Editing Ne Win (section)

==8888 Uprising, resignation, and military coup (1975–1988)==
{{Main|8888 Uprising}}
Students from universities throughout [[Rangoon]] demonstrated again in June 1975 in commemoration of the previous year's Labour Strike. Student-led demonstrations also occurred in March 1976, September 1987, March and June 1988.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Mydans|first1=Seth|last2=Times|first2=Special To the New York|date=12 September 1988|title=A Burmese Power Shift; Though Government Schedules Election, Decision Rests With People in the Streets (Published 1988)|language=en-US|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/12/world/burmese-power-shift-though-government-schedules-election-decision-rests-with.html|url-status=live|access-date=7 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110102510/http://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/12/world/burmese-power-shift-though-government-schedules-election-decision-rests-with.html|archive-date=10 November 2012|issn=0362-4331}} [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,968501,00.html?promoid=googlep Alt URL] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102182623/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,968501,00.html?promoid=googlep |date=2 November 2012 }}</ref> In August and September 1988, these demonstrations turned into a nationwide uprising against BSPP rule in what is now known as the '[[8888 Uprising|Four Eights Uprising]]'.{{Sfn|Taylor|2015|pp=454–461}}

The 8888 uprising was started by students in [[Yangon]] (Rangoon) on 8 August 1988. Student protests spread throughout the [[Myanmar|country]].<ref name="fer313">Ferrara (2003), p. 313</ref><ref name="burmawatcher">Burma Watcher (1989)</ref> Hundreds of thousands of [[Monk|monks]], children, university students, housewives, doctors and [[common people]] protested against the government.<ref name="steinberg">Steinberg (2002)</ref><ref>Aung-Thwin, Maureen. (1989). [http://www.foreignaffairs.org/19890301faessay5952/maureen-aung-thwin/burmese-days.html Burmese Days] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060223173602/http://www.foreignaffairs.org/19890301faessay5952/maureen-aung-thwin/burmese-days.html|date=23 February 2006}}. ''[[Foreign Affairs]]''.</ref> The [[8888 Uprising|uprising]] ended on 18 September after a bloody [[Coup d'état|military coup]] by the [[State Peace and Development Council|State Law and Order Restoration Council]] (SLORC). Thousands of deaths have been attributed to the military during this uprising,<ref name="fer313" /><ref name="fog">Fogarty, Phillipa (7 August 2008). [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7543347.stm Was Burma's 1988 uprising worth it?] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090112023805/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7543347.stm|date=12 January 2009}}. [[BBC News]].</ref><ref name="win">Wintle (2007)</ref> while authorities in Myanmar put the figure at around 350 people killed.<ref>''[[Ottawa Citizen]]''. 24 September 1988. P. A.16</ref><ref>[[Associated Press]]. ''[[Chicago Tribune]]''. 26 September 1988.</ref>

At the height of the [[8888 Uprising|Four Eights Uprising]] against the BSPP, Ne Win [[resigned]] as [[party chairman]] on 23 July 1988. In a truculent farewell speech to the BSPP Party Congress, he warned that if the "disturbances" continued the "army would have to be called and I would like to declare from here that if the army shoots it has no tradition of shooting into the air. It would shoot straight to hit."<ref>The English translation of Ne Win's speech can be found in 24 July 1988 issues of the Rangoon ''Guardian'' and ''The Working People's Daily''.</ref> The [[Tatmadaw|Tatmadaw troops]] shot, killed and maimed hundreds if not up to 3,000 or more demonstrators in various places throughout [[Burma]] from the period of 8 to 12 August 1988 and again on 18 September 1988, proving that Ne Win's farewell speech was not an empty threat.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Win|first=Sein|date=24 July 1988|title=Burmese Leader Ne Win Resigns in Surprise Move|language=en-US|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1988/07/24/burmese-leader-ne-win-resigns-in-surprise-move/1b5896ff-3997-4472-8ffd-d49753838d39/|access-date=7 November 2020|issn=0190-8286|archive-date=9 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109134619/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1988/07/24/burmese-leader-ne-win-resigns-in-surprise-move/1b5896ff-3997-4472-8ffd-d49753838d39/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Cook|first=C. P.|date=1970|title=Burma: The Era of Ne Win|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40394388|journal=The World Today|volume=26|issue=6|pages=259–266|jstor=40394388|issn=0043-9134|access-date=7 November 2020|archive-date=7 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107071547/https://www.jstor.org/stable/40394388|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 18 September 1988 the military led by [[Senior general (Myanmar)|Senior General]] [[Saw Maung]] dispelled any hopes for [[democracy]] by brutally crushing the uprisings. It is widely believed that Ne Win, though in apparent retirement, orchestrated the coup from behind the scenes.<ref>{{cite book | last=Stewart | first=Whitney | year=1997 | title=Aung San Suu Kyi: Fearless Voice of Burma | publisher=Twenty-First Century Books | isbn=0-8225-4931-X | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/aungsansuukyifea00stew }}</ref>

For about ten years, Ne Win kept a low profile but remained a shadowy figure exercising at least some influence on the [[State Peace and Development Council|military junta]].<ref>Listopadov, Nikolai Aleksandrovich. "U NE VIN." Voprosy Istorii no. 11 (November 1997): 56–78.</ref> After 1998, Ne Win's influence on the junta began to wane.