excited to see their own army for the first time since it was colonized. The army received enormous support from the public. The number of BIA personnel grew rapidly as everyone was joining along their way. The original thirty comrades were occupied training the new personnel and setting up the administration across the country while the Japanese Imperial army was driving the British back to India. After the Japanese completely controlled the country, they began installing their own administrative system and subsequently, they disbanded BIA and transformed to small scale troops named Burmese Defense Army (BDA) in 1942. Within a year of the new Burmese Army formed, the amount of its troops was cut by force. But they still had their righteous leader, General Aung San, as the commander.
When Burma realized the true intention of the Japanese, which was not to grant genuine independence, the leader called on his fellow people to strike against the fascists. In 1945, BIA renamed Burma National Army (BNA) and joined Allied sides. Many Burmese around the country joined the BNA and fought bravely, driven by both the hunger for independence and hatred towards fascism.. During 1752 to 1945, this was one event in Myanmar history ever recorded that the public’s voluntarily eagerness to support and join the army, showed their willingness to take risks and sacrifice for the army led by General Aung San. The BNA successfully achieved victory for the country as they promised. The success story of the founding fathers of the new Burmese Army (the Thirty Comrades) and their leader General Aung San is still told today.
The fall of Burmese Army (1962 – 2021)
Most historians say that the fall of the army was due to General Aung San’s assassination. However, the ultimate truth behind the fall of the army was because a group of people in power had nothing but selfishness to take the leadership position. Surprisingly, the person most responsible for the downfall of the army was not a total stranger at all. It was Ne Win, one of the Thirty Comrades who had founded the new Burmese Army, the BIA. Yes, it was him who turned upside down the original objectives of the army and broke all promises to Burmese people.
When Ne Win was at the height of his power, he personally used his capacities to turn against the public to maintain his status. He did not want to return the people’s army to the public although the country was paving the way for a progressive future. Had such a democratic system worked in Myanmar, Ne Win, as an army chief, would have been many steps behind the civilian government and would have taken orders from them. Clearly, he did not want to sit back and took orders from the Democratically elected civilian government. Hence, he looted the power from the civilian government in 1962, and ruled the country under the iron fist for the next twenty six years, until another military coup.
An institution that was formed to be good has turned into an evil form, driven by an individual for his own interests while ignoring the majority. The Myanmar Army, which has served three generations of junta, has been in a state of failure from 1962 till now because of their lack of intention to protect its citizens.
Sunrise from the East (2021 – Present)
“We are self-propelled / we are self-driven” was a famous slogan during the 2021 spring revolution. This slogan expresses the people’s desire to resist the army’s latest coup by any means. And it has been proven right as Myanmar people did not have to wait 50 years to boast a proper army. They do not have just one but many. As it stands, the country now boasts not only one General Aung San but hundreds like him. For the second time, historians witness another groundswell of public eagerness and support for strike forces recently formed countrywide to resist junta troops. Again, civilians put their lives in risk by holding the quotes “Nothing to lose but the chains”, joined several resistance forces including Public Defence Forces (Union PDF) to revolt completely against the cruel, violent and undeterred armed forces of all time in this country. For those who can’t join the physical fight, many support financially, joining social campaigns, etc.
There are over a hundred striking forces from urban guerrillas, local militias, and regional resistance to Union forces that emerged after the 2021 spring revolution. Every force’s ultimate goal is to annihilate this parasitic army that has drained the people’s wealth and prosperity since Ne Win’s era. There is an irony there, as once Ne Win was also part of the original group when Burmese Army was formed. He even took a blood oath along with other founding fathers. Hence, it is important to note that “guns and power can change someone’s mindset, especially in this country”. The collective aim must be to destroy dictatorship, not to become dictators themselves.
The Royal Burmese Army was formed by Alaungpaya in 1752 and destroyed by the British in 1885. It took 57 years for Burmese to see the national recognized proper army once again when General Aung San formed it. However, Ne Win destroyed what General Aung San had built in just 21 years and he and his successors established their wealth and greed using the army for many years. In 2021, when Min Aung Hlaing attempted to stage a coup, it only took a couple of months for Millennials and Generation Z to build armies with immense support and ultimate sacrifice from the people of Myanmar. This time, hopefully, whoever holds the great power of armies will learn a lesson from history and not easily destroy what they have built from scratch. Each and every army has cost tens of thousands of liters of tears and sweats from the public over the decades. If someone destroys this sunrise that has just risen up, nobody knows how many decades it would take to rebuild again.
The formation of each army must be to fight against anarchy, not to destroy the hopes of the people.
