Burma

Burma is officially known as the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. Incorporated into the British Indian Empire om 1886, it remained thus until becoming a self-governing colony in 1937. Occupired by Imperial Japan during the Second World War, Burma was the setting for intense guerilla jungle fighting and the birthplace of several commando-type units such as the Chindits and the American-Kachin Rangers. Britain retook control of the nation in 1945, and three years later in 1948 the nation emerged as the independent Union of Burma.

In March of 1962, a military coup d'etat led by General Ne Win wrested control of the nation from the legitimate government and ruled the nation as a one-party Socialist state until 1987. A collective series of protests, demonstrations and riots in 1988, known as the 8888 Uprising, resulted in thousands of civilian deaths and a government under new military junta calling itself the State Law and Order Restoration Council. Renamed the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) in 1997, the government has retained firm control of the nation into the present era, nullifying election results, suppressing political dissent, and fending off insurgency movements. The government of Burma is considered one of the world's most repressive and abusive regimes by several human rights organizations.