This article is about the president of Burma. For the Thai politician, see Newin Chidchob. For other uses, see Ne Win (disambiguation).
In this Burmese name, the given name is Ne Win. There is no family name.
His Excellency[1] Agga Maha Thray Sithu[2] General
Ne Win
နေဝင်း
Ne Win in 1964
Chairman of the Burma Socialist Programme Party
In office 4 July 1962 – 23 July 1988
Preceded by
Office established
Succeeded by
Sein Lwin
4th President of Burma
In office 2 March 1974 – 9 November 1981
Preceded by
Win Maung (1962)
Succeeded by
San Yu
Chairman of the Union Revolutionary Council
In office 2 March 1962 – 2 March 1974
Preceded by
Office established
Succeeded by
Office abolished
Prime Minister of Burma
In office 29 October 1958 – 4 April 1960
President
Win Maung
Preceded by
U Nu
Succeeded by
U Nu
In office 2 March 1962 – 2 March 1974
Preceded by
U Nu
Succeeded by
Sein Win
Personal details
Born
Shu Maung[3]
(1911-05-24)24 May 1911[4] Paungdale, Pegu Province, Lower Burma, British India (present-day Myanmar)
Died
5 December 2002(2002-12-05) (aged 92)[5] Yangon, Union of Myanmar
Resting place
Ashes scattered into Hlaing River
Nationality
Burmese
Political party
Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP)
Spouses
5, including Yadana Nat Mei
Children
6, including Sandar Win
Alma mater
Rangoon University
Occupation
General
politician
Signature
Military service
Allegiance
Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma
Branch/service
Myanmar Army
Years of service
1931–1974
Rank
General
Ne Win (Burmese: နေဝင်း; IPA:[nèwɪ́ɰ̃]; 24 May 1911 – 5 December 2002)[6] also known as Shu Maung (Burmese: ရှူမောင်; IPA:[/ʃùmàʊ̃̀/]), was a Burmese army general, politician and military commander who served as Prime Minister of Burma from 1958 to 1960 and 1962 to 1974, and also President of Burma from 1962 to 1981.[7][8][9] Ne Win was Burma's military dictator during the Socialist Burma period of 1962 to 1988.[a]
Ne Win founded the Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) and overthrew the democratic Union Parliament of U Nu in the 1962 Burmese coup d'état, establishing Burma as a one-party socialist state under the Burmese Way to Socialism ideology.[10] Ne Win was Burma's de facto leader as chairman of the BSPP, serving in various official titles as part of his military government, and was known by his supporters as U Ne Win.[b][3][11] His rule was characterized by a non-aligned foreign policy, isolationism, one-party rule, economic stagnation, and superstition.[12] Ne Win resigned in July 1988 in response to the 8888 Uprising that overthrew the Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP), and was replaced by the military junta of the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). He held minor influence in the 1990s but was eventually placed under house arrest, under which he died in 2002.[13]
In foreign affairs, Ne Win followed a strictly neutralist policy during the Cold War, participating in the Non-Aligned Movement and keeping his distance from both the United States and the Soviet Union.[14] On the other hand, his relations with Mao Zedong and the People's Republic of China were initially excellent, but were temporarily broken between 1967 and 1971, due to Mao's covert support for the Communist insurgency within Burma and the outbreak of anti-Chinese riots by regime supporters; however, in March 1971 relations were fully restored and Chinese economic aid continued.[15]
^Letter from Premier Zhou Enlai to His Excellency Ne Win
^General Ne Win, the first military general who led the 1962 coup, was posthumously named Agga Maha Thray Sithu, the second-highest honor. Former military leader Than Shwe, who picked Min Aung Hlaing as his successor as commander-in-chief, was given the same title.
^ ab"U Ne Win". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 10 April 2018. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
^"Ne Win (Shu Maung), Burmese military strongman, born May 24 1911; died December 5 2002".
^Pace, Eric (6 December 2002). "Ne Win, Ex-Burmese Military Strongman, Dies at 81". The New York Times.
^"U Ne Win (born May 24, 1911, Paungdale, Burma [Myanmar]—died December 5, 2002, Yangon, Myanmar) was a Burmese general who was the leader of Burma (now Myanmar) from 1962 to 1988". Encyclopædia Britannica. 28 March 2024.
^"U Ne Win | Myanmar general and dictator". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 27 October 2020. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
^C. P. Cook (June 1970). "Burma: The Era of Ne Win". The World Today. 26 (6): 259–266. JSTOR 40394388.
^Frank Milne (23 November 2015). "Review of General Ne Win: A Political Biography". New Mandala.
^Lindsay Maizland (31 January 2022). "Myanmar has been ruled by a military junta for many of the years since it gained independence from British colonial rule in 1948. The Union of Burma began as a parliamentary democracy, like most of its newly independent neighbors on the Indian subcontinent. But representative democracy only lasted until 1962, when General Ne Win led a military coup and held power for the next twenty-six years". Council on Foreign Relations.
^"U Ne Win". Biography.com. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
^Taylor 2015, p. 67.
^"Ne Win: Understanding the 'old man'". Frontier Myanmar. 14 January 2016. Archived from the original on 21 January 2021. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
^Yawnghwe 1990, p. 45-47.
^Ne Win Military Rule – Neutralism and Seclusion Archived 16 July 2019 at the Wayback Machine Globalsecurity.org
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NeWin (Burmese: နေဝင်း; IPA: [nè wɪ́ɰ̃]; 24 May 1911 – 5 December 2002) also known as Shu Maung (Burmese: ရှူမောင်; IPA: [/ʃù màʊ̃̀/]), was a Burmese...
Aye NeWin (Burmese: အေးနေဝင်း; born on 15 November 1976) is a Burmese businessman and former political inmate who spent 11 years in prison for a high...
Collegian NeWin (Burmese: ကောလိပ်ဂျင်နေဝင်း, pronounced [kɔ̀lèdʑɪ̀ɰ̃ nè wɪ́ɰ̃]; 1 October 1928 – 2 June 1983) was a two-time Burmese Academy Award winning...
ruled the country as a totalitarian one-party state, headed by General NeWin. Under the government agenda, called the Burmese Way to Socialism, which...
again in 1972, NeWin held peace talks with several insurgent groups, but both times they fell apart. This was partly due to NeWin's refusal to adopt...
insurgencies, especially in Chin, Kachin, Kayin, Kayah, and Shan states. General NeWin took control of the country in a 1962 coup d'état, attempting to build an...
Everjoice Win (born 1965), Zimbabwean feminist activist NeWin (1910–2002), Burmese military commander Soe Win (disambiguation), multiple people Nyan Win (born...
1958, he asked the Army Chief of Staff General NeWin to take over as a "caretaker government", and NeWin was sworn in as Prime Minister on 27 October...
script. Burma (Myanmar) was under the military dictatorship of NeWin from 1962 to 1988. NeWin and his allies in the Tatmadaw (Burmese military) overthrew...
Arumugam argues that the transition was simply a "change of garb", and that NeWin and his senior commanders merely retired from the army and became civilian...
Win Myint (Burmese: ဝင်းမြင့်; MLCTS: wang: mrang. [wɪ́ɰ̃ mjɪ̰ɰ̃]; born 8 November 1951) is a Burmese politician who served as the tenth President of...
Yar Zar Nay Win (Burmese: ရာဇာနေဝင်း; pronounced [jàzà nè wɪ́ɰ̃]; also spelt Yaza NeWin, born 1968) is a Burmese film actor and singer. He was one of...
(nephew of Bo Yan Aung) and Soe Win (son of Ludu U Hla and Ludu Daw Amar), met the same fate the next month. NeWin's government took advantage of the...
1962 to 1988 and the sole legal party from 1964 to 1988. Party chairman NeWin overthrew the country's democratically elected government in a coup d'état...
coup d'état by General NeWin, a Burmese general who began his military career fighting for the Japanese in World War II. NeWin carried out military operations...
March 1957. He served for five years until 2 March 1962, when General NeWin's military coup d'état ousted Nu's government. He was imprisoned between...
animosity between Thant and NeWin went back only to 1969, when NeWin believed Thant was conniving with Nu after Nu denounced NeWin at a press corps meeting...
Sandar Win (also spelt Khin Sanda Win; Burmese: ခင်စန္ဒာဝင်း; born 1952 in Rangoon, Burma) is the daughter of former Burmese dictator NeWin. She played...
was commanding the Yangon Command, arresting family members of General NeWin in 2002 after an alleged coup conspiracy was uncovered, arresting Khin Nyunt...
anti-unity and pro-disintegration. On 2 March 1962, the military led by General NeWin took control of Burma through a coup d'état, and the government had been...
student-led demonstrations in the capital. He was served the brutal cohort of NeWin and the man responsible for the ruthless suppression of dissent, notably...
the Union Revolutionary Council (URC), the military junta established by NeWin and his allies in the Tatmadaw (Burmese military) after they overthrew the...
a succession of short-lived predecessors that followed the toppling of NeWin earlier in 1988. Saw Maung assumed responsibility as chairman of the newly...
first military rule began in 1958 and direct military rule started when NeWin captured power through a coup d'état in 1962. Burma became a military dictatorship...