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| 1972 |
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| Bangladesh enacted a new constitution. | 1 |
| With the seventh largest population in the world (growing at a rate of 2.5 percent per annum), the new nation was economically the poorest and most vulnerable of the larger economies of the region. It lacked a functional infrastructure, its minimal industrialization left it heavily dependent on imports, and it could not attract commercial credit. In addition, little artificial irrigation existed, making the country subject to severe climatic instability (cyclones, floods, and so on). It had a weaker administrative service than did India or Pakistan. Finally, it was the nation most dependent on a continuous flow of aid ($2.5 billion in its first three years). Together, these characteristics fed a political instability that precluded any real control over economic and social change. | 2 |
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| 1973, March |
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| Bangladesh elections gave Sheik Mujib and the Awami League a large majority. Sheik Mujib became Bangladesh's first prime minister. | 3 |
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| Oct |
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| The Awami League formed an alliance with the Communist Party and the pro-Soviet wing of the National Awami Party with a joint policy of suppressing terrorism. A militia, the Rakkhi Bahini, was formed to assist the police. | 4 |
| The Awami League's economic policy, socialist reconstruction, recognized the limitations of central planning; it took over banks and similar institutions but had to leave much to the private sector. | 5 |
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