Burma (Cherry, Plum, and Chrysanthemum)

Burma (Burmese: ဗမာနိုင်ငံ Bama Nainngan), officially the Democratic Republic of Burma (Burmese: ဗမာ ဒီမိုကရက်တစ် သမ္မတ နိုင်ငံတော် Bama Dimokraktat Thammada Nainngandaw), is a sovereign state in Southeast Asia bordered by China and Tibet to the north; by Siam to the south; by India to the west; by Pakistan to the southwest; and by Laos to the east. One third of Burma's total perimeter of 1930 km (1200 mi) forms an uninterrupted coastline along the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. Burma's population of over 60 million makes it the world's 24th most populous country and, at 676,578 sq km (261,227 sq mi), it is the world's 40th largest country and the second largest in Southeast Asia.

Politics and government
The current constitution of Burma, which replaced the 1946 Constitution in 1979, enshrined the role of Communist Party of Burma in all organs of government, politics and society. The political system is decentralized, and state and regional leaders have a significant amount of autonomy. Although the state remains officially committed to socialism as its defining creed, its economic policies have grown increasingly capitalist

The National Assembly of Burma is bicameral and made up of two houses: the upper house Assembly of Nationalities and the lower house Assembly of Representatives. The Assembly of Nationalities is indirectly elected by the local State and Regional Assemblies, while the Assembly of Representatives is directly elected every four years. However, only political organizations affiliated with or endorsed by the Communist Party are permitted to contest elections in Burma.

The Chairman of Presidium of the National Assembly of Burma is de facto head of state of the country, while the Premier of Burma is the head of government that presiding over a council of ministers and also as the nominal commander-in-chief of Pyetat (ဗမာပြည်သူ့တပ်မတော် Bama Pyeshu Tatmadaw, "People's Army of Burma"). The Premier is appointed by the National Assembly every four years.

British Burma
Burma was colonized by the British following three Anglo-Burmese Wars (1824–1885). Burma was declared a province of India in November 1885 with its capital at Rangoon. British rule brought social, economic, cultural and administrative changes. Traditional Burmese society was drastically altered by the demise of the monarchy and the separation of religion and state. The economic nature of society also changed dramatically. After the opening of the Suez Canal, the demand for Burmese rice grew and vast tracts of land were opened up for cultivation.

While the Burmese economy grew, all the power and wealth remained in the hands of the British and migrants from India. General resentment of the Burmese both toward the British and the Indian migrants resulted to the emergence of Burmese nationalist movement by early 20th century. Buddhist monks became the vanguards of the independence movement. In 1930, young Burmese intellectuals formed the Dobama Asiayone (We Burmans Association). Its members used the Burmese word Thakin ("master") as their honorific title, proclaiming that the Bamars were the true masters of the country.

In 1937, Burma was separated from British India and became a British colony of its own. A nationalist, Ba Maw, became the first Chief of Minister of Burma between 1937 and 1940. In 1939, Ba Maw formed the Freedom Bloc along with U Aung San, Thakin Than Tun and Thakin Soe from the Communist Party of Burma as well as U Kyaw Nyein and Thakin Nu from the People's Revolutionary Party. After voicing his opposition to the British war participation, Ba Maw resigned and was arrested along with other Freedom Bloc leaders for sedition in 1940. However, Aung San who attended the Indian National Congress Assembly in India, escaped and fled to China.

World War II
In China, Aung San asked for assistance from the Kuomintang government. With the help of Blue Shirts Society, the Kuomintang's secret intelligence paramilitary branch, Aung San founded the Burma Independence Army (BIA) in Bangkok, Thailand, on December 26, 1941. On May 7, 1942, the Chinese army invaded Burma from Yunnan to secure the supply line from the Indian Ocean. The Chinese, helped by the Thai forces from southwest and the BIA led by Aung San, were able to drive the British out of Burma and temporarily retreat to Bengal, British India (now East Pakistan) in January 1943.

Ba Maw was named the Premier as well as the interim head of state (နိုင်ငံတော်အဓိပတိ Nainngandaw Adipadi) of quasi-independent Burma with Aung San as the Deputy Premier and the Minister of Defense by February 1943. However, the nationalists soon disillusioned with China's capability in defending Burma. Both Ba Maw and Aung San secretly negotiated with Thakin Than Tun and Thakin Soe of the Communist Party of Burma in forming an underground resistance against the Chinese. As the plan was uncovered, Aung San was arrested by the Chinese, while Ba Maw was spared to continue running the government. Aung San died in prison on December 11, 1944.

With Aung San's arrest, the Independence Army soon disorganized and was partially out of Ba Maw's government control. Thakin Than Tun and the Communists then reorganized some deserted BIA personnel into a guerrilla force and renamed it the Burma Liberation Front (ဗမာပ လွတ်မြောက်ရေးတပ်ပေါင်းစု Bama Lwatmrawkyat Tatpangghcu, or known as "Balata"). There were informal contacts between the Balata and the Allies in 1944 and 1945. By May 1945, the Chinese were routed from most of Burma.

War of Independence
As the British troops regained control of most of Burma, on May 25, 1945, the Balata rose up in a country-wide rebellion against the Chinese, which dubbed as the "May Revolution". On August 30, 1945, the Balata-led provisional government was declared in Mandalay. Thakin Than Tun became its head of government. During this period, power struggle soon ensued within the Balata between the Communists and the Socialists. The resentment against the CPB leading nature brought Ba Swe and U Kyaw Nyein to break away from the Balata and founded the Socialist Party of Burma in May 1946.

By 1946, the CPB became the active driving force of the Balata and the independence movement in general. However, the CPB itself was divided between the hardliners led by Thakin Soe and the moderates led by Thakin Chit Maung. Soe advocated armed struggle against the British, while Chit Maung sought a more diplomatic approach. When the British offered the dominion status to Burma and invited Than Tun to lead the Executive Council, the Balata refused and sought instead for complete independence. The SPB, on other hand, accepted the invitation immediately; this move was condemned by the CPB as "treasonous".

Negotiations between the British and the Balata proved a failure by late 1946; Soe's faction became more powerful and led the front to adopt more radical line. On November 19, 1946, the Democratic Republic of Burma was declared in Mandalay; Thakin Than Tun became its first President and Premier. Armed conflicts soon broke out between the Balata and the British. Due to the Balata's anti-feudalism and anti-ethnic nationalism, the ethnic minorities such as the Shans, the Kachins and the Karens sided with the British and formed their own militias against the Balata.

Under the guidelines of Thakin Than Tun and supervision of DRB Defense Minister Bo Let Ya and Chief of Staff Bo Kyaw Zaw, the Burmese People's Army (Pyetat) was organized. Unlike the wartime BIA, the Pyetat was a highly-disciplined and highly-spirited army. Through southwestern China, which occupied by the Soviet Army until 1948, the Pyetat was supplied of firearms and artilleries by the Soviet Union. Soviet assistance proved critical for the Pyetat to defend its position in northern Burma, which then known as "Liberated Burma" (Laba), in contrast with "British Burma". Later it became the main factor for the British to let Japan expanding its influence over China.

In order to gain the trust of non-Bamar minorities, Than Tun invited Mahn Win Maung (Karen),