Republic of Burma/Parties

The Five Flowers Alliance[]

Ngawbinwsaing (the Five Flowers Alliance, more rarely translated as the Five Stars Alliance) is the current governing coalition of Burma. Founded by U Ba Pe and the People's Party in 1935, the group has little common ground ideologically and largely just represents likeminded parties who favour supporting the U Ba Pe presidency over the U Chit Hlaing and Ba Maw's National Democratic Front. As such, it generally leans right wing and towards upholding conservative Buddhist values. Whilst the coalition is unified behind a common political purpose, it has some internal disputes over socioeconomic issues, such as the future of the Burmese economic system and what role monks should play in Burmese politics. Members of the coalition are also known to regularly engage in cutthroat competitions for power, fighting for influence and the President's favour, a dangerous game which the most unscrupulous among its members have triumphed at. It is currently headed by an 11-man leadership committee, known as the Nyuntbaung Asiayone (Coalition Committee). The number eleven was chosen in the spirit of the 11-man committee which headed the 1920 University Strike and to ensure the decision making process could not be easily deadlocked. Three members represent the People's Party, owing to it holding the plurality of the Alliance's seats in the Hluttaw, whilst the other parties are represented by two members each. U Ba Pe is formally the "Nayaka" (Chairman) of the Committee, a title used by the leaders of most other Burmese political groups.

The current composition of the Nyuntbaung Asiayone is: U Ba Pe, Thakin Kodaw Hmaing, Tharrawaddy U Pu (People's Party), U Maung Gyee, Baganset U Thaw (Free Burma Party), U So Thein, U Su (U So Thein GCBA), U Ko Lay, Maung Thuta (Yadanabon Association of Mandalay) and U Saw, U Aye (Patriot's Party).

The People's Party[]

BurmaLotusFlower — The symbol of the People's Party, a Sacred Lotus flower.

Formed ahead of the 1930 election, the Pyithu Pyithar Ahphwe (the People's Party) was an attempt by U Ba Pe and the Nationalist Party to diversify their base of support, moving away from hard-line ethnic nationalism aimed at the middle class, towards a broader populist agenda. The Nationalist Party moderated their rhetoric and reached out to their old allies from the 1920 University Strike, recruiting several prominent intellectuals and student leaders such as Thakin Kodaw Hmaing and U Maung Gyee to aid them. Though the latter did not formally join the People's Party, instead choosing to merely enter into a coalition with them by way of his Free Burma Party, Thakin Kodaw Hmaing went on to become a fixture within the People's Party. The party campaigns on the slogan of "Burma for the Burmans", encouraging the newly liberated nation to take its destiny into its own hand, which has helped U Ba Pe and Thakin Kodaw Hmaing win over many disillusioned supporters of President Chit Hlaing's GCBA, as well as successfully win the hearts previously apathetic voters. In the wake of the 1935 election, simmering resentments widened the factional schisms within the People's Party, with a younger reform-minded clique dubbed the "National Parliamentary Organisation" or NPO, coalescing around Thakin Kodaw Hmaing and student leaders such as Ba Sein, Tun Oke and Ba Thaung, who form a leading triumvirate. U Ba Pe's old guard of former "Nationalist" clique and newer supporters strove to maintain control of the party. A fringe faction centred around "Tharrawaddy" U Pu has also emerged, dubbed the "Svabhava" clique.

The NPO claims an ideological descent not just from Thakin Kodaw Hmaing, but also U Tun Shein of the famous Pe-Pu-Shein delegation (U Ba Pe, "Shwe Kyin" U Pu, U Tun Shein) a prominent Burmese nationalist leader in the early 1900s who passed away in 1920 after contracting an illness while on a political visit to London. Shein's sudden death and grandiose funeral upon his body's return to Burma made him into a martyr figure who is still celebrated by younger Burmese radicals to this day, though his role in the Burmese nationalist movement is heavily disputed. President U Ba Pe has often fought to downplay the contributions of the two other members of the delegation, while still remaining respectful to the late Shein and the still politically active U Pu. In contrast, dissident People's Party members have sometimes tried to frame U Ba Pe as a man who "usurped" Shein's position in the Independence Movement, exploiting the power vacuum caused by his death. This second line of thought his popular with Shein's direct protege, Ba Thaung, whom he personally mentored.

The Free Burma Party[]

Prime Minister U Maung Gyee, leader of the Free Burma Party and "General" of the Ye Tat militia.

The origins of the Free Burma Party are somewhat shrouded in the mist of early 20th century Burmese splinter groups and political feuds, even if its official charter dates its founding back to the 1920 University Strike. The party began as an informal political club at the Rangoon College, led by the local attorney and lecturer U Maung Gyee, with support and funding from the labour organizer and future porcelain tycoon "Baganset" U Thaw. The club gained a great deal of influence after it endorsed the 1920 Strike, helping to rally students against the Colonial Government and chart the future of Burmese education. At the time, U Maung Gyee had abstained from affiliating with either U Ba Pe nor Chit Hlaing's factions of the Burmese Independence Movement. While Baganset U Thaw was ostensibly aligned with Chit Hlaing, he held a very independent streak and continued to aid U Maung Gyee's political efforts, as well as moderates within the YMBA. A steadily growing political group began to form around these two men, culminating in U Maung Gyee's eventual decision to rally his base of support and his bipartisan connections to form the Ye Tat militia, taking a more direct role in the violent struggle for Burmese independence. At this time, the group carried the common nickname of the "Young Burma Party", but this was more of a descriptor than a formal title, and "Young Burma Party" has been applied as a name to both the Nationalist Party and the Young Men's Buddhist Association. Following the Burmese Revolt, the Free Burma Party was reorganized as a formal political party and participated in the Provisional Government of Burma. There is some debate whether it was always an "independent" group that grew out of the Rangoon College club, or if it was in fact a breakaway faction from Chit Hlaing's GCBA, owing to the wishy-washy declarations of support by men like "Baganset" U Thaw. The Free Burma Party gradually slipped from its neutral position in regards to factional conflicts and aligned itself with U Ba Pe's People's Party, forming a coalition in the 1930 Election that helped U Ba Pe win the presidency. The Free Burma Party, and U Maung Gyee specifically, became invaluable to U Ba Pe in 1935 after helping to put together the Five Flowers Coalition, which U Maung Gyee was rewarded for by being appointed Prime Minister.

Though the party echoes a lot of U Ba Pe's nationalistic, right wing rhetoric, it is more of an intellectual and bourgeoise party with a moderate ideological character. Its main goal is to unify the Burmese right behind a common purpose, balancing the influence of both moderates and extremists. It has tried to remain neutral in the ongoing disputes within the Five Flowers coalition, such as arguments over the influence of the Burmese monkshoods and the pushback against the violent activities of political paramilitaries. The party is still very closely aligned with the Ye Tat militia, which U Maung Gyee is still the ostensibly leader and "General" of. U Maung Gyee generally views them as a necessary evil of the current course political system, though he also appears to have expressed some hesitation and has recently faced more and more criticism from his colleagues over the fact that the Ye Tat has been allowed to operate autonomously while still being designated as part of the Free Burma Party. Whether U Maung Gyee will reassert his influence over the Ye Tat, or simply cut them loose remains to be seen. Complicating the matter is the fact that President U Ba Pe has a vested interest in the political paramilitary remaining a part of the Five Flowers Coalition, serving as a set of radical shock troops for his regime, with Prime Minister U Maung Gyee acting as a perfect middle man to direct this militant group.

The U Soe Thein GCBA[]

The U Soe Thein GCBA is a splinter group of the original GCBA, formed after a series of disputes between its eponymous founder U So Thein and the GCBA leader Chit Hlaing. Around 1930, many Buddhist monkshoods had invested a great deal of their wealth and resources into backing the GCBA, but they grew alienated with Chit Hlaing's leadership. Simultaneously, many newer members who had flocked to the party after the Burmese Revolt became acquainted with the entrenched corruption and political patronage which saturated the GCBA. These two groups joined forces, uniting behind the charismatic speaker U Soe Thein, who led a walkout from Chit Hlaing's party. Whilst the disagreements between Chit Hlaing and U So Thein, as well as their respective political followings were quite numerous, the prominent issues they fought over was how Chit Hlaing was spending the GCBA's money, how he was leading the country and what Burma's foreign policy ought to be. A few months later, the new "U So Thein GCBA" would compete in the 1930 elections, winning several seats and forming a legislative coalition with U Ba Pe's People's Party. This marked the U Soe Thein GCBA as one of the most senior members of the political bloc which would in time grow to become the Five Flowers Alliance. Overall, the party's platform is something of a mixture between the People's Party and the GCBA, with a large dedication to an aggressive foreign policy, anti-corruption and greater political representation for the Burmese monkshood. This last policy puts them at odds with U Ba Pe's own political views, but the president has nevertheless maintained his alliance with U So Thein for pragmatic purposes, selecting him as Prime Minister in 1930, before demoting him to Minister of Planning and Finance in 1935. Likewise, U Ba Pe has made use of the U So Thein GCBA's deputy party chairman U Su, who has a much closer connection to the Sangha and currently serves as Minister of Religious Affairs. It is worth remarking that within the U So Thein GCBA there is conflict between the more pacifistic monks and the militant U Soe Thein, a disagreement which has thus far been mediated by the U Su. The party has no official paramilitary, but is known to maintain ties to former members U Saw and Saya San, and to their paramilitaries, the Galon Tat and the Galon Defense Association.

The Yadanabon Association of Mandalay[]

U Ko Lay, current Chairman of the Yadanabon Association.

The smallest member of the Five Flowers Alliance, the Yadanabon Association of Mandalay is the epitome of a Burmese student political group. It is centred around the eponymous Yadanabon fraternity at Mandalay College. Its name derives from an antiquated nickname for Mandalay, meaning "City of Jewels". A large portion of the party's membership comes from followers of Khin-San Sarpay, or "Testing the Age Literature", a nominally non-partisan modernist literary movement that has gained a significant influence over both left and right wing student politics. Thanks to effective political campaigning, the group managed to win several seats in the the Mandalay electoral district and the generally right leaning political views of its representatives to the Hluttaw caught the eye of President U Ba Pe. It holds very little soft power politically, but the Yadanabon Associations votes are still needed to maintain control over the legislature, making them instrumental to U Ba Pe's government. It is led by a rotating leadership, currently under the Chairmanship of the student activist U Ko Lay, also known by his pseudonym "Zeya Maung", who has taken up the position after the former Chairman Theippan Maung Wa was appointed Secretary of Education in U Ba Pe's government. The noted author Myo Min is the group's current General Secretary.

The Patriot's Party[]

Myochit (the Patriot's Party), is a recently formed political party led by U Saw, a veteran of the Burmese Revolt and the Burmese-Siamese War of 1928. It is a party that primarily seeks to appeal to military veterans and disaffected youth, as well as middle to upper class land and business interests in Burma. It is strongly inspired by 19th and 20th century nationalistic and modernizing movements of East Asia, such as the Xinhai Revolution in China and particularly the Meiji Restoraton in Japan, which the Patriot Party's charter cites as inspirations for Burma going forward. What is left unspoken in the charter is U Saw's belief in using a military vanguard to achieve this rapid societal and technological advancement, much like his historical inspirations. U Saw may be a committed believer in East Asian cultural supremacy, but he has also looked to the west for political and ideological inspiration. He has also modelled his party after the populistic "Legionary" movements in Romania and Italy, particularly in the way he has advertised it to military veterans. Whilst the party has a high amount of support within the Tatmadaw, the Burmese military, as well as within the common citizen militias, it contests ideological ground with several other rival parties when it comes to the urban proletariat and the peasantry. The most notable rival being the left wing Poor Man's Party, which Patriot' Party supporters and members of U Saw's Galon Tat militia have frequently skirmished with. The Patriot's Party is officially led by U Saw, with his right-hand man U Aye as its General Secretary, alongside an executive committee of military veterans and wealthy business owners inside its upper leadership.

The National Democratic Front[]

The Aamyoesarr Demokaraattait Taut (meaning either "National" or "People's" Democratic Front) is a broad coalition of liberal, democratic, left-wing and minority nationalist parties opposed to the current U Ba Pe Government. It has been dubbed as the "Aamyoesarr Nyenywatrayy Tautpaungghcu" (National United Front) in some left-wing circles, who champion utilizing it as a major force for social and economic change in Burma, not just as a political tool to oppose and eventually unseat U Ba Pe.

The General Council of Burmese Associations[]

The GCBA is one of the oldest political organizations in Burma, dating back to the University Strike of the 1920. In response to the lack of support from U May Oung's conservative Young Men's Buddhist Association during both the University Strike and the 1917 Shoe Scandal, several more radical members of the YMBA split off to form the GCBA as a group committed to the struggle for political, economic and cultural sovereignty for Burma. They were also joined by a handful of members from the "Burma Reform League", a minor lobbying group. This new, unified group generally maintained the YMBA political structure, including the reliance on political patronage networks and continued use of the YMBA's model of a Baho Sayadaw (Board of Noble Teachers) which entailed that already existing leaders nominated their subordinates and successors by top-down decree, in lieu of the electoral practices of a modern political party apparatus. The GCBA was intimately connected to politically Pongyi (Monks), and rural mutual aid groups known as Wunthanu Associations, two factions in Burmese politics that the YMBA had taken a particularly conservative stance against. It was initially under the loose leadership of a trio of powerful Burmese political figures, the famed lawyer U Chit Hlaing, the Rakhine banker Htoon Aung Gyaw and the xenophobic populist "Tharrawaddy" U Pu. In a break with the annually rotating leadership structure used by the YMBA, Chit Hlaing immediately sought to establish himself as a lifetime president of the GCBA, with his two aforementioned colleagues backing his candidacy. This was contested by U Ba Pe, a right wing political leader who attacked the leadership in the lead up to the GCBA's first annual convention in 1921. U Ba Pe protested both Chit Hlaing's despotic aspirations, the prevailing corruption and political patronage that plagued the GCBA, as well as the pervasive influence he alleged Rakhine bankers and Chinese businessmen had on the party. The influence of the Baho Sayadaw at the party conference all but guaranteed that these criticisms were hushed up and U Ba Pe immediately found political influence challenged. Just two years into its founding, the GCBA split when U Ba Pe led a walk out at its second annual convention, but in a twist of fate his popular following had greatly increased at this point. The emphasis on racial xenophobia had won over Tharrawaddy U Pu to join U Ba Pe, causing a serious blow to the GCBA's leadership and overall party structure. In 1923, a second walkout was organized by other dissident members, either motivated by personal or ideological grudges with Chit Hlaing.

Despite these repeated schisms, Chit Hlaing managed to pick up the pieces of the GCBA, and it remained the most influential party in Burma thanks to its connections to the countryside and the monkshood. When the Burmese revolt of 1924 broke out, largely organized through the Wunthanu societies, the GCBA was in a natural position to assume leadership over a free and sovereign Burma. Nevertheless, the GCBA once again faced pushbacks. Though its provisional government had promised to do much to improve Burma, it lacked the economic capital and political cohesion to govern a whole country. Its system of political patronage and ideological direction had worked to unify Burma while it was under the colonial yoke, but its leaders were inexperienced in actually governing. Trust in both Chit Hlaing and the GCBA gradually dropped, first after Chit Hlaing decreed his provisional term as president would last up until 1930, secondly after the GCBA failed to resolve the rural land issues and failed to repeal unpopular Thatthameda tax it had to resolve, but most importantly after Burma lost the Burmese-Siamese War of 1928-1929.

These repeating crises of confidence led to a third major party split in 1929, when U So Thein formed the eponymous "U So Thein GCBA" with support from displeased sections of the Burmese monkshood and the Wunthanu associations. The following year, Chit Hlaing lost the 1930 Election against U Ba Pe's People's Party, relegating the GCBA to the leader of the opposition within the Burmese legislature. Recognizing that the GCBA was in serious need of reform and some kind of ideological renewal, Chit Hlaing ceded a great deal of his authority as party president to Htoon Aung Gyaw, who was appointed as General Secretary. The GCBA attempted to distance itself from its past as a political patronage network, embracing the interests of minority nationalists, federalists, and various groups either displeased or outright threatened by the pro-Bamar, xenophobic leadership of U Ba Pe. Nevertheless it still faces much criticism, particularly from the younger generation of members, who take particular ire with the still ongoing issues of cronyism as well as the inefficiency of the Baho Sayadaw system, though some amendments have been made in order to delegate duties away from the Baho Sayadaw and introduce a democratic element to the decision making process. Ahead of the 1935 election, the GCBA reached out to U Razak's United Nationalities League and Ba Maw's Poor Man's Party, organizing a coalition dubbed the "National Democratic Front". While this coalition failed to win the presidency, it deadlocked the Hluttaw and forced President U Ba Pe to reach out to several smaller parties in order to form a small majority in the legislature, proving that the GCBA was not quite done for yet as a political force within Burma.

The Poor Man's Party[]

Sinyetha (The Poor Man's Party, also known as the Proletarian Party) ,is a Social Democratic party led by Dr. Ba Maw. Originally founded in 1934, the party may appear to be a relative newcomer to the Burmese political scene, but is in reality just the latest incarnation of a long-standing, popular socialist movement. It can trace its lineage back to the defunct Fabian Party, of which Ba Maw was a leading member, as well as the left wing of the GCBA and the more radical members of the 1920 generation of "Student Politicians". The party adheres to a simple ideological doctrine of "Sinyetha-wada" (Policy for the Poor Man), appealing to downtrodden members of the rural peasantry and the urban proletariat with promises of rent control, land reform, economic subsidies and free healthcare. It is also intimately connected to the 1930s generation of student radicals, such as the All-Burma Student Union and the Nagani Book Club, who see it as the sole representative of uncorrupted socialist ideas in Burmese electoral politics. Even so, Ba Maw's vision of socialism runs somewhat contrary to his younger follower's ideas. He is a socialist in the western, European tradition, imagining the Poor Man's Party as Burma's answer to the Social Democratic Party of Germany or the British Labour Party, at least before the advent of the British Revolution. The party's platform is not one of revolutionary change, but instead incremental progress and top down reforms, hoping to build up a greater social safety net and expand workers rights in the country, not overthrow the ruling government and seize the means of production. Several party policies does refer to the concept of "Bon-wada" (Policy of Common Ownership), but Ba Maw views this through the lens of nationalisation and common property, akin to the current state of several of Burma's vital key industries such as its teak forests.

Ba Maw Dahma — Dr. Ba Maw, dressed in an elaborate Dahma Tat uniform, parading his status as the group's "General".

In terms of other social issues, the Poor Man's Party is generally progressive, especially regarding women's rights and religious freedoms. Ba Maw himself is a Christian and has been a leading voice in seeking reconciliation between the Burmese state and religious minorities, championing the idea of a European style secular government. The party's policies on ethnic minorities in Burma are somewhat obtuse and contradictory however. Ba Maw is of Mon descent, but he has frequently echoed Bamar supremacist sentiments with his unique ideas of a "Mahabama" (Greater Burma). The essence of Mahabama is a recognition of Burma as a cultural melting pot, wherein all ethnic groups should conform to a shared Burmese identity, which incorporates elements of all minorities' cultures and beliefs. As the Bamar population is the ethnic majority of Burma, a Mahabama would naturally be dominated by their traditions and culture, something which Ba Maw has not expressed any issue with, stating: "Our past tribal history has closed, tribal accounts are settled, a new nation and history now begins. In the past, parties [tribes] overshadowed peoples. Now we are unifying from the right end, from the people". Ba Maw in this description uses "parties" to signify tribalism, drawing a distinction between the in-group loyalty of Burma's ethnic "parties", compared to the universal brotherhood of Burma's "people". He also emphasizes that such a cultural unification of Burma would come from the people, as an expression of popular will and not by state decree. In broader respects, the Mahabama idea is also intimately tied to ideas of Pan-Asianism and Asian cultural supremacy, with Ba Maw being a prominent supporter of, and collaborator with several prominent Chinese and Japanese Pan-Asianist intellectuals. This is once again a seemingly contradictory idea, as Ba Maw is also a noted Anglophile and has explicitly modelled his party and his socialist ideology after European ideas, but him and his followers seem more than capable of creating a synthesis out of these two differing points of views.

In no small part due to its intimate connection to the student movement of Burma, the Poor Man's Party is also very closely aligned with youth groups and paramilitaries. It commands no less than three separate youth leagues, the Wa Tat (Circle Army), Chwe Tat (Sweat Army) and Dahma Tat (Knife Army). The former two are philanthropic and community support groups, offering volunteer work and political education to both its members as well as struggling communities across Burma. The latter is an explicitly paramilitary group, meant for building social cohesion and being able to contest space in the violent arena of political intimidation and street brawls. Members of all three groups, and of the Poor Man's Party as a whole are recognizable by their uniform, which prominently features the peaked "Dahma Cap". Underneath Ba Maw, in his position as "Chairman" of the Poor Man's Party and as "General" of his three "armies", is an executive committee led by Bandula U Sein, a close follower of Ba Maw and the party's General Secretary. It is common knowledge that despite its outward, reformist appearance, the Poor Man's Party is just as, if not more corrupt than the GCBA, as Ba Maw has promoted several close friends and even his own brother, Ba Han, to the executive committee. On the other hand, most of these members have been qualified for their positions and few, if any actual criticisms have ever been levied at the party's political structure, but the extremely strong, cult like following that Ba Maw enjoys makes it difficult to discern the inner workings of the group and whether or not its leadership are promoted on the basis of merit or due to their sycophancy. In general, the cronyism of the Poor Man's Party appears to permeate a more "benevolent" and effective system of political patronage that manages to evenly share its spoils, compared to the hoarding that the GCBA elite is infamous for.

The Pyidaungshu League[]

Popularly known as the "Pegu League" after the Pegu Conference, as well as the "United Nationalities League" as a less unwieldy translation of its name, the Pyidaungshu literally translates to "Union" but would more accurately refer to the "coming together of different nations and ‘national states". Formed in the wake of the 1930 Election, the League is a loose coalition of various minority nationalist parties, representing both indigenous Burmese ethnicities, but also immigrants like the Tamil of India and Pahthay of China. Its primary base of support are the latter, Hindus and Muslims who fear that their voice in Burma is at risk of being silenced after U Ba Pe’s xenophobic government took charge of the country. Unlike other Muslim and Hindu groups, such as the wealthy Chetiyar who have long backed the elitist GCBA, or militant Muslim activists who take up arms, the UNL reject both political patronage and political violence, maintaining a populist platform and a peaceful image. It has rallied an impressive number of groups to oppose U Ba Pe, most notably the Burmese Muslim Congress, the National Indian Parliamentary Organisation and the Independent Arakanese Parliamentary Group. Despite this, it has not yet managed to court the more entrenched minority organizations, like the Arakan National Congress, the Karen National Association or the Shan princes' United Hill People's Congress. While such groups generally support the UNL’s initiatives, they decline to join it directly, wishing to maintain an independent base of support. Under the leadership of the charismatic Muslim politician U Razak, the UNL has been able to punch far above its weight, aiding the GCBA in the Hluttaw. It recently backed the Arakanese politician Paw Tun's successful bid to become mayor of Rangoon, which helped the league to gain further notoriety.

The leading parties of the UNL have mostly been subsumed into the wider united front against U Ba Pe, but some key characteristics of their political platforms and the personal followings of their leaders remain in the internal politics of the UNL. The Burmese Muslim Congress was founded almost immediately after Burma declared its independence in 1925, with some contemporaries deriding it as an off-shoot of the "All-Indian Muslim League". In truth, however, the Muslim Congress is a uniquely Burman party focused on uniquely Burman issues, seeking to appeal to both the Muslim population of Arakan, Indian Muslim migrants settled in Rangoon and Mandalay, as well as Panthay Muslims who originate from China. It eschews the elitist class character of the Indian Muslim League, as well as the narrow ideological focus of the Jamiat-e-Ulema and the Mujahid Party, in favour of a broad populist agenda that recruits Burmese Muslims from all walks of life. The party is led by President U Razak, who also serve as the Chairman of the United Nationalities League as a whole. The part, and by proxy U Razak is commonly seen as the origin of the "Dobama Muslim" movement, literally meaning "We Burmese Muslims", but more closely translating to "Patriotic Muslims". In truth, this moniker originated as both a compliment and a slur by Bamar political writers, for the growing political awakening of the Burmese Muslim community. The Dobama Muslim movement seeks to prove that Muslims have the same right to "Our Burma", as any other citizen of the republic. The high populations of ethnic Indians within the movement has frequently enflamed racial tensions, and the U Ba Pa Government directly cites the Dobama Muslim movement as a reason for the need to impose strictly Pro-Bamar and Pro-Buddhist policies.

Miscellaneous Political Parties[]

The Independent Party[]

Chairman of the Independent Party and Speaker of the Hluttaw, Joseph Augustus Maung Gyi.

Established in 1922 as a political club named "the Progressives”, this group ironically originates from more conservative elements of the Young Men’s Buddhist Association, who rejected the radicalism of those splitters who formed the GCBA. It was led by wealthy compradors such as Joseph Augustus Maung Gyi and Maung Khin, who sought to champion democratic reforms and to better the country from within the British-led Governor's Legislative Council. Despite their Anglophilia, they saw the way the winds were blowing after the Revolt of 1924 and became eager participants in the new republic. Following the decline of the Tharaja Party, its leader "Swaraj" U Toke Gyi joined forces with Joseph Augustus Maung Gyi, the subsequent politicaly merger resulting in a new party dubbed the "Independent Party", to celebrate Burma’s new independence. Yet to most people, it will always be known by the unflattering moniker “Shwe Taung Gyar”, meaning “The Golden Valley Party”, in a derisive reference to the upper-class suburbs its rich, elitist membership lives in. The rest of Burma doesn’t look fondly upon them, not just because of their wealth, or the fact they once sought to work with the British, but also for the fact that much of its membership is made up of Indian and Chinese businessmen. Conservative and westernized, the Independent Party are committed defenders of liberal democracy and Anglo-Burmese virtues. This has rendered them unable to work within the established Burmese political coalitions, but effectively given them the benefit of becoming kingmakers between the Five Flowers Alliance and the National Democratic Front, most noticeably securing Joseph Augustus Maung Gyi a position as Speaker of the Hluttaw after the 1935 election. Joseph Augustus also serves as the party chairman and was assisted by Toke Gyi as General Secretary up until the former Tharaja leader's death in 1931. Subsequently, the seat of General Secretary was filled by a rising star within the Independent Party, the Rakhine economist U Kyaw Min. The Mon doctor and former YMBA president Maung Brin is another influential member of the party, and has as of late been considered a candidate to succeed Joseph Augustus as the party chairman, in the event of his retirement.

The Karen National Association[]

The elderly San Crombie Po serves as the President of the Karen National Association

The Karen National Association is the oldest political organization in Burma, having been founded in 1881 by European missionaries and Karen converts to Christianity, in order to represent the interests of the many Karen tribes in eastern Burma. Over time, the role of the European missionaries steadily faded as the native Karen peoples took their political destiny into their own hands, becoming a very effective lobbying group on the Governor's Legislative Council. It is known in native S'Gaw language as the Daw Ka Lu (The "Whole Kind" an approximation of the word "Nation" in S'Gaw). Following the 1924 Revolt, the KNA took an aloof stance to the new Burmese Republic, but eventually agreed to attend the Pegu Conference to negotiate for political representation and cultural autonomy for the Karen tribes. This split large parts of the KNA, leading to the resignation of then President Saw Sydney Loo Nee, who had urged for the association to boycott the Conference. Even a decade later there is an incredible amount of tension between factional cliques adhering to different political visions for a Karen homeland. San Crombie Po, the current President of the organization, is a moderate man inspired by the European trends of Christian Socialism and the British Labour Party, at least prior to its complicity in the British Revolution. He is the most willing to cooperate with the Rangoon government, but still dreams of one day founding a sovereign Karen nation, which he has dubbed Kaw Lah, or “The Green Land”. Owing to his age and left-wing politics, there have been some calls for Po to step down, with the current leader of the KNA's Tharrawaddy branch, Thara San Baw, being floated as a potential replacement. A radical clique also exists on the left of the KNA, known as the Karen Youth Organisation, led by the student leaders Mahn Win Maung and Mahn Ba Khaing. It generally supports the All-Burma Student Union and their socialist policies, but the KYO wields little influence within the wider KNA party structurer, other than loosely proppingu p Po as a preferable leader. The biggest threat to President San Crombie Po's control of the association is a National Populist faction centred around the Karen militia leader Saw Ba U Gyi, who heads the Karen National Defence Organisation. He holds a much more militarized vision for a Karen homeland, which he has chosen to dub Kawthoolei, or "The Land Without Darkness", to differentiate it from the political idea of Kaw Lah.

The KNA is rallied around a number of political and religious symbols, but most notable among them is the Karen National Flag designed by Mahn Ba Khin (not to be confused with Mahn Ba Khaing) in 1935. It was the result of a collaborative effort to incorporate designs from three prize-winning submissions to the KNA's contest to design a flag. It features a field of red representing heroism and perseverance, a field of white representing purity and clarity, a flag field of blue representing honesty and peace, as well as a nine-rayed sun representing the nine regions the Karen people trace their mythological origin from, alongside a design of a traditional "Hpa-si" (Frog Drum) that was used in warfare.

The KNA has a complicated relationship with subgroups of the Karen culture, sometimes divided after their languages S'Gaw, Pwo and Pa'O, but more commonly by cultural signifiers into White, Black and Red Karen. White Karen (S'Gaw majority, Pa'O minority) and Karen who don't identify with any particular subgroup make up a majority of the KNA, united through their shared Christian beliefs and language. The eastern Black Karen (Pa'O majority, S'Gaw minority), who live right on the border with Siam are sometimes categorized as ethnically Shan under the term "Taungthu" and more commonly practice Buddhism and Animism over Christianity. They are thus shunned by more exclusionary Karen nationalists. A significant group of Black Karen who identify with the wider Karen national struggle are part of the KNA however, rallying around the leadership of the popular figure U Hla Pe, a close friend of Saw Ba U Gyi. Finally, the Red Karen (Pwo), sometimes dubbed the Karenni, occupy a precarious spot in the organization's politics. Though they are the most culturally and linguistically distinct from their brethren, there exists very few independent Karenni organizers, so most political overtures the tribes have made have had to go through the KNA one way or another. Though the KNA claim the Karenni to be fellow Karen, the view of the Karenni themselves is a lot more complicated. The Karenni lands have a legacy of being ruled by Shan princes in the northeast, but also make up a core component of both the Kaw Lah and Kawthoolei irredentist dreams for an independent Karen state, further compelling the KNA to expand its reach into this part of Burma by influencing the Karenni Council.

United Hill People's Congress[]

Sao Shwe Thaik, the Saopha of Yawnghwe and the ceremonial President of the United Hill People's Congress

U Tin Aye, leader of the Shan Peasants' Organisation

A party of deep political contradictions, the United Hill People's Congress was founded to represent the Shan ethnic minority, but has found itself in a steady tug of war between the Shan nobility and the lower classes inhabiting the north-eastern confederation of princedoms. For centuries the Shan Princes, known as Saophas, had shared power among each other in various confederations, sometimes independent but most of the time pledging loyalty to a foreign power, be it Burmese, Siamese, Chinese or British. A shared delegation of privileges and obligations kept the princedoms stable, but the British strove to gradually strip away this autonomy, forcing the Shan states to federate under a central governing council. As a result of being dragged kicking and screaming into the 20th century, many Shan Saophas began reassessing their political tactics. They could no longer rely on the antiquated notion of royal prerogatives, something had to be done to generate popular energy against the British and to unify Shan people of all classes as a coherent political entity. After the Burmese Revolt and the subsequent Pegu Conference, this intellectual project came to fruition, with the Saopha of Yawnghwe, Sao Shwe Thaik, founding the "United Hill People's Congress". Ostensibly a political party, this was in reality more of a restoration of the pre-colonial Shan alliances that delegated power among the princes. It was praised among the elites for securing them political autonomy as well as offering political participation to the peasant voters, which helped win the party seats in the national Hluttaw to make their voices heard. The Congress faced a great deal of criticism however from Shan intellectuals and bourgeoise who felt left out of the decision-making process. Though they had never been a political force till now, this primitive middle class began to flex their own muscles, gaining more and more sway among the rural peasantry and among serfs attracted to the cities. A deep division permeates both the party itself, as well as Shan society as a whole, with Sao Shwe Thaik leading the executive council of the Congress as its ceremonial President, whilst the Shan political activist U Htun Myint serves as its General Secretary and the esteemed revolutionary activist U Tin Aye is in charge of its peasant outreach group, the aptly named Shan Peasants' Organisation. U Tin Aye's loyalties has been something of an enigma though, with many of the more reactionary Saopha keeping an eye on his growing demagogic influence.

The lines between where Shan princely politics and Shan national politics starts or ends have grown increasingly blurry, despite the party's ostensible goal being to democratise and popularise political participation within the princedoms. As the struggle between these autonomous feudal states and the Burmese government go on, there are some more reactionary princes who have called for leveraging the Shan agrarian and military influence in order to secure political concessions by force, as well as to oppose the force of modernisation and preserve the princedom's old ways of life. This has been countered by President Sao Shwe Thaik's popular influence and his political wit, but it remains to be seen how long the famed prince-politician can keep his peers and followers in line. On the other hand, he also faces criticism from the United Nationalities League, as the United Hill People's Congress has refused to affiliate directly with the League, citing its leaders' obligations as princely vassals to the government in Rangoon. Even the name "Hill People's", a colonial pseudonym for the Shan ethnicity, has drawn forth controversies, as the Shan-centric nature of the party has led to neglecting other minorities living in the princely states, like Panthay Muslims amd Karen tribes. Whether Sao Shwe Thaik can thread the needle and keep such a divided house stable, remains to be seen.

The Kachin National Congress[]

The KNC, as its name implies, is a political party representing the Kachin peoples of northern Burma. It is led by U Zanhta Sin, a left leaning Kachin nationalist who has modelled his party both in name and in purpose after the Indian National Congress. The KNC is something of a living contradiction though, it maintains almost universal legislative support throughout the Kachin Hills, except in cities and mining towns with a large Bamar population. This is because it attracts the support of those few and only Kachin who actually have an interest in national politics and participating in elections, a demographic that is almost universally urban intellectuals or socialites. At the same time, the KNC wields almost no actual political influence among the native Kachin outside the cities, where the common workers and peasants care little for U Zanhta Sin's modernized, intellectual leadership, favouring more down to earth Kachin groups such as PECDO or the Pawngyawng National Organization. It remains to be seen if U Zanhta Sin can win the hearts and minds of his own people, or if him and his party will simply remain a mouthpiece for the small clique of Kachin intelligentsia in Myitkyina.

The Arakan National Congress[]

Sayadaw U Seinda, known as the "King of Arakan" and one of the main powers behind the Arakan National Congress.

Whilst the Rakhine people of Arakan are a distinct ethnic group, separate from the Bamar, the Rakhine have been on good terms with the central government in Rangar and far more cooperative than most other Burmese minorities. The efforts of prominent Rakhine individuals such as the martyr U Ottama, the politician U Paw Tun and the student leader U Kyaw Khin have gone a long way to unite the Rakhine people with the Bamars, often by utilizing their shared Buddhist beliefs, or their mutual opposition to Bengali Muslims in Arakan as unifying factors. There has also been the formation of the Independent Arakanese Parliamentary Group, eager to affirm its freedom from both ardent the Rakhine nationalists as well as the Bamar hegemon, whilst hoping not to offend either one. There are those few Rakhine who dream of an independent state, or at least greater autonomy and that is where the Arakan National Congress comes it. Originating as the "Buddhist Central Auwadasariya Organisation" in the early 1930s, it was originally a religious body representing figures such as Sayadaw U Seinda and other monks within the Arakan region, but gradually grew to become a voice for lay Buddhist Rakhine nationalists, striving to protect their own Arakanese culture, language and political interests. The party has two wings, U Aung Zan Wai and U Kyaw Khin run the more moderate faction that has emerged after the rebranding as a "Arakan National Congress" and hold the positions of party chairman and secretary, respectively. Many suspect however that this is a mere political front, and that Sayadaw U Seinda and the BCAO still controls the party. U Seinda is a very left wing monk commonly known as “The King of Arakan” and while he has no formal position within the National Congress, he has close ties to the vice party chairman U Hla Tun Pru. Together, they appear to be running a more radical, pro-independence faction which dreams of a fully sovereign Arakan.

The Jamiat Ulema Party[]

Deen Muhammad Khan, Chairman of the Jamiat Ulema Party.

The Jamiat Ulema Party, meaning the "Council of Clergy" Party, was born from the Burmese branch of the wider Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind movement. Originally founded by Indian Muslims in November 1919, in order to organize fellow believers belonging to the Deobandi school of Islamic thought and to resist the colonial oppression of the British Raj, the group gradually expanded across the Indian subcontinent and eventually established a chapter as far away as Burma in the year 1922. The group was exclusively active among Indian Muslim migrants in the urban cities, finding little purchase among native Burmese Muslims. In the aftermath of Burma's revolt, independence and declaration of a republic, the Jamiat Ulema in Burma began to pursue recruiting more local Burmese Muslims, eventually merging with a local group dubbed the All-Burma Burman Muslim Ulama Association, led by Haji Ghazi Mohamad Hashim and endorsed by U Razak of the Burmese Muslim Congress. This new, unified organisation gradually transformed itself into a Burmese-centric "religious council", which undertook some limited political activities. While it still maintained ties to its old superiors back in Lahore, it no longer recognised the "Amir" of the movement's "Jamiat al-Markaziyyah", or "Central Council". The Jamiat Ulema of Burma instead established its own central council consisting of prominent Burmese and Indian Muslim theologians and political activists. As the years progressed it also assimilated the local Burmese Ismaili community, which had longed been patronised by the 48th Ismaili Imam, Aga Khan III, and maintained a cooperative relationship with the Sunni majority of the Burmese Muslim community. The Imam had urged his followers to assimilate into Burmese culture and to aid the nationalist movement, greatly improving their ties to the Jamiat Ulema. In time, "Wazir" U Kan Gyi, Ismailism's chief representative in the country was given a formal position on the Jamiat Ulema's council, due to his close connections to the Burmese business community and his willingness to host the Jamiat's headquarters at his own expense. His Ismaili beliefs have precluded him from wielding any genuine political power though and he has mostly been beholden to the two Sunni leaders of the party, Chairman Deen Muhammad Khan and General Secretary Gani Markan.

"Wazir" U Kan Gyi, representative of the Ismaili community in Burma.

The rise of President U Ba Pe in 1930 put increased government scrutiny over the group, in no small part due to its Indian origins and their perceived subservience to foreign actors. A set of conditions were handed down by the Ministry of Religious Affairs, demanding the Jamiat Ulema recognise the following rules if they wished to continue their religious and political activities: "Allow the participation of women in their public meetings, wear Burmese dress during prayers, stand during the reading of speeches of the President of Burma, and pay homage to the flag of Burma". These conditions were all wholly endorsed by the Burmese Muslim members of the group, but also all vehemently opposed by the Indian Muslims. Eventually a compromise was reached, mediated by the Minister of Religious Affairs U Su, which granted an exception for Indians to wear Indian dress, as well as allowed them to pay homage to the religious flag of the Jamiat Ulema, but not the flag of Azad Hind. Permitting women in public meetings and standing during the reading of Presidential Speeches was begrudgingly accepted. As a consequence, a hardline faction of Indian Muslims left the Jamiat Ulema, leading to the group's leadership to be dominated by older pragmatists and younger radicals. Worried by the risk of further intererance by the government, the Jamiat Ulema gradually began to reorganise itself into a political party.

Sultan Ahmed, leader of the Jamiat Ulema's minority nationalist faction.

The scars of the government conditions have however heightened the disputes between Indian and Burmese Muslims, as well as the ideological and cultural divisions between the old guard and younger radicals. The old guard currently control the party, best personified by the party's Chairman Deen Muhammad Khan and by its General Secretary Gani Markan who both adhere to the original vision of the Jamiat Ulema as a "scholarly party". This faction focuses mainly on religious and philosophical affairs, believing it is the party's duty to educate and guide the Muslim community, but not to take part in radical nationalist politics, for fear of provoking another crackdown. They favour a peaceful coexistence between the religious groups of Burma and Political Quietism in regards to Sharia, assuming that the civil rights and autonomies of Burmese Muslims can be guaranteed by the state. For this reason, they are reluctant supporters of the "Dobama Muslim" movement, commonly known as the "Patriotic Muslim" movement, which seeks to prove that Burmese Muslims can be just as nationalistic and loyal as Buddhist citizens of the Republic. The younger grassroots generation of the party, led predominantly by the Rakhine Muslim politician Sultan Ahmed and to a lesser extent by his colleague Sultan Mahmud, reject these displays of subservience to the state, favouring a cultural and nationalistic focus, wishing to promote a distinct Burmese Muslim identity that needs not prove its worth. They also wish to safeguard the regional identities of various Muslim majority minority ethnic groups inside Burma like the Indian Muslims. They are also popular with the Chinese Panthay, many of whom are based in Mandalay and on the northern border with Yunnan, as well as with the culturally distinct Muslim populations of northern Arakan, who are quite different from Bamar Burmese Muslims.

Generally known as "Bengali Muslims" or "Rakhine Indians", this population has been undergoing a slow but steady national awakening, exacerbated by tensions with their Buddhist Rakhine neighbours and persecution from the U Ba Pe government. Ahmad's faction believes that Burmese Muslims must attain not only religious autonomy, but also cultural and political autonomy to govern themselves by their own methods. This includes demands to redistrict municipalities split between Buddhist and Muslims, as well as the requesting the right for Muslim municipalities to recruit and oversee their own local police forces. Ahmad's campaigning has not escalated as far as to planning secession or a violent struggle, but it has definitely made the conservative leadership of Jamiat Ulema tug at their collars, fearing such radical demands will draw ire of the U Ba Pe government, as well as betray the Jamiat Ulema's original purpose. Ahmad's wing of the party has also garnered significant support from the Muslim scholar Mohammed Abdul Gaffar, who has become renowned as one of the leading voices for the "Bengali Muslims". Though he is not an outright member of Jamiat Ulema, his endorsements of the party have marked a gradual shift in the balance of power away from Deen Muhammad Khan and Gani Markan's old guard.

Defunct Political Parties[]

The National Coalition Group[]

The National Coalition Group, known as Amyotha Nyuntpaung Ap-phwe in Burmese, and sometimes referred to as the Provisional Government of Burma, was a broad coalition which made up the first ever government of modern, independent Burma. It consisted of representatives from every major political organization, working in unison to ensure the Burmese Revolt would succeed, yet this big tent was bound to collapse the moment that liberty was actually won for Burmese. It consisted of GCBA leader Chit Hlaing as President, YMBA leader U May Oung as Vice-President, prominent GCBA member U Tun Aung Kyaw as Prime Minister and Nationalist Party leader U Ba Pe as Home Minister. Shortly after the British withdrew from Burma, U Ba Pe left the coalition in protest of Chit Hlaing's supposed subservience to Indian political interests. U May Oung, who had been given a largely ceremonial position, owing to his disinterest in actively partaking in the nascent republic and lack of support for the GCBA and the Nationalist Party's radicalism, remained as vice-president until his death in 1926. Following this, the YMBA retired from the coalition and the politically independent nationalistic intellectual Maung Ba was appointed to replace U May Oung. The Vice-President's death intensified calls for Chit Hlaing to hold open elections, at a time when the President recognized that he longer held the support of his revolutionary peers. As such, Chit Hlaing declared that the National Coalition Group would remain in office for a full five year term, hoping to make the most of his next four years in power. This era of the provisional government left it as wholly dominated by the GCBA and as of the 1930 election, the National Coalition Group would be formally dissolved in favour of instituting a free multiparty democracy.

The Nationalist Party[]

The Fabian Party[]

Dr. U Ba Cho, former leader of the Fabian party, presently a prominent figure within the Young Workers' Union

The Fabian Party was a short lived radical socialist party, born out of the 1920 Student Strike and ideological schisms within the GCBA. It was founded by Dr. Ba Cho, who modelled it after the British Independent Labour Party and the Fabian Society, initially favouring an evolutionary form of democratic socialism. Many senior members of Burmese leftism had been members of the party, including Dr. Ba Maw and the political writer "Fabian" U Ba Khaing. A large contingent of more conservative members also existed, led by U Ba Hlaing, who favoured socialist economic policies but upheld conservative social values. The party eventually fell apart, largely due to Dr. Ba Cho's gradual radicalization and growing sympathies for British Syndicalism causing schisms with U Ba Hlaing's supporters. Ba Maw absorbed most of the left wing rank and file into his Poor Man's Party, whilst U Ba Hlaing's conservative faction joined the People's Party. U Ba Khaing struck out as an independent, citing the ideological squabbles and general inefficiencies of the Fabian Party as one of his inspirations behind penning "The Political History of Burma" in 1930. Dr. Ba Cho himself joined forces with the nascent Syndicalist movement in Burma, like the Young Workers Union and Red Naga Bookclub.

The Tharaja Party[]

The late Tharaja U Toke Gyi (1884-1931), the leader of the Tharaja Party

The Tharaja Party, also known as the Burmese Swaraj Party was a short-lived political clique representing the interests of the Indo-Burmese upper class within the broader political landscape of the British Raj. It was led by the late Burmese merchant "Swaraj" U Toke Gyi, the Indian newspaper tycoon Nripendra Chandra Banerjee and the Rakhine teacher U Paw Tun. The leader of the Indian National Congress' Burmese branch, Pranjivan Mehta also held a prominent role in the party, especially following Burma's independence. Tharaja was primarily led by Indian and Burmese businessmen based out of Burma with economic interests in India, or Burmese representatives to Indian political organizations like Mehta. As the name implies, Toke Gyi and his colleagues modelled the party after the Indian Swaraj movement, using the Burmese approximation of "Tharaja". After the Burmese Revolt the party was largely subsumed into other liberal groups and factions representing Burmese minorities such as the Burmese-Indians. "Swaraj" U Toky Gy joined the Joseph Augustus Maung Gyi's Progressive Party, aiding in its transformation into the Independent Party, whilst U Paw Tun, Nripendra Chandra Banerjee and Pranjivan Mehta all became a founding members of the United Nationalities League and its subject parties.

Political groups outside of the Party System[]

The Young Men's Buddhist Association[]

The Young Men's Buddhist Association, or YMBA, is one of the oldest political organisations founded in modern Burmese history. Its founding is generally attributed to May 10th, 1906, but formal groups of a likeminded nature had already gathered in Burma before, such as the 1897 Buddha Sasana Noggaha Athin (Society to Support the Buddhist Order) in Mandalay and the 1902 Asoka Society in Bassen. The YMBA was directly inspired by similar movements in India and Ceylon, with the latter at this time being considered the headquarters of international Buddhist political movements and being home to its own Young Men's Buddhist Association, founded in 1898. Offshoots of the Ceylonese YMBA existed in Rangoon at a time, but the YMBA of Burma was not originally affiliated with them, instead tracing its origin back to a core cadre of twenty members from the nearby Rangoon College. In the years that followed, the Pro-Ceylon groups in Rangoon flocked beneath the Burmese YMBA's banner, melding the organisations into one. The earliest days of the Burmese YMBA was that of a political club led by future Prime Minister U Maung Gyee, hosted at his house, in order to articulate and organise Burmese nationalist ideas, as well as to defend the Buddhist "spirit" of the country. At the time, Burma was under heavy pressure from its colonial overlords to be Anglicized and conform to Western Values, which many Burmans thought would eventually wipe out their own unique cultural and religious identity. Early members of the YMBA, such as Maung Gyee, U Ba Pe and U May Oung, among many others, wanted to find a way to preserve Burma's heritage and to non-violently resist the British domination of their people. The group was initially not nationalist or separatist in nature, however, with some early records even showing the YMBA pledging support to the British Crown with the slogan "Buddha Save The King". In 1908 they began to expand across Burma, promoting a conscious Burmese national identity as laid out by U May Oung in his legendary manifesto "The Modern Burman: His Life and Notions". By 1910 a formal convention was organized, chaired by the senior Buddhist intellectual U Bo Pyay, in order to develop a representative structure for the YMBA, appointing delegates from its many different branches. The next year, a national assembly was organised, presided over by U Bo Pyay and U May Oung, which codified among other things the group's founding rules and membership rolls, as well as deciding on its symbolism such as a choosing a Swaztika logo with "YMBA" upon it, to represent good luck. The national assembly also saw the YMBA decide on a number of mottos and slogans. Most popular among these was "Race, Language, Religion, Education" and "To Be Burmese is to be Buddhist", but "To Encourage the Sasana (Buddha's teachings)" and "To Love the Nation" also saw some use. "Buddha Save The King" remained a fixture among some of the more Anglophile branches who championed equal rights for all citizens of the British Empire, but was rapidly dropped by radical members of the YMBA. Lastly, the assembly also codified the group's organisational system, consisting of an upper echelon named the Baho Sayadaw (Board of Noble Teachers) who elected an President from among themselves, with a one year term.

Though the YMBA initially made great strives as a charitable and educational society, as well as a vital organisational tool for rural political groups and politically engaged monks, cracks soon began to form within it. U May Oung, seen by many as the founding father of modern Burmese nationalism, effectively dominated the YMBA and was adamant about avoiding unnecessary conflict with the Colonial Government. Against his wishes, several younger and more radical members became far bolder in their deeds and rhetoric, culminating in the Shoe Scandal of 1917 wherein the YMBA took on an ambivalent attitude, as well as the University Strike of 1920, where the YMBA leadership almost entirely refused to endorse the struggle. A dire schism had taken place between those who saw the YMBA's sole purpose as being a platform for articulating and preserving Burma's cultural, national and religious identity, now being opposed to those younger radicals who wished to transform the group into a more proactive, if not militant nationalist movement. As a consequence of these divisions, the YMBA split in 1920 with the faction of more radical members who had endorsed the University Strike going on to form the General Council of Burmese Associations and the Free Burma Party. The YMBA had once commanded a membership in the hundreds of thousands, with more than 2000 distinct chapters across the country. The vast majority of these now defected to the GCBA and the Free Burma Party, with the remaining loyalists initially rededicating themselves to U May Oung's ideological mission. U May Oung was later nominated as the first Vice-President of Burma, following the Burmese Revolt, with the YMBA somewhat reluctantly participating in the National Coalition Government before eventually withdrawing after U May Oung's death in 1926. The YMBA thereafter reoriented around the leadership of now U Ba Tu, U Boe Thar, U Thin, three leading members who have collectively been dubbed the "Tu, Thar, Thin Group", or "The Elder Group". This new triumvirate redoubled the YMBA's commitment to remaining apolitical, but also led it down a more sectarian path that rejected U May Oung's modernist vision, focusing instead on organizing the conservative monks in Burma who were opposed to the efforts of the Pongyi and the General Council of Sangha Sameggi.

U Thwin, "the Rice King", currently serves as the de-facto leader of the YMBA and is frequently reelected as its President.

The death of U Boe Thar in 1933 marked yet another political realignment, with more moderate figures righting the course and bringing the YMBA back towards Buddhist modernism. Now led informally by the duo of "the Porcelain King" Baganset U Thaw and "the Rice King" U Thwin, two prominent merchant tycoons and veteran members of the YMBA, the association finds itself both at a crossroad and under political scrutiny. Its new leaders' are sympathic to the government of Burma and several electoral parties in its legislature, particularly the People's Party, the GCBA and the Free Burma Party. Baganset U Thaw even had to retire from most formal positions he held in the YMBA, after being hand-picked by the Free Burma Party to server as Minister of Home Affair's in the current Five Flowers Coalition government. Nevertheless, there is still a prevailing sense of duty and commitment within the leadership to remain apolitical and unbiased, with Baganset U Thaw emphasizing this his actions as a private individual who is part of the YMBA does not interfere with his professional duties as Minister of Home Affair, or vice versa. The close cooperation with the monkshoods and the group's religious affairs have actually increased, with U Thwin helping to build connections with the boards of trustees for several Burmese temples and pagoda, which he has in turn been rewarded for with honorary religious titles and offices at these temples. The Rice King has even led visits to India, Tibet and Japan, redoubling the YMBA's age old commitment to Buddhist internationalism. This combined with Baganset U Thaw choosing to focus on his political career, has made U Thwin into the main "face" of the reorganized YMBA, with the role of President usually being filled by either him or one of his close associates ever since 1933.

The General Council of Sangha Sameggi[]

GCSS — The official logo of the General Council of Sangha Sameggi, a Buddhist Chatra, or Umbrella.

Burmese Buddhist Flag — A minority faction of GCSS members have also chosen to use a Burmese variant of the International Buddhist Flag, as another symbol for the group.

The General Council of the United Monkshood is a group of politically active Pongyi (Monks), who first began to gather in the wake of the 1920 University Strike and U Ottama's return to Burma. Though U Ottama is commonly considered the mastermind behind the group, the GCSS has always seen itself as a collective effort to unite the Burmese Sangha into a coherent political entity that could lobby for independence, civil rights and religious equality against the British imperialists. The forming group marked a turning point away from the tradition of sporadic "Minlaung" insurrections, wherein nationalistic monks would often issue prophecies to organise regional rebellions against the British, but mostly end up just causing collateral damage either from their improvised rebellions or from the brutal British suppression that followed. The GCSS moved the politically active monkshood towards the direction of an organized political party that could coordinate its efforts nationwide. It also provided an alternative for younger monks to rise to prominence outside of the entrenched, traditional religious hierarchy led by the Thathanabaing (Keeper of the knowledge of the Buddha), the ostensibly head of Burma's Buddhists and a position that is currently held by the elderly Taunggwin Sayadaw. Though the Thathanabaing was once a respected title, younger monks see its holder as representatives of an antiquated system that stifles meritocracy and is far too conservative to address the issues of the day. The fact that the Thathanabaing also collaborated with the British after the Third Anglo-Burmese War has fuelled further resentment. The GCSS initially served mainly to advise the GCBA on its policies, but in the wake of U Ottama's death and the outbreak of the Burmese Revolt, it grew into a political faction in its own right, led by an informal triumvirate consisting of the charismatic monk U Wisara, a close comrade of Ottama named U Sandhara, and Ottama's brother U Ariya. Though Wisara is ostensibly the head of the GCSS, he holds little direct control and every voice on its inner council is greatly valued. Some conflict has arisen as of late between more ideologically convicted monks led by Sandhara, who have accused Ariya and his followers of merely coasting on Ariya's familial connection to Ottama.

A drawing of U Wisara, current leader of the General Council of Sangha Sameggi.

The GCSS gained a greater influence on the broader Buddhist hierarchy after President Chit Hlaing offered them a seat at the table to advise the Ministry of Religious Affairs on conferring honorary Buddhist titles to distinguished monks and addressing violations of Vinaya, or Buddhist rules, among monks in breach of monasteries' religious laws. This remains an informal, advisory relationship, but it has allowed the GCSS to challenge the Thathanabaing's near monopoly on power and there is a great deal of interest from members of the GCSS in legalizing their party as the official state council for regulating the Burmese monkshood. Even after President U Ba Pe took power, the GCSS was allowed to continue cooperating with the Ministry of Religious Affairs, as a means to appease the Pongyi.

Today the GCSS occupies a precarious spot, as factional and ideological conflicts are growing within the monkshood. The GCSS struggles with theological debates over issues of Buddhist ecclesiastic laws, social norms, and the religion's relationship to a rapidly changing world around it, and to a rapidly changing Burma in particular. Even if it is disunited over religion, the party has been able to put up a united political front against its enemies and rivals, such as the Thathanabaing's near monopoly on power and President U Ba Pe's anti-pongyi agenda, but the declining health of U Wisara and his inabilities to resolve the internal conflicts threaten to escalate the GCSS' ideological schisms. The risk of political fracturing has also been fuelled by a number of younger Pongyi who have come to view even the Sangha Sameggi as too restrained and conservative, with a new faction dubbed the "Yahanpyo" (Young Monks) growing in popularity. This group is closely inspired by the legacy of the Bu Athin (Literally "No Associations", better translated as "Protest Associations"), political groups in early 20th century Burma who urged Gandhian non-cooperation against the British. Though the Bu Athin declined in influence as they and the Wunthanu Athin were integrated into the local governance of the new Burmese Republic, some members of the Yahanpyo have called on bringing them back to protest against the U Ba Pe government. Rumours have already begun circulating that the Yahanpyo may break away from the broader GCSS to forge their own path, if not mollified by the leading triumvirate within the organisation.

The Galon Athin[]

The All-Burma Student Union[]

The Young Workers' Union[]

The Nagani Book Club[]

The Nagani (Red Naga) Book Club is, as the name implies, a book club and educational society. It was formed by left-wing teachers and student activists who had met informally since the late 1920s and formally created the current political organization in the mid 1930s. The club was modelled after similar left-wing book clubs in India, Britain and France, with the hope of providing the Burmese people both intellectual stimulation and political enlightenment by translating and distributing works of socialist and syndicalist literature. It was originally led by the two teachers U Nu and Than Tun, with additional financial support from the former Fabian Party leader Dr. U Ba Cho. It has counted many prominent intellectuals and student leaders in its ranks, such as Thein Pe Myint and Ko Tun Aye. Almost immediately after its founding however, the group began break down over ideological and personal feuds. Ko Tun Aye was the first to split, over the issue of where the club's library was to be hosted. U Nu, who had initially been Chairman of the club, swiftly found himself displaced by younger radicals enamoured with the ideologies of secularism and violent revolutionary struggle espoused by the Third Internationale. This alienated U Nu, a strict pacifist and ardent Buddhist, but he did not formally leave the group until 1935, when the U Ba Pe government of Burma cracked down harder on socialist groups, threatening to prosecute U Nu for his involvement in Nagani and the All-Burma Student Union. This would have cost U Nu his prestigious position as a teacher at the regional schools of Thongwa and Pantanaw, as well as his position at the University of Rangoon, so he chose to resign from Nagani and formally denounced the group.

In U Nu's absence, the unorthodox militant Than Tun emerged as its sole leader and Chairman. He radically changed the group's mission away from just teaching theory to Burmans, to instead putting that theory into practice, clandestinely advocating for subversive acts against Burma's right wing government. Additionally, the club's members have composed many new works of Burmese left wing theory, such as Thein Pe Myint's celebratory albeit also critical biography on the People's Party deputy Thakin Kodaw Hmaing as well as Than Tun and U Soe's manifestos on the "Bon Wada ah-yint sar khit" (Age of Mature Socialism), a proposed stage of future political development for Burma after it has accomplished the bon khitpa-ta-ma sint (first stage of communism) of merely initiating the revolution. The Club is also notable, especially among U Soe's faction, for preferring phonetic translations of political terms such as Hsoshelit (Socialist) and Communit (Communist), but has at U Nu's strict instruction also maintained a diverse political vocabulary that makes their works accessible to both common workers and the educated elite.

The Nagani Book Club views itself as the vanguard that can help keep their nation on the right path, translating elements of European Totalism such as French Sorelianism and British Maximism, as well as the ideology of Indian left-wing nationalist Subhas Chandra Bose into a Burmese political context. It now resembles more of a quasi student militia, with an ideologically trained and allegedly well-armed membership numbering in the hundreds. There are cracks beginning to form though within the group. Whereas Chairman Than Tun holds onto a traditional reading of Marxism and Syndicalism, with a slight fascination for Sorelianism and Totalism, Club Secretary U Soe is an ardent supporter of Subhas Chandra Bose and a much more wholehearted believer in the ideas of Sorel, which has led to some, as of yet still friendly, disagreements with his comrade Than Tun.

The Guite Chiefs[]

ChinTribe — Representatives of the Guite Chiefs, during one of their rare visits to Rangoon.

The Chin Peoples of the eponymous Chin Hills, also known as the "Hill Tribes", are one of the few major ethnic groups in Burma with little to no democratic representation. Even though contesting their mountainous lands along the frontier served as one of Great Britain's initial casus belli for subjugating the Konbaung Dynasty, the British Raj never paid much heed to governing this distant frontier, entrusting the administration over the "Hill Tribes" to a loyal set of vassals known as the Guite Chiefs. The Guite themselves could be defined as a clan, a dynasty or a tribe, perhaps even an ethnic group in and of themselves, depending on who you ask. What is known is that they are a powerful group of Chin peoples who had converted to Christianity and following the 1886 Chin Hills Regulation Act they became Britain's only point of contact out in the frontier. The Guite were given de-facto authority over the entirety of the Chin peoples, in both Burma and Assam. Even after the Burmese Revolt, the new government in Rangoon were careful not to upset this careful balance on the mountainous frontier, obliging with the Guite chiefs to exclude the Chin people from the Pegu Conference and from Burma's democratic framework. Though the Chin Hills are ostensibly “governed” from the city of Pakokku in the form of a “Pakokku Hill Tracts Districts” which holds local jurisdiction, in reality its mayor merely maintains contact with the Guite chiefs, who are left to their own devices. The Guite dispatch representatives to Pakokku, and in dire cases to Rangoon, to let their voices be heard, but there has never been much consideration for ever bringing this black spot of Burma under any kind of administrative scrutiny, much less democratic participation. Insofar as Rangoon is aware, the two leading chiefs among the Guite are presently Thangvang Guite and Phungkhothang Guite. Their hegemony is threatened by the sons of Khai Kham, a late Chin rebel chief who sought to counteract the Guite, and by Pau Cin Hau, a self-proclaimed prophet who has blended Buddhism, Christianity and traditional Chin religion to form his own religion. Even Vumkhohau Thuantak, the erstwhile Chin envoy between the Guite, Rangoon and Pakokku, is frequently suspected of scheming with rebel groups to offset the influence of the Guite Chiefs.

The Chin Hills Unity Party[]

U Wan Ma Thu Maung — Pu Vum Thu Maung, leader of the Unity Front.

Established by the Chin General and Minister of Home Affairs Pu Vum Thu Maung, also known as U Vomthu Maung (and U Vamthu Mawng), the Chin National Unity Front is an anomaly among Chin groups and an anomaly among nationalist groups as a whole. It was originally known as the Chin Solidarity Party and existed to pressure the Burmese government about the lack of democratic representation for the Chin peoples. While most Chin tribes have remained content with the level of political autonomy they've been granted under the current relationship between the government in Rangoon and the Guite Chiefs, some have flocked to the banner of bringing democracy to the Hill Tribes, uniting the geographically and culturally isolated "black spot of Burma" with the rest of the country. Pu Vum Thu Maung served as a Chin delegate at the Pegu Conference, but grew disillusioned with the Guite Chief's selfish grab for power, and chose to break with the status quo in order to form a Chin nationalist group which upsets the delicate balance of the Guite tribal protectorate. The group has little in the way of an ideology, beyond Pu Vum Thu Maung's own zealous love of U Ba Pe, to the point of naming his firstborn child after the president, but it claims to want to bring democratic liberties and representation to the Chin people by integrating them into the broader system of the Burmese Republic. At the current moment, this group has limited popular support among Chin tribes, and tacit support from U Ba Pe, but is nowhere near able to usurp the Guite hegemony over the Hill Tribes. It is also not yet recognised as a formal political party, with Pu Vum Thu Maung officially being registered as a member of the People's Party. The party also has limited support amongst Buddhist, Jewish and Muslim factions of the Chin tribes, who reject the Christian and traditional pagan religions of the Guite. It can even claim adherents from rival Chin religions such as Sakhua and the followers of the esoteric prophet Pau Cin Hau.

Fringe Hill Tribe Political Groups[]

Outside of the Chin National Unity Front, there are also handfuls of smaller, but well organised intellectual societies and political clubs that operate within the borderlands between Azad Hind and Burma, where the local ethnic minorities have long lived on both sides of the border. Many of these groups are based out of North-eastern India and have merely established chapters within Burma, while others have relocated their headquarters to the Chin Hills after facing persecution for their autonomist and/or secessionist beliefs by the Azad Hind government. Most notable among these are the Naga Club and the Naga Elders Union, representing the disparate Naga ethnic groups of both India and Burma. The groups are formally led by Imti Aliba Ao, but the leading ideologue of Naga nationalism, Angami Zapu Phizo, is seen as another face of the movement and heads their Burmese chapters. The other main Indian groups that are active within Burma are the Mizo nationalists, led by the Young Lushai Association and the Mizo Commoner’s Union. These groups are generally split between outright secession and merely fighting for greater political autonomy, as well as resolving the anachronisms and internal contradictions of Mizo tribal society. The Young Lushai Association primarily works out of India and tows a pro-Mizo Chiefs line, favouring cultural conservation and mutual aid over engaging in organized, if not violent political activism. The Mizo Commoner's Union represents exactly what it claims to, the Mizo Commoners, many of whom chafe under the Chief's authority. They are far more dedicated towards being a unified, solely political organisation that can fight for Mizo freedom. Because of this anti-authoritarian bent, many members of the Union have fled to Burma and rallied in exile under a trio of leaders known as Pachunga, P.S. Dahrawka and R. Vanlawma. A man known as Sabrawnga has taken up anti-Chief agitation within India proper, on behalf of the group.

One of the rare homegrown political movements among the Burmese Hill Tribes, that remains unaffiliated with the Chin National Unity Front, is a group known only as the "Manipur Paona Independence League of Burma", also sometimes referred to as the "Manipur Party". Supposedly led by Shri Laishram Guna Singh, a former clerk, and Uthonten Sharma, a local village headsman, this group claims to support an esoteric mixture of Gandhism, Subhaschandrism, Manipur nationalism as expressed by the "Manipur cultural renaissance", as well as Hinduism and Christianity. Its activities have largely been limited to political agitation in Mandalay, where Shri Laishram Guna Singh is based, though it claims to also have adherents on both the Indian and the Burmese side of the Manipur Valley. So far, this group has gone almost entirely unremarked upon, though its claim of having support from several extreme organisations based in Azad Hind, such as the All-India Forward Bloc, has raised some concerns among Burmese authorities.

The Karenni Council[]

Originally formed in colonial times by the British as a means to manage the "Karenni Princedoms", the Karenni Council was a body of various tribal leaders in the Karenni region, generally consisting of delegates from the five major states, Kyebogyi, Bawlake, Naungpale, Nammekon and Kantarawadi. These states were also later integrated into the "Federated Shan States" as fellow protectorates, owing to the region's history of being governed by ethnically Shan princes even if by the 1800s most of these rulers had integrated into the native Karenni culture. The Karenni also often disagreed with this seemingly arbitrary designation of what constituted a "major" state and which states were "Karenni". After Burma gained its independence, the Council was reoriented around the actual power centres of the Karenni people, favouring instead to summon representatives from Kantarawadi, Kyebogyi, Bawlakhe and Mongpai. Naungpale and Nammekon were deemed too small and too isolated from the rest of the Karenni community to maintain the disproportionate influence that the British had given them. Mongpai had under British rule been designated as a Shan state, its rulers had never abandoned their Shan roots, but the actual population of Mongpai was almost majority Karenni owing to northern migration. This decision to claim Mongpai as part of a greater Karenni territory was controversial with the Saopha (Prince) of Mongpai and the Burmese Republic formally stepped in after the Pegu Conference to try to stop this provocative action. Nevertheless, meetings continued to be held in secret with Mongpai delegates who spoke of wanting to secede. After the Burmese-Siamese War of 1928 to 1929, the Siamese army occupied Burmese territory on the eastern banks of the Salween River, which included over half the territory of Kantawaradi, severely weakening the state's power.

U Bee Htu Re, a champion of the nascent form of Karenni nationalism.

By the mid 1930s, there have been some calls among the Karenni to transform the Council into a formal political party, noting the successful examples of the Karen National Association and the Shan led Hill People's Congress. On the other hand, there also voices speaking up in favour of integrating the Council into one of these two groups, as there are conflicting attempts by both Karen and Shan nationalists to claim the Karenni states as part of an envisioned national homeland and to influence the Council. Thus far, any form of Karenni nationalism not tied to Karen or Shan nationalism is still embryonic and not much has been done to modernise the council. One voice who has been the loudest proponent of establishing a new "Karenni National Organisation" has been U Bee Htu Re, a young tribal delegate from Bawlakhe who is deeply connected to the Karen National Association, particularly its more militant wing led by Saw Ba U Gyi. U Bee Htu Re has even drawn up a flag for a future "Karenniland", depicting a red cross over a white cross on a blue field, with four stars upon it representing the four Karenni districts. He has not however been clear whether or not "Karenniland" will be an independent nation, an autonomous territory within Burma, or even within a future Karen nation. It remains to be seen if the Karenni Council will follow U Bee Htu Re's ambitious proposals.

People’s Educational Cultural Development Organization[]

Duwa Wabaw Zau Rip, the leader of PECDO.

This organization, commonly abbreviated as PECDO, PADA, or "Pafakaya" is less of a political party and more a lobbying group for Kachin national interests. Led by the Kachin nationalist Duwa Wabaw Zau Rip, PECDO strives to make the grievances and the needs of the Kachin people heard in Rangoon, hoping to as its name implies, achieve funding and resources for economic and cultural development. Whereas the KNC attracts Kachin intelligentsia and the Pawngyawng National Organization seeks out the common masses, PECDO derives most of its membership from administrative clerks or various tribal envoys to Rangoon. It is one of the main groups which the Burmese government interacts with to negotiate the funding and management of the Kachin Hills autonomous region, initially being favoured for holding more moderate and assimilationist views than the Karen National Congress, but PECDO has in recent years taken on a more active role as not just a clique of Kachin administrators and clerks, but a genuine voice for the political will of the Kachin people. This populist tone has somewhat unsettled the Burmese government, who are especially worried about Duwa Wabaw Zau's very wide and vague definition of what constitutes members of the Kachin People, which has been seen as a way to bolster his personal influence and to secure even greater budgetary concessions from Rangoon.

The All Ramanya Mon Organization[]

MonFlag — The Ramanya Organization generally uses the traditional symbol of the "Golden Hamsa", also known as the "Golden Sheldrake", as their logo

The All Ramanya Mon Organization is a Burmese political group formed to advance the interests of primarily the Mon ethnic minority, but also other ethnic groups such as Karens. It was established by students of Mon descent at Rangoon University who strove for the preservation of Mon language, culture, and identity, in the wake of the Siamese occupation of Lower Burma and growing anti-Mon sentiments from the Burmese government, after Mon tribal leaders sided with the Siamese in the war of 1928-1929. The group's name derives from the Ramanya, also known as the Dasaratha Jataka, a Vedic epic text that has formed the basis for both the Burmese, Mon and Thai national epics. Ramanya is also the etymological origin of the word Mon. The group is presently led by the student radicals Nai Htaw Sorn and Nai Shwe Kyin, with the former overseeing the groups newspaper the "Mon Bulletin", and the latter leading an affiliated Mon civil rights group called the Mon Freedom League. The Ramanya Organization has also received a great deal of patronage from the Burmese scholar Pe Maung Tin, as well as the British orientalist and Anglo-Burmese Association member Gordon Luce and his wife, Tee Tee Luce, who have both been longstanding supporters of the Mon people.

The United Mon Association[]

Established in the early 1930s, the United Mon Association is a radical Mon Nationalist group active primarily within Siamese occupied Lower Burma, formed out of a growing Mon intelligentsia and national consciousness, brought about by the Burmese-Siamese War of 1928-1929. It is a highly militant group that seeks to attain political autonomy, and potentially even national self-determination for the Mon peoples, organizing against both the Siamese and the Burmese governments who contest the Mon territories. Though the group initially had Siamese support, as the government in Bangkok saw the Mon as a useful cudgel against the Karen and Bamar population and had historically supported the Mon ever since their first exoduses into Siam, the group's growing radicalization has come to alienate their old Siamese patrons. No more content with being tools, the Mon nationalists have put to use the knowledge they've gained from Siamese universities and anti-imperialist literature to carve out a homeland for themselves, as hopeless of an endeavour it might be.

Nai Po Cho, de-facto leader of the United Mon Association.

The core leadership of the UMA is primarily made up of Christian Mon, who had little role to play in the Kingdom of Siam's vision for their newly conquered territories. The Moulmein based doctor and teacher Nai Pho Cho emerged as the lynchpin of the Association, serving as its de-facto leader and helping to build coalitions with both traditional tribal leaders as well as student radicals. His protégé Nai Aung Tun has played a great role in expanding the group and defining its ideology, serving as something of a power behind the throne. The son of a village chief outside Kyaikkhami, Aung Tun studied under Pho Cho in Moulmein, before moving to Mudon where he helped establish a chapter of the UMA. Taking inspiration from both various socialist and nationalist movements across Asia, Aung Tun developed the ideological framework for a "united Mon people's front" against both European imperialism, as well as Bamar and Thai ethnic supremacy. Whereas Pho Cho has proved amicable to negotiations for political and cultural autonomy with both Burmese and Siamese forces, Aung Tun appears to be genuinely committed to achieving a sovereign Mon territory. Additionally, whereas Pho Cho has been supportive of restoring the brief Mon-Karen alliance that formed during the Burmese Revolt and the Burma-Siamese War of 1924-1925, using his Christian faith to bridge the gap with Christian Karen leaders, Aung Tun is sceptical of this so-called united front with another ethnic group.

The Mujahid Party[]

Jafar Hussain Kawwal, leader of the Mujahid Party.

The "Mujahid-e Azam Arakan" or "Mujahid Party of Greater Arakan", also known as simply the Mujahid Party or the Muslim Liberation Organization, is a militant group active in Arakan. As the name implies, it is a Muslim oriented group, led by the young Sufi radical Jafar Hussain Kawwal. It straddles the line between a political paramilitary and a genuine political party, having sought to compete in the 1935 elections, but it was banned by the anti-Islamic U Ba Pe administration. Most other Burmese political groups maintain their distance from the Mujahid Party, even among Burmese Muslims and Bengali Muslims based in Arakan. Its known association with Islamic fundamentalism and its history of violent militancy has made even the United Nationalities League and the Jamiat Ulema look the other way, rather than support legalizing the group as a genuine political party.

The Anglo-Burmese Association[]

Anglo-Burman — The symbol of the Anglo-Burmese Association, showing a white and a coloured hand in a handshake

Formed in late 1926, the Anglo-Burmese Association is a loose affiliation of prominent Anglo-Burmese and British individuals who remained in the former colony of Burma after the British colonial government was driven out. It is not recognized as a political party and is ostensibly just a social club, but it is in truth the only permissable outlet of political expression for most Anglo-Burmese citizens, especially those who dissent against the Burmese Republic. Traditionally the term Anglo-Burmese can encompass anything from mixed-race "Eurasians" to white Britons who had been living within Burma. When Britain evacuated its colonial administration and social elites from Burma, a large portion of the mixed race community and even many white Britons were left behind. The British Raj maintained a policy that only those subjects of the crown who could verify that they possessed pure European blood dating back to all four grandparents would be offered refuge in India and compensation for their lost property in Burma. With the chaos of the Burmese Revolt this proved to be a very difficult task for even pure-blooded Europeans to prove, deterring emigration, to say nothing for the mixed race colonials who were explicitly barred from compensation. Though many whites and people of mixed race nevertheless fled Burma, choosing to live in poverty over living under the threat of native Burmese hegemony, several chose to stay and to defend both their property and their civil rights in the face of the nascent native Republic. White and Eurasian "Citizens' Committees" were formed during the Burmese Revolt, some of whom were armed and could count on the membership of military veterans. Immediate clashes between the Burmese Rebels and the armed citizenry was prevented after mediation led by Richard Rushall, then Honorary Magistrate of Rangoon, who brought both the Citizens' Committees and the Burmese nationalists to the peace table.

In the name of making goodwill with the Anglo-Burmese minority and to follow the conditions of the 1925 Indian Ceasefire, the Provisional Burmese Government took on an ambivalent policy. Though colonial state property and many private businesses were expropriated, Vice-President May Oung championed defending the civil liberties of, and preventing acts of violence against, the Anglo-Burmese. Many Anglo-Burmans were given another oppertunity to negotiate emigrating from the country, this time with the chance to attain their papers from the colonial archives, while those who still stayed usually joined the heavily westernized Independent Party or the Anglophilic socialist Fabian Party. Those Anglo-Burmans who did not accept joining these two parts of the permissible political spectrum were left bereft of any patronage or protection when May Oung suddenly died in early 1926. Fortunately, the Arakanese banker Htoon Aung Gyaw and Bamar barrister Tin Tut stepped in to fill the void. Both had very close connections to the Anglo-Burmese community and offered their support for Anglo-Burmans to be given greater rights to freely express themselves and freely assemble through some kind of semi-political group, without fear of reprisals.

BurmaResearch — Logo of the Burma Research Society, presently led by the native born scholar Pe Maung Tin.

Under their guidance, an Anglo-Burmese Association was formed, modelled after the former Citizens' Committees albeit naturally now non-violent, gathering delegates from the four Anglo-Burmese strongholds of Rangoon, Mandalay, Maymyo and Katha. Various smaller Anglo-Burmese groups joined the Association, such as John Sydenham Furnivall, Gordon Luce and Pe Maung Tin's intellectual "Burma Research Society" as well as the informal "Houghton Society", a clique of Progressive Anglo-Burmans inspired by Bernard Houghton, a former colonial official who had been an active supporter of Burmese independence. The Anglo-Burmese Association initially struggled to find a meeting ground, with all government buildings formerly belonging to the colonial administration overtaken, or destroyed in the revolt, as well as various social clubs and residences like the Pegu Club, alongside hotels such as The Royal, The Minto Mansions, and The Strand also being expropriated. Bereft of other options, the group eventually decided to begin arranging meetings in the old Gymkhana Club of Rangoon.

Charles Haswell Campagnac, former judge and a leading figure among the pro-British Anglo Burmans

The Association has thereafter remained a fixture of the Rangoon political scene, only barely tolerated by the Burmese government. President U Ba Pe, a former proponent of collaboration with the British prior to the Burmese Revolt and a close friend to the Anglo-Burmese community, has reluctantly allowed the organization to remain active. He has noted privately that the Anglo-Burmese community's general averseness to socialism and to the activities of the Buddhist monks benefits his own government programs. The Association is presently politically divided. The more conservative faction is ascendant, led by G.P Kirkham, a former civil servant, as President-in-Chief and Charles Haswell Campagnac, a former Judge of Eurasian background, as secretary. Both of whom hold very pro-British views and are believed to be actively fermenting dissent against the Burmese government.

The liberal membership was previously informally led by the Bernard Houghton, who had departed Burma in 1912 but had nevertheless published numerous articles from Britain in the New Burman and Rangoon Mail journals up until his death in 1933, continuously supporting Burmese nationalism and international socialism. He personally corresponded with U Ottama and a number of his articles such as "For Freedom" or "Make Burma Safe For Democracy" are still popular amongst the nationalist movement to this day. Houghton briefly visited independent Burma in the late 1920s, with permission from the British socialist government, but declined to permanently reside there. In his absence and after his eventual death, the liberals coalesced around Richard Rushall, a retired sea captain, shipping magnate and former mayor of Rangoon, along with the aforementioned educational activist John Sydenham Furnivall, forming a clique that has generally been supportive of the Burmese government but a bit too left leaning for President U Ba Pe's tastes. The author and journalist Eric Blair was also a curious, if brief fixture of this liberal clique, having become renowned for his social commentaries and works of fiction which are highly influenced by his time serving in Burma as a colonial police officer at the time of the Burmese Revolt. Blair was one of the Anglo-Burmese Associations most outspoken socialist members, but remained distant from native Burmese socialists, preferring the company of Christian Karen activists or his fellow Anglo-Burmans. Following his departure from Burma and relocation, first to Britain and then to France, he hasn't left much of a cultural hallmark in the former colony, though he is known in the west for his articles and correspondence for the Third Internationale backed newspaper Le Progrès civique, which are influenced by anti-imperialist views he developed during his time in Burma.