Analysis Of British Aid Policy To Burma(1948-1954)

In the early postwar period,Britain formulated its foreign policy based on "Imperial Consciousness" and "Cold War Consciousness".The former is mainly manifested in maintaining Britain’s status as a global power,while the latter is manifested in the Cold War policy against the Soviet Union.In Southeast Asia and South Asia,under the pressure of nationalism and communism,Britain had to adopt a policy of decolonization.Later,in order to maintain its interests and influence in the former colonies and curb the "expansion" of the communist forces,Britain provided military and economic assistance to its former colonies.With the change of the situation in Asia,the United States also began to provide assistance to Southeast Asia.At this time,on the one hand,the United Kingdom was willing to use the resources of the United States to reduce its own burden,on the other hand,it was worried that the penetration of the United States into Southeast Asia will affect its own interests and reduce the influence of the Commonwealth.As the former suzerain of Burma,the United Kingdom began to provide economic and military assistance to Burma before its formal independence in order to compensate for war losses,stabilize economic order,safeguard interests in Burma and curb the expansion of communist forces.The United Kingdom and Burma have successively concluded the Bo Let Ya-Freeman Agreement and the U Nu-Attlee Agreement to institutionalize the relevant assistance content.After Burma’s formal independence in January 1948,Britain helped Burma to rebuild its economy and restore order economically through compensation,hard currency subsidies and interest-free loans;In terms of military affairs,the United Kingdom handed over a large number of military materials and weapons and equipment to Burma for free before withdrawing its troops,and dispatched British Services Mission.However,the good news is not long.With the outbreak of the civil war in Burma,the government of U Nu is in jeopardy under the internal and external problems.Within the ruling party,the Anti-Fascist Peoples Freedom League was divided due to the contradiction between U Nu and Burma Socialist Party.The government led by U Nu and the military represented by Ne Win had serious differences on the issue of receiving British assistance.Economically,the U Nu government carried out radical nationalization reform and refused to pay compensation to Britain in accordance with the provisions of the treaty while fully accepting British enterprises.In military terms,the weak Burma army could not suppress the armed revolutionary struggle of Burma Communist Party,the armed rebellion of ethnic minorities such as Karen,and the invasion of the remnants of the Kuomintang army in northern Burma after 1950.Under the combined force of the problems of nationalization reform,Karen rebellion,and distrust of Ne Win,the British economic and military assistance to Burma soon turned negative.In terms of economy,the UK hopes that the assistance that the Burma government uses to purchase rice to maintain the stability of rice export will be used to cover the fiscal deficit or buy arms to pay the Karen people.In military affairs,the Burma military failed to make good use of the military training provided by BSM,and the core of military assistance-weapons assistance-was frequently failed because of the British distrust of Ne Win.The United Kingdom has also made efforts once,such as economically matching the Commonwealth countries to shoulder the responsibility of economic assistance to Burma,and militarily trying to meet Burma’s weapons needs before the United States.However,in the context of the decline of Britain’s own national strength and the entry of the United States,which has more financial resources,into the competition for aid to Burma,Britain’s aid policy to Burma can only be terminated passively or actively.