Aung San

Bogyoke (Major General) Aung San (Burmese: ဗိလ်ချုပ် ေအာင်ဆန်း; MLCTS:

Major General
buil hkyup aung hcan:, pronounced [bòdʑoʊʔ àʊɴ sʰ áɴ]; 13 February 1915 –
Aung San
19 July 1947) served as the 5th Premier of the British Crown Colony of Burma
from 1946 to 1947. Initially he was a communist and later a social democratic ေအာင်ဆန်း
politician. He was known as a revolutionary, nationalist, and as the founder of
the Tatmadaw (modern-day Myanmar Armed Forces), and is considered as the
Father of the Nation of modern-day Myanmar.

He was responsible for bringing about Burma's independence from British

rule, but was assassinated six months before independence. During World War
Two, he initially collaborated with Japan following their invasion of Burma
before swapping sides to the British. He is recognized as the leading architect
of independence, and the founder of the Union of Burma. Affectionately
known as "Bogyoke" (Major General), Aung San is still widely admired by the
Burmese people, and his name is still invoked in Burmese politics to this day.

Aung San's daughter, Aung San Suu Kyi, is a Burmese stateswoman and
politician and a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize who is now serving as State
Counsellor and 20th and First Female Minister of Foreign Affairs in Win
5th Premier of British Crown Colony
Myint's Cabinet. of Burma
Deputy Chairman of the Executive
Council of Burma
In office
Contents 26 September 1946 – 19 July 1947
Early life Preceded by Sir Paw Tun
Names of Aung San Succeeded by U Nu (as Prime
Struggle for independence Minister)
During the Second World War President of the Anti-Fascist
After the war People's Freedom League
Assassination In office
Family 27 March 1945 – 19 July 1947
Legacy Preceded by None
References Succeeded by U Nu
External links War Minister of Burma
In office
1 August 1943 – 27 March 1945
Early life Preceded by None
Aung San was born to U Phar, a Myanmar-Chin lawyer, and his wife, Daw Personal details
Suu, in Natmauk, Magway District, in central Burma on 13 February 1915.
Born Htein Lin
His family was already well known in the Burmese resistance movement; his
13 February 1915
grandfather Bo Min Yaung fought against the British annexation of Burma in Natmauk, Magwe,
1886 and was beheaded by the British.[1] British Burma
Died 19 July 1947
Aung San received his primary education at a Buddhist monastic school in
(aged 32)
Natmauk, and secondary education at Yenangyaung High School. He went to
Rangoon, British
Rangoon University (now the University of Yangon).
Burma
Cause of death Assassination
Names of Aung San
Resting place Martyrs'
Name at birth: Htein Lin (ထိန်လင်း) Mausoleum,
As student leader and a thakin: Aung San (သခင်ေအာင်ဆန်း) Myanmar
Nom de guerre: Bo Teza (ဗိလ်ေတဇ) Nationality Myanmar
Japanese name: Omoda Monji (面田紋次) Political party Anti-Fascist
Chinese name: Tan Lu Shaung People's Freedom
Resistance period code name: Myo Aung (မျးို ေအာင်), U Naung Cho League
(ဦးေနာင်ချ)ို Communist Party of
Contact code name with General Ne Win: Ko Set Pe (ကိဆက်ေဖ) Burma
Spouse(s) Khin Kyi (m. 1942)
Struggle for independence Relations U Pha (father)
Daw Suu (mother)
Ba Win (brother)
Aung Than (brother)
Sein Win (nephew)
Alexander Aris
(grandson)
Children Aung San Oo
Aung San Lin
Portrait of the 1936 Oway Aung San Suu Kyi
magazine's editorial committee
Aung San Chit
Alma mater Rangoon University
After Aung San entered Rangoon University in 1933, he quickly became a
Yenangyaung High
student leader.[2] He was elected to the executive committee of the Rangoon
School
University Students' Union (RUSU). He then became editor of the RUSU's
Occupation Politician, major
magazine Oway (Peacock's Call).[3]
general
Signature

Military service
Allegiance Burma National
Army
Anti-Fascist
People's Freedom
Portrait of the Rangoon University League
Student Union in 1936 Communist Party of
Burma
Rank Major general
In February 1936 he was threatened with expulsion from the university, along (highest rank in
with U Nu, for refusing to reveal the name of the author of the article "Hell military at that time)
Hound at Large", which criticized a senior university official. This led to the
Second University Students' Strike; the university authorities subsequently retracted the expulsions. In 1938 Aung San was
elected president of both the Rangoon University Student Union (RUSU) and the All-Burma Students Union (ABSU), formed
after the strike spread to Mandalay.[3][4] In the same year, the government appointed him as a student representative on the
Rangoon University Act Amendment Committee.

In October 1938, Aung San left his law classes and entered national politics. At
this point, he was anti-British and staunchly anti-imperialist. He became a
Thakin (lord or master—a politically motivated title that proclaimed that the
Burmese people were the true masters of their country, not the colonial rulers
who had usurped the title for their exclusive use) when he joined the Dobama
Asiayone (We Burmans Association). He acted as its general secretary until
August 1940. While in this role, he helped organize a series of countrywide
strikes that became known as ME 1300 Revolution (၁၃၀၀ ြပည့် အေရးေတာ်ပံ,
Htaung thoun ya byei ayeidawbon), based on the Burmese calendar year.

He also helped found another nationalist organization, the Freedom Bloc (ဗမာ့
ထွက်ရပ်ဂိဏ်း, Bama-htwet-yat Gaing), by forming an alliance between the
Dobama Asiayone protests
Dobama, the ABSU, politically active monks and Dr Ba Maw's Poor Man's
Party, and became its General Secretary. He also became a founder member and
the first Secretary General of the Communist Party of Burma (CPB) in August 1939.[5] Shortly afterwards he co-founded the
People's Revolutionary Party, renamed the Socialist Party after the Second World War.[3] In March 1940, he attended the Indian
National Congress Assembly in Ramgarh, India. However, the government issued a warrant for his arrest due to Thakin attempts
to organize a revolt against the British and he had to flee Burma.[4] He went first to China, seeking assistance from the nationalist
government of the Kuomintang,[6] but he was intercepted by the Japanese military occupiers in Amoy, and was convinced by
them to go to Japan instead.[3]

During the Second World War

Whilst Aung San was in Japan, the Blue Print for a Free Burma, which has been
widely but mistakenly attributed to him, was drafted.[7] In February 1941, Aung
San returned to Burma, with an offer of arms and financial support from the
Fumimaro Konoe government of Japan. He returned briefly to Japan to receive
more military training, along with the first batch of young revolutionaries who
came to be known as the Thirty Comrades.[3] On 26 December 1941, with the
help of the Minami Kikan, a secret intelligence unit that was formed to close the
Burma Road and to support a national uprising and that was headed by Suzuki
Keiji, he founded the Burma Independence Army (BIA) in Bangkok, Aung San in Japan (right), with Bo
Let Ya (Thakin Hla Pe) (left) and Bo
Thailand.[3] It was aligned with Japan for most of World War II.[3]
Sekkya (Thakin Aung Than) (middle)
The capital of Burma, Rangoon (also known as Yangon), fell to the Japanese in
March 1942 (as part of the Burma Campaign). The BIA formed an
administration for the country under Thakin Tun Oke that operated in parallel with the Japanese military administration until the
Japanese disbanded it. In July, the disbanded BIA was re-formed as the Burma Defense Army (BDA). Aung San was made a
colonel and put in charge of the force.[4] He was later invited to Japan, and was presented with the Order of the Rising Sun by
Emperor Hirohito.[4]
On 1 August 1943, the Japanese declared Burma an independent nation – State
of Burma – under Ba Maw. Aung San was appointed War Minister, and the army
was again renamed, this time as the Burma National Army (BNA).[4] Aung San
soon became doubtful about Japanese promises of true independence and of
Japan's ability to win the war. As William Slim, 1st Viscount Slim put it:

It was not long before Aung San found that what he meant by
independence had little relation to what the Japanese were
prepared to give—that he had exchanged an old master for an
infinitely more tyrannical new one. As one of his leading
followers once said to me, "If the British sucked our blood, the
Japanese ground our bones!" He became more and more
disillusioned with the Japanese, and early in 1943 we got news
Aung San in Burma Defence Army
from Seagrim, a most gallant officer who had remained in the uniform with Daw Khin Kyi after their
Karen Hills at the ultimate cost of his life, that Aung San's marriage in 1942
feelings were changing. On 1 August 1944 he was bold enough
to speak publicly with contempt of the Japanese brand of
independence, and it was clear that, if they did not soon liquidate
him, he might prove useful to us. ... At our first interview, Aung
San began to take rather a high hand. ... I pointed out that he was
in no position to take the line he had. I did not need his forces; I
was destroying the Japanese quite nicely without their help, and
could continue to do so. I would accept his help and that of his
army only on the clear understanding that it implied no
recognition of any provisional government. ... The British
Government had announced its intention to grant self-
government to Burma within the British Commonwealth, and we
had better limit our discussion to the best method of throwing the
Japanese out of the country as the next step toward self-
government.[8]

Aung San made plans to organize an uprising in Burma and made contact with the British authorities in India, in cooperation with
the Communist leaders Thakin Than Tun and Thakin Soe. On 27 March 1945, he led the BNA in a revolt against the Japanese
occupiers and helped the Allies defeat the Japanese.[3] 27 March came to be commemorated as Resistance Day, until the military
regime renamed it "Tatmadaw (Armed Forces) Day".

After the war

After the return of the British, who established a military administration, the Anti-Fascist Organisation (AFO), formed in August
1944, was transformed into a united front, comprising the BNA, the Communists and the Socialists, and renamed the Anti-Fascist
People's Freedom League (AFPFL). The Burma National Army was renamed the Patriotic Burmese Forces (PBF) and then
gradually disarmed by the British as the Japanese were driven out of various parts of the country. The Patriotic Burmese Forces,
while disbanded, were offered positions in the Burma Army under British command according to the Kandy conference
agreement with Lord Louis Mountbatten in Ceylon in September 1945.[3] Aung San was offered the rank of Deputy Inspector
General of the Burma Army, but he declined it in favor of becoming a civilian political leader and the military leader of the
Pyithu yèbaw tat (People's Volunteer Organisation or PVO).[3]
In January 1946, Aung San became the President of the AFPFL following the return of civil government to Burma the previous
October. In September, he was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Executive Council or 5th Premier of British-Burma Crown
Colony by the new British Governor Sir Hubert Rance, and was made responsible for defence and external affairs.[3] Rance and
Mountbatten took a very different view from the former British Governor, Sir Reginald Dorman-Smith, and also Winston
Churchill, who had called Aung San a "traitor rebel leader".[3] A rift had already developed inside the AFPFL between the
Communists and Aung San, leading the nationalists and Socialists, which came to a head when Aung San and others accepted
seats on the Executive Council. The rift culminated in the expulsion of Thakin Than Tun and the CPB from the AFPFL.[3][4]

Aung San was to all intents and purposes Prime Minister, although he was still subject to a British veto. On 27 January 1947,
Aung San and the British Prime Minister Clement Attlee signed an agreement in London guaranteeing Burma's independence
within a year; Aung San had been responsible for its negotiation.[3] At a press conference during a stopover in Delhi, he stated
that the Burmese wanted "complete independence" and not dominion status, and that they had "no inhibitions of any kind" about
"contemplating a violent or non-violent struggle or both" in order to achieve it. He concluded that he hoped for the best, but was
prepared for the worst.[4]

Two weeks after the signing of the agreement with Britain, Aung San signed an agreement at the Panglong Conference on 12
February 1947 with leaders from other national groups, expressing solidarity and support for a united Burma.[3][9] Karen
representatives played a relatively minor role in the conference and, as subsequent rebellions revealed, remained alienated from
the new state. U Aung Zan Wai, U Pe Khin, Major Aung, Sir Maung Gyi, Dr Sein Mya Maung, and Myoma U Than Kywe were
among the negotiators of the historic Panglong Conference negotiated with Aung San and other ethnic leaders in 1947. These
leaders unanimously decided to join the Union of Burma.

In the general election held in April 1947, the AFPFL won 176 out of the 210 seats in the Constituent Assembly, while the
Karens won 24, the Communists 6, and Anglo-Burmans 4.[10] In July, Aung San convened a series of conferences at Sorrenta
Villa in Rangoon to discuss the rehabilitation of Burma.

Assassination
On 19 July 1947, a gang of armed paramilitaries of former Prime Minister U Saw[11] broke into the Secretariat Building in
downtown Rangoon during a meeting of the Executive Council (the shadow government established by the British in preparation
for the transfer of power) and assassinated Aung San and six of his cabinet ministers, including his elder brother Ba Win, father
of Sein Win, leader of the government-in-exile, the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB). A cabinet
secretary and a bodyguard were also killed. U Saw was subsequently tried and hanged.

Many mysteries still surround the assassination. There were rumours of a conspiracy involving the British—a variation on this
theory was given new life in an influential, but sensationalist, documentary broadcast by the BBC on the 50th anniversary of the
assassination in 1997. What did emerge in the course of the investigations at the time of the trial, however, was that several low-
ranking British officers had sold firearms to a number of Burmese politicians, including U Saw. Shortly after U Saw's conviction,
Captain David Vivian, a British Army officer, was sentenced to five years' imprisonment for supplying U Saw with weapons.
Vivian escaped from prison during the Karen uprising in Insein in early 1949. Little information about his motives was revealed
during his trial or after the trial.[12]

Family
While he was War Minister in 1942, Aung San met and married Khin Kyi, and around the same time her sister met and married
Thakin Than Tun, the Communist leader. Aung San and Khin Kyi had four children.
Their youngest surviving child, Aung San Suu Kyi, is a Nobel Peace Prize
laureate, currently serving as State Counsellor, the first female Minister of
Foreign Affairs, and leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD). Their
second son, Aung San Lin, died at age eight, when he drowned in an ornamental
lake in the grounds of the house. The elder, Aung San Oo, is an engineer
working in the United States and has disagreed with his sister's political
activities.

Their youngest daughter, Aung San Chit, born in September 1946, died on 26
September 1946, the same day Aung San got into Governor's Executive council,
a few days after her birth.[13] Aung San's wife Daw Khin Kyi died on 27
December 1988.

Aung San, his wife Khin Kyi and their

eldest son, Aung San Oo

Legacy
For his independence struggle and uniting the country as a single entity, he is
revered as the architect of modern Burma and a national hero. His legacy assured
his daughter's rise as a non-violence icon during the 8888 Uprising against
military junta. A Martyrs' Mausoleum was built at the foot of the Shwedagon
Pagoda and 19 July was designated Martyrs' Day (Azani nei), a public holiday.
His literary work entitled Burma's Challenge was likewise popular.

Aung San's name had been invoked by successive Burmese governments since
independence, until the military regime in the 1990s tried to eradicate all traces
of Aung San's memory. Nevertheless, several statues of him adorn the former
capital Yangon and his portrait still has a place of pride in many homes and
offices throughout the country. Scott Market, Yangon's most famous, was
renamed Bogyoke Market in his memory, and Commissioner Road was retitled
Bogyoke Aung San Road after independence. These names have been retained.
Many towns and cities in Burma have thoroughfares and parks named after him.
His portrait was held up across the nation during the 8888 Uprising in 1988 and
used as a rallying point.[3] Following the 8888 Uprising, the government
redesigned the national currency, the kyat, removing his picture and replacing it Statue of Aung San on the northern
shore of Kandawgyi Lake in Yangon
with scenes of Burmese life.

References
1. Zaw, Aung (3 January 2018). "Rewards of Independence Remain Elusive" (https://www.irrawaddy.com/from-the-a
rchive/rewards-independence-remain-elusive.html). The Irrawaddy. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
 2. Maung Maung (1962). Aung San of Burma. The Hauge: Martinus Nijhoff for Yale University. pp. 22, 23.
3. Martin Smith (1991). Burma – Insurgency and the Politics of Ethnicity. London and New Jersey: Zed Books.
pp. 90, 54, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 65, 69, 66, 68, 62–63, 65, 77, 78, 6.
4. Aung San Suu Kyi (1984). Aung San of Burma. Edinburgh: Kiscadale 1991. pp. 1, 10, 14, 17, 20, 22, 26, 27, 41,
44.
5. Lintner, Bertil (1990). The Rise and Fall of the Communist Party of Burma. Cornell Southeast Asias Program.
6. Stewart, Whitney. (1997). Aung San Suu Kyi: fearless voice of Burma. Twenty-First Century Books. p. 17.
ISBN 978-0-8225-4931-4
7. Gustaaf Houtman, In Kei Nemoto (ed) – Reconsidering the Japanese military occupation in Burma (1942–45) (30
May 2007). "Aung San's lan-zin, the Blue Print and the Japanese Occupation of Burma" (https://web.archive.org/
web/20080228011308/http://ghoutman.googlepages.com/houtmanAung-sanslan-zintheblueprinta.pdf) (PDF).
Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA), Tokyo: Tokyo University of Foreign
Studies. pp. 179–227. ISBN 978-4-87297-9640. Archived from the original (http://ghoutman.googlepages.com/ho
utmanAung-sanslan-zintheblueprinta.pdf) (PDF) on 28 February 2008.
8. Field Marshal Sir William Slim, Defeat into Victory, Cassell & Company, 2nd edition, 1956
9. "The Panglong Agreement, 1947" (http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs/panglong_agreement.htm). Online
Burma/Myanmar Library.
10. Appleton, G. (1947). "Burma Two Years After Liberation". International Affairs. Blackwell Publishing. 23 (4): 510–
521. JSTOR 3016561 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/3016561).
11. MAUNG ZARNI (19 July 2013). "Remembering the martyrs and their hopes for Burma" (http://www.dvb.no/analys
is/remembering-the-martyrs-and-their-hopes-for-burma/30028). DVB NEWS. Retrieved 27 December 2013.
12. "Who Killed Aung San? – an interview with Gen. Kyaw Zaw" (http://www2.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=719).
The Irrawaddy. August 1997. Retrieved 4 November 2006.
13. Wintle, Justin (2007). Perfect hostage: a life of Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's prisoner of conscience (https://archiv
e.org/details/perfecthostageli00wint). Skyhorse Publishing. p. 143. ISBN 978-1-60239-266-3.

External links
Aung San's resolution to the Constituent Assembly regarding the Burmese Constitution, 16 June 1947 (https://we
b.archive.org/web/20080507174552/http://www.irrawaddy.org/ind/03.php)
Kin Oung. Eliminate the Elite – Assassination of Burma's General Aung San & his six cabinet colleagues. Uni of
NSW Press. Special edition – Australia 2011
http://www.bogyokeaungsanmovie.org/

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