The Burman Military: Holding the Country Together?

Abstract

On March 2, 1962, the Burma Army under General Ne Win staged a coup. The principal reason given for this act was that the Union was endangered, hence forcing the military to act in order to "keep the country together". The implication was that the Federal Movement, or the move to amend the 1948 Constitution by the Shan (and supported by all non-Burman leaders and state governments), was either a secessionist plot or that it was in itself a threat to the stability and cohesion of the Burmese Union.