1962 Burmese coup d'état The elected
civilian government had lost most of its legitimacy by 1962; the Burmese public perceived it as corrupt, inept at ruling the country, and unable to restore law and order. Meanwhile, the Tatmadaw rose in popularity thanks to the stability created by Ne Win's caretaker government. Burma also faced various economic, religious, and political crises, particularly the
ethnic-based insurgencies in the country's peripheries and the issues of federalism and separatism. Less than two years after returning to civilian rule, Ne Win launched a second military-backed coup d'état on 2 March 1962, this time without U Nu's blessing. The coup succeeded with little bloodshed and its instigators established the
Revolutionary Council of the Union of Burma to replace the Union Parliament as Burma's supreme governing body. In April 1962, the Revolutionary Council declared Burma a
socialist state and announced the "
Burmese Way to Socialism" as a blueprint for
economic development,
decreasing foreign influence in Burma to zero per cent, and
increasing the role of the military in politics. The Revolutionary Council also founded the
Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) on 4 July 1962 to nominally separate the powers of the military from the government. However, the BSPP's leadership was dominated by military officials for all of its history, although the party did make attempts to transition into a mass party, such as the replacement of the Revolutionary Council with the
People's Assembly in 1974.
Failure of the Burmese Way to Socialism Despite the
Union Revolutionary Council leaders' phraseology being socialist, their actions were those of ardent nationalists seeking to maximize the power of their state. According to a 1981 scholarly analysis, "there is little evidence that Burma either is now, or is in the process of becoming a socialist society". The study also stated that "the leadership, although demonstrating a certain social concern, clearly lacks the ability and the will necessary to build a socialist society". Furthermore,
freedom of expression and the
freedom of the press was extensively restricted. Foreign language publications were prohibited, as were newspapers that printed "false propagandist news." The
Press Scrutiny Board (now the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division), which censors all publications to this day, including newspapers, journals, advertisements and cartoons, was established by the Revolutionary Council through the Printers' and Publishers' Registration Act in August 1962. The Revolutionary Council set up the
News Agency of Burma (BNA) to serve as a news distribution service in the country, thus effectively replacing the work of foreign news agencies. In September 1963,
The Vanguard and
The Guardian, two Burmese newspapers, were nationalised. In December 1965, publication of privately owned newspapers was banned by the government. The impact on the
Burmese economy was extensive. The Enterprise Nationalization Law, passed by the
Revolutionary Council in 1963, nationalised all major industries, including import-export trade,
rice, banking, mining,
teak and rubber on 1 June 1963. In total, around 15,000 private firms were nationalised. Furthermore, industrialists were prohibited from establishing new factories with private capital. This was particularly detrimental to the
Anglo-Burmese,
Burmese Indians and the
British, who were disproportionately represented in these industries. The
oil industry, which was previously controlled by American and British companies, such as the General Exploration Company and East Asiatic Burma Oil, were forced to end operations. In its place was the government-owned
Burma Oil Company, which monopolised oil extraction and production. In August 1963, the nationalisation of basic industries, including department stores, warehouses and wholesale shops, followed. Price control boards were also introduced. The Enterprise Nationalization Law directly affected foreigners in Burma, particularly Burmese Indians and the
Burmese Chinese, both of whom had been influential in the economic sector as entrepreneurs and industrialists. Such xenophobic policies of the government caused large scale emigration of British, Indians & Chinese out of the country. causes By mid-1963, 2,500 foreigners a week were leaving Burma. By September 1964, approximately 100,000 Indian nationals had left the country. The
black market became a major feature of Burmese society, representing about 80% of the national economy during the Burmese Way period. Moreover, income disparity became a major socioeconomic issue. Throughout the 1960s, Burma's foreign exchange reserves declined from $214 million in 1964 to $50 million in 1971, while inflation skyrocketed. Rice exports also declined, from 1,840,000 tons in 1961-62 to 350,000 tons in 1967-68, the result of the inability of rice production to satisfy demand caused by high population growth rates. In the 1st
Burmese Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) Congress in 1971, several minor economic reforms were made, in light of the failures of the economic policy pursued throughout the 1960s. The Burmese government asked to rejoin the World Bank, joined the
Asian Development Bank, and sought more foreign aid and assistance. The Burmese Way to Socialism has largely been described by scholars as an "abject failure" which turned one of the most prosperous countries in
Asia into
one of the world's poorest. Burma experienced greatly increased
poverty,
inequality,
corruption and
international isolation, and has been described as "disastrous". Burma's real per capita GDP increased from
US$159.18 in 1962 to US$219.20 in 1987, or about 1.3% per year, one of the weakest growth rates in
East Asia over this period, but still positive. The program also may have served to increase domestic
stability and keep Burma from being as entangled in the Cold War struggles that affected other
Southeast Asian nations. == Notes ==