Hey everyone, I'm Robert Evans and this is Me and Mar printing the Revolutions It could happen here special mini series, an in depth documentary investigation with me and journalist James Stout. Over the next four days, you're going to learn about the gin Z militias of the Me and Mar Civil War, three D printed weapons, and a bunch of other really fascinating stuff. Besides, So, without any further ado, here's James.
Ever since the first person built the first fence, took land from everybody and annex it to themselves, property rights and violence have gone hand in hand. With property grew the state, and with a state came the police. Today, most of us grew up under the control of states, and they're so ubiquitous that their violence is often overlooked until a particularly egregious incident occurs. But all states, even
the most benign, rest on a monopoly on violence. Stay it to the entity that imposed laws on a given area, and if you break those laws, the state can beat you up, lock you up, or shoot you up. When the state loses the monopoly on violence, it ceases to be able to enforce its laws, charge its taxes, and enforce its will on the people it rules. We've seen this all over the world, from the Democratic Republic of Congo took briefly downtown Seattle. Our state in the USA
speaks a language of rights and liberties. When we want to appeal to the state, we tend to use that language. Even though our state, as we saw in twenty twenty's backed by plenty of violence as much as any other, it goes a long way to camouflage that violence. Some states, for a bit more mask off. They speak to their citizens more or less exclusively through violence, and when citizens need to respond to that state, they respond to the
language it uses to speak to them. That's how a teenager from Yangon miel Maar ended up on Reddit in summer of twenty twenty one asking strangers how to use a three D printer and computer to make a rifle. Me and Ma isn't a country that is on the radar for most of the US. If it is at all, it's probably because the State councilor and Foreign Minister ensign Succi. She managed perhaps the history's fastest pivot from Nobel Peace Prize winner to head of a government accused of genocide.
But Tsuki is in jail now and the Rohingia, the Muslim ethnic group that the military attempted to eliminate from the east of the country under her rule, are just one of many ethnic and political groups. They're in open armed conflict with the military, who now hold control of the government of me and mar known locally as a tatmodor the military sees power. In early twenty twenty one, you might have seen a video of a woman doing an aerobics workout as the vehicles rolled in behind her
to seize power. Ever since that day they've been committing crimes against humanity all over the country. Me and Marh has a longer history of dictatorship than democracy. The British East India Company occupied the area that now represents the country in the nineteenth century. As always, they talked about civiling missions and freedoms, but in practice the occupation was extractive and only benefited the Anglo Burmese and a few
Indian civil servants they brought with them often. But this month led to resistance that manifested itself in hunger strikes and everyday acts of disobedience, small ways of saying no. In a few instances, it became open and unbrest build into the streets. The country became a major battleground during the Second World War, with Japan evading and seizing the country before Allied forces took it back in a fierce campaign in nineteen forty four. As many as one hundred
and fifty thousand Japanese troops died. Burmese people fought on both sides. Ag San Agsang Suchi's father demanded that Britain grant him and his fellow Burmese people independence if they fought for the Allies. The British refused. Nstan then went first to China and eventually Japan for support, and eventually he fought against the British with his Burmer Independence Army.
But after two years of occupation, Agstan and his comrade to change sides broad alliance called the Anti Fascist Organization. They turned on the Japanese and they once again took up arms to liberate their country. On the fourth of January nineteen forty seven, Burma became an independent republic. The new republic's territory combined three British territories and over one
hundred distinct ethnic groups. For the next fourteen years, these groups struggled to find a democratic Burma and an identity for themselves within it. Mostly they failed. The period was characterized by the Chinese Civil War, spilling it to Burma, ethnic armed insurgencies and repeated demands for a federal republic with a weak central government. In nineteen sixty two, the military a rate at new demands for a federal republic
stage to coup. Burmer spent the next twenty two years under the military rule of a council, pursuing what they called the Burmese Way to socialism. Burmer's planned economy left it largely isolated from the rest of the world. At home, the press was censored, and a type of nationalism that combined nominal socialism and Burman ethnic identity became the official state ideology. During this period, Burma became one of the
world's poorest countries. Sporadic protests were met with overwhelming force, and the eighth of August nineteen eighty eight, an uprising began. It started among his students in Yangon, but it took realt quickly around the country. The so called eight eight eight eight Uprising because of the date, began with a general strike and huge non violent protests. These were met with gunfire. Protesters fought back with molotov cocktails and rocks.
The military fired into hospitals, and by September eighteenth, they'd launched a coup to take the country from a one party state back to a military dictatorship. It was thuring these protests Angsan Suki, the daughter of Independence. Here at Angsan emerged as a national figurehead, especially in the west.
Amitov Ghusch, the Indian writer, wrote the following about eight eight eight eight across Burma, people poured out in thousands to join the protests, not just students, but also teachers, monks, children, professionals and trade unionists of every shade. It was on this day too, that the Hunter made its first determined attempt at repression. Soldiers opened fire on the demonstrators and
hundreds of unarmed marchers were killed. The killings continued for a week, but still the demonstrators continued to flood the streets. After the uprising had been suppressed, multi party elections were later held, while the new National League for Democracy party of Ansong su Qi won the most votes. The Hunter refused to seed power. Protests continued off and on for decades with the two thousand and seven Saffron Revolution, in which the government violently cracked down on monks, resulting in
the most international condemnation. Following the Saffron Revolution, the government's isolationism hindering aid After extensive cyclone damage in two thousand and eight, the military government finally implemented the roadmap to discipline flourishing democracy that had developed in nineteen ninety three. If you're wondering about the name of the country, this officially changed in nineteen eighty nine as well. I Like much of the nation's history, a grand proclamation from the
government didn't mean much on the ground. Both words derived from Buranma, a name that the majority ethnic group who we're calling Berman here used for themselves. Many opposition groups still use Burma instead of Meemma. It's another small way of saying no to the military's attempt to control every aspect of their lives.
Finally, on the eighteenth of September, the army took to the streets and the coup, led by their Chief of Staff, General Saumon the next day, the killings began again. The army later described these people as looters.
It was not until twenty eleven that the military junta finally stepped down and passed on power to the Union's Solidarity and Development Party in an election that was widely seen as fraudulent. A year later, Ong San sou Chi was released, and by twenty fifteen her National League for
Democracy won an absolute majority. While she was barred from holding the presidential office, she took on the role of State councilor, and Mianmar entered a period of liberalization, which, although never the federal democracy promised when the country gained its independence in nineteen forty seven, allowed for significant freedoms of communication and speech, especially for the Burman majority ethnic group.
Not everyone was reconciled to the change. Many of Myanmars one hundred and thirty five ethnic groups feel marginalized by the state, which tends to be dominated by the Burman ethnicity. Some of these groups have armed insurgeent wings, often more than one per ethnic group, as they disagree on politics or religion. These groups have fought various Burmese governments since the nineteen forties, but many of them reached a ceasefire with the government as the country passed from military to
civilian rule. One group however, saw a huge uptick in violence. The Rohinga ethnic group have been persecuted by Buddhist nationals since the nineteen seventies, but the campaign against them increased in violence and scale in twenty sixteen, when the Tatmdaw began a huge crackdown against Rohinga people in Rakin's State.
The persecution began in response to attacks by the Arkan Rohinga Salvation Army on Burmese border outposts, but the campaign that followed had nothing to do with the small insurgent group and a lot to do with the desire of the Toatmadaw to destroy or drive out all Rohinga people, who they claim are undocumented migrants from Bangladesh and not
citizens of Myanmar. While the world praised Suki, her government looked the other way as the military carried out a genocide that displaced over a million people and killed tens of thousands. It was in the context of growing international condemnation of the j Aside that Mianmar went to the polls in November of twenty twenty. The November twenty twenty election was only the nation's second since the official end of military rule on Sansu Chi's National League for Democracy
won a resounding victory. The military backed Union Solidarity and Development Party holds twenty five percent of seats under a constitution that SUCHI wanted to change. It didn't take defeat well. The election was neither perfectly free nor fair. The Rohinga have been almost wholly disenfranchised. The government claims they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and thus unable to vote. Areas with ethnic armed organizations which opposed the government often had
poles canceled and internet cut off. According to Human Rights Watch. The Carter Center estimates that one point four million citizens couldn't vote. The one opposition party that was certainly not shortchanged was the military's. However, it was the Union Solidarity and Development Party USDP, which had been calling for election delays due to COVID before poles opened. Once the elections
concl luted, they immediately began questioning the results. They continued to attempt to undermine the vote for months before they resorted to force on the first to February twenty twenty one, the day before the newly elected legislators were due to be sworn in, the world largely ignored the situation. Apart from the one viral video where a masked fitness instructor dances in the foreground as APCs roll through a roadblock
and into the parliament complex behind her. Ensangsuchi was arrested, charged with breaching COVID nineteen restrictions and illegally importing a walkie talkie, and General min Ang Hlang was installed at the head of a military junta. If this sounds a little like a stop to Steel fantasy, that's because it
is eerily similar to one. Myanmar's democracy is not what academics call a consolidated one, which is to say that democracy has never been the only game in town there, but the United States seems to be rapidly deconsolidating its own democracy. The allegations of election fraud and mianmarb were no more credible than those in Arizona. However, the military's tradition of political engagement there removed many of the barriers in between electoral defeat and the death of a short
lived democracy. Within twenty four hours of the coup, the people of Myanmar had fought back. Healthcare workers and civil servants were on strike by February third, and a boycott of junta owned businesses had begun. Protests began with a handful of people. The memories of massacres of pro democracy protesters in the nineteen eighties kept many away, but a younger generation who had grown up with relative liberty, internet access and basic freedoms had not seen blood in the
streets like their parents. They had seen activists in Hong Kong, the USA, and Ukraine take on violent state apparatuses, and they'd often seen them win.
By the sixth of February, twenty thousand people in the streets of Yangon, the largest city, and the Internet was shut down. Nationwide. Protests began peacefully with memorable signs like my ex is bad, but the military is worse, and we are protesting peacefully, but with the WAP capitalized, so it said whap. These signs were designed by a generation of kids who grew up with access to the Internet to attract international attention. Despite the ban. They used VPNs
to show imaguy to their struggle. One sign read if messed with the wrong generation now will never be allowed to ruin our own lives. The Tatmador showed its cards pretty quickly. Police began the suppression with sling shots and clubs, then tear gas and flash brang and quickly they moved to rifles and rocket the pel grenades. By the ninth of February, Maathway thway Heine, a twenty year old woman,
have been shot in the street. Soon those young protesters have switched science for shields by mid March and armed fort this day. One hundred and fortyen civilians were killed in a single day, including sixty five in Yangon who were kettled by police, surrounded and then shot Quickly, shield walls were set up, medics identified themselves in the protest movement, and hard hats and goggles were distributed, but this didn't
tip the balance of power in their favor. So Orlin, a former student union leader, was there from the start. In a text message, he told me I did not miss a single day as a member of the Kaya State National Strike Committee. I later became more involved in anti authoritarian protests. In the early protests, to see him in photos walking at the front of the group carrying flags and banners with his student ID card on a lanyard around his neck. But by March he's wearing a
black shirt, goggles and a hard construction hat. Meanwhile, the National League for Democracy politicians who had escaped attention joined other parties and set up a National Unity Government in April.
The National Unity Government contained members of the National League for Democracy, but significantly, a Rahingio activist was appointed and advised in the Ministry of Human Rights and the National Unity Government has announced it would for the first time accept the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court with respect to all international crimes committed in Meh and Mah since two thousand and two. This would include the Rhinga genocide.
By May, both the National Unity Government and Swollen had realized that no amount of nonviolent protests was going to dislodge regime. There was happy to gun down kids in the street, so on the fifth of May he left for the jungle. That same day, the National Unity Government announced the formation of the People's Defense Force or PDF. Within a month, eight hundred soldiers had affected to these pro democracy guerrilla units. Many bought their guns with them,
but Twa didn't join the PDF. Instead, he joined one of me and R's many ethnic armed organizations groups opposed to a central state and its domination by the Burman ethnicity. To understand these groups you need to understand that MEMR is composed of dozens, not hundreds, of ethnic groups, but that the Burman, who make up about two thirds of the population, have always controlled the state and used it
as a tool in furthering their interest. Some of these groups, like the Koran National Liberation Army and the Kachin Independence Army, have been fighting for decades since the country emerged from British colonial rule at the end of World War Two. All of these groups draw on a combination of ethnic and political grievances. Many of them administer semi autonomous territories, like the Koren State.
In twenty thirteen, thirteen ethnic Armed Organizations or EAOs came together to form the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordinating Team in CCT and signed an eleven point Common Position of Ethnic Resistance Organizations on National Ceasefire, or the LEISA Agreement. Most of them seemed to agree that they would accept a federal system rather than complete autonomy. In twenty fifteen, a ceasefire was signed, but conflict between ethnic armed organizations and between
EAOs and the government continued. Since the coup began, EO membership has skyrocketed, and in October the National Unity government announced alliances with several groups under a central chain of command. Some political organizations who played a part in the nineteen eighty eight uprising, like the Al Burma Students Democratic Front, have been revived as armed groups. The ABSDF recently attacked Tottmadaw ships using an RPG A tax on military bases
have also stepped up. PDF units have ambushed and killed policemen and raided police and military outposts. Each time they do, they steal valuable weapons and ammunition. The top Madaw has responded with shellings and airstrikes against residential areas, executions, mass physical retribution, and the murdering of civilians and aid workers
and burning of their bodies. As a result of all this, ethnic armed organizations have joined forces with anti authoritarian Burman people under the auspices of the People's Defense Forces, which are under the command of the exiled National Unity Government.
We have never experienced such kind of brutalities from the military as well as as strong resistance from the people. They try to make sure the whole country submit to them, but we still refuse to allow them to be our rulers.
This defiance has led to the formation of the People's Defense Forces or PDF, a coalition of thousands of resistance fighters were carrying out surprise attacks on hunter checkpoints, bombing army convoys, and supporting ethnic armies in their fight against the regime. Twelve months ago, these men and women were students and office workers protesting the coup. Today they're training to overthrow the military.
The Innesoja is the tough choints, but the young people they are ready to defend the communities. They have to, of course, sacrifice their own daily life, ordinary life.
Since March of twenty twenty, the influx of new recruits has changed these groups. Generation Z militias like the Carini gin Z Liberation Army have sprung up, founded by kids who were holding memeable signs at protests just a few months earlier. They care less about ethnic independence and more about beating the junta. Many Burman kids join these groups.
These organizations of young fighters received training from the experienced guerrillas hiding in the jungle, but they tended to adopt a less top down military structure and armed themselves by scavenging whatever weapons they could find, often twenty two caliber rifles better suited to shooting squirrels than soldiers. It was these kids who grew up online and knew that there was nothing you couldn't learn about on Reddit who tipped
the balance of force away from the state. Unlike the ethnic armed organizations and other more experienced guerrillas than me Anmar, these kids have little military experience. Their organizations have few rules and regulations. They're made up entirely of young people.
As a result, there are certain things that they're less proficient at, but they're much better at things like grasping the use of new technologies, which has led to me Anmar being the first country in the world where three D printed weapons have taken part in a revolution against the government. We're going to hear more about that and many other things as this series continues. It Could Happen Here as a production of cool Zone Media.
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