Aung San
Encyclopedia
Bogyoke Aung San ; 13 February 1915 – 19 July 1947) was a Burmese revolutionary
Revolutionary
A revolutionary is a person who either actively participates in, or advocates revolution. Also, when used as an adjective, the term revolutionary refers to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor.-Definition:...

, nationalist, and founder of the modern Burmese army, the Tatmadaw.

He was a founder of the Communist Party of Burma
Communist Party of Burma
The Communist Party of Burma is the oldest existing political party in Burma. The party is unrecognised by the Burmese authorities, rendering it illegal; so it operates in a clandestine manner, often associating with insurgent armies along the border of People's Republic of China...

 and was instrumental in bringing about Burma's independence from British colonial rule in Burma, but was assassinated six months before its final achievement. He is recognized as the leading architect of independence, and the founder of the Union of Burma. Affectionately known as "Bogyoke" (General), Aung San is still widely admired by the Burmese people, and his name is still invoked in Burmese politics to this day.

Aung San is the father of Nobel Peace
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...

 laureate and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi, AC is a Burmese opposition politician and the General Secretary of the National League for Democracy. In the 1990 general election, her National League for Democracy party won 59% of the national votes and 81% of the seats in Parliament. She had, however, already been detained...

.

Youth

Aung San was born to U Pha, a lawyer, and his wife Daw Suu in Natmauk, Magway District
Magway District
Magway District is a district of the Magway Region in central Myanmar.-Townships:The district contains the following townships:*Magway Township*Yenangyaung Township*Chauck Township*Taungdwingyi Township*Myothit Township...

, in central Burma on 13 February 1915. His family was already well known in the Burmese resistance movement; his great uncle Bo Min Yaung fought against the British annexation of Burma in 1886.

Aung San received his primary education at a Buddhist monastic school in Natmauk, and secondary education at Yenangyaung High School. He went to Rangoon University (now the University of Yangon) and received a B.A. degree in English Literature, Modern History, and Political Science in 1938.

Names of Aung San

  • Name at birth: Htein Lin
  • As student leader and a thakin: Aung San
  • Nom de guerre: Bo Tayza
  • Japanese Name: Omoda Monji
  • Chinese Name: Tan Lu Sho
  • Resistance period code name: Myo Aung
  • Contact code name with General Ne Win
    Ne Win
    Ne Win was Burmese a politician and military commander. He was Prime Minister of Burma from 1958 to 1960 and 1962 to 1974 and also head of state from 1962 to 1981...

    : Ko Set Pe

Struggle for independence

After Aung San entered Rangoon University in 1933, he quickly became a student leader. He was elected to the executive committee of the Rangoon University Students' Union (RUSU). He then became editor of their magazine Oway (Peacock's Call).

In February 1936, he was threatened with expulsion from the university, along with U Nu
U Nu
For other people with the Burmese name Nu, see Nu .U Nu was a leading Burmese nationalist and political figure of the 20th century...

, for refusing to reveal the name of the author of the article Hell Hound At Large, which criticized a senior University official. This led to the Second University Students' Strike and the university authorities subsequently retracted their expulsion orders. In 1938, Aung San was elected president of both the Rangoon University Student Union (RUSU) and the All-Burma Students Union (ABSU), formed after the strike spread to Mandalay
Mandalay
Mandalay is the second-largest city and the last royal capital of Burma. Located north of Yangon on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, the city has a population of one million, and is the capital of Mandalay Region ....

. In the same year, the government appointed him as a student representative on the Rangoon University Act Amendment Committee.

In October 1938, Aung San left his law classes and entered national politics. At this point, he was anti-British, and staunchly anti-imperialist. He became a Thakin (lord or master – a politically motivated title that proclaimed that the Burmese people were the true masters of their country, not the colonial rulers who had usurped the title for their exclusive use) when he joined the Dobama Asiayone (Our Burma Union), and acted as their general secretary until August 1940. While in this role, he helped organize a series of countrywide strikes that became known as Htaung thoun ya byei ayeidawbon (the '1300 Revolution', named after the Burmese calendar year).

He also helped found another nationalist organization, Bama-htwet-yat Gaing (the Freedom Bloc), by forming an alliance between the Dobama, the ABSU, politically active monks and Dr Ba Maw
Ba Maw
Dr. Ba Maw was a Burmese political leader, active during the interwar and World War II period.-Early life and education:Ba Maw was born in Maubin. Ba Maw came from a distinguished family of mixed Mon-Burmese parentage which bred many scholars and lawyers...

's Sinyètha (Poor Man's) Party, and became its general secretary. What remains relatively unknown is the fact that he also became a founder member and first secretary-general of the Communist Party of Burma
Communist Party of Burma
The Communist Party of Burma is the oldest existing political party in Burma. The party is unrecognised by the Burmese authorities, rendering it illegal; so it operates in a clandestine manner, often associating with insurgent armies along the border of People's Republic of China...

 (CPB) in August 1939. Shortly afterwards he co-founded the People's Revolutionary Party, renamed the Socialist Party after the Second World War. In March 1940, he attended the Indian National Congress
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...

 Assembly in Ramgarh
Ramgarh Cantonment
Ramgarh Cantonment is a cantonment town in Ramgarh district earlier a part of Hazaribagh district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. On 12 September 2007, it became a new district taking the total count of district in state to 24....

, India. However, the government issued a warrant for his arrest due to Thakin attempts to organize a revolt against the British and he had to flee Burma. He went first to China, seeking assistance from the government there (China was still under nationalist government during World War II), but he was intercepted by the Japanese military occupiers
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...

 in Amoy
Amoy
Xiamen, or Amoy, is a city on the southeast coast of China.Amoy may also refer to:*Amoy dialect, a dialect of the Hokkien lects, which are part of the Southern Min group of Chinese languages...

, and was convinced by them to go to Japan instead.

World War II period

Whilst Aung San was in Japan, the Blue Print for a Free Burma, which has been widely but mistakenly attributed to him, was drafted. In February 1941, Aung San returned to Burma, with an offer of arms and financial support from the Fumimaro Konoe
Fumimaro Konoe
Prince was a politician in the Empire of Japan who served as the 34th, 38th and 39th Prime Minister of Japan and founder/leader of the Taisei Yokusankai.- Early life :...

 government. He returned briefly to Japan to receive more military training, along with the first batch of young revolutionaries who came to be known as the Thirty Comrades
Thirty Comrades
The Thirty Comrades constituted the embryo of the modern Burmese army called the Burma Independence Army which was formed to fight for independence from Britain...

. On 26 December 1941, with the help of the Minami Kikan, a secret intelligence unit formed to close the Burma Road
Burma Road
The Burma Road is a road linking Burma with the southwest of China. Its terminals are Kunming, Yunnan, and Lashio, Burma. When it was built, Burma was a British colony.The road is long and runs through rough mountain country...

 and to support a national uprising and headed by Colonel Suzuki, he founded the Burma Independence Army (BIA) in Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...

, Thailand (which was aligned with Japan during World War II).

The former capital of Burma, Rangoon (now Yangon
Yangon
Yangon is a former capital of Burma and the capital of Yangon Region . Although the military government has officially relocated the capital to Naypyidaw since March 2006, Yangon, with a population of over four million, continues to be the country's largest city and the most important commercial...

), fell to the Japanese in March 1942 (as part of the Burma Campaign
Burma Campaign
The Burma Campaign in the South-East Asian Theatre of World War II was fought primarily between British Commonwealth, Chinese and United States forces against the forces of the Empire of Japan, Thailand, and the Indian National Army. British Commonwealth land forces were drawn primarily from...

 in World War II). The BIA formed an administration for the country under Thakin Tun Oke that operated in parallel with the Japanese military administration until the Japanese disbanded it. In July, the disbanded BIA was re-formed as the Burma Defense Army (BDA). Aung San was made a colonel and put in charge of the force. He was later invited to Japan, and was presented with the Order of the Rising Sun
Order of the Rising Sun
The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji of Japan. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese Government, created on April 10, 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight from the rising sun...

 by the Emperor
Hirohito
, posthumously in Japan officially called Emperor Shōwa or , was the 124th Emperor of Japan according to the traditional order, reigning from December 25, 1926, until his death in 1989. Although better known outside of Japan by his personal name Hirohito, in Japan he is now referred to...

.

On 1 August 1943, the Japanese declared Burma to be an independent nation. Aung San was appointed War Minister, and the army was again renamed, this time as the Burma National Army
Burma National Army
The Burma National Army served as the armed forces of the Burmese government created by the Japanese during World War II and fought in the Burma Campaign...

 (BNA). Aung San became skeptical of Japanese promises of true independence and of Japan's ability to win the war. He made plans to organize an uprising in Burma and made contact with the British authorities in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, in cooperation with Communist leaders Thakin Than Tun
Thakin Than Tun
Thakin Than Tun born in Kanyutkwin, Myanmar, was a Burmese politician and leader of the Communist Party of Burma from 1945 until his death at age 57.-Struggle for freedom:...

 and Thakin Soe
U Soe
Thakin Soe was a founding member of the Communist Party of Burma, formed in 1939. Soe spent most of his life underground and for a time led the Red Flag Communist Party. He was captured by Government forces in 1970 but released in a 1974 amnesty by the military Government of Gen. Ne Win...

. On 27 March 1945, he led the BNA in a revolt against the Japanese occupiers and helped the Allies defeat the Japanese. 27 March came to be commemorated as 'Resistance Day' until the military regime later renamed it 'Tatmadaw (Armed Forces) Day'.

Post-World War II

After the return of the British, who had established a military administration, the Anti-Fascist Organisation
Anti-Fascist Organisation
The Anti-Fascist Organisation was a Burmese resistance movement against the Japanese Occupation during the Second World War. It was the forerunner of the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League so renamed at the end of the war on 19 August 1945 after the defeat of Japan and the return of the British...

 (AFO), formed in August 1944, was transformed into a united front, comprising the BNA, the Communists and the Socialists, and renamed the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League
Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League
The Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League , or hpa hsa pa la by its Burmese acronym, was the main political party in Burma from 1945 until 1962...

 (AFPFL). The Burma National Army was renamed the Patriotic Burmese Forces (PBF) and then gradually disarmed by the British as the Japanese were driven out of various parts of the country. The Patriotic Burmese Forces, while disbanded, were offered positions in the Burma Army under British command according to the Kandy
Kandy
Kandy is a city in the center of Sri Lanka. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills in the Kandy plateau, which crosses an area of tropical plantations, mainly tea. Kandy is one of the most scenic cities in Sri Lanka; it is both an...

 conference agreement with Lord Louis Mountbatten
Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma
Admiral of the Fleet Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas George Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, KG, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, DSO, PC, FRS , was a British statesman and naval officer, and an uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh...

 in Ceylon in September 1945. Aung San was offered the rank of Deputy Inspector General of the Burma Army, but he declined it in favor of becoming a civilian political leader and the military leader of the Pyithu yèbaw tat (People's Volunteer Organisation or PVO).

In January 1946, Aung San became the President of the AFPFL following the return of civil government to Burma the previous October. In September, he was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Executive Council of Burma by the new British Governor Sir Hubert Rance
Hubert Rance
Major General Sir Hubert Elvin Rance GCMG GBE CB was the last British Governor of Burma between 1946 and 1948, while the country moved towards independence. Later he became Governor of Trinidad and Tobago.-Career to 1945:...

, and was made responsible for defence and external affairs. Rance and Mountbatten took a very different view from the former British Governor, Sir Reginald Dorman-Smith
Reginald Dorman-Smith
Colonel Sir Reginald Hugh Dorman-Smith GBE was a British diplomat, soldier and politician.-In politics:Dorman-Smith started his career with a strong interest in agriculture, becoming President of the National Farmers Union at the age of 32, and then later Minister of Agriculture...

, and also Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...

, who had called Aung San a 'traitor rebel leader'. A rift had already developed inside the AFPFL between the Communists and Aung San, leading the nationalists and Socialists, which came to a head when Aung San and others accepted seats on the Executive Council, culminating in the expulsion of Thakin Than Tun
Thakin Than Tun
Thakin Than Tun born in Kanyutkwin, Myanmar, was a Burmese politician and leader of the Communist Party of Burma from 1945 until his death at age 57.-Struggle for freedom:...

 and the CPB from the AFPFL.

Aung San was to all intents and purposes Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Myanmar
The Prime Minister of Burma was the head of government of Burma, also called Myanmar, from 1948 to 2011.-History of the office:The position of Prime Minister was created in 1948, when Burma gained independence from the United Kingdom. Since then, eleven people have held the office...

, although he was still subject to a British veto. On 27 January 1947, Aung San and the British Prime Minister Clement Attlee
Clement Attlee
Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC, FRS was a British Labour politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951, and as the Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955...

 signed an agreement in London guaranteeing Burma's independence within a year; Aung San had been responsible for its negotiation. During the stopover in Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...

 at a press conference, he stated that the Burmese wanted 'complete independence' not dominion status and that they had 'no inhibitions of any kind' about 'contemplating a violent or non-violent struggle or both' in order to achieve this, and concluded that he hoped for the best but he was prepared for the worst.

He is also believed to have been responsible, in part, for the persecution of the Karen people
Karen people
The Karen or Kayin people , are a Sino-Tibetan language speaking ethnic group which resides primarily in southern and southeastern Burma . The Karen make up approximately 7 percent of the total Burmese population of approximately 50 million people...

 on account of their loyalty to the British and having fought the Japanese and the BIA. Dorman-Smith had in fact rejected a request for an AFPFL delegation to visit London and tried to bring Aung San to trial for his role in the murder of a village headman in 1942. Two weeks after the signing of the agreement with Britain, Aung San signed an agreement at the Panglong Conference
Panglong Conference
The Panglong Conference , held in February 1947, was an historic meeting that took place at Panglong in the Shan States in Burma between the Shan, Kachin and Chin ethnic minority leaders and Aung San, head of the interim Burmese government...

 on 12 February 1947 with leaders from other national groups, expressing solidarity and support for a united Burma. Karen representatives played a relatively minor role in the conference and, as subsequent rebellions revealed, remained alienated from the new state. U Aung Zan Wai, U Pe Khin, Major Aung, Sir Maung Gyi and Dr. Sein Mya Maung and Myoma U Than Kywe
Myoma U Than Kywe
Politician Myoma U Than Kywe pronounced was born in Thonn Gya Township in Rangoon Burma in 1924. He was a politician of Burma Independence. He was the leader of the conference that initiated the formation of the Union of Burma. It was during the Second World War that Myoma U Than Kywe’s life as a...

 were among the negotiators of the historical Panglong Conference
Panglong Conference
The Panglong Conference , held in February 1947, was an historic meeting that took place at Panglong in the Shan States in Burma between the Shan, Kachin and Chin ethnic minority leaders and Aung San, head of the interim Burmese government...

 negotiated with Bamar representative General Aung San and other ethnic leaders in 1947. All these leaders unanimously decided to join the Union of Burma.

In general elections held in April 1947
Burmese general election, 1947
General elections were held in Burma on 9 April 1947 to form the basis of a constituent assembly which would design a constitution once independence from the United Kingdom had been achieved. They were the first elections in Burma since its separation from India under the British Raj...

, the AFPFL won 176 out of 210 seats in the election for a Constituent Assembly
Constituent assembly
A constituent assembly is a body composed for the purpose of drafting or adopting a constitution...

, while the Karens
Karen people
The Karen or Kayin people , are a Sino-Tibetan language speaking ethnic group which resides primarily in southern and southeastern Burma . The Karen make up approximately 7 percent of the total Burmese population of approximately 50 million people...

 won 24, the Communists 6 and Anglo-Burmans winning 4. In July, Aung San convened a series of conferences at Sorrenta Villa in Rangoon to discuss the rehabilitation of Burma.

Assassination

On 19 July 1947, a gang of armed paramilitaries of former Prime Minister U Saw
U Saw
U Saw aka Galon U Saw was a leading Burmese politician and Prime Minister during the colonial era before the Second World War. He is best known for his role in the assassination of Burma's national hero Aung San and other independence leaders in July 1947, only months before Burma gained...

 broke into the Secretariat Building
Ministers' Building
The Ministers' Building , was the home and administrative seat of British Burma, located in Kyauktada Township in downtown Yangon, Burma. Built in the late 1800s, the structure is more than 120 years old...

 in downtown Rangoon during a meeting of the Executive Council (the shadow government
Provisional government
A provisional government is an emergency or interim government set up when a political void has been created by the collapse of a very large government. The early provisional governments were created to prepare for the return of royal rule...

 established by the British in preparation for the transfer of power) and assassinated Aung San and six of his cabinet ministers, including his older brother Ba Win, father of Sein Win
Sein Win
Dr. Sein Win is Chairman of National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, a "government in exile". And they made him Unofficial Prime Minister of the Union of Burma, elected by the 1990 People's Assembly known as the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma – a...

 leader of the government-in-exile, the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma
National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma
The National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma is an administration claimed to be the government in exile of Burma. It has its headquarters in Rockville, Maryland, United States...

 (NCGUB). A cabinet secretary and a bodyguard were also killed. U Saw
U Saw
U Saw aka Galon U Saw was a leading Burmese politician and Prime Minister during the colonial era before the Second World War. He is best known for his role in the assassination of Burma's national hero Aung San and other independence leaders in July 1947, only months before Burma gained...

 was subsequently tried and hanged. During his trial a number of middle-ranking British army officers were implicated in the plot; they also were tried and imprisoned. Rumours of higher-level British involvement, and/or involvement by Ne Win
Ne Win
Ne Win was Burmese a politician and military commander. He was Prime Minister of Burma from 1958 to 1960 and 1962 to 1974 and also head of state from 1962 to 1981...

, Aung San's long-term rival for leadership within the AFPFL, are unproven and probably unfounded.

Family

While he was War Minister in 1942, Aung San met and married Khin Kyi, and around the same time her sister met and married Thakin Than Tun
Thakin Than Tun
Thakin Than Tun born in Kanyutkwin, Myanmar, was a Burmese politician and leader of the Communist Party of Burma from 1945 until his death at age 57.-Struggle for freedom:...

, the Communist leader. Aung San and Khin Kyi had four children. Their youngest surviving child, Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi, AC is a Burmese opposition politician and the General Secretary of the National League for Democracy. In the 1990 general election, her National League for Democracy party won 59% of the national votes and 81% of the seats in Parliament. She had, however, already been detained...

, is a Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...

 laureate and leader of the Burmese Opposition, the National League for Democracy
National League for Democracy
The National League for Democracy is a Burmese political party founded on 27 September 1988. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi serves as its General Secretary. The party won a substantial parliamentary majority in the 1990 Burmese general election. However, the ruling military junta...

 (NLD), and was until 13 November 2010, held under house arrest by the military regime
State Peace and Development Council
The State Peace and Development Council was the official name of the military regime of Burma , which seized power in 1988. On 30 March 2011, Senior General Than Shwe signed a decree to officially dissolve the Council....

. Their second son, Aung San Lin, died at age eight, when he drowned in an ornamental lake in the grounds of the house. The elder, Aung San Oo
Aung San Oo
Aung San Oo is the elder brother of Burmese democracy champion and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi; the two are the only surviving children of Burmese independence leader Aung San. Aung San Oo is an engineer...

, is an engineer working in the United States and has disagreed with his sister's political activities. Their youngest daughter, Aung San Chit, born in September 1946, died a few days after her birth. Aung San's wife Daw Khin Kyi died on 27 December 1988.

Legacy

His place in history as the Architect of Burmese Independence and a national hero is assured both from his own legacy and due to the activities of his daughter. Aung San Suu Kyi was only two when her father died. A martyrs' mausoleum was built at the foot of the Shwedagon Pagoda and 19 July was designated Martyr's Day
Burmese Martyr's Day
Martyrs' Day is a Burmese national holiday observed on 19 July to commemorate Gen. Aung San and six other leaders of the pre-independence interim government—Thakin Mya, Ba Cho, Abdul Razak, Ba Win, Mahn Ba Khaing and Sao San Tun—all of whom were assassinated on that day in 1947...

 (Azani nei), a public holiday. His literary work entitled "Burma's Challenge" was likewise popular.

Aung San's name had been invoked by successive Burmese governments since independence until the military regime in the 1990s tried to eradicate all traces of Aung San's memory. Nevertheless, several statues of him adorn the former capital Yangon and his portrait still has pride of place in many homes and offices throughout the country. Scott Market, Yangon's most famous, was renamed Bogyoke Market
Bogyoke Market
Bogyoke Aung San Market is a major bazaar located in Pabedan township in downtown Yangon, Myanmar. Known for its colonial architecture and inner cobblestone streets, the market is a major tourist destination, dominated by antique, Burmese handicraft and jewellery shops, art galleries, and clothing...

 in his memory, and Commissioner Road was retitled Bogyoke Aung San Road after independence. These names have been retained. Many towns and cities in Burma have thoroughfares and parks named after him. His portrait was held up everywhere during the 8888 Uprising
8888 Uprising
The 8888 Nationwide Popular Pro-Democracy Protests was a series of marches, demonstrations, protests, and riots in the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma...

 in 1988 and used as a rallying point. Following the 8888 Uprising, the government redesigned the national currency, the kyat, removing his picture and replacing it with scenes of Burmese life.

External links

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