The proclamation of the state sovereignty of Burma (now Myanmar) led to the growth of serious contradictions within the Anti-Fascist League of People's Freedom that came to power. The aggravation of relations between representatives of the socialist and communist wings of the ALNS was a civil war between government troops and the armed formations of the Communist Party of Burma, or rather its two factions - the "Red Flag" operating in the state of Arakan and the "White Flag" operating in the north and east of the country … But if the civil war initiated by the communists began to decline after the liberalization of China's political course, then the separatism of national minorities turned out to be a much more serious problem for the country.
Myanmar is a multinational state. About half of the population are Burmese (Myanmans) - the Buddhist people who stood at the origins of the country's statehood. The rest of the population is represented by numerous peoples belonging to the Mongoloid race and speaking the Tibeto-Burmese, Thai, Mon-Khmer languages.
During British colonial rule, the British managed to play on the contradictions between the Burmese as the main and state-forming people of the country, and the numerous national minorities, which were opposed to the Burmese precisely in order to turn them into a support of the colonial regime. Naturally, the proclamation of Burma's sovereignty was perceived by national minorities as a chance for their own national independence. Moreover, the separatist sentiments were actively fueled by the British, who promised independence to several Burmese states before the departure of the colonial administration.
One of the centers of resistance to the central government arose in the South-East of Burma, on the territory of the state of Karen. The main population of this territory is the Karen people, or rather, a conglomerate of nationalities and tribes belonging to the Karen branch of the Tibeto-Burmese language family. In modern Myanmar, the Karen population numbers up to 7 million people, and only about half a million Karen live in neighboring Thailand. In the famous film "Rambo - 4", which takes place on the territory of Burma, the main character assists the Karen, who are represented by the national minority oppressed by the central authorities.
Since ancient times, the southern Karen have been influenced by the cultural influences of the neighboring Monks. Monas - now one of the most peaceful peoples of Burma - lived on the territory of the country long before it was settled by the Burmese proper. It was the Monas, the relatives of the Khmers, who created the first states in Lower Burma. Naturally, the subsequent expansion of the Burmese from the north and the defeat of the Mon kingdoms, accompanied by the cutting out of the most passionate part of the Monks, contributed not only to the pacification of the Mon lands, but also to the flight of a part of the Monks to the neighboring Karen lands. Since then, the feudal elite of the Karen were exposed to the Mon influence, absorbing, among other things, hatred of the central Burmese government.
The British colonial administration, following the principle of "divide and conquer", saw reliable helpers in the southern Karen influenced by the Monk influence. The Karen leaders themselves, who were eager to take a historical revenge from the Burmese, were also glad to cooperate with the colonialists. In addition, unlike the Burmese - staunch followers of Hinayana Buddhism ("little chariot"), the Karens willingly Christianized, accepting the faith of British missionaries. Today, up to 25% of Karen, mainly in the Ayeyarwaddy Delta, identify themselves as Christians - Baptists, Seventh-day Adventists, Catholics. At the same time, they fancifully combine Christianity with the preservation of traditional tribal beliefs.
Christians - Karen were positively perceived by the British colonialists and had advantages in entering the military and civilian service. During the years of the Japanese occupation of Burma, the Karen actively resisted the new authorities, acting under the leadership of the British. It was at this time that the beginning of the armed confrontation of the pro-Japanese Army of Independence of Burma, from which the entire post-war Burmese elite, and the Karen formations later grew. In revenge for the participation of the Karen in the war on the side of the British, the Japanese and their allies (until 1944) Burmese destroyed the Karen villages, killed the civilian population, which also could not but affect the relationship between the two peoples.
Despite the fact that the British colonial administration promised to resolve the issue of Karen statehood after the war, in reality no steps were taken towards this. Moreover, tensions in relations between the leadership of the Burmese socialists and the Karen leaders were growing. At the time of independence, Burma's armed forces had many Karen soldiers, former British soldiers. For obvious reasons, the authorities tried to get rid of the Karen component in the army. Thus, General Dan Smith, a Karen by nationality, who served as chief of staff of the Burmese army, was removed and arrested.
To protect their interests, the Karen National Union was created by the Karen. General Bo Mya (1927-2006), a Baptist by faith, who was led by it, began his political career by participating in the anti-Japanese resistance on the side of the British. Despite his young years, he managed to quickly take leading positions in the Karen national movement. After the Karen National Union proclaimed the independence of the Karen state from Burma in 1949, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) was created under the direct leadership of Bo Me, which for half a century remained the most serious actor in the Burmese civil war. The purpose of these structures was the creation of an independent state of Kotholei ("Conquered Land") in the territory of the Karen state and other areas of compact residence of the Karen ethnic groups.
At first, the Karen rebels managed to attack the Burmese positions so seriously that the world community doubted the very prospect of Burma's existence as a single unitary state. In particular, in 1949, the Karen besieged the Burmese capital of Yangon (Rangoon), not to mention full control over the territory of the Karen state.
The seriousness of the intentions of the Karen National Union regarding the creation of their own national state was also confirmed by the fact that the Karen fought against drug trafficking and the cultivation of drug cultures. For Burma and Indochina in general, this was on the verge of nonsense - the fact is that almost all armed groups that participated in civil wars in the region of the famous "golden triangle" (the junction of the borders of Burma, Thailand and Laos) drew a significant part of their budgets precisely from drug trafficking. Even the communist groups did not disdain to control the opium poppy plantations.
The Karen National Union not only waged hostilities against the Burmese government with the hands of its armed wing - the national liberation army, but also strove to develop infrastructure in the controlled territories. To the best of their ability, new schools and medical institutions were created, trade between settlements was streamlined. The efforts of the Burmese army to neutralize the Karen formations were complicated by the fact that the latter retreated into the mountains, which the central government had no control over. As a result, the Burmese took their revenge on the peaceful population of the Karen villages, which supported their rebels and was the last resource and human base. Over the years of confrontation, more than a million people have fled their villages and became refugees in neighboring Thailand.
The desire of the Karen to secede from Burma grew the stronger the more severely the government troops acted against the civilian population of the state of Karen. The destruction of civilians, repression against adherents of the Christian religion, the use of prohibited mines - all of this was present in abundance in the war between the Burmese government and the Karen National Union.
As happens in such conflicts, other states also relied on the Karen - primarily the USA and Great Britain, which patronized the Karen movement as a natural way to weaken the central Burmese power. Neighboring Thailand also provided significant assistance to the Karen national resistance. There was a long-standing military-political rivalry between Thailand and Burma, dating back centuries, when the Burmese even managed to defeat the Thai kingdom for some time and occupy its capital. Naturally, the Karens in this situation were viewed by the Thai leadership as an excellent tool for weakening their age-old rival, all the more flirting with socialist ideology.
The twenty-thousand-strong Karen army, which controlled the southeastern territories of Burma, received comprehensive assistance from Thailand, including weapons. On the territory of Thailand, there were military camps of the Karen rebels. Through a protracted civil war, Thailand has seriously neutralized Burma as a rival in the region, but nothing can last forever. After the Cold War subsided, Thailand also significantly reduced support for the Karen separatists. Burma, renamed Myanmar, normalized relations with its closest neighbor and the royal government had no choice but to gradually oust the Karen formations from its territory.
By the 1990s. the split of the Karen national movement on religious grounds also applies - Buddhists accused the dominant Christians of discrimination and encroachment on their interests and formed their own Democratic Karen Buddhist army, which quickly turned out to be on the side of their fellow believers - the central Burmese government. At the same time, more radical and exotic splinters from the Karen National Union - the Karen National Liberation Army - appeared.
One of them was the Army of God, which became famous throughout the world for childhood and adolescence not only of most of its militants (a common thing for Indochina - both among the Khmer Rouge and among other rebel groups, children and adolescents have always met in abundance), but also leaders … Brothers John and Luther Htu, who took over the ranks of colonels, began commanding the Army of God at the age of twelve, which was too young even by local standards. The army of young brothers came to the center of attention of the world community in January 2000, when ten of its militants seized a hospital in the Thai town of Ratchaburi. The “soldiers of God” took hostage 700, and then (after partial release) 200 employees and patients of the hospital. However, the training of Thai special forces turned out to be a more serious matter than belief in charismatic brothers - the terrorists were destroyed as a result of a special operation. A year later, already in Myanmar, the Khtu brothers themselves were captured.
It is noteworthy that the more moderate and numerous wing of the Karen resistance, consolidated around the Karen National Liberation Army, assessed the intransigence of the Khtu brothers negatively - even the veterans of the Karen movement who fought for decades in the jungle do not leave hopes for a peaceful outcome of the struggle for independence.
However, the armed resistance of the Karen rebels continues with some intensity at the present time. In 2012, a truce was concluded between the central leadership of Myanmar - Burma and the Karen National Union, but not all Karen armed groups, as it happens during the civil war, agreed with the "opportunistic" line of their leadership. Therefore, the territory of the state of Karen and the border regions of Thailand are still considered one of the troubled areas of the region.
The conclusion from the above review of the Karen armed resistance can be drawn as follows. While the activity of the Karen national movement corresponded to the interests of neighboring Thailand, the British and Americans looming behind the back of the Bangkok government, it was viewed as a national liberation movement, worthy not only of sympathy and assurances of moral support, but also quite tangible material and military assistance.
Changes in the political situation in the world and the region showed that the Karens were only pawns in the game of the larger actors of world and regional politics, but when the time of their use as a tool came to an end, they were left to their own devices. And now the prospects for the independent or autonomous existence of the territories inhabited by the Karen depend exclusively on them. The Americans and the British acted much more vilely with those national movements of Burma that were involved in the production and trade of drugs. About the "Opium Wars" in the "Golden Triangle" - in the next article.
