8888 Uprising 1988: Burma's Pro-Democracy Revolt Crushed

The 8888 Uprising was a mass movement for democracy in Burma (now Myanmar) in 1988, named after the nationwide general strike that began on 8 August 1988. Students, monks, workers and civil servants demanded an end to the one-party rule of the Burma Socialist Programme Party, which had governed under General Ne Win since 1962.

The uprising forced Ne Win to step down but was crushed by the army, which killed thousands of protesters and seized full power on 18 September 1988. It also brought Aung San Suu Kyi to the head of a democracy movement that would shape Burmese politics for decades.

Background

Ne Win took power in a military coup in March 1962 and introduced the “Burmese Way to Socialism”, nationalising most of the economy and isolating the country. By the 1980s Burma, once one of the richest countries in South-East Asia, was in severe economic decline. In December 1987 the United Nations granted it Least Developed Country status.

In September 1987 the government suddenly declared several banknotes worthless without compensation, wiping out much of ordinary people’s savings. The decision angered students in particular, whose families lost money they had set aside for school fees.

The protests begin

In March 1988 a brawl in a tea shop near the Rangoon Institute of Technology led to clashes with riot police, in which a student, Phone Maw, was shot dead. Protests spread to other campuses. On 16 March riot police attacked marching students near Inya Lake in Rangoon, and many were killed; in the same wave of arrests dozens of detained demonstrators suffocated in an overcrowded police van. Universities were closed, and unrest returned in June.

On 23 July 1988 Ne Win announced his resignation as party chairman at a special party congress and proposed a referendum on a multi-party system, which the congress rejected. He also warned that if the army had to shoot, it would shoot to hit. The new leader, General Sein Lwin, was widely blamed for the March killings and was nicknamed the “Butcher of Rangoon”.

8 August 1988

Student leaders, among them Min Ko Naing of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions, called a general strike for 8 August 1988, chosen for its auspicious numbers. From the morning, huge crowds marched in Rangoon and in towns across the country. Late that night troops opened fire on demonstrators in Rangoon, and shootings continued over the following days, including outside Rangoon General Hospital.

Sein Lwin resigned on 12 August. His civilian successor, Maung Maung, offered elections, but protesters demanded an interim government. For several weeks strike committees ran parts of the country, while the state partly collapsed.

On 26 August Aung San Suu Kyi, daughter of the independence hero Aung San, spoke to a crowd often estimated at several hundred thousand near the Shwedagon Pagoda. She called for multi-party democracy and urged non-violence and unity with the army.

The coup

On 18 September 1988 the armed forces under General Saw Maung seized power and set up the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). Troops fired on crowds in Rangoon and other cities. Thousands of students fled to areas held by ethnic armed groups near the Thai border, and some formed the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front.

Estimates of the total number killed between March and September 1988 are usually put at around 3,000 or more. The official figures were much lower.

Key people

• Ne Win (1910–2002): army commander who ruled Burma from 1962 and remained influential behind the scenes after his 1988 resignation.
• Sein Lwin: general and hardline party leader for little more than two weeks in July and August 1988.
• Aung San Suu Kyi: daughter of Aung San, who became the leader of the democracy movement and of the National League for Democracy.
• Saw Maung: army chief who led the coup of 18 September 1988 and chaired the SLORC until 1992.
• Min Ko Naing: student leader of the strike movement, imprisoned from 1989 for most of the next two decades.

Aftermath

The junta allowed parties to register, and Aung San Suu Kyi helped found the National League for Democracy (NLD) on 27 September 1988. She was placed under house arrest in July 1989, and in June 1989 the regime changed the country’s English name to Myanmar. In the election of 27 May 1990 the NLD won about 80 per cent of the seats, but the military refused to transfer power. Suu Kyi received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.

Timeline

• 1987, 5 September: The government demonetises several banknotes.
• 1988, 13 March: Student Phone Maw is shot during clashes in Rangoon.
• 1988, 23 July: Ne Win announces his resignation.
• 1988, 8 August: Nationwide general strike; troops open fire that night.
• 1988, 26 August: Aung San Suu Kyi addresses a mass rally at the Shwedagon Pagoda.
• 1988, 18 September: Military coup creates the SLORC.
• 1990, 27 May: The NLD wins a general election, but power is not transferred.

Why it matters

The 8888 Uprising was the defining popular revolt in modern Burmese history. It came between the People Power Revolution in the Philippines and the Tiananmen Square protests in China, and like the latter it ended in bloodshed. The “88 Generation” of activists remained central to later movements, and the conflict between the army and the democracy movement it created is still unresolved.