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
MaubinMa-ubin or Maubin is a town in the Ayeyarwady Division of south-west Burma. It is the seat of the Ma-ubin Township in the Ma-ubin District. The population as of 1993 was 42,000...
. Ba Maw came from a distinguished family of mixed
MonThe Mon are an ethnic group from Burma , living mostly in Mon State, Bago Division, the Irrawaddy Delta, and along the southern Thai–Burmese border. One of the earliest peoples to reside in Southeast Asia, the Mon were responsible for the spread of Theravada Buddhism in Burma and Thailand...
-
BurmeseThe Bamar are the dominant ethnic group of Burma , constituting approximately two-thirds of the population. The Bamar live primarily in the Irrawaddy basin, and speak the Burmese language, which is also the official language of Burma. Bamar customs and identity are closely intertwined with general...
parentage which bred many scholars and lawyers. One of his elder brothers, Dr Ba Han (1890–1969), was a lawyer as well as a lexicographer and legal scholar.
In 1924 Ba Maw obtained his doctoral degree from the
University of BordeauxUniversity of Bordeaux is an association of higher education institutions in and around Bordeaux, France. Its current incarnation was established 21 March 2007. The group is the largest system of higher education schools in southwestern France. It is part of the Academy of Bordeaux.There are seven...
,
FranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Ba Maw wrote his doctoral thesis in the
French languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
on aspects of Buddhism in Burma. (Ba Maw's elder brother Dr Ba Han, who devoted into
ChristianityChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
also obtained his doctorate, from a UK university, and Ba Han's doctoral thesis was entitled 'The Mysticism of
William BlakeWilliam Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age...
').
Politics
From the 1920s onwards Ba Maw practised law and dabbled in colonial-era Burmese politics. He achieved prominence in 1931 when he defended the rebel leader,
Saya SanSaya San was a noted monk, a Burmese medicine man and the leader of the Burmese peasant revolt of 1930-1931 and pretender to the Burmese throne...
. Saya San had started a tax revolt in Burma in December 1930 which quickly grew into a national rebellion against British rule. Saya San was captured, tried, convicted and hanged. Ba Maw was among the top lawyers who defended Saya San. One of the presiding judges that tried Saya San was another Burmese lawyer
Ba UDr. Ba U was the 2nd President of Union of Burma and a lawyer, High Court judge, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Burma , and President of Burma from 16 March 1952 to 13 March 1957. He was a member of the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League. Ba U served as a judge under British, Japanese and...
.
Starting from the early 1930s Ba Maw became an outspoken advocate for Burmese self-rule. He at first opposed Burma's colonial separation from British India, but later supported it. After a period as education minister, he served as the first Prime Minister (or perhaps more appropriately
Premier of Burma (during the British colonial period) from 1937 to February 1939, after first being elected as a member of
hsin-yè-tha, the Poor Man's Party, to the Legislative Assembly. He opposed the participation of Great Britain, and by extension Burma, in
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He resigned from the Legislative Assembly and was arrested for
seditionIn law, sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that is deemed by the legal authority to tend toward insurrection against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent to lawful authority. Sedition may include any...
on 6 August 1940. Ba Maw spent over a year in jail as a
political prisonerAccording to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, a political prisoner is ‘someone who is in prison because they have opposed or criticized the government of their own country’....
. He was incarcerated for most of the time in Mogok jail, situated in a
hill stationA hill station is a town located at a higher elevation than the nearby plain or valley. The term was used mostly in colonial Asia , but also in Africa , for towns founded by European colonial rulers as refuges from the summer heat, up where temperatures are cooler...
in eastern Burma.
During the early stages of World War II, from January – May 1942,
Imperial Japanese Army-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...
quickly overran Burma, and after the capture of
RangoonYangon 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...
, freed Baw Maw from prison.
During the
Japanese occupation of BurmaThe Japanese occupation of Burma refers to the period between 1942 and 1945 during World War II, when Burma was a part of the Empire of Japan. The Japanese had assisted formation of the Burma Independence Army, and trained the Thirty Comrades, who were the founders of the modern Armed Forces...
, Ba Maw was asked by the Japanese to head a provisional civilian administration to manage day-to-day administrative activities subordinate to the Japanese
military administrationMilitary government can refer to conditions under either Military occupation, or Military dictatorship.-Military Government:Military government is the form of administration by which an occupying power exercises governmental authority over occupied territory.The Hague Conventions of 1907 specify...
. This Burmese Executive Administration was established on August 1, 1942.
As the war situation gradually turned against the Japanese, the Japanese government advanced its previously vague promise to grant Burma independence after the end of the war. The Japanese felt that this would give the Burmese a real stake in an
AxisThe Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...
victory in the Second World War, creating resistance against possible re-colonization by the western powers, and increased military and economic support from Burma for the Japanese war effort. A Burma Independence Preparatory Committee chaired by Ba Maw was formed May 8, 1943 and the nominally independent
State of BurmaThe State of Burma was created in 1943 under Japanese occupation.-Background:During the early stages of World War II, the Empire of Japan invaded British Burma primarily to obtain raw materials , and to close off the Burma Road, which was a primary link for aid and munitions to the Chinese...
was proclaimed on August 1, 1943 with Ba Maw as "Naingandaw Adipadi" (
head of stateA head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...
) as well as prime minister. The new state quickly
declared warA declaration of war is a formal act by which one nation goes to war against another. The declaration is a performative speech act by an authorized party of a national government in order to create a state of war between two or more states.The legality of who is competent to declare war varies...
on the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and concluded a Treaty of Alliance with the
Empire of JapanThe Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
. Ba Maw attended the
Greater East Asia Conferencewas an international summit held in Tokyo, Japan from 5 – 6 November 1943, in which Japan hosted the heads of state of various component members of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere...
in
Tokyo, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
in November 1943, where he made a speech speaking of how it was the call of Asiatic blood that drew them together into a new era of unity and peace. However, the new state failed to secure popular support or diplomatic recognition due to the continued presence and activities of the Imperial Japanese Army, and after their collaborationist allies, the
Burma National ArmyThe 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...
defected to the
Allies sideThe Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
, the government collapsed.
Ba Maw fled just ahead of invading British troops via
ThailandThailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
to Japan, where he was captured later that year by the
American occupation authoritiesSupreme Commander of the Allied Powers was the title held by General Douglas MacArthur during the Occupation of Japan following World War II...
and was held in
Sugamo PrisonSugamo Prison was located in the district of Ikebukuro, which is now part of the Toshima ward of Tokyo, Japan-History:...
until 1946. He then was allowed to return to Burma, after Burma became independent of Great Britain and he remained active in politics. He was jailed briefly during 1947, for suspicion of involvement in the assassination of
Aung SanBogyoke Aung San ; 13 February 1915 – 19 July 1947) was a Burmese revolutionary, nationalist, and founder of the modern Burmese army, the Tatmadaw....
, but was soon released.
After General
Ne WinNe 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...
(1910–2002) took over power in 1963 Ba Maw was again imprisoned (like many of the Burmese luminaries of the period who were detained during the time of Ne Win regime, from the 1960s to the 1980s, his imprisonment was without charge or trial) from about 1965 or 1966 to February 1968. During the period of his imprisonment Ba Maw managed to smuggle out a manuscript of his memoirs of the War years less than two of which (from August 1, 1943 to March 1945) he was Head of State (in Burmese
naing-ngan-daw-adipadi) (literal translation 'paramount ruler of the State').
He never again held political office. His book
Breakthrough in Burma: Memoirs of a Revolution 1939-1946, an account of his role during the war years, was published by
Yale University PressYale University Press is a book publisher founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day. It became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but remains financially and operationally autonomous....
(New Haven) in 1968. In the post-war period he founded the Mahabama (Greater Burma) Party. He died in
RangoonYangon 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...
on 28 May 1977.
External links
- Speech of Ba Mow, Nippon News, No. 113. in the official website of NHK
NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....
.