The Burmese Declaration of Independence () was officially promulgated on 4 January 1948, as a result of the Burma Independence Act 1947, which brought to an end

British rule in Burma British colonial rule in Burma lasted from 1824 to 1948, from the successive three Anglo-Burmese wars through the creation of ''Burma'' as a province of British India to the establishment of an independently administered colony, and finally i ...

(now known as Myanmar) that lasted for six decades. The date is now celebrated as

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event memorialization, commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or Sovereign state, statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or after the end of a milit ...

, a national gazetted holiday. The declaration was jointly penned by Zawgyi,

Min Thu Wun Thiri Pyanchi Min Thu Wun (; 10 February 1909 – 15 August 2004) was a Burmese poet, writer and scholar who helped launch a new age literary movement called Khit-San (Testing the Times) in Burma. He is the father of Htin Kyaw, president of M ...

Ohn Pe Pakokku U Ohn Pe (; c. 1917 – 13 April 2008) was a Burmese businessman and writer who founded the prestigious Pakokku U Ohn Pe literary award. Early years U Ohn Pe was born around 1917 in Shardaw village near the town of Pakokku. He was the ...

and Win Sein, and translated into English by

Maung Maung Maung Maung ( ; 31 January 1925 – 2 July 1994), known honorifically as Dr. Maung Maung, was a well-known writer and legal scholar in Myanmar, who served as the seventh president of Burma from 19 August 1988 to 18 September 1988. Early life ...

U Thant Thant ( ; 22 January 1909 – 25 November 1974), known honorifically as U Thant (), was a Burmese diplomat and the third secretary-general of the United Nations from 1961 to 1971, the first non-Scandinavian as well as Asian to hold the positio ...

, Khin Maung, and Khin Zaw.

History

Japanese invasion of Burma The Japanese invasion of Burma was a series of battles fought in the British colony of Burma (present-day Myanmar) as part of the Pacific Theater of World War II. The initial invasion in 1942 resulted in the capture of Rangoon and the retre ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

was launched from Malaya in December 1941. This led to the defeat of British and Indian forces and to Japanese rule, but during 1942 the new rulers made promises to grant Burma independence after the war, believing that this would give the Burmese a stake in an

Axis An axis (: axes) may refer to: Mathematics *A specific line (often a directed line) that plays an important role in some contexts. In particular: ** Coordinate axis of a coordinate system *** ''x''-axis, ''y''-axis, ''z''-axis, common names ...

victory, create resistance to future re-colonization by the western powers, and lead to greater military and economic support from Burma for the Japanese war effort. On 8 May 1943, a Burma Independence Preparatory Committee was formed under the chairmanship of Ba Maw, and on 1 August 1943 a nominally independent

State of Burma The State of Burma (; , ''Biruma-koku'') was a Japanese puppet state established in 1943 during the Japanese occupation of Burma in World War II. Background During the early stages of World War II, the Empire of Japan invaded British Burma ...

was proclaimed, with Ba Maw as "Naingandaw Adipadi" (

head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 "

he head of state He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...

being an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

) as well as prime minister. As a result of the

Burma campaign The Burma campaign was a series of battles fought in the British colony of British rule in Burma, Burma as part of the South-East Asian theatre of World War II. It primarily involved forces of the Allies of World War II, Allies (mainly from ...

of 1944 to 1945, fought against the Japanese and the new

by the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

, the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, Burma returned to British control, but it resisted this. The new Labour government of

Clement Attlee Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee (3 January 18838 October 1967) was a British statesman who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955. At ...

resolved to grant Burma independence, and this resulted in the Burma Independence Act 1947, which conferred independence on Burma. The Burma Independence Act 1947 (1947, 11 Geo. VI, Ch. 3) The Act received the

royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in othe ...

on 10 December 1947, and the Union of Burma came into being on 4 January 1948 as a new independent republic, outside the

. To this day, Burma remains an independent republic outside the

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an International organization, international association of member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, 56 member states, the vast majo ...

References

{{Reflist Declarations of independence History of Myanmar (1948–present)

History

See also

References