Thakin Than Tun
Encyclopedia
Thakin Than Tun (1911–1968) born in Kanyutkwin, Myanmar
, was a Burmese politician and leader of the Communist Party of Burma
(CPB) from 1945 until his death at age 57.
, and was influenced by Marxist writings. He joined in 1936 the nationalist Dobama Asiayone (We Burmans Association) and helped forge an alliance with Dr Ba Maw
's Sinyètha (Poor Man's) Party to form the Freedom Bloc. He co-founded the Nagani (Red Dragon) Book Club with Thakin Nu in 1937, which for the first time widely circulated Burmese-language translations of the Marxist classics. He was imprisoned by the British in 1940 along with Thakin Nu
, Thakin Soe
, Dr. Ba Maw
, and Kyaw Nyein.
While in Insein prison in July 1941, he co-authored with Thakin Soe the "Insein Manifesto" which identified world fascism
as the major enemy in the coming war and called for temporary cooperation with the British and the establishment of a broad coalition alliance that should include the Soviet Union
. The struggle for national liberation against imperialism
woud be resumed after the defeat of fascism. This was against the prevailing opinion of the Dobama movement including Thakin Aung San
who had secretly left Burma with a group of young men subsequently known as the Thirty Comrades
in order to receive military training from the Japanese
and founded the Burma Independence Army (BIA).
When Ba Maw
's pro-Japanese government was established in 1942, Than Tun served as Minister of Land and Agriculture, and he met and married Khin Gyi, sister of Aung San Suu Kyi
's mother Khin Kyi. Aung San married Khin Kyi about the same time shortly after he became Minister of War; the BIA was renamed the Burma Defence Army (BDA). Than Tun could pass on Japanese intelligence to Thakin Soe who had gone underground in the Delta region in order to organise resistance against the Japanese Occupation. Thakins Thein Pe and Tin Shwe were sent to India
to make contact with the British colonial government in exile at Simla
. At the end of World War II
, after the Japanese had been defeated and the British had returned, Than Tun became general secretary of the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League
(AFPFL) formed by the CPB, the People's Revolutionary Party (PRP, later renamed the Socialist Party) and the BDA, now renamed the Burma National Army (BNA) and led by his brother-in-law Aung San
. Than Tun, unlike Aung San, was not among the six men who founded the CPB on August 15, 1939; Aung San was its first secretary general, with Thakin Soe in charge of mass organisation.
, leader of the Communist Party of the United States of America - and went underground, Than Tun and the majority of Communists continued to cooperate with the AFPFL. However, the rift over strategy, whether to negotiate with the postwar colonial administration or to continue with the threat of general strikes and armed rebellion till full independence was achieved, came to a head after Aung San and others accepted seats in the Executive Council. In July 1946, Than Tun was forced to resign as general secretary, and the CPB, now dubbed the "White Flag" faction, expelled from the AFPFL the following October, after the CPB had accused Aung San and others of selling out to the British and settling for a "sham" independence.
Independence was declared on January 4, 1948, with the AFPFL, now dominated by the Socialist Party, in power, and U Nu became prime minister, now that Aung San had been assassinated along with most of his cabinet on July 19, 1947, commemorated since as Martyrs' Day. The CPB was charged with inciting revolt after organising a series of strikes and mass rallies, and orders were issued to arrest the leadership on March 28, 1948. Than Tun escaped and led his party underground in order to organize armed revolution, and established guerrilla bases in central Burma from the CPB stronghold at Pyinmana
. Than Tun, now Chairman of the CPB, sent a number of party members to China to be trained by Chinese revolutionaries. Some of them returned for the peace parley of 1963 when the CPB sent a delegation to Rangoon to negotiate with the Revolutionary Council government headed by General Ne Win
. Than Tun himself remained in the jungle and was reunited with the so called "Peking
returnees" after the peace talks broke down.
, purging the party of “revisionists”, and as in China things went out of control before he could finally pull the reins back. Great damage nonetheless had already been done to the CPB's image, particularly the killing of young student leaders who had joined the CPB after the failed peace parley. The country had experienced this kind of treatment of their young only recently in the hands of Ne Win's army in the July 7, 1962 massacre of Rangoon University students during a peaceful protest on campus shortly after the coup d'etat
of March 2, 1962. The next year, on September 24, 1968, whilst on the run from government troops, Than Tun was assassinated by a subordinate who later surrendered to General Ne Win
's government. The assassin had joined the Communists just two years before as an "army deserter".
in status among his contemporaries and even the British noticed early on that he was the thinker behind Aung San. He first made his name as the schoolteacher who wrote powerful speeches in both Burmese and English. As a political organiser his skills were unequalled and he had played a pre-eminent role at every stage of Burma's struggle for independence. He was no mere ideologue but a man of extraordinary achievement and energy. Than Tun has come to be regarded as a fallen idol in the modern history of Burma.
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Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
, was a Burmese politician and leader of the Communist Party of Burma
Communist Party of Burma
The Communist Party of Burma is the oldest existing political party in Burma. The party is unrecognised by the Burmese authorities, rendering it illegal; so it operates in a clandestine manner, often associating with insurgent armies along the border of People's Republic of China...
(CPB) from 1945 until his death at age 57.
Struggle for freedom
Than Tun worked as a school teacher after qualifying from the Teachers' Training School, RangoonYangon
Yangon is a former capital of Burma and the capital of Yangon Region . Although the military government has officially relocated the capital to Naypyidaw since March 2006, Yangon, with a population of over four million, continues to be the country's largest city and the most important commercial...
, and was influenced by Marxist writings. He joined in 1936 the nationalist Dobama Asiayone (We Burmans Association) and helped forge an alliance with Dr Ba Maw
Ba Maw
Dr. Ba Maw was a Burmese political leader, active during the interwar and World War II period.-Early life and education:Ba Maw was born in Maubin. Ba Maw came from a distinguished family of mixed Mon-Burmese parentage which bred many scholars and lawyers...
's Sinyètha (Poor Man's) Party to form the Freedom Bloc. He co-founded the Nagani (Red Dragon) Book Club with Thakin Nu in 1937, which for the first time widely circulated Burmese-language translations of the Marxist classics. He was imprisoned by the British in 1940 along with Thakin Nu
U Nu
For other people with the Burmese name Nu, see Nu .U Nu was a leading Burmese nationalist and political figure of the 20th century...
, Thakin Soe
U Soe
Thakin Soe was a founding member of the Communist Party of Burma, formed in 1939. Soe spent most of his life underground and for a time led the Red Flag Communist Party. He was captured by Government forces in 1970 but released in a 1974 amnesty by the military Government of Gen. Ne Win...
, Dr. Ba Maw
Ba Maw
Dr. Ba Maw was a Burmese political leader, active during the interwar and World War II period.-Early life and education:Ba Maw was born in Maubin. Ba Maw came from a distinguished family of mixed Mon-Burmese parentage which bred many scholars and lawyers...
, and Kyaw Nyein.
While in Insein prison in July 1941, he co-authored with Thakin Soe the "Insein Manifesto" which identified world fascism
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
as the major enemy in the coming war and called for temporary cooperation with the British and the establishment of a broad coalition alliance that should include the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. The struggle for national liberation against imperialism
Imperialism
Imperialism, as defined by Dictionary of Human Geography, is "the creation and/or maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural, and territorial relationships, usually between states and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination." The imperialism of the last 500 years,...
woud be resumed after the defeat of fascism. This was against the prevailing opinion of the Dobama movement including Thakin Aung San
Aung San
Bogyoke Aung San ; 13 February 1915 – 19 July 1947) was a Burmese revolutionary, nationalist, and founder of the modern Burmese army, the Tatmadaw....
who had secretly left Burma with a group of young men subsequently known as the Thirty Comrades
Thirty Comrades
The Thirty Comrades constituted the embryo of the modern Burmese army called the Burma Independence Army which was formed to fight for independence from Britain...
in order to receive military training from the Japanese
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
and founded the Burma Independence Army (BIA).
When Ba Maw
Ba Maw
Dr. Ba Maw was a Burmese political leader, active during the interwar and World War II period.-Early life and education:Ba Maw was born in Maubin. Ba Maw came from a distinguished family of mixed Mon-Burmese parentage which bred many scholars and lawyers...
's pro-Japanese government was established in 1942, Than Tun served as Minister of Land and Agriculture, and he met and married Khin Gyi, sister of Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi, AC is a Burmese opposition politician and the General Secretary of the National League for Democracy. In the 1990 general election, her National League for Democracy party won 59% of the national votes and 81% of the seats in Parliament. She had, however, already been detained...
's mother Khin Kyi. Aung San married Khin Kyi about the same time shortly after he became Minister of War; the BIA was renamed the Burma Defence Army (BDA). Than Tun could pass on Japanese intelligence to Thakin Soe who had gone underground in the Delta region in order to organise resistance against the Japanese Occupation. Thakins Thein Pe and Tin Shwe were sent to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
to make contact with the British colonial government in exile at Simla
Shimla
Shimla , formerly known as Simla, is the capital city of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared the summer capital of the British Raj in India. A popular tourist destination, Shimla is often referred to as the "Queen of Hills," a term coined by the British...
. At the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, after the Japanese had been defeated and the British had returned, Than Tun became general secretary of the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League
Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League
The Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League , or hpa hsa pa la by its Burmese acronym, was the main political party in Burma from 1945 until 1962...
(AFPFL) formed by the CPB, the People's Revolutionary Party (PRP, later renamed the Socialist Party) and the BDA, now renamed the Burma National Army (BNA) and led by his brother-in-law Aung San
Aung San
Bogyoke Aung San ; 13 February 1915 – 19 July 1947) was a Burmese revolutionary, nationalist, and founder of the modern Burmese army, the Tatmadaw....
. Than Tun, unlike Aung San, was not among the six men who founded the CPB on August 15, 1939; Aung San was its first secretary general, with Thakin Soe in charge of mass organisation.
Civil war
When Thakin Soe's Red Flag Communist Party (Alan Ni Party) split from the Communist Party of Burma in early 1946, accusing it of revisionism - "Browderism", named after Earl BrowderEarl Browder
Earl Russell Browder was an American communist and General Secretary of the Communist Party USA from 1934 to 1945. He was expelled from the party in 1946.- Early years :...
, leader of the Communist Party of the United States of America - and went underground, Than Tun and the majority of Communists continued to cooperate with the AFPFL. However, the rift over strategy, whether to negotiate with the postwar colonial administration or to continue with the threat of general strikes and armed rebellion till full independence was achieved, came to a head after Aung San and others accepted seats in the Executive Council. In July 1946, Than Tun was forced to resign as general secretary, and the CPB, now dubbed the "White Flag" faction, expelled from the AFPFL the following October, after the CPB had accused Aung San and others of selling out to the British and settling for a "sham" independence.
Independence was declared on January 4, 1948, with the AFPFL, now dominated by the Socialist Party, in power, and U Nu became prime minister, now that Aung San had been assassinated along with most of his cabinet on July 19, 1947, commemorated since as Martyrs' Day. The CPB was charged with inciting revolt after organising a series of strikes and mass rallies, and orders were issued to arrest the leadership on March 28, 1948. Than Tun escaped and led his party underground in order to organize armed revolution, and established guerrilla bases in central Burma from the CPB stronghold at Pyinmana
Pyinmana
Pyinmana ) is a logging town and sugarcane refinery center in the Mandalay Region of Myanmar. The administrative capital of Myanmar was officially moved to a militarized greenfield site two miles west of Pyinmana on November 6, 2005. Pyinmana is approximately north of Yangon...
. Than Tun, now Chairman of the CPB, sent a number of party members to China to be trained by Chinese revolutionaries. Some of them returned for the peace parley of 1963 when the CPB sent a delegation to Rangoon to negotiate with the Revolutionary Council government headed by General Ne Win
Ne Win
Ne Win was Burmese a politician and military commander. He was Prime Minister of Burma from 1958 to 1960 and 1962 to 1974 and also head of state from 1962 to 1981...
. Than Tun himself remained in the jungle and was reunited with the so called "Peking
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
returnees" after the peace talks broke down.
Demise
In 1967 he carried out his own cultural revolutionCultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
, purging the party of “revisionists”, and as in China things went out of control before he could finally pull the reins back. Great damage nonetheless had already been done to the CPB's image, particularly the killing of young student leaders who had joined the CPB after the failed peace parley. The country had experienced this kind of treatment of their young only recently in the hands of Ne Win's army in the July 7, 1962 massacre of Rangoon University students during a peaceful protest on campus shortly after the coup d'etat
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
of March 2, 1962. The next year, on September 24, 1968, whilst on the run from government troops, Than Tun was assassinated by a subordinate who later surrendered to General Ne Win
Ne Win
Ne Win was Burmese a politician and military commander. He was Prime Minister of Burma from 1958 to 1960 and 1962 to 1974 and also head of state from 1962 to 1981...
's government. The assassin had joined the Communists just two years before as an "army deserter".
Legacy
Than Tun was the only politician that nearly matched Aung SanAung San
Bogyoke Aung San ; 13 February 1915 – 19 July 1947) was a Burmese revolutionary, nationalist, and founder of the modern Burmese army, the Tatmadaw....
in status among his contemporaries and even the British noticed early on that he was the thinker behind Aung San. He first made his name as the schoolteacher who wrote powerful speeches in both Burmese and English. As a political organiser his skills were unequalled and he had played a pre-eminent role at every stage of Burma's struggle for independence. He was no mere ideologue but a man of extraordinary achievement and energy. Than Tun has come to be regarded as a fallen idol in the modern history of Burma.
External links
- The Communist Party of Burma
- Burma Communist Party's Conspiracy to take over State Power and related information
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