Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma
Union of Burma (1962–1974) ပြည်ထောင်စု မြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော် Pyidaunzu Myăma Nainngandaw Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma (1974–1988) ပြည်ထောင်စု ဆိုရှယ်လစ်သမ္မတ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော် Pyidaunzu Soshallhaitsammat Myăma Nainngandaw | |||||||||
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| 1962–1988 | |||||||||
| Anthem: ကမ္ဘာမကျေ Kaba Ma Kyei "Till the End of the World" | |||||||||
| Capital | Rangoon | ||||||||
| Common languages | Burmese | ||||||||
| Religion | Buddhism (majority) | ||||||||
| Demonym(s) | Burmese | ||||||||
| Government | Unitary one-party socialist republic under a totalitarian
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| Chairman | |||||||||
• 1962–1988 (first) | Ne Win | ||||||||
• 1988 (last) | Maung Maung | ||||||||
| President | |||||||||
• 1962–1981 (first) | Ne Win | ||||||||
• 1988 (last) | Maung Maung | ||||||||
| Prime minister | |||||||||
• 1962–1974 (first) | Ne Win | ||||||||
• 1988 (last) | Tun Tin | ||||||||
| Legislature | Union Revolutionary Council (1962–1974) People's Assembly (1974–1988) | ||||||||
| Historical era | Cold War | ||||||||
| 2 March 1962 | |||||||||
| 3 January 1974 | |||||||||
| 18 September 1988 | |||||||||
| HDI (1980) | 0.328 low | ||||||||
| Currency | Kyat | ||||||||
| Calling code | 95 | ||||||||
| ISO 3166 code | BU | ||||||||
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| Today part of | Myanmar | ||||||||
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| History of Myanmar |
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| Myanmar portal |
Burma was under the military dictatorship of Ne Win from 1962 to 1988. Ne Win and his allies in the Tatmadaw – the country's armed forces – overthrew the government of Prime Minister U Nu in a coup d'état on 2 March 1962. A day later, the coup leaders established the Revolutionary Council of the Union of Burma as the country's governing body. In April 1962, the Revolutionary Council introduced the Burmese Way to Socialism and declared it Burma's state ideology. The Revolutionary Council then founded the Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) as the country's vanguard party on 4 July 1962. In 1974, Ne Win introduced a new constitution and replaced the Revolutionary Council with the People's Assembly, which consisted solely of BSPP members. The country's official name was also changed from the Union of Burma to the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma.
Ne Win's governance of Burma was characterised by totalitarianism, isolationism, superstition, xenophobia, and a rejection of Cold War politics. Ne Win ruled Burma as a dictator, serving as both Chairman of the Revolutionary Council (later President of Burma) and Prime Minister of Burma, the country's head of state and the head of government, respectively. The nationalisation of major industries and rejection of foreign investment led to catastrophic declines in economic growth and living standards.
In 1988, mass protests known as the 8888 Uprising pressured BSPP officials, including Ne Win, to resign en masse and adopt a multi-party system. However, on 18 September 1988 the Tatmadaw staged a coup against the BSPP, violently ended the protests, and established a new military junta, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC).