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State of Burma | |||||||||
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| 1943–1945 | |||||||||
| Motto: တသွေး၊ တသံ၊ တမိန့် t sway, t san, t min "One Blood, One Voice, One Order" | |||||||||
| Anthem: "တို့ဗမာသီချင်း" Dobama Thachin "Our Burma Song" | |||||||||
 Green: Under government authority Light silver: Remainder ofBritish Burma Light green:Annexed byThailand | |||||||||
| Status | Puppet state of theEmpire of Japan | ||||||||
| Capital | Rangoon | ||||||||
| Common languages | Burmese English Japanese | ||||||||
| Religion | State Shinto Buddhism Christianity | ||||||||
| Demonym | Burmese | ||||||||
| Government | Fascist state | ||||||||
| Nainggandaw Adipati | |||||||||
• 1943–1945 | Ba Maw | ||||||||
| Prime Minister | |||||||||
• 1943–1945 | Ba Maw | ||||||||
| Deputy Prime Minister | |||||||||
• 1943–1945 | Aung San | ||||||||
| Historical era | World War II | ||||||||
• Independence | 1 August 1943 | ||||||||
• Government evacuation | 19 August 1945 | ||||||||
| Currency | Rupee | ||||||||
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| History of Myanmar |
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| Timeline |
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 Myanmar portal |
TheState of Burma (Burmese:ဗမာနိုင်ငံတော်,MLCTS:ba.ma nuingngamtau;Japanese:ビルマ國,Biruma-koku) was aJapanese puppet state established in 1943 during theJapanese occupation of Burma inWorld War II.
During the early stages ofWorld War II, theEmpire of Japan invadedBritish Burma primarily to obtain raw materials (which included oil from fields aroundYenangyaung, minerals and large surpluses of rice), and to close off theBurma Road, which was a primary link for aid and munitions to theChinese Nationalist forces ofChiang Kai-shek which had been fighting the Japanese for several years in theSecond Sino-Japanese War.
TheJapanese Fifteenth Army under Lieutenant GeneralShojiro Iida quickly overran Burma from January – May 1942. The Japanese had also assisted the formation of theBurma Independence Army (BIA), which aided the Japanese during their invasion. The BIA formed a provisional government in some areas of the country in the spring of 1942, but there were differences within the Japanese leadership over the future of Burma. While Colonel Suzuki encouraged the BIA to form aprovisional government, the Japanese military leadership had never formally accepted such a plan and the Japanese government held out only vague promises of independence after the end of the war. However, a Burmese Executive Administration was established in Rangoon on 1 August 1942 with the aim of creating a civil administration to manage day-to-day administrative activities subordinate to the Japanesemilitary administration. The head of the provisional administration was Dr.Ba Maw, a lawyer and political prisoner under the British.[citation needed]
The State of Burma adopted the nationalist symbols as the State's symbols to persuade nationalists.
The State of Burma was divided into four Divisions (တိုင်း);
The Kambawza Division, made up ofShan States andKarenni States, was put under the direct administration of the head of state.
As the war situation gradually turned against the Japanese, the Japanese government decided that Burma and thePhilippines would become fully independent as part of theGreater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, contrary to the original plan that independence only be granted after the completion of the war.Japanese Prime MinisterHideki Tōjō promised that independence for Burma would be granted within a year from 28 January 1943, with the condition that Burmadeclare war on theUnited Kingdom and theUnited States. TheJapanese government felt that this would give the Burmese a real stake in anAxis victory in theSecond World War, creating resistance against possible re-colonization by the western powers, and increased military and economic support from Burma for the Japanese war effort.
A Burma Independence Preparatory Committee chaired by Ba Maw was formed 8 May 1943 with a wide variety of respected members. On 1 August 1943, Burma was proclaimed the independent State of Burma and the Japanese military government for Burma was officially dissolved. The new state quickly declared war on the United Kingdom and the United States and concluded a Treaty of Alliance with Japan.
Ba Maw became "Naingandaw Adipadi" (head of state) of Burma under the new constitution, with effectively unbridled powers.
The firstcabinet of the State of Burma consisted of:
The only legal political party wasDobama-Sinyetha Asiayone.[2]
On 25 September 1943, as promised, Japanceded all of theShan states to Burma except for the part east of theSalween River i.e.Kengtung andMongpan, which had already been given toThailand. Ba Maw attended theGreater East Asia Conference in Tokyo from 5–6 November 1943.
Though now nominally independent, the power of the State of Burma to exercise its sovereignty was largely circumscribed by wartime agreements with Japan. TheImperial Japanese Army maintained a large presence and continued to act arbitrarily, despite Japan no longer having official control over Burma.
During 1943 and 1944, theBurma National Army made contacts with other political groups inside Burma, including theCommunist Party of Burma which had been operating underground. Eventually, a popular front organization called theAnti-Fascist Organisation (AFO) was formed withThakin Soe as the leader. Through the communists and the Japanese-sponsoredArakan Defence Army, the Burmese were eventually able to make contact with the BritishForce 136 inIndia. The initial contacts were always indirect. Force 136 was also able to make contacts with members of the BNA'sKaren unit in Rangoon.
In December 1944, the AFO contacted theAllies, indicating their readiness to defect to the Allied cause by launching a national uprising which would include the forces of BNA. However, this was opposed by the British, who considering the timing to be unfavorable, and who had considerable reservations about supporting the BNA. The first BNA-led uprising against the Japanese occurred early in 1945 in central Burma.
On 27 March 1945, the remainder of the BNA paraded in Rangoon and marched out ostensibly to assist the Japanese army in the battles then raging in Central Burma against invading Allied forces. Instead, the BNA openly declared war on the Japanese. Aung San and others subsequently began negotiations withLord Mountbatten and officially joined the Allies as the Patriotic Burmese Forces. Without the support of the BNA, the government of the State of Burma quickly collapsed, and Ba Maw fled via Thailand to Japan, where he was captured later that year and was held inSugamo Prison, Tokyo, until 1946.
16°50′47″N96°10′09″E / 16.84639°N 96.16917°E /16.84639; 96.16917
