Burma Communist Party
| Burma Communist Party | |
|---|---|
| founding | 1939 |
| Alignment |
Communism , Marxism-Leninism |
| Colours) | red |
_and_(1946-1970).svg)
The Burmese Communist Party ( KPB , Burmese ဗမာပြည် ကွန်မြူနစ်ပါတီ ) is an illegal communist party in what is now Myanmar , the former Burma. In the past she waged an armed struggle, often in alliance with various ethnic rebel armies, against the military government of Myanmar. Despite the rebellions, the CPB still exists underground to this day, but is no longer an influential, armed group.
Struggle for independence
The KPB was founded on August 15, 1939 from an amalgamation of various Marxist groups. Until 1941 she led an armed struggle against the British colonial government . From 1942 to 1945 the KPB fought against the Japanese occupiers in Burma. At the same time members of the KPB fought against the British colonial power for Burma's independence. In 1944, members of the KPB and supporters of the Burma Independence Army under General Aung San founded the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League (AFPFL). After the reconquest of large parts of Burma, the CPB was legalized by the British colonial government in May 1945 in gratitude for its fight against the Japanese.
But the political goal of the CPB was Burma's independence. In 1945 Thakin Than Tun took over the leadership of the communist party and in August 1946 the KPB organized a general strike that paralyzed the colony. As a result, the communists were expelled from the AFPFL in October. The AFPFL under Aung San signed the agreement with British Prime Minister Clement Attlee , which regulated Burma's independence from British colonial power.
On January 4, 1948, Burma was given independence. In the same year the party was again banned by the new government of the independent Union of Burma . The KPB then took up its armed struggle against the Burmese government. In the decades that followed, Burma was constantly in a state of civil war against the CPB and armed ethnic minorities.
Fight against the military dictatorship
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In 1962 the democratically elected government of Burma was overthrown by a military coup led by the commander of the Burmese armed forces, General Ne Win . From June to November 1963 the military government conducted unsuccessful peace negotiations with the KPB.
In 1967 Thakin Than Tun carried out his own cultural revolution in the ranks of the CPB. Many students who had fled Ne Win's military regime to the KPB's jungle camps were killed. On September 24, 1968, Thakin Than Tun was murdered by a subordinate while fleeing from government troops. The cultural revolution in the ranks of the KPB ended with his death.
In 1980 and 1981, Ne Win's government continued unsuccessful peace negotiations to end the ongoing civil war in Burma. Until the late 1980s, the People's Republic of China supported the CPB with arms and financially. During these years, the KPB ruled large parts of Shan State and Kachin State with Chinese help . But in 1989 a large part of the lower echelons rebelled against the party leadership. The KPB disintegrated into several ethnic groups, which soon ceased their fight against the Burmese government.
The best-known factions that emerged from the rebellion are the United Wa State Army , the National Democratic Alliance Army-Eastern Shan State , the Shan State Army-North and Myanmar Nationalities Democratic Alliance Army . All groups were guaranteed autonomy for their areas by the Burmese government and they were allowed to keep their armed units.
See also
literature
- Klaus Fleischmann: The Burmese Communist Party. From the beginning to the present . Hamburg, Institute for Asian Studies, 1989 ISBN 3-88910-056-2
- Bertil Lintner: The Rise and Fall of the Communist Party of Burma (CPB)
