Page 370 - The Rough Guide to Myanmar (Burma)

368 CONTEXTS History
great imperial showcases with its alien, European-style courthouses, clocktowers and
doughty red-brick edifices.
The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 had greatly increased the demand for
Burmese rice, and large new areas of countryside were reclaimed and opened up for
cultivation, particularly in the formerly swampy, disease-ridden and mangrove-choked
lowlands of the Ayeyarwady Delta. Relatively little of the country’s burgeoning wealth
found its way to the Burmese themselves, however. British firms controlled much of
the nation’s economy, while the plight of the country’s native Burmese was further
exacerbated by a massive influx of Indian merchants and labourers. Secular schools
were established and Christian missionary activity encouraged. Improvements to the
country’s infrastructure also followed. Railways were built and the Irrawaddy Flotilla
Company (see p.63) launched. Meanwhile, all signs of opposition to British rule were
suppressed, with rebellious villages being razed to the ground and their leaders exiled,
forcing many Burmese into banditry and other criminal activities.

The nationalist movement
By the turn of the twentieth century, the first signs of organized nationalist resistance
had already begun to emerge. As elsewhere in Asia, many leading anti-colonialists were
young people educated in Europe, who returned home demanding change through
constitutional reform, rather than by taking up arms. In 1920, university students went
on strike in protest at the new University Act (seen as privileging Myanmar’s western-
leaning, European-educated elite), while locally sponsored “National Schools” were
created to counterbalance the colonial education system. The Buddhist clergy also
played a leading role in anti-British protests – one of the first to speak out against
colonial rule (particularly Christian missionary activity) was the remarkable Irish-born
monk known as U Dhammaloka, while other prominent figures included U Ottama in
Sittwe and U Wisara, who died in prison after a lengthy hunger strike.
The first major uprising was the Saya San Rebellion (1930–32), named after its leader,
Saya San, who organized mass peasant protests, vowed to expel the British and had
himself crowned king. The popular uprising was put down with considerable difficulty,
after which Saya San and over a hundred other rebels were hanged.
The year 1930 also saw the creation of the Thakin movement (also known as the
Dobama Asiayone, or “Our Burma”, movement) – a nationalist group formed
largely of students and operating mainly out of Rangoon University. The Thakins
were instrumental in organizing a second university students’ strike in 1936 to
protest the expulsion from Rangoon University of a certain young Aung San and his
colleague U Nu, both of whom would go on to play seminal roles in the history of
the country.
Burma was uncoupled from India in 1937 and given a new constitution, including its
own elected assembly and prime minister (although with limited actual powers).
Despite these concessions, major protests erupted in 1938–39, leading to the so-called
1300 Revolution (1300 being the Buddhist calendar equivalent to 1939). Strikes by
employees of the Burmah Oil Company in the centre of the country developed into
nationwide protests. The subsequent crackdown claimed 33 lives including thirteen
unarmed protesters shot dead in Mandalay – a small but chilling foretaste of atrocities
yet to come.

1784 1824–25
Konbaung forces sack the city of First Anglo-Burmese War: the British seize Arakan, Manipur,
Mrauk U and take possession of Assam and much of southern Myanmar
Arakan

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