Freedom Bloc
Political party in Burma
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The Freedom Bloc (Burmese: ဗမာ့ထွက်ရပ်ဂိုဏ်း), later known as Dobama-Sinyetha Asiayone (Burmese: တို့ဗမာဆင်းရဲသားအစည်းအရုံး), 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 Asiayone Poor Man's Party All-Burma Students Association |
| Succeeded by | Greater Burma Party |
| Ideology | Burmese independence[2] Anti–British imperialism Pro–Japanese imperialism 1939–1942: Marxism[3] |
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.[2] 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.[2] As a result, the Governor ordered the arrest of the Bloc's leadership in 1940, most of whom remained in prison until the Japanese invasion of 1942.[2]
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.[2]
In 1944 the party was dissolved, with the Greater Burma Party formed to replace it.[2]