Dobama Asiayone

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The Dobama Asiayone ("We-Burmese Association") was a nationalist movement in Burma in the 1930s. Founded in 1930 in the wake of the dock workers' strikes and anti-Indian riots, it soon brought together many long-time members of the nationalist Young Men's Buddhists Association (YMBA) and the General Council of Burmese Associations (GCBA), including Kodaw Hmaing , U Soe Thein and Ba Being , to which the foundation is usually ascribed. Aung San , who would later pioneer Burma's independence from Great Britain , joined the movement after the 1936 student strike.

Dobama can also mean “we Burmese ” (as an ethnic group) as “we Burmese” (as a nationality) or also “our Burmese”. The association turned against British colonial rule, promoted the preservation of Burmese traditions and called for boycotts of Indian and Chinese traders in favor of local products. Their motto was "Burma for the Burmese". It was mainly supported by students from the University of Rangoon , who were organized in the All Burma Youth League (ABYL). The members called themselves Thakins. Thakin ("Lord, Master") was the address that was actually reserved for the British colonial rulers. The Dobama Asiayon is therefore often referred to as the Thakin movement .

Two different currents existed within the movement: The majority around Thein Maung and Kodaw Hmaing oriented themselves to fascist or authoritarian models in building the movement against the background of the rise of Mussolini and Hitler in Europe. Others around Ba Sein und Do Ok followed socialist or communist ideas. In essence, however, the differences were less ideological than personal, and by the late 1930s the factions of Thein Maung and Ba Sein were increasingly openly hostile.

After the riots of 1938 and the outbreak of World War II in 1939, many Thakin movement leaders were arrested; at the same time, the war seemed to offer an opportunity to take action against the colonial power. In 1941, Aung San was sent to China to seek support from the Chinese communists. Instead, he was intercepted by the Japanese and negotiated with Kempeitai agents in Tokyo . The Dobama Asiayone secretly sent thirty Thakins to Hainan , where the Japanese trained them to fight the British. These "thirty comrades" ( Yebaw thoun gyeik ) became the core of the Burma Independence Army , which after the attack on Pearl Harbor initially fought with the Imperial Japanese Army against the British, and later against the Japanese occupiers.

swell

  • Angelene Naw: Aung San and the struggle for Burmese independence . Silkworm Books, Chiang Mai 2001, ISBN 974-7551-54-3 .
  • Shelby Tucker: Burma. The curse of independence . Pluto Press, London 2001, ISBN 0-7453-1541-0 .