August 8, 1988 - 1000 Students Killed

More than 1,000 protesting students in Rangoon killed by Burma’s military. Burma, today called Myanmar, is a country with a long history of political turmoil. The last outsiders to rule the country were the British, who began their conquest in 1824 and stayed until 1948. With their departure came significant internal turmoil that left the government weak. In 1962, General Ne Win abolished Burma’s constitution and created a military dictatorship. Decades later, after years of unrest from a deteriorating economy and horrible human rights abuses, students began peaceful demonstrations calling for an end to the dictatorship. The demonstrations grew until August 8, 1988, when government troops killed over 1,000 students in the city of Rangoon. Since then, the government of Myanmar has shown no tolerance for internal dissent, which has in turn made the country a target for international boycotts.

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