Editing Politics of Myanmar (section)

== Political conditions ==
{{unreferenced section|date=February 2023}}

=== Early history ===
The first known city-states emerged in central Myanmar in the second century AD. They were founded by Tibeto-Burman-speaking migrants from present-day Yunnan.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Myanmar country profile |work=BBC News |date=6 April 2011 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-12990563 |access-date=20 June 2023 |archive-date=11 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411095130/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-12990563 |url-status=live }}</ref> The history of [[Myanmar]] as a unified entity, formerly called Burma, began with the [[Pagan Kingdom]] in 849. In 1057, [[Anawrahta|King Anawrahta]] founded the first unified Myanmar state at Bagan. In 1287, the [[Bagan Kingdom|Bagan kingdom]] collapsed following recurring Mongol invasions, leading to 250 years of political divide. In the time period between 1510 and 1752, the area was united as Burma by the Toungoo dynasty, which was the largest Southeast Asian empire in the 16th century.<ref>{{Cite web |title=TOUNGOO DYNASTY (1510–1752) |url=https://factsanddetails.com/southeast-asia/Myanmar/sub5_5a/entry-3003.html |website=Facts and details |access-date=20 June 2023 |archive-date=20 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230620093234/https://factsanddetails.com/southeast-asia/Myanmar/sub5_5a/entry-3003.html |url-status=live }}</ref> From 1752 to 1885, the Toungoo administrative reforms were continued by the [[Konbaung dynasty]]. The thousand-year line of Burmese [[monarchy]] ended with the [[Third Anglo-Burmese War]] in 1885.

=== British rule ===
After 1885, the country was administered as part of [[British India]] until 1937. [[British rule in Burma|British Burma]] began with its official recognition on the colonial map that marks its new borders containing over 100 ethnicities. It was named Burma after the dominant ethnic group [[Bamar people|Bamar]], who make up 68 percent of the population.

==== World War II ====
During [[World War II]], a coalition of mostly members of the Bamar ethnic group volunteered to fight alongside the Japanese in hope of overthrowing the occupying British forces. Meanwhile, many other ethnic groups supported the Allied forces against the Bamar-backed Japanese forces. This conflict would come to be very significant in the aftermath of World War II when Burma was granted its independence from Great Britain in 1948. Prior to the end of their colonization, the British government had created a novel map of the country with new borders that included some previously sovereign ethnicities. Many groups of racially and culturally diverse people suddenly found themselves as part of a country that was named after the Bamar, a group they did not identify with. The division created during World War II only exacerbated the growing resentment towards the Bamar. By granting independence to Burma, the British government handed the control of all the containing ethnicities over to the Bamar.

=== Panglong Agreement ===
[[Aung San]], who led the fight for independence, was able to convince the leaders of the other ethnic groups that fought alongside the Burmese to remain as one country. The formation of the new Burmese constitution in 1948 was cemented by the [[Panglong Agreement|Pin-Lone agreement]], which was signed by every ethnic leader in support of the newfound union. Aung San's unprecedented assassination prior to the absolute fulfillment of the Pin-Lone agreement undid the unification he led. His death marked the end of the short lived period of peace within the new nation, unleashing a power vacuum that has not been filled properly since. A period of instability with leaders that failed to represent every ethnicity's best interest followed.

Beginning in the late 1950s, and continuing through at least 2024, Myanmar's military has played a major role in shaping or directing the country's politics.<ref name=":Han">{{Cite book |last=Han |first=Enze |title=The Ripple Effect: China's Complex Presence in Southeast Asia |date=2024 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-769659-0 |location=New York, NY}}</ref>{{Rp|page=23}}

=== Socialist republic ===
Democracy was suspended in the country following a [[1962 Burmese coup d'état|coup]] in 1962. The uncertainty and chaos paved the way for a Burmese nationalist government to take over. From 1962 to 1988, the country was ruled by the [[Burma Socialist Programme Party]] as a [[one-party state]] guided by the [[Burmese Way to Socialism]]. The new Burmese leaders turned Burma into a Socialist Republic with isolationism, and a Burmese superiority. The newfound Burmese nationalism put the Bamar majority at the forefront, undoing the unification initiated through the Pin-Lone agreement. Additionally, the growing disdain was enhanced through the forced coexistence between members of different religions. Bamar kingdoms were almost exclusively Buddhist in the past. Most ethnic groups within the Shan, Kayin, Kayar, and Chin state practiced their own versions of Animism, while people of the Islamic faith lived alongside the Buddhists in the Arakan (now Rakhine) state. The annexation of all the diverse groups into the British India deepened the religious polarization. The movement of people across the border caused by the colonization added a large group of Hindu followers to the mix. The strenuous conversion campaigns by the Catholic Christians and their competition with the Methodist colonialists additionally divided minority groups such as the Karen and Kachin within themselves. The colonial departure unleashed the animosity that has been building towards one other. The death of [[Aung San]], and the following leaderships ensured the lasting conflicts between every cultural and religious group.{{Citation needed|date=May 2008}} The [[1988 Uprising]] cemented the social, political, and civil unrests that have plagued the country since.

=== 1988 Uprising ===
The [[State Peace and Development Council|SPDC]] junta which took power in 1988 had been responsible for the displacement of several hundred thousand citizens, both inside and outside of Burma. The [[Karen people|Karen]], [[Karenni people|Karenni]], and [[Mon people|Mon]] ethnic groups have sought asylum in neighbouring [[Thailand]], where they are also abused by an unfriendly and unsympathetic government.{{Citation needed|date=May 2008}} These groups are perhaps more fortunate than the [[Wa people|Wa]] and [[Shan people|Shan]] ethnic groups, who have become [[Internally displaced person|internally displaced peoples]] in their own state since being removed from lands by the [[military junta]] in 2000. There are reportedly 600,000 of these internally displaced peoples living in Burma today. Many are trying to escape forced labour in the military or for one of the many state-sponsored [[drug cartel]]s.{{Citation needed|date=May 2008}} This displacement of peoples led, and continues to lead to human rights violations as well as the exploitation of minority ethnic groups at the hands of the dominant Bamar group. The primary actors in these ethnic struggles include, but are not limited to, the military, the [[Karen National Union]], [[Kachin Independence Army|Kachin Independence army]], [[United League of Arakan]], [[Restoration Council of Shan State]], and the [[Mong Tai Army]].

The military gave up some of its power in 2011, leading to the creation of a [[Illiberal democracy|semi-democratic]] system, although problems remained, including outsized influence by the military under the 2008 constitution, as well as economic and ethnic issues. In 2015 the military began taking steps to make peace with various ethnic armed groups calling a [[Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement]] which was signed by many such groups.

=== [[2021 Myanmar coup d'état]] ===
On 31 January 2021, it was reported by multiple media and news outlets that the military had [[2021 Myanmar coup d'état|staged a coup]] and members of the governing party, National League for Democracy, had been arrested and detained by the military. Bo Nagar, commander of the Burma National Revolutionary Army (BNRA), which is fighting against the military in Myanmar’s central regions, told CNN in November 2023, "It’s the beginning of the end of State Administration Council, we are already seeing it."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hancocks |first=Helen Regan, Angus Watson, Paula |date=2023-11-28 |title=Myanmar civil war: Opponents vow 'beginning of the end' for junta as resistance fighters launch nationwide offensive |url=https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2023/11/28/asia/myanmar-nationwide-offensive-junta-intl-hnk |access-date=2025-04-12 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref> These conflicts arose after the NLD had claimed victory after a successful election in November 2020. While the military contested the results of the election claiming fraudulent without any proof or investigation.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Huang |first=Kai-Ping |date=July 2022 |title=Myanmar's 2020 Election: Explaining the Strong Performance of the NLD and Some Ethnic Parties |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-east-asian-studies/article/myanmars-2020-election-explaining-the-strong-performance-of-the-nld-and-some-ethnic-parties/687A67E93414EFD92AB4904607E7A8EF |journal=Journal of East Asian Studies |language=en |volume=22 |issue=2 |pages=309–331 |doi=10.1017/jea.2022.10 |issn=1598-2408|doi-access=free }}</ref> This situation was followed by the military performing coup d'état on 1 February 2021, taking the presidential powers from the NLD government by brute force. Shortly after taking control of the government, the military began breaking the [[Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement]] by taking aggressive actions in territories controlled by its signers.