ii. burma
From colony to union
Britain had acquired what became the Union of Burma, in parts, between 1826 and
- 1
The constitutional development of Burma ran parallel to that of India.
In 1923 Burma was ruled as a dyarchy
2
and during 1935 – 7 it received semi-
responsible government status with a predominantly Burmese cabinet responsible
to an elected parliament
3
and a governor with reserve powers.
Among Britain’s colonies, Burma was one of the earliest to advocate independence.
On 23 February 1940 , the Burmese House of Representatives passed a motion calling
for the immediate recognition of Burma ‘as an independent nation entitled to frame its
own constitution’.
(^4) British prime minister (PM) Winston Churchill was not pleased,
but agreed to grant Burma dominion status after the end of the Second World War.
Japan’s invasion of Burma provided a group of young Burmese anti-British
intellectuals the opportunity they needed. Aung Sang and his comrades joined
the Japanese and marched into Burma with a ‘Burma Independence Army’.
Yet, after realising that Japanese-backed independence only meant replacing one
colonial master with another, Aung San and his followers worked with the British
Secret Service in order to attack the Japanese and secure full independence for
Burma. Burmese collaboration with the British secured an Allied victory and,
in June 1945 , Aung San’s Burma National Army marched into Rangoon as inde-
pendent troops under the Burmese flag.^5
Aung San’s Anti-Fascist People’s Freedom League (AFPFL) rebuffed all British
plans for a gradual evolution towards self-government and instead demanded the
election of a national constitutional assembly.
6
The Labour government resumed
negotiations and the new British governor, Sir Hubert Rance, reorganised the
Executive Council, making Aung San second-in-command with control over
defence and foreign policy. In November 1946 , the Burmese issued an ultimatum:
elections for a constitutional assembly by April and independence for Burma
within a year.
7
Elections for the Constituent Assembly were held in April 1947
(^1) For coverage of an earlier period in Burma’s history, see generally Frank N. Trager,Burma
from Kingdom to Republic: A Historical and Political Analysis(London: Pall Mall Press,
1966 ); J.F. Cady,Political Institutions of Old Burma(Ithaca: Cornell Southeast Asia Program,
1954 ); J.F. Cady,A History of Modern Burma(Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1958 ); and
Maung Maung,Burma’s Constitution, 2 nd edn (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1961 ).
(^2) A ‘dyarchy’ refers to a system of dual rule under which government functions are shared
between two bodies. It was introduced into India under the Government of India Act 1919 ,
and government functions were divided between the provincial legislatures and the
governor’s executive council.
(^3) See Rudolf von Albertini,Decolonization: The Administration and Future of the Colonies,
1919 – 1960 (New York: Doubleday, 1971 ), p. 196.
(^4) Ibid., p. 197. (^5) Ibid., p. 201. (^6) Ibid., p. 203. (^7) Ibid., p. 204.