U Tin Tut

Important Figures from Myanmar History Who Studied at Cambridge

No university outside of Myanmar (and probably no university in the world other than Rangoon University) has been as important to Myanmar as Cambridge University in the United Kingdom. Important figures from Myanmar history who studied at Cambridge include: President Dr Ba U, Prime Minister and later Adhipati Dr Ba Maw, Karen National Union (KNU) President Saw Ba U Gyi, Foreign Minister Sao Hkun Hkio, Justice U Chan Htoon, Justice U Myint Thein, Justice U Kyaw Myint, historian and Rangoon...

Warless Days of Myanmar

From 23 December 1941 (when the Japanese began their invasion of Tenasserim and launched an aerial raid over Rangoon, announcing the arrival of World War Two in Burma) until today, Myanmar experienced a total of 31 months without war - from August 1945 when the Japanese surrendered to the Allies to March 1948 when the Communist insurrection began. It is impossible to understand future options in Myanmar without first appreciating the legacies of more than 70 years of armed fighting. ...

Labour Party's Election Victory changed Burma's History

In July 1945, the Labour Party in the UK won a landslide victory over the Conservatives and Clement Attlee replaced Sir Winston Churchill as Prime Minister. Labour's election victory without a doubt changed the course of Burma's history. Prime Minister Attlee was committed to decolonization and within a year reversed earlier policies and began moves towards Burmese self-determination. By 1949, the Attlee government had granted independence to India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon. Attlee had visited Burma twice in the 1920s...

Photograph of 31-Year-Old General Aung San

A photograph of General Aung San at his moment of triumph: At 10 Downing Street on 27 January 1947 to negotiate the independence of Burma from the British Empire. To his left is his closest colleague in the talks, ICS U Tin Tut. He was then 31 years old.

Union Day: Anniversary of the 1947 Panglong Agreement

Myanmar's Union Day, which falls on 12 February, marks the anniversary of the Panglong Agreement of 1947. There is considerable mythology surrounding the Panglong Agreement and it is helpful to remember what it was and what it was not. The Panglong Agreement was primarily an agreement on transitional arrangements in the lead up to Burmese independence after World War Two. Of its nine paragraphs, four deal exclusively with the new position of "Counsellor to the Governor to deal with Frontier...