| |
| Early 1970s |
| |
| Chinese aid to the antigovernment insurgents, both the Burmese Communist Party and the Kachin Independence Army, decreased as relations with Rangoon improved. The Burmese government succeeded in exerting its authority over much of the country because at the same time the Karen National Liberation Army was in decline. | 1 |
| |
| 1974 |
| |
| A new constitution replaced the Revolutionary Council with a one-party state, the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma, ending 12 years of military rule. Gen. Ne Win remained chairman of the Burma Socialist Programme Party. The Security and Administration Committees in local government were replaced with elected People's Councils. The government, however, continued to endorse centralized economic development. | 2 |
| |
| Early 1980s |
| |
| Although some signs of opening up to foreign investment and aid appeared, the country remained largely closed to the outside world. The resulting stagnation of what had once been a prosperous export economy caused growing political unrest. | 3 |
| |
| 1988 |
| |
| Violence erupted, fueled by the combination of poverty and the alienation of youth. Although Gen. Ne Win was forced to step down from office, he continued to manipulate the government and repress the opposition (including the most effective leader for prodemocracy opposition to Burma's military government, Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of Aung San and the head of the National League for Democracy (NLD)). | 4 |
| |
| 1989 |
| |
| The country's name was changed again, this time to the Union of Myanmar, which is the Burmese literary style for “Burma.” The opposition to the military regime continued to use the name “Burma”; the issue has become a political one, with the name “Myanmar” associated with the military and its supporters. | 5 |
| |
| July |
| |
| Aung San Suu Kyi, while many of her party members were jailed, was placed under house arrest. | 6 |
| |
| |
