Editing Myanmar (section)

== History ==
{{main|History of Myanmar}}
{{More citations needed|section|date=August 2022}}

=== Prehistory ===
{{main|Prehistory of Myanmar|Migration period of ancient Burma}}
[[File:Pyu city-states map.svg|thumb|[[Pyu city-states]], {{circa|8th century}}]]

Archaeological evidence shows that ''[[Homo erectus]]'' lived in the region now known as Myanmar as early as 750,000 years ago, with no more ''erectus'' finds after 75,000 years ago.<ref name="BLibConfOBMS2015">{{cite web|author1=Win Naing Tun|title=Prehistory to Protohistory of Myanmar: A Perspective of Historical Geography|url=http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs21/History/Win-Naing-Tun-2015-Prehistory_to_Protohistory_of_Myanmar_A_Perspective_of_Historical_Geography-en.pdf|publisher=Myanmar Environment Institute|access-date=22 November 2016|page=1|date=24 July 2015|quote=Homo erectus had lived in Myanmar 750,000 years ago|archive-date=26 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026014002/https://www.burmalibrary.org/docs21/History/Win-Naing-Tun-2015-Prehistory_to_Protohistory_of_Myanmar_A_Perspective_of_Historical_Geography-en.pdf|url-status=live}}<br />{{cite book|last=Bowman|first=John Stewart Bowman|title=Columbia Chronologies of Asian History and Culture|year=2013|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-50004-3|page=476|url={{GBurl|id=cYoHOqC7Yx4C}}}}</ref> The first evidence of ''[[Homo sapiens]]'' is dated to about 25,000 BP with discoveries of stone tools in central Myanmar.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Schaarschmidt|first1=Maria|last2=Fu|first2=Xiao|last3=Li|first3=Bo|last4=Marwick|first4=Ben|last5=Khaing|first5=Kyaw|last6=Douka|first6=Katerina|last7=Roberts|first7=Richard G.|title=pIRIR and IR-RF dating of archaeological deposits at Badahlin and Gu Myaung Caves – First luminescence ages for Myanmar|journal=Quaternary Geochronology|volume=49|pages=262–270|date=January 2018|doi=10.1016/j.quageo.2018.01.001|s2cid=133664286|url=https://ro.uow.edu.au/smhpapers1/425|access-date=21 January 2020|archive-date=25 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220625002707/https://ro.uow.edu.au/smhpapers1/425/|url-status=live}}</ref> Evidence of [[Neolithic]] age domestication of plants and animals and the use of polished stone tools dating to sometime between 10,000 and 6,000 BCE has been discovered in the form of [[cave painting]]s in [[Padah-Lin Caves]].<ref>{{cite web | last=Cooler | first=Richard M. | title=The Art and Culture of Burma (Chapter 1) | year=2002 | url=http://www.seasite.niu.edu/burmese/cooler/BurmaArt_TOC.htm | publisher=Northern Illinois University | location=DeKalb | access-date=22 March 2012 | archive-date=26 December 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161226041623/http://www.seasite.niu.edu/burmese/cooler/BurmaArt_TOC.htm | url-status=dead }}</ref>

The [[Bronze Age]] arrived {{circa|1500 BCE}} when people in the region were turning copper into bronze, growing rice and domesticating poultry and pigs; they were among the first people in the world to do so.<ref>[[#Myint-U|Myint-U]], p. 37</ref> Human remains and artefacts from this era were discovered in [[Monywa District]] in the [[Sagaing Region]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.myanmars.net/myanmar-travel/myanmar-mandalay/monywa.htm |title=Skeletal Remains of Nyaunggan, Budalin Township, Monywa District, Sagaing Division |author=Yee Yee Aung |publisher=Perspective July 2002 |access-date=7 October 2008 |archive-date=28 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081228204723/http://www.myanmars.net/myanmar-travel/myanmar-mandalay/monywa.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> The [[Iron Age]] began around 500 BCE with the emergence of iron-working settlements in an area south of present-day [[Mandalay]].<ref>[[#Myint-U|Myint-U]], p. 45</ref> Evidence also shows the presence of rice-growing settlements of large villages and small towns that traded with their surroundings as far as China between 500 BCE and 200 CE.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Hudson|first=Bob|title=A Pyu Homeland in the Samon Valley: a new theory of the origins of Myanmar's early urban system|url=http://acl.arts.usyd.edu.au/~hudson/BH2005Jan.pdf|journal=Myanmar Historical Commission Golden Jubilee International Conference|date=March 2005|page=1|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131126021929/http://acl.arts.usyd.edu.au/~hudson/BH2005Jan.pdf|archive-date=26 November 2013}}</ref> Iron Age Burmese cultures also had influences from outside sources such as [[India]] and [[Thailand]], as seen in their funerary practices concerning child burials. This indicates some form of communication between groups in Myanmar and other places, possibly through trade.<ref>Coupey, A. S. (2008). Infant and child burials in the Samon valley, Myanmar. In Archaeology in Southeast Asia, from Homo Erectus to the living traditions: choice of papers from the 11th International Conference of the European Association of Southeast Asian Archaeologists, 25–29 September 2006, Bougon, France</ref>

=== Early city-states ===
{{main|Pyu city-states|Mon kingdoms}}
Around the second century BCE the first-known [[city-state]]s emerged in central Myanmar. The city-states were founded as part of the southward migration by the Tibeto-Burman-speaking Pyu people, the earliest inhabitants of Myanmar of whom records are extant, from present-day [[Yunnan]].<ref name=EarlyYunnan>{{cite book|last=Hall|first=D.G.E.|title=Burma|edition=3rd|year=1960|publisher=Hutchinson University Library|isbn=978-1-4067-3503-1|pages=8–10}}<br />{{cite book|last=Moore|first=Elizabeth H.|title=Early Landscapes of Myanmar|year=2007|publisher=River Books|location=Bangkok|isbn=978-974-9863-31-2|page=236}}</ref> The Pyu culture was heavily influenced by trade with India, importing Buddhism as well as other cultural, architectural and political concepts, which would have an enduring influence on later Burmese culture and political organisation.<ref>[[#Myint-U|Myint-U]], pp. 51–52</ref>

By the 9th century, several city-states had sprouted across the land: the Pyu in the central dry zone, Mon along the southern coastline and Arakanese along the western littoral. The balance was upset when the Pyu came under repeated attacks from [[Nanzhao]] between the 750s and the 830s. In the mid-to-late 9th century the [[Bamar people]] founded a small settlement at [[Bagan]]. It was one of several competing city-states until the late 10th century, when it grew in authority and grandeur.<ref>[[#Lieberman|Lieberman]], pp. 90–91</ref>

=== Pagan Kingdom ===
{{main|Pagan Kingdom|Toungoo dynasty|Konbaung dynasty}}
{{see also|Kingdom of Ava|Hanthawaddy Kingdom|Kingdom of Mrauk U|Shan States}}

[[File:Bagan, Burma.jpg|thumb|[[Pagoda]]s and [[kyaung]]s in present-day [[Bagan]], the capital of the [[Pagan Kingdom]]]]
[[Pagan Kingdom|Pagan]] gradually grew to absorb its surrounding states until the 1050s–1060s when [[Anawrahta]] founded the Pagan Kingdom, the first ever unification of the Irrawaddy valley and its periphery. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the Pagan Empire and the [[Khmer Empire]] were two main powers in mainland Southeast Asia.<ref>[[#Lieberman|Lieberman]], p. 24</ref> The [[Burmese language]] and culture gradually became dominant in the upper Irrawaddy valley, eclipsing the [[Pyu language (Burma)|Pyu]], [[Mon language|Mon]] and [[Pali]] norms{{clarify|date=January 2023}} by the late 12th century.<ref name=mha-63-65>{{cite book |last=Htin Aung |first=Maung |title=A History of Burma |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofburma00htin |url-access=registration |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=New York / London |year=1967 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/historyofburma00htin/page/63 63–65]}}</ref> Theravada [[Buddhism]] slowly began to spread to the village level, although [[Vajrayana|Tantric]], [[Mahayana]], [[Hinduism]], and [[Burmese folk religion|folk religion]] remained heavily entrenched. Pagan's rulers and wealthy built over 10,000 [[Buddhist]] temples in the Pagan capital zone alone. Repeated Mongol invasions in the late 13th century toppled the four-century-old kingdom in 1287.<ref name="mha-63-65" />

[[File:MysticalMraukU.jpg|thumb|Temples at [[Mrauk U]]]]
Pagan's collapse was followed by 250 years of political fragmentation that lasted well into the 16th century. Like the Burmans four centuries earlier, [[Shan people|Shan]] migrants who arrived with the Mongol invasions stayed behind. Several competing [[Shan States]] came to dominate the entire northwestern to eastern arc surrounding the Irrawaddy valley. The valley too was beset with petty states until the late 14th century when two sizeable powers, [[Ava Kingdom]] and [[Hanthawaddy Kingdom]], emerged. In the west, a politically fragmented Arakan was under competing influences of its stronger neighbours until the [[Kingdom of Mrauk U]] unified the Arakan coastline for the first time in 1437. The kingdom was a protectorate of the [[Bengal Sultanate]] at different time periods.<ref name=kh-2-25>Maung Maung Tin, Vol. 2, p. 25</ref>

In the 14th and 15th centuries, Ava fought [[Forty Years' War|wars of unification]] but could never quite reassemble the lost empire. Having held off Ava, the [[Mon people|Mon]]-speaking Hanthawaddy entered its golden age, and Arakan went on to become a power in its own right for the next 350 years. In contrast, constant warfare left Ava greatly weakened, and it slowly disintegrated from 1481 onward. In 1527, the Confederation of Shan States conquered Ava and ruled Upper Myanmar until 1555.

Like the Pagan Empire, Ava, [[Hanthawaddy]] and the Shan states were all [[multi-ethnic]] polities. Despite the wars, cultural synchronisation continued. This period is considered a golden age for [[Burmese culture]]. [[Burmese literature]] "grew more confident, popular, and stylistically diverse", and the second generation of Burmese law codes as well as the earliest [[Burmese chronicles|pan-Burma chronicles]] emerged.<ref>[[#Lieberman|Lieberman]], p. 134</ref> Hanthawaddy monarchs introduced religious reforms that later spread to the rest of the country.<ref>[[#Myint-U|Myint-U]], pp. 64–65</ref>

=== Taungoo and Konbaung ===
{{Main articles|Burmese–Portuguese conflicts}}
[[File:Elefante Portugues.jpg|left|thumb|Portuguese ruler mounting an Elephant and his soldiers. Philips, Jan Caspar (draughtsman and engraver)]]
[[File:Map of Taungoo Empire (1580).png|thumb|[[First Toungoo Empire|Toungoo Empire]] under [[Bayinnaung]] in 1580]]
[[File:万国来朝图 Myanmar (缅甸国) delegates in Peking in 1761.jpg|thumb|Myanmar (缅甸国) delegates in Peking in 1761, at the time of Emperor [[Qianlong Emperor|Qianlong]]. ''[[万国来朝图|萬國來朝圖/万国来朝图]]'']]
Political unification returned in the mid-16th century, through the efforts of [[Toungoo dynasty|Taungoo]], a former vassal state of Ava. Taungoo's young, ambitious King [[Tabinshwehti]] defeated the more powerful Hanthawaddy in the [[Toungoo–Hanthawaddy War]]. His successor [[Bayinnaung]] went on to conquer a vast swath of mainland Southeast Asia including the Shan states, [[Lan Na]], Manipur, [[Mong Mao]], the [[Ayutthaya Kingdom]], [[Lan Xang]] and southern Arakan. However, the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia unravelled soon after Bayinnaung's death in 1581, completely collapsing by 1599. Ayutthaya seized Tenasserim and Lan Na, and Portuguese mercenaries established [[Portuguese rule]] at [[Thanlyin]] (Syriam).

The dynasty regrouped and defeated the Portuguese in 1613 and Siam in 1614. It restored a smaller, more manageable kingdom, encompassing [[Lower Myanmar]], [[Upper Myanmar]], [[Shan states]], [[Lan Na]] and upper [[Tenasserim Division|Tenasserim]]. The restored Toungoo kings created a legal and political framework whose basic features continued well into the 19th century. The crown completely replaced the hereditary chieftainships with appointed governorships in the entire Irrawaddy valley and greatly reduced the hereditary rights of Shan chiefs. Its trade and secular administrative reforms built a prosperous economy for more than 80 years. From the 1720s onward, the kingdom was beset with repeated [[Meitei people|Meithei]] raids into Upper Myanmar and a nagging rebellion in Lan Na. In 1740, the Mon of Lower Myanmar founded the [[Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom]]. Hanthawaddy forces sacked Ava in 1752, ending the 266-year-old Toungoo Dynasty.[[File:Shwedagon pagoda.jpg|thumb|A British 1825 lithograph of [[Shwedagon Pagoda]] shows British occupation during the [[First Anglo-Burmese War]].]]
After the fall of Ava, the [[Konbaung–Hanthawaddy War]] involved one resistance group under [[Alaungpaya]] defeating the Restored Hanthawaddy, and by 1759 he had reunited all of Myanmar and Manipur and driven out the French and the British, who had provided arms to Hanthawaddy. By 1770, Alaungpaya's heirs had subdued much of Laos and fought and won the [[Burmese–Siamese War (1765–1767)|Burmese–Siamese War]] against [[Ayutthaya Kingdom|Ayutthaya]] and the [[Sino-Burmese War]] against [[Qing China]].<ref>[[#Lieberman|Lieberman]], pp. 184–187</ref>

With Burma preoccupied by the Chinese threat, Ayutthaya recovered its territories by 1770 and went on to capture Lan Na by 1776. Burma and Siam went to war until 1855, but all resulted in a stalemate, exchanging [[Tenasserim Island|Tenasserim]] (to Burma) and Lan Na (to Ayutthaya). Faced with a powerful China and a resurgent Ayutthaya in the east, King [[Bodawpaya]] turned west, acquiring Arakan (1785), Manipur (1814) and Assam (1817). It was the second-largest empire in Burmese history but also one with a long ill-defined border with [[British India]].<ref>[[#Myint-U|Myint-U]], p. 109</ref>

In 1826, Burma lost Arakan, [[Manipur]], Assam and Tenasserim to the British in the [[First Anglo-Burmese War]]. In 1852, the British easily seized Lower Burma in the [[Second Anglo-Burmese War]]. King [[Mindon Min]] tried to modernise the kingdom and in 1875 narrowly avoided annexation by ceding the [[Karenni States]]. The British, alarmed by the consolidation of [[French Indochina]], annexed the remainder of the country in the [[Third Anglo-Burmese War]] in 1885.

Konbaung kings extended Restored Toungoo's administrative reforms and achieved unprecedented levels of internal control and external expansion. For the first time in history, the Burmese language and culture came to predominate the entire Irrawaddy valley. The evolution and growth of Burmese literature and theatre continued, aided by an extremely high adult male literacy rate for the era (half of all males and 5% of females).<ref>[[#Lieberman|Lieberman]], pp. 202–206</ref> Nonetheless, the extent and pace of reforms were uneven and ultimately proved insufficient to stem the advance of British colonialism.

=== British Burma (1885–1948) ===
{{main|British rule in Burma|Burma campaign}}
[[File:British forces arrival mandalay1885.jpg|thumb|The landing of British forces in Mandalay after the last of the [[Anglo-Burmese War]]s, which resulted in the abdication of the last Burmese monarch, King [[Thibaw Min]]]]
[[File:IND 004723.jpg|thumb|British troops firing a [[mortar (weapon)|mortar]] on the [[Mawchi]] road, July 1944]]

In the 19th century, Burmese rulers sought to maintain their traditional influence in the western areas of Assam, Manipur and Arakan. Pressing them, however, was the [[British East India]] Company, which was expanding its interests eastwards over the same territory. Over the next 60 years, diplomacy, raids, treaties and compromises, known collectively as the [[Anglo-Burmese Wars]], continued until Britain proclaimed control over most of Burma.<ref>{{cite book |last=Baten |first=Jörg |title=A History of the Global Economy. From 1500 to the Present |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=2016 |page=287 |isbn=978-1-107-50718-0}}</ref> With the fall of Mandalay, all of Burma came under British rule, being [[Third Anglo-Burmese War#Annexation and resistance|annexed]] on 1 January 1886.

Throughout the colonial era, many Indians arrived as soldiers, civil servants, construction workers and traders and, along with the [[Anglo-Burmese]] community, dominated commercial and civil life in Burma. [[Rangoon]] became the capital of British Burma and an important port between [[Calcutta]] and [[Singapore]]. Burmese resentment was strong, and was vented in violent riots that periodically paralysed Rangoon until the 1930s.<ref>{{cite book |last=Collis |first=Maurice |title=Trials in Burma |year=1945}}</ref> Some of the discontent was caused by a disrespect for Burmese culture and traditions. [[Buddhist monks]] became the vanguards of the independence movement. [[U Wisara]], an activist monk, died in prison after a 166-day hunger strike.<ref>{{cite book |first=Heinz |last=Bechert |author-link=Heinz Bechert |title=The World of Buddhism-Buddhist Monks and Nuns in Society and Culture |url=https://archive.org/details/worldofbuddhismb00bech |publisher=Facts on File |location=New York City |year=1984 |isbn=978-0-87196-982-8}}</ref>

On 1 April 1937, Burma became a separately administered colony of Britain, and [[Ba Maw]] became the first Prime Minister and Premier of Burma. Ba Maw was an outspoken advocate for Burmese self-rule, and he opposed the participation of Britain, and by extension Burma, in [[World War II]]. He resigned from the Legislative Assembly and was arrested for sedition. In 1940, before [[Japan during World War II|Japan formally entered the war]], [[Aung San]] formed the [[Burma Independence Army]] in Japan.

As a major battleground, Burma was devastated during World War II by the [[Japanese invasion of Burma|Japanese invasion]]. Within months after they entered the war, Japanese troops had advanced on Rangoon, and the British administration had collapsed. A [[Japanese occupation of Burma|Burmese Executive Administration]] headed by Ba Maw was established by the Japanese in August 1942. [[Orde Wingate|Wingate]]'s British [[Chindits]] were formed into [[long-range penetration]] groups trained to operate deep behind Japanese lines.<ref>{{cite news|author=Bennett, Will |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/chindits-remember-their-fallen-comrades-1597019.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220618/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/chindits-remember-their-fallen-comrades-1597019.html |archive-date=18 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Chindits remember their fallen comrades |work=The Independent |date=20 August 1995 |access-date=20 November 2012 |location=London}}</ref> A similar American unit, [[Merrill's Marauders]], followed the Chindits into the Burmese jungle in 1943.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/vets/stories/cbi-marauders.html |title=China-Burma-India: Merrill's Marauders. Veterans History Project, Library of Congress |publisher=Loc.gov |date=14 November 2012 |access-date=20 November 2012 |archive-date=28 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130328063322/http://www.loc.gov/vets/stories/cbi-marauders.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Beginning in late 1944, allied troops launched a [[Burma campaign 1944|series of offensives]] that led to the [[Burma campaign 1944–45|end of Japanese rule]] in July 1945. The battles were intense with much of Burma laid waste by the fighting. Overall, the Japanese lost some 150,000 men in Burma with 1,700 prisoners taken.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Towle, Philip |author-link1 = Philip Towle |author2=Kosuge, Margaret |author3=Kibata, Yōichi |year=2000 |url={{GBurl|id=ktCv32ysz0AC|p=48}}|title=Japanese prisoners of war |publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group |page=48 |isbn=978-1-85285-192-7}}</ref> Although many Burmese fought initially for the Japanese as part of the Burma Independence Army, many Burmese, mostly from the ethnic minorities, served in the British Burma Army.<ref>{{cite book|first=Ian|last=Fellowes-Gordon|year=1971|title=The Battle For Naw Seng's Kingdom: General Stilwel}}</ref> The [[Burma National Army]] and the Arakan National Army fought with the Japanese from 1942 to 1944 but switched allegiance to the Allied side in 1945. Overall, 170,000 to 250,000 Burmese civilians died during World War II.<ref>Micheal Clodfelter. Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Reference to Casualty and Other Figures, 1500–2000. 2nd Ed. 2002 {{ISBN|0-7864-1204-6}}. p. 556<br />Werner Gruhl, Imperial Japan's World War Two, 1931–1945 Transaction 2007 {{ISBN|978-0-7658-0352-8}} (Werner Gruhl is former chief of NASA's Cost and Economic Analysis Branch with a lifetime interest in the study of the First and Second World Wars.)</ref>

Following World War II, [[Aung San]] negotiated the [[Panglong Agreement]] with ethnic leaders that guaranteed the independence of Myanmar as a unified state. [[Aung Zan Wai]], Pe Khin, [[Bo Hmu Aung]], Sir Maung Gyi, Sein Mya Maung, [[Myoma U Than Kywe]] were among the negotiators of the historic [[Panglong Conference]] negotiated with Bamar leader General Aung San and other ethnic leaders in 1947. In 1947, Aung San became Deputy Chairman of the Executive Council of Myanmar, a transitional government. But in July 1947, political rivals<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.irrawaddy.org/interview/author-discusses-martyrs-day-assassination-of-aung-san.html|title=Author Discusses Martyrs' Day Assassination of Aung San|work=The Irrawaddy|author=Moe, Kyaw Zwa|date=August 1977|access-date=20 October 2013|archive-date=7 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131107153638/http://www.irrawaddy.org/interview/author-discusses-martyrs-day-assassination-of-aung-san.html|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Burmese Martyrs' Day|assassinated Aung San]] and several cabinet members.<ref>{{cite book|first=Gustaaf|last=Houtman|year=1999|title=Mental Culture in Burmese Crisis Politics: Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy|isbn=978-4-87297-748-6|publisher=Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Institute for the Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa|location=Tokyo}}</ref>

=== Independence (1948–1962) ===
{{main|Post-independence Burma (1948–1962)}}{{See also|Independence Day (Myanmar)}}
On 4 January 1948, the nation became an independent republic, under the terms of the [[Burma Independence Act 1947]]. The new country was named the ''Union of Burma'', with [[Sao Shwe Thaik]] as its first president and [[U Nu]] as its first prime minister. Unlike most other former British colonies and overseas territories, Burma did not become a member of the [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]]. A [[bicameral]] parliament was formed, consisting of a [[Chamber of Deputies (Burma)|Chamber of Deputies]] and a [[Chamber of Nationalities]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://english.dvb.no/e_docs/511947_con.htm|title=The Constitution of the Union of Burma|access-date=7 July 2006|year=1947|publisher=DVB| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060615072018/http://english.dvb.no/e_docs/511947_con.htm|archive-date=15 June 2006}}</ref> and [[multi-party]] elections were held in [[1951–52 Burmese general election|1951–1952]], [[1956 Burmese general election|1956]] and [[1960 Burmese general election|1960]].

The geographical area Burma encompasses today can be traced to the [[Panglong Agreement]], which combined Burma Proper, which consisted of Lower Burma and Upper Burma, and the Frontier Areas, which had been administered separately by the British.<ref>{{cite book |first=Martin |last=Smith |year=1991 |title=Burma -Insurgency and the Politics of Ethnicity |publisher=Zed Books |location=London and New Jersey |pages=42–43}}</ref>

In 1961, [[U Thant]], the Union of Burma's Permanent Representative to the United Nations and former secretary to the prime minister, was elected [[Secretary-General of the United Nations]], a position he held for ten years.<ref>{{cite journal|volume=14|issue=9|url=http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=7610
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314141301/http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=7610
|archive-date=14 March 2012
|author=Zaw, Aung
|title=Can Another Asian Fill U Thant's Shoes?|journal=The Irrawaddy |date=September 2006}}</ref>

When the non-Burman ethnic groups pushed for autonomy or federalism, alongside having a weak civilian government at the centre, the military leadership staged a coup d'état in 1962. Though incorporated in the 1947 Constitution, successive military governments construed the use of the term '[[federalism]]' as being anti-national, anti-unity and pro-disintegration.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-united-states-of-myanmar/article18525853.ece |title=The united states of Myanmar? |newspaper=The Hindu |date=23 May 2017 |access-date=9 September 2017 |last1=Kipgen |first1=Nehginpao |archive-date=13 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200613230526/https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-united-states-of-myanmar/article18525853.ece |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Military rule (1962–2011) ===
On 2 March 1962, the military led by General [[Ne Win]] [[1962 Burmese coup d'état|took control of Burma through a coup d'état]], and the government had been under direct or indirect control by the military since then. Between 1962 and 1974, Myanmar was ruled by a [[Union Revolutionary Council|revolutionary council]] headed by the general. Almost all aspects of society (business, media, production) were [[nationalised]] or brought under government control under the [[Burmese Way to Socialism]],<ref name="thantmyintu">[[#Myint-U|Myint-U]]</ref> which combined Soviet-style nationalisation and [[Economic planning|central planning]].

A [[Constitution of Myanmar|new constitution]] of the [[Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma]] was adopted in 1974. Until 1988, the country was ruled as a [[one-party system]], with the general and other military officers resigning and ruling through the [[Burma Socialist Programme Party]] (BSPP).<ref name="christinafink">{{cite book |first=Christina |last=Fink |year=2001 |title=Living Silence: Burma under Military Rule |isbn=978-1-85649-926-2 |publisher=White Lotus |location=Bangkok |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/livingsilence00chri }}</ref> During this period, Myanmar became one of the world's most impoverished countries.<ref name="ruin">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/sep/28/burma.uk |title=The Burma road to ruin |work=The Guardian |location=London |first=Mark |last=Tallentire |date=28 September 2007 |access-date=12 December 2016 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304081122/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/sep/28/burma.uk |url-status=live }}</ref> There were sporadic protests against military rule during the Ne Win years, and these were almost always violently suppressed. On 7 July 1962, the government broke up [[1962 Rangoon University protests|demonstrations at Rangoon University]], killing 15 students.<ref name="thantmyintu" /> In 1974, the military violently suppressed [[U Thant funeral crisis|anti-government protests]] at the funeral of U Thant. Student protests in 1975, 1976, and 1977 were quickly suppressed by overwhelming force.<ref name="christinafink" />

In 1988, unrest over economic mismanagement and political oppression by the government led to widespread pro-democracy demonstrations throughout the country known as the [[8888 Uprising]]. Security forces killed thousands of demonstrators, and General [[Saw Maung]] staged a coup d'état and formed the [[State Law and Order Restoration Council]] (SLORC). In 1989, SLORC declared martial law after widespread protests. The military government finalised plans for People's Assembly elections on 31 May 1989.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs/pyithu_hluttaw_election_law.htm |title=Pyithu Hluttaw Election Law |access-date=11 July 2006 |date=31 May 1989 |work=State Law and Order Restoration Council |publisher=iBiblio.org |archive-date=16 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190916133423/http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs/pyithu_hluttaw_election_law.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> SLORC changed the country's official English name from the "Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma" to the "Union of Myanmar" on 18 June 1989 by enacting the adaptation of the expression law.

In May 1990, the government held free multiparty elections for the first time in almost 30 years, and the [[National League for Democracy]] (NLD), the party of Aung San Suu Kyi, won<ref name="burmese_vote_1990_05_29_nytimes_com">Erlanger, Steven:
[https://www.nytimes.com/1990/05/29/world/burmese-vote-rejects-army-rule-with-big-victory-for-opposition.html "Burmese Vote Rejects Army Rule With Big Victory for Opposition,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210215085252/https://www.nytimes.com/1990/05/29/world/burmese-vote-rejects-army-rule-with-big-victory-for-opposition.html |date=15 February 2021 }}, 29 May 1990, ''The New York Times'', retrieved 1 March 2021</ref> [[1990 Myanmar general election|earning 392 out of a total 492 seats]] (i.e., 80% of the seats). However, the military junta refused to cede power<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs/Elections-02.htm |title=1990 Multi-party Democracy General Elections |author=Han, Khin Kyaw |date=1 February 2003 |work=National League for Democracy |publisher=iBiblio.org |access-date=12 July 2006 |archive-date=10 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010114240/http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs/Elections-02.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> and continued to rule the nation, first as SLORC and, from 1997, as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) until its dissolution in March 2011. General [[Than Shwe]] took over the Chairmanship – effectively the position of Myanmar's top ruler – from General Saw Maung in 1992 and held it until 2011.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Horn|first=Robert|date=11 April 2011|title=Is Burma's Strongman Really Retiring?|magazine=Time|url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2064470,00.html|access-date=1 September 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110901055649/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0%2C8599%2C2064470%2C00.html|archive-date=1 September 2011}}</ref>

On 23 June 1997, Myanmar was admitted into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. On 27 March 2006, the military junta, which had moved the national capital from Yangon to a site near [[Pyinmana]] in November 2005, officially named the new capital [[Naypyidaw]], meaning "city of the kings".<ref>{{cite news |title=Burma's new capital stages parade |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4848408.stm |publisher=BBC News |date=27 March 2006 |access-date=24 June 2006 |archive-date=3 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181203065423/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4848408.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:2007 Myanmar protests 7.jpg|thumb|Protesters in [[Yangon]] during the [[2007 Saffron Revolution]] with a banner that reads ''non-violence: national movement'' in [[Burmese language|Burmese]]. In the background is [[Shwedagon Pagoda]].]]

[[File:Cyclone Nargis -Myanmar-3May2008.jpg|thumb|[[Cyclone Nargis]] in southern Myanmar, May 2008]]
In August 2007, an increase in the price of fuel led to the [[Saffron Revolution]] led by Buddhist monks that were dealt with harshly by the government.<ref name=PetrolSaffronRevolution>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6947251.stm|title=Burma leaders double fuel prices|publisher=BBC News|date=15 August 2007|access-date=20 November 2012|archive-date=30 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170530110116/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6947251.stm|url-status=live}}<br />{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article2521951.ece|title=Military junta threatens monks in Burma|location=London|work=The Times|date=24 September 2007|access-date=27 April 2010|first1=Jenny|last1=Booth|archive-date=10 October 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081010194752/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article2521951.ece|url-status=dead}}<br />{{cite web|url=http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=85644|title=100,000 Protestors Flood Streets of Rangoon in "Saffron Revolution"|access-date=15 February 2009|archive-date=17 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201017022614/https://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=85644|url-status=live}}<br />{{cite book|author=Fink, Christina|chapter=The Moment of the Monks: Burma, 2007|editor-link=Adam Roberts (scholar)|editor=Adam Roberts|editor2=Timothy Garton Ash|title=Civil Resistance and Power Politics: The Experience of Non-violent Action from Gandhi to the Present|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0-19-955201-6|pages=354–70|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BxOQKrCe7UUC&q=Civil+resistance+and+power+politics|access-date=9 August 2023|archive-date=20 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230820072155/https://books.google.com/books?id=BxOQKrCe7UUC&q=Civil+resistance+and+power+politics|url-status=live}}<br />{{cite news|url=http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/4081D23F-F1A4-46AF-BA50-D47FA2B7A4AE.htm|title=UN envoy warns of Myanmar crisis|publisher=English.aljazeera.net|access-date=20 November 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080228090420/http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/4081D23F-F1A4-46AF-BA50-D47FA2B7A4AE.htm|archive-date=28 February 2008}}</ref> The government cracked down on them on 26 September 2007, with reports of barricades at the [[Shwedagon Pagoda]] and monks killed. There were also rumours of disagreement within the Burmese armed forces, but none was confirmed. The military crackdown against unarmed [[protest]]ers was widely condemned as part of the [[international reactions to the Saffron Revolution]] and led to an increase in economic sanctions against the [[Politics of Myanmar|Burmese Government]].

In May 2008, [[Cyclone Nargis]] caused extensive damage in the densely populated rice-farming delta of the [[Irrawaddy Division]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Fountain |first=Henry |url=http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/05/06/asia/AS-GEN-Myanmar-Cyclone.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081011025523/http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/05/06/asia/AS-GEN-Myanmar-Cyclone.php |archive-date=11 October 2008 |title=Aid arrives in Myanmar as death toll passes 22,000, but worst-hit area still cut off&nbsp;– |work=International Herald Tribune |date=6 May 2008}}</ref> It was the worst natural disaster in Burmese history with reports of an estimated 200,000 people dead or missing, damages totalled to 10&nbsp;billion US dollars, and as many as 1 million were left homeless.<ref>{{cite news
|url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/695277601/Official-UN-planes-land-in-Myanmar-with-aid-after-cyclone.html?pg=all
|title=Official: UN plane lands in Myanmar with aid after cyclone
|agency=Associated Press
|access-date=6 August 2015
|archive-date=6 September 2015
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906080826/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/695277601/Official-UN-planes-land-in-Myanmar-with-aid-after-cyclone.html?pg=all
|url-status=dead
}}</ref> In the critical days following this disaster, Myanmar's [[isolationist]] government was accused of hindering United Nations recovery efforts.<ref>{{cite news |author1=Stevenson, Rachel |author2=Borger, Julian |author3=MacKinnon, Ian |name-list-style=amp |title=Burma snubs foreign aid workers |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/may/09/cyclonenargis.burma4 |work=The Guardian |location=London |date=9 May 2008 |access-date=12 December 2016 |archive-date=2 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130902085545/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/may/09/cyclonenargis.burma4 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Humanitarian aid]] was requested, but concerns about foreign military or intelligence presence in the country delayed the entry of United States military planes delivering medicine, food, and other supplies.<ref>{{cite web|title=Burma: imperialists exploit natural disaster to promote regime change|url=http://www.cpgb-ml.org/index.php?art=410&secName=proletarian&subName=display|publisher=Proletarian Online|date=June 2008|access-date=13 November 2013|archive-date=13 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113132830/http://www.cpgb-ml.org/index.php?art=410&secName=proletarian&subName=display|url-status=live}}</ref>

In early August 2009, [[2009 Kokang incident|a conflict broke out]] in Shan State in northern Myanmar. For several weeks, junta troops fought against ethnic minorities including the [[Kokang Chinese|Han Chinese]],<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna32596296 |title=Fighting forces up to 30,000 to flee Myanmar |work=NBC News |date=28 August 2009 |access-date=20 November 2012 |archive-date=23 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200923230219/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/32596296 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Wa people|Wa]], and [[Jingpo people|Kachin]].<ref name="BangkokPost">{{cite news |date=27 August 2009 |title=More fighting feared as thousands flee Burma |work=[[Mail & Guardian]] |agency=[[Agence France-Presse]] |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2009-08-27-more-fighting-feared-as-thousands-flee-burma |access-date=28 August 2009 |archive-date=3 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170303122522/https://mg.co.za/article/2009-08-27-more-fighting-feared-as-thousands-flee-burma |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="NYTrefugees">{{cite news |work=The New York Times |last=Fuller |first=Thomas |date=28 August 2009 |access-date=28 August 2009 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/29/world/asia/29myanmar.html |title=Refugees Flee to China as Fighting Breaks Out in Myanmar |archive-date=13 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120213153527/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/29/world/asia/29myanmar.html |url-status=live }}</ref> During 8–12 August, the first days of the conflict, as many as 10,000 Burmese civilians fled to Yunnan in neighbouring China.<ref name="BangkokPost" /><ref name="NYTrefugees" /><ref>{{cite news |publisher=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8223430.stm |title=Thousands Flee Burma Violence |date=26 August 2009 |access-date=28 August 2009 |archive-date=29 August 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090829215715/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8223430.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Civil wars ===
{{main|Internal conflict in Myanmar}}
[[Civil war]]s have been a constant feature of Myanmar's socio-political landscape since the attainment of independence in 1948. These wars are predominantly struggles for ethnic and sub-national autonomy, with the areas surrounding the ethnically Bamar central districts of the country serving as the primary geographical setting of conflict. Foreign journalists and visitors require a special travel permit to visit the areas in which Myanmar's civil wars continue.<ref>{{cite web|title=Restricted Areas in Burma|url=http://www.tourismburma.com/restricted-areas-in-burma/|publisher=Tourism Burma|access-date=27 March 2013|year=2013|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130102230338/http://www.tourismburma.com/restricted-areas-in-burma/|archive-date=2 January 2013}}</ref>

In October 2012, the ongoing conflicts in Myanmar included the [[Kachin conflict]],<ref>{{cite news |title=Ethnic Rifts Strain Myanmar as It Moves Toward Democracy |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/05/world/asia/ethnic-rifts-strain-myanmar-as-it-moves-toward-democracy.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=4 April 2013 |author=Fuller, Thomas |access-date=25 February 2017 |archive-date=22 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160722151744/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/05/world/asia/ethnic-rifts-strain-myanmar-as-it-moves-toward-democracy.html |url-status=live }}</ref> between the Pro-Christian [[Kachin Independence Army]] and the government;<ref name=ChristianVsGovt>{{cite news|title=Displaced by fighting, villagers take shelter in Hpakant|url=http://www.dvb.no/news/displaced-by-fighting-villagers-take-shelter-in-hpakant/23955|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121127023044/http://www.dvb.no/news/displaced-by-fighting-villagers-take-shelter-in-hpakant/23955|url-status=dead|archive-date=27 November 2012|access-date=27 March 2013|newspaper=Democratic Voice of Burma|date=25 September 2012|author=Nadi, Nang Mya}}<br />{{cite news|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/peopleandpower/2012/10/20121031172469210.html|title=Blood and Gold: Inside Burma's Hidden War|publisher=Al Jazeera|date=4 October 2012|access-date=5 January 2013|archive-date=1 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190101175348/https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/peopleandpower/2012/10/20121031172469210.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> a civil war between the [[Rohingya]] Muslims,<ref name="lan">{{cite book |last=Simpson |first=Andrew |title=Language and National Identity in Asia |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-19-922648-1 |location=United Kingdom |page=267}}</ref> and the government and non-government groups in [[Rakhine State]];<ref>{{cite news|title=About 75,000 Rohingyas in Myanmar camps: Refugee International|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/about-75000-rohingyas-in-myanmar-camps-refugee-international/article3948606.ece|access-date=27 March 2013|newspaper=The Hindu|date=29 September 2012|location=Chennai, India|archive-date=8 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180208141327/http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/about-75000-rohingyas-in-myanmar-camps-refugee-international/article3948606.ece|url-status=live}}</ref> and a conflict between the [[Shan people|Shan]],<ref name=ShanVsGovt>{{cite web|title=Supporting Human Rights in Burma|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2012/11/09/supporting-human-rights-burma|access-date=27 March 2013|author=Power, Samantha|via=[[NARA|National Archives]]|work=[[whitehouse.gov]]|date=9 November 2012|archive-date=22 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170122060757/https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2012/11/09/supporting-human-rights-burma|url-status=live}}<br />{{cite news|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/10/201210285232434409.html|title=Myanmar Shan refugees struggle at Thai border|publisher=Al Jazeera|date=2 October 2012|access-date=5 January 2013|archive-date=22 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190422154430/https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/10/201210285232434409.html|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Lahu people|Lahu]], and [[Karen people|Karen]]<ref>{{cite news|title=Karen fighters and Burma Army soldiers killed over ceasefire breach|url=http://karennews.org/2012/03/karen-fighters-and-burma-army-soldiers-killed-over-ceasefire-breech.html/|access-date=27 March 2013|newspaper=Karen News|date=16 March 2012|author=Saw Khar Su Nyar (KIC)|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615153917/http://karennews.org/2012/03/karen-fighters-and-burma-army-soldiers-killed-over-ceasefire-breech.html/|archive-date=15 June 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.irinnews.org/report/95008/MYANMAR-Karen-groups-cautious-on-peace-initiative |title=Myanmar: Karen groups cautious on peace initiative |agency=[[The New Humanitarian|IRIN]] |date=5 March 2012 |access-date=5 January 2013 |archive-date=1 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101072043/http://www.irinnews.org/report/95008/myanmar-karen-groups-cautious-on-peace-initiative |url-status=live }}</ref> minority groups, and the government in the eastern half of the country. In addition, [[al-Qaeda]] signalled an intention to become involved in Myanmar.<ref>{{cite news|title=Concern in India as Al Qaeda announces new India front|url=http://www.myanmarnews.net/index.php/sid/225407619|date=4 September 2014|access-date=6 September 2014|publisher=Myanmar News.Net|archive-date=6 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160406002614/http://www.myanmarnews.net/index.php/sid/225407619|url-status=live}}</ref>

Armed conflict between [[Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army|ethnic Chinese rebels]] and the [[Myanmar Armed Forces]] resulted in the [[2015 Kokang offensive|Kokang offensive]] in February 2015. The conflict had forced 40,000 to 50,000 civilians to flee their homes and seek shelter on the Chinese side of the border.<ref>{{cite web |date=12 February 2015 |title=Tens of thousands flee war, airstrikes in Kokang region |url=http://www.dvb.no/news/tens-thousands-flee-war-airstrikes-kokang-region/48271 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150328223618/http://www.dvb.no/news/tens-thousands-flee-war-airstrikes-kokang-region/48271 |archive-date=28 March 2015 |access-date=31 March 2015 |work=[[Democratic Voice of Burma]]}}</ref> During the incident, the government of China was accused of giving military assistance to the [[Kokang Chinese|ethnic Chinese]] rebels.<ref>"[http://www.rfa.org/english/news/myanmar/kokang-02132015185129.html Myanmar Kokang Rebels Deny Receiving Chinese Weapons] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190511065757/http://www.rfa.org/english/news/myanmar/kokang-02132015185129.html |date=11 May 2019 }}". [[Radio Free Asia]].</ref> Clashes between Burmese troops and local insurgent groups have continued, fuelling tensions between China and Myanmar.<ref>{{cite web |last=Lintner |first=Bertil |author-link=Bertil Lintner |date=5 April 2017 |title=A Chinese war in Myanmar |url=https://asiatimes.com/2017/04/chinese-war-myanmar/ |access-date=5 July 2022 |website=Asia Times |language=en-US |archive-date=21 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220621214332/https://asiatimes.com/2017/04/chinese-war-myanmar/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Period of liberalisation, 2011–2021 ===
{{See also|2011–2015 Myanmar political reforms}}
The military-backed Government had promulgated a [[Roadmap to democracy|"Roadmap to Discipline-flourishing Democracy"]] in 1993, but the process appeared to stall several times, until 2008 when the Government published a new draft national constitution, and organised a (flawed) national referendum which adopted it. The new constitution provided for election of a national assembly with powers to appoint a president, while practically ensuring army control at all levels.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Steinberg|first=David I.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/318409825|title=Burma/Myanmar : what everyone needs to know|date=2010|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-539067-4|location=Oxford|pages=142–147|oclc=318409825}}</ref>
[[File:Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton at home of Aung San Suu Kyi.jpg|thumb|U.S. President [[Barack Obama]] and Secretary of State [[Hillary Clinton]] with [[Aung San Suu Kyi]] and her staff at her home in Yangon, 2012]]

A [[2010 Myanmar general election|general election in 2010]] – the first for twenty years – was boycotted by the [[National League for Democracy|NLD]]. The military-backed [[Union Solidarity and Development Party]] declared victory, stating that it had been favoured by 80 per cent of the votes; fraud, however, was alleged.<ref name="tni.org">{{cite web|date=14 December 2010|title=A Changing Ethnic Landscape: Analysis of Burma's 2010 Polls|url=http://www.tni.org/briefing/changing-ethnic-landscape-analysis-burmas-2010-polls|access-date=27 March 2013|work=Transnational Institute&nbsp;– Burma Project|publisher=TNI|archive-date=2 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402140616/http://www.tni.org/briefing/changing-ethnic-landscape-analysis-burmas-2010-polls|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="nyt-un-doubt-fairness-of-election">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/22/world/asia/22nations.html|date=22 October 2010|work=The New York Times|first=Neil|last=MacFarquhar|title=U.N. Doubts Fairness of Election in Myanmar|access-date=25 February 2017|archive-date=15 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170715200353/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/22/world/asia/22nations.html|url-status=live}}</ref> A nominally civilian government was then formed, with retired general [[Thein Sein]] as president.<ref>{{cite web|date=3 September 2018|title=Myanmar profile - Timeline|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-12992883|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210326180520/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-12992883|archive-date=26 March 2021|access-date=25 September 2021|website=BBC News}}</ref>

A series of liberalising political and economic actions – or reforms – then took place. By the end of 2011 these included the release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest, the establishment of the [[Myanmar National Human Rights Commission|National Human Rights Commission]], the granting of general amnesties for more than 200 political prisoners, new labour laws that permitted labour unions and strikes, a relaxation of press censorship, and the regulation of currency practices.<ref>{{cite news|author=Loyn, David|date=19 November 2011|title=Obstacles lie ahead in Burma's bid for reform|publisher=BBC|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-15303968|access-date=20 November 2011|archive-date=18 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111118122129/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-15303968|url-status=live}}</ref> In response, [[United States Secretary of State]] [[Hillary Clinton]] visited Myanmar in December 2011 – the first visit by a US Secretary of State in more than fifty years<ref>{{cite news|author=Hepler, Lauren|author2=Voorhees, Josh|date=1 December 2011|title=Budding Friendship on Display as Clinton, Burma's Suu Kyi Meet Again|newspaper=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]|agency=[[Associated Press]]|url=http://slatest.slate.com/posts/2011/11/18/hillary_clinton_to_visit_myanmar_burma_first_trip_by_secretary_of_state_in_more_than_50_years.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130617073614/http://slatest.slate.com/posts/2011/11/18/hillary_clinton_to_visit_myanmar_burma_first_trip_by_secretary_of_state_in_more_than_50_years.html|archive-date=17 June 2013|quote=Wrapping up a historic three-day visit to Myanmar [Burma], the first by a secretary of state to the Southeast Asian nation in more than 50 years}}</ref> – meeting both President Thein Sein and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.<ref name="Clinton">{{cite news|author=Myers, Steven Lee|date=2 December 2011|title=Clinton Says U.S. Will Relax Some Restrictions on Myanmar|page=A6|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/02/world/asia/us-will-relax-curbs-on-aid-to-myanmar.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111201172242/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/02/world/asia/us-will-relax-curbs-on-aid-to-myanmar.html |archive-date=1 December 2011 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=15 May 2013}}</ref>

[[Aung San Suu Kyi]]'s [[National League for Democracy|NLD]] party participated in the 2012 by-elections, facilitated by the government's abolition of the laws that previously barred it.<ref>{{cite news|date=18 November 2011|title=US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to visit Burma|publisher=BBC|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-15787052|access-date=25 November 2011|archive-date=20 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111120053747/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-15787052|url-status=live}}</ref> In the April 2012 [[2012 Myanmar by-elections|by-elections]], the NLD won 43 of the 45 available seats. The 2012 by-elections were also the first time that international representatives were allowed to monitor the voting process in Myanmar.<ref>{{cite news|last=Golluoglu|first=Esmer|date=4 February 2012|title=Aung San Suu Kyi hails 'new era' for Burma after landslide victory|newspaper=The Guardian|location=London|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/apr/02/aung-san-suu-kyi-new-era-burma?newsfeed=true}}</ref>

Myanmar's improved international reputation was indicated by [[ASEAN]]'s approval of Myanmar's bid for the position of ASEAN chair in 2014.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Cabellero-Anthony|first1=Mely|date=March 2014|title="Myanmar's Chairmanship of ASEAN: Challenges and Opportunities", Myanmar's Growing Regional Role|url=http://www.nbr.org/publications/element.aspx?id=741|journal=NBR Special Report|access-date=4 August 2014|archive-date=10 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010114243/http://www.nbr.org/publications/element.aspx?id=741|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Burma en.png|thumb|upright=0.8|Map of Myanmar and its divisions]]

==== 2015 general elections ====
General elections [[2015 Myanmar general election|were held on 8 November 2015]]. These were the first openly contested elections held in Myanmar since the 1990 general election (which was annulled<ref name="landmark_elections_2015_12_03_bbc">[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-33547036 "Myanmar's 2015 landmark elections explained,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210321181407/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-33547036 |date=21 March 2021 }} 3 December 2015, BBC News, retrieved 1 March 2021</ref>). The results gave the NLD an [[Supermajority|absolute majority]] of seats in both chambers of the [[national parliament]], enough to ensure that its candidate would become president, while NLD leader [[Aung San Suu Kyi]] is constitutionally barred from the presidency.<ref name="landmark_elections_2015_12_03_bbc" /><ref name="national_league_wins_2015_11_13_bbc">{{cite news |title=Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy Wins Majority in Myanmar |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34805806 |access-date=13 November 2015 |publisher=BBC News |date=13 November 2015 |archive-date=13 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151113070516/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34805806 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The new parliament convened on 1 February 2016,<ref>{{cite web|title = Suu Kyi's novice MPs learn ropes in outgoing Myanmar parliament|url = http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/suu-kyi-s-novice-mps/2464054.html|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160127170900/http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/suu-kyi-s-novice-mps/2464054.html|url-status=dead|archive-date = 27 January 2016|publisher = Channel NewsAsia|access-date = 28 January 2016}}</ref> and on 15 March 2016, [[Htin Kyaw]] was elected as the first non-military president since the military coup of 1962.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Moe|first1=Wae|last2=Ramzy|first2=Austin|title=Myanmar Lawmakers Name Htin Kyaw President, Affirming Civilian Rule|date=15 March 2016|newspaper=The New York Times|url=http://nyti.ms/1M4ac5P}}</ref> On 6 April 2016, [[Aung San Suu Kyi]] assumed the newly created role of [[State Counsellor of Myanmar|state counsellor]], a role akin to a [[Prime Minister of Myanmar|prime minister]].<ref>Daniel Combs, ''Until the World Shatters: Truth, Lies, and the Looting of Myanmar'' (2021).</ref>

=== Coup d'état and civil war ===
{{main|2021 Myanmar coup d'état|Myanmar civil war (2021–present)}}
{{See also|Myanmar protests (2021–present)}}

In Myanmar's 2020 parliamentary election, the ostensibly ruling [[National League for Democracy|National League for Democracy (NLD)]], the party of State Counsellor [[Aung San Suu Kyi]], competed with various other smaller parties &ndash; particularly the military-affiliated [[Union Solidarity and Development Party|Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP)]].<ref name="myanmar_election_2020_11_11_nytimes_com">[https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/11/world/asia/myanmar-election-aung-san-suu-kyi-results.html "Myanmar Election Delivers Another Decisive Win for Aung San Suu Kyi,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301062240/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/11/world/asia/myanmar-election-aung-san-suu-kyi-results.html |date=1 March 2021 }} 11 November 2020, ''The New York Times'', retrieved 18 December 2020</ref> Suu Kyi's NLD won the [[2020 Myanmar general election]] on 8 November in a landslide.<ref name="myanmar_election_2020_11_11_nytimes_com" /><ref name="suu_kyis_party_wins_2020_11_13_bbc">[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-54899170 "Myanmar: Aung San Suu Kyi's party wins majority in election,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230329220822/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-54899170 |date=29 March 2023 }} 11 November 2020, BBC News, retrieved 18 December 2020</ref><ref name="commission_rejects_2021_01_29_apnews_com">[https://apnews.com/article/aung-san-suu-kyi-elections-myanmar-cc1b225b806c27dda748d3ab51d0e47f "Myanmar election commission rejects military's fraud claims,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210203131321/https://apnews.com/article/aung-san-suu-kyi-elections-myanmar-cc1b225b806c27dda748d3ab51d0e47f |date=3 February 2021 }} 29 January 2021, [[Associated Press]], retrieved 28 February 2021</ref> The USDP, regarded as a proxy for the military, suffered a "humiliating" defeat<ref name="crisis_in_myanmar_2021_01_31_reuters">[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-politics-explainer/explainer-crisis-in-myanmar-after-army-alleges-election-fraud-idUSKBN2A113H "Explainer: Crisis in Myanmar after army alleges election fraud,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210228221918/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-politics-explainer/explainer-crisis-in-myanmar-after-army-alleges-election-fraud-idUSKBN2A113H |date=28 February 2021 }} 31 January 2021, updated 1 February 2021, [[Reuters News Service]], retrieved 28 February 2021</ref><ref name="defeated_2020_11_12_irrawaddy_com">[https://www.irrawaddy.com/elections/military-backed-usdp-leaders-defeated-nld-myanmar-election.html "Military-Backed USDP Leaders Defeated by NLD in Myanmar Election,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301160653/https://www.irrawaddy.com/elections/military-backed-usdp-leaders-defeated-nld-myanmar-election.html |date=1 March 2021 }} 12 November 2020, ''[[The Irrawaddy]]'', retrieved 28 February 2021</ref> &ndash; even worse than in 2015<ref name="defeated_2020_11_12_irrawaddy_com" /> &ndash; capturing only 33 of the 476 elected seats.<ref name="commission_rejects_2021_01_29_apnews_com" /><ref name="crisis_in_myanmar_2021_01_31_reuters" />

As the election results began emerging, the USDP rejected them, urging a new election with the military as observers.<ref name="myanmar_election_2020_11_11_nytimes_com" /><ref name="defeated_2020_11_12_irrawaddy_com" /> More than 90 other smaller parties contested the vote, including more than 15 who complained of irregularities. However, election observers declared there were no major irregularities.<ref name="crisis_in_myanmar_2021_01_31_reuters" /><ref name="commission_rejects_2021_01_29_apnews_com" /><ref name="myanmar_election_body_2021_01_28_irrawaddy_com">[https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-election-body-rejects-military-allegations-electoral-fraud.html "Myanmar Election Body Rejects Military Allegations of Electoral Fraud,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301124627/https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-election-body-rejects-military-allegations-electoral-fraud.html |date=1 March 2021 }} 28 January 2021, ''[[The Irrawaddy]]'', retrieved 6 February 2021</ref> However, despite the election commission validating the NLD's overwhelming victory,<ref name="myanmar_election_body_2021_01_28_irrawaddy_com" /> the USDP and Myanmar's military persistently alleged fraud.<ref name="military_condemns_2021_01_15_irrawaddy_com">[https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-military-condemns-speakers-refusal-probe-election-fraud-claims.html "Myanmar Military Condemns Speaker's Refusal to Probe Election Fraud Claims,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310112448/https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-military-condemns-speakers-refusal-probe-election-fraud-claims.html |date=10 March 2021 }} 15 January 2021, ''[[The Irrawaddy]]'', retrieved 7 February 2021</ref><ref name="Myanmar_military_2021_01_26_irrawaddy_com">[https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-military-refuses-rule-coup-presses-claim-fraud-nov-election.html "Myanmar Military Refuses to Rule Out Coup as It Presses Claim of Fraud in Nov Election,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301142916/https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-military-refuses-rule-coup-presses-claim-fraud-nov-election.html |date=1 March 2021 }} 26 January 2021, ''[[The Irrawaddy]]'', retrieved 7 February 2021</ref><ref name="military_threats channelnewsasia_com">[https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/military-threats--coup-fears-overshadow-myanmar-parliament-opening-14068508 "Military Thrests: Coup Fears Overshadow Myanmar Parliament Opening,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210130124925/https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/military-threats--coup-fears-overshadow-myanmar-parliament-opening-14068508 |date=30 January 2021 }} ''[[Channel NewsAsia]]'',</ref><ref name="military_chief_warns_2021_01_28_irrawaddy_com">[https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-military-chief-warns-constitution-revoked-laws-not-followed.html "Myanmar Military Chief Warns Constitution Should Be Revoked If Laws Not Followed,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301124634/https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-military-chief-warns-constitution-revoked-laws-not-followed.html |date=1 March 2021 }} 28 January 2021, ''[[The Irrawaddy]]'', retrieved 7 February 2021</ref><ref name="coup_talk_2021_01_28_bangkokpost_com">[https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/2059323/un-embassies-fret-over-myanmar-coup-talk "UN, embassies fret over Myanmar coup talk,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224030219/https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/2059323/un-embassies-fret-over-myanmar-coup-talk |date=24 February 2021 }} 28 January 2021, ''[[Bangkok Post]]'', retrieved 30 January 2021</ref>{{excessive citations inline|date=July 2024}}
In January 2021, just before the new parliament was to be sworn in, the NLD announced that Suu Kyi would retain her State Counsellor role in the upcoming government.
<ref name="suu_kyi_to_keep_2021_01_25_irrawaddy_com">[https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmars-daw-aung-san-suu-kyi-keep-state-counselor-position-nld-says.html "Myanmar's Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to Keep State Counselor Position NLD Says,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301124641/https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmars-daw-aung-san-suu-kyi-keep-state-counselor-position-nld-says.html |date=1 March 2021 }} 25 January 2021, ''[[The Irrawaddy]]'', retrieved 6 February 2021</ref>

[[File:We want our leader free Daw Aung San Su Kyi.jpg|thumb|left|Protesters against the military coup in Myanmar]]

In the early morning of 1 February 2021, the day parliament was set to convene, the [[Tatmadaw]], Myanmar's military, detained Suu Kyi and other members of the ruling party.<ref name="crisis_in_myanmar_2021_01_31_reuters" /><ref name=":3"/><ref name="myanmar_coup_2021_02_21_nikkei_com">[https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Myanmar-Coup/Myanmar-coup-Week-of-Feb.1-to-Feb.-21-EU-action-in-focus-as-foreign-ministers-set-to-meet "Myanmar coup: Week(s) of Feb.1 to Feb. 21, EU action in focus as foreign ministers set to meet; Candlelight vigil held in Yangon; Facebook removes military's 'True News' page,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210302033544/https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Myanmar-Coup/Myanmar-coup-Week-of-Feb.1-to-Feb.-21-EU-action-in-focus-as-foreign-ministers-set-to-meet |date=2 March 2021 }} (reverse chronology) 1 February through 21 February 2021, ''[[Nikkei Asia]]'', retrieved 1 March 2021</ref> The military handed power to military chief [[Min Aung Hlaing]] and declared a state of emergency for one year<ref name="suu_kyi_detained_2021_01_31_bloomberg_com">{{cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-31/myanmar-s-suu-kyi-detained-in-early-morning-raid-reuters-says|title=Myanmar Military Takes Power for One Year, Suu Kyi in Detention|newspaper=Bloomberg.com|date=31 January 2021|via=www.bloomberg.com|access-date=1 February 2021|archive-date=1 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201050819/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-31/myanmar-s-suu-kyi-detained-in-early-morning-raid-reuters-says|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":3" /> and began closing the borders, restricting travel and electronic communications nationwide.<ref name="myanmar_coup_2021_02_21_nikkei_com" /> The military announced it would replace the existing election commission with a new one, and a military media outlet indicated new elections would be held in about one year &ndash; though the military avoided making an official commitment to that.<ref name="myanmar_coup_2021_02_21_nikkei_com" /> The military expelled NLD party Members of Parliament from the capital city, [[Naypyidaw]].<ref name="myanmar_coup_2021_02_21_nikkei_com" /> By 15 March 2021 the military leadership continued to extend martial law into more parts of Yangon, while security forces killed 38 people in a single day of violence.<ref>{{cite news|first=Helen|last=Regan|title=Chinese factories set on fire in Myanmar in deadliest day since coup|url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/15/asia/myanmar-deaths-chinese-factories-intl-hnk/index.html|access-date=15 March 2021|website=CNN|archive-date=15 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210315111827/https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/15/asia/myanmar-deaths-chinese-factories-intl-hnk/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

By the second day of the coup, thousands of protesters were marching in the streets of Yangon, and other protests erupted nationwide, largely halting commerce and transportation. Despite the military's arrests and killings of protesters, the first weeks of the coup found growing public participation, including groups of civil servants, teachers, students, workers, monks and religious leaders &ndash; even normally disaffected ethnic minorities.<ref name="teachers_join_2021_02_05_bbc">[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-55944482 "Myanmar coup: Teachers join growing protests against military,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210222185331/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-55944482 |date=22 February 2021 }} 5 February 2021, BBC News, retrieved 28 February 2021</ref><ref name="tens_of_thousands_2021_02_07_irrawaddy_com">[https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/tens-thousands-take-streets-myanmar-protest-military-regime.html "Tens of Thousands Take to Streets in Myanmar to Protest Military Regime,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211227061633/https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/tens-thousands-take-streets-myanmar-protest-military-regime.html |date=27 December 2021 }} 12 November 2020, ''[[The Irrawaddy]]'', retrieved 28 February 2021</ref><ref name="myanmar_coup_2021_02_21_nikkei_com" />

The coup was immediately condemned by the [[United Nations Secretary General]], and leaders of democratic nations. The U.S. threatened sanctions on the military and its leaders, including a "freeze" of US$1 billion of their assets in the U.S.<ref name="teachers_join_2021_02_05_bbc" /><ref name="myanmar_coup_2021_02_21_nikkei_com" /> [[India]], [[Pakistan]], [[Bangladesh]], [[Russia]], [[Vietnam]], [[Thailand]], the [[Philippines]] and [[China]] refrained from criticizing the military coup.<ref>{{cite news |title=On Bloodiest Day for Myanmar Civilians, India Attends Military Parade by Coup Leaders |url=https://thewire.in/diplomacy/india-china-russia-pakistan-attend-myanmar-armed-forces-day-parade |work=[[The Wire (India)|The Wire]] |date=28 March 2021 |access-date=15 June 2021 |archive-date=28 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328071814/https://thewire.in/diplomacy/india-china-russia-pakistan-attend-myanmar-armed-forces-day-parade |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=China Responds to Bloodshed in Myanmar With Deafening Silence |url=https://thediplomat.com/2021/03/china-responds-to-bloodshed-in-myanmar-with-deafening-silence/ |work=The Diplomat |date=2 March 2021 |access-date=15 June 2021 |archive-date=16 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210616043203/https://thediplomat.com/2021/03/china-responds-to-bloodshed-in-myanmar-with-deafening-silence/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=India has a history of involvement in its neighbours' affairs. Why has it not condemned the Myanmar coup? |url=https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3122841/india-has-history-involvement-its-neighbours-affairs-why-has-it |work=South China Morning Post |date=24 February 2021 |access-date=15 June 2021 |archive-date=16 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210616043304/https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3122841/india-has-history-involvement-its-neighbours-affairs-why-has-it |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Myanmar coup: ASEAN split over the way forward |url=https://www.dw.com/en/myanmar-coup-asean-ties/a-57042503 |work=Deutsche Welle |date=29 March 2021 |access-date=15 June 2021 |archive-date=10 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210610152119/https://www.dw.com/en/myanmar-coup-asean-ties/a-57042503 |url-status=live }}</ref> A [[United Nations Security Council]] resolution called for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and the other detained leaders<ref name="teachers_join_2021_02_05_bbc" /><ref name="myanmar_coup_2021_02_21_nikkei_com" /> &ndash; a position shared by the [[United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights]].<ref name="myanmar_coup_2021_02_21_nikkei_com" />

International development and aid partners &ndash; business, non-governmental, and governmental &ndash; hinted at suspension of partnerships with Myanmar. Banks were closed and [[social media]] communications platforms, including [[Facebook]] and [[Twitter]], removed Tatmadaw postings. Protesters appeared at Myanmar embassies in foreign countries.<ref name="teachers_join_2021_02_05_bbc" /><ref name="myanmar_coup_2021_02_21_nikkei_com" /> The National Unity Government then declared the formation of an armed wing on 5 May 2021, a date that is often cited as the start of a [[Myanmar civil war (2021–present)|full-scale civil war]]. This armed wing was named the [[People's Defence Force (Myanmar)|People's Defence Force]] (PDF) to protect its supporters from military junta attacks and as a first step towards a Federal Union Army. The civil war is ongoing as of 2025.<ref>{{cite news |title=Can Myanmar's New 'People's Defense Force' Succeed? |url=https://thediplomat.com/2021/05/can-myanmars-new-peoples-defense-force-succeed/ |agency=The Diplomat |date=26 April 2021 |access-date=3 June 2021 |archive-date=9 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509135933/https://thediplomat.com/2021/05/can-myanmars-new-peoples-defense-force-succeed/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-civil-war-in-myanmar-no-end-in-sight/ | title=The civil war in Myanmar: No end in sight | access-date=6 October 2023 | archive-date=13 October 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231013033325/https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-civil-war-in-myanmar-no-end-in-sight/ | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":3" />
[[File:Myanmar_civil_war.svg|thumb|Military situation in Myanmar {{As of|2025|4|4|lc=yes}}. Areas controlled by the [[Tatmadaw]] are highlighted in {{highlight|red|#EBC0B3}}.]]