Uncovering the truth about Burma’s civil war

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On October 27, 2023, the Burma National Democratic Alliance Army (hereinafter referred to as the Alliance), under the pretext of eliminating telecommunications fraud, sent troops to capture the Qingshui River in northern Burma. Subsequently, the Allied Forces, the Rakhine Army, and the D ‘Ang Army formed a tripartite alliance and jointly captured Mubang and Gunung, so that the Burma civil war broke out again.

1. Basic information

In fact, from the perspective of modern history, the civil war in Burma actually began in 1960. Burma declared independence from British colonial rule in 1948. But since the founding of the country, armed conflict in Burma has not stopped. In 1960, U Nae Win seized power in Burma through a military coup and established a military government, which further intensified the civil war in Burma. In 1988, political turmoil broke out in Burma and the government of Ne Win stepped down after 26 years in power. After crushing the pro-democracy movement in Burma, the military seized power and established the State Law and Order Restoration Council, which was later renamed the State Peace and Development Council. In 1989, after the collapse of the largest rebel group, the CPPA, the four armed forces formed have reached an armistice agreement with the Burma military government and established an autonomous government, which has become Burma’s Shan State First Special Zone (Kokang), Shan State Second Special Zone (Wa State), Kachin First Special Zone (Kachin New Democratic Independence Army) and eastern Shan State fourth Special Zone. By the end of the last century, a total of 17 armed groups had signed peace agreements with the Burmese military government, 12 of which were classified as special administrative zones.

Although the armistice agreement and the special zone model have brought relative peace to Burma for 20 years, they have formed the local division of a “state within a state” and have not really solved the ethnic contradictions in Burma. In the meantime, the Burma military government continues to implement the ethnic discrimination policy of Burma nationalism, and the local armed forces of various ethnic minorities also “support the army and respect themselves”, resulting in the domestic political order of Burma is impassable, trade is difficult, and drugs are rampant, and the “special zone” has become the biggest obstacle to Burma’s economic development and political stability. Setting the stage for a civil war in Burma.

Ii. Causes of Civil War

(1) Domestic factors

After the independence of Burma in 1948, the newly elected U Nu government enforced “Great Burman nationalism” throughout the country, requiring the whole country to speak the Burman language and learn Burman culture, and forcibly assimilating ethnic minorities, which aroused strong dissatisfaction from the latter. After the military overthrew the U Nu government in 1962, it directly abolished the provisions on the independence of ethnic minority inhabited areas in the founding Constitution, and completely blocked the possibility of independence of ethnic minority areas from law. In order to defend their own interests, a number of ethnic armed groups, led by the Kachin Independence Army, started a war with government forces.

(2) International factors

Since the 1950s, China has had good relations with the Burma government, and the United States, in order to contain China’s development, pushed the pro-Western Aung SAN Suu Kyi to power behind the scenes to control Burma. But the Burmese government apparently did not give the United States that opportunity. Burma’s constitution prohibits foreigners from running for president, blocking Aung SAN’s bid. The Americans’ plan to use “soft power” to control Burma fell through. Instead, the United States chose to subjugate Burma with “hard power” through civil war. There are more than 30 ethnic armed groups in Burma. The Kachin Independence Army, which has deep ties to the United States and is supported by the United States, has fought the Burmese government most fiercely. The United States has been trying to get the KIA to support Aung SAN Suu Kyi politically in order to give her military power.

To sum up, the civil war in Burma was actually caused by the internal causes of different demands of national interests and the interference of other countries in the world. As a multi-ethnic country with 135 ethnic groups, Burma has basically achieved that one ethnic group is an armed force, and with the international external forces constantly “fire”, its civil war is not surprising.