Freedom Bloc

The Freedom Bloc, later known as Dobama-Sinyetha Asiayone, was a political party in Burma during World War II.

Freedom Bloc
Burmese name	ဗမာ့ထွက်ရပ်ဂိုဏ်း
Leader	Ba Maw Aung San U Nu Thakin Than Tun Thakin Mya Thein Maung
President	Ba Maw
General Secretary	Aung San
Founded	October 1939[1]
Dissolved	1944
Merger of	Dobama Poor Man's Party Htwet Yat Gain
Succeeded by	Mahabama Party[2]
Ideology	Marxism[3] Buddhist socialism Socialism Left-wing nationalism Anti-colonialism
Politics of Burma Political parties Elections

History

The party was established by a merger of Dobama Asiayone (DAA), Ba Maw's Poor Man's Party and the All-Burma Students Association, and was known as the "Htwet Yat Gain" (Burmese: ထွက်ရပ်ဂိုဏ်း, "Association of the Way Out"),^[4] although DAA leaders secretly formed the People's Revolutionary Party at the time of the merger.^[5] It opposed cooperation with the British war effort unless Burma was guaranteed independence immediately after the war, and threatened to increase its anti-British and anti-war campaign. As a result, the Governor ordered the arrest of the Bloc's leadership, most of whom remained in prison until the Japanese invasion of 1942.

Following the onset of the Japanese occupation, the party was renamed Dobama-Sinyetha Asiayone and dropped its anti-fascist and socialist outlook due to the Japanese presence. Ba Maw became Head of State and leader of the renamed party.^[5]

In 1944 the party was dissolved, with the Mahabama Party formed to replace it.^[5]

References

1. Maw, Ba (1968). Breakthrough in Burma: Memoirs of a Revolution, 1939-1946. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 59.
2. Maw, Ba (1968). Breakthrough in Burma: Memoirs of a Revolution, 1939-1946. New Haven: Yale University Press. pp. 279–80.
3. Maw, Ba (1968). Breakthrough in Burma: Memoirs of a Revolution, 1939-1946. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 73.
4. Haruhiro Fukui (1985) Political parties of Asia and the Pacific, Greenwood Press, p130
5. Fukui, p129