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Speaker 1: This Day in History Class. It's a production of I

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Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hi everyone, welcome to this Day in History Class,

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Speaker 1: where we uncover the remnants of history every day. Today

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Speaker 1: is August eight, nineteen. The day was August eighth, nineteen

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Speaker 1: eight in Me and mar then known as Burma. Nationwide

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Speaker 1: strikes and protests sparked weeks of more protests that ended

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Speaker 1: in September with a violent crackdown. The day's events became

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Speaker 1: known as the eight eight eight uprisings. In nineteen sixty two,

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Speaker 1: General nay Win seized power in the military coup. For

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Speaker 1: more than a decade following the coup, the country was

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Speaker 1: under martial law. The government's ideology was the so called

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Speaker 1: Burmese way to socialism, and it turned a strong economy

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Speaker 1: into a weak one. It increased the country's isolation, and

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Speaker 1: it sent people into poverty. Corruption and police brutality were

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Speaker 1: also big issues under the regime. In nineteen eight seven,

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Speaker 1: the government declared several large denominations of me and marth

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Speaker 1: currency worthless, and a lot of people lost their savings.

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Speaker 1: Civil unrest was escalating in opposition to the government and

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Speaker 1: its repressive policies. Students, disaffected soldiers, workers and Buddhist monks

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Speaker 1: began staging demonstrations. Police often responded to the protests with force,

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Speaker 1: as was the case on March sixteenth, nineteen eighty eight,

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Speaker 1: when riot police attacked students, killing dozens and arresting hundreds

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Speaker 1: of people in an incident that became known as Red Bridge.

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Speaker 1: The government then closed all schools and universities, which were

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Speaker 1: later reopened. End On July, nay Win resigned as head

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Speaker 1: of the Burma Socialist Program Party after months of growing protests.

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Speaker 1: He promised a move toward multiparty democracy, but he appointed

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Speaker 1: Saying Louen as his successor. Lewen, a general known as

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Speaker 1: the Butcher of Rangoon, declared martial law. Newspapers were openly

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Speaker 1: anti government. Neighborhoods set up defenses against the army, and

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Speaker 1: movement towards a massive general strike gained scheme. A general

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Speaker 1: strike was planned for August eight, reportedly because the date

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Speaker 1: was auspicious. On that day, hundreds of thousands of people

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Speaker 1: participated in general strikes around the country. The protests were

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Speaker 1: initially peaceful, but as they spread, the army was ordered

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Speaker 1: to shoot to kill. Still, people continued to gather for protests.

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Speaker 1: Lewin resigned on August twelve, a week leader Dr Moong

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Speaker 1: Mang replaced him as president. Owned San Succhi, now known

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Speaker 1: as a politician and Nobel Peace Prize winner, gave her

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Speaker 1: first major public speech at a rally on August and Rangoon.

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Speaker 1: As the demonstrations continued, so did the violence. On September,

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Speaker 1: General Sawmong led a coup and a junta called the

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Speaker 1: State Law and Order Restoration Council or s l O

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Speaker 1: r C took over. As the government ruled with terror

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Speaker 1: and killed many demonstrators. Many people fled to the borders

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Speaker 1: or to Thailand, or went into exile. The s l

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Speaker 1: o r C allowed political parties to register, and the

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Speaker 1: National League for Democracy emerged with Succhi as the general secretary,

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Speaker 1: but she and other n l D members were rounded

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Speaker 1: up and she was put on house arrest, which she

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Speaker 1: remained on on and off until. Throughout all the nineteen

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Speaker 1: eighty nine demonstrations, thousands of protesters have been arrested or killed,

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Speaker 1: though officials estimated the death toll at only three d

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Speaker 1: and fifty people. An election was held in and the

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Speaker 1: National League for Democracy won most of the seats in

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Speaker 1: the government, but the s l O r C refused

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Speaker 1: to recognize those results and continued to rule. Some people

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Speaker 1: took up arms and planned to overthrow the junta, but

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Speaker 1: military rule and political and ethnic conflict continued in the

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Speaker 1: following years. I'm Eve Stepcoat and hopefully you know a

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Speaker 1: little more about history today than you did yesterday. We

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Speaker 1: love it if you left us a comment on Twitter,

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Speaker 1: Instagram or Facebook. At t d i h C podcast,

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Speaker 1: thanks again for listening, and I hope you come back

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Speaker 1: tomorrow for more delicious morsels of history. For more podcasts

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Speaker 1: from I Heeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

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Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.