Editing U Thant (section)

== Civil servant ==
[[File:U Nu with U Thant.jpg|thumb|Thant with U Nu in 1955 on an early morning walk]]
During World War II, the Japanese occupied Burma from 1942 to 1945. They brought Thant to Rangoon to lead the Educational Reorganizing Committee. However, Thant did not have any real power, and returned to Pantanaw. When teaching the Japanese language was made compulsory in Pantanaw high schools, Thant defied the orders and cooperated with the growing anti-Japanese resistance.{{Sfn|Dorn|2007|p=145}}

In 1948, [[Post-independence Burma, 1948–1962|Burma gained independence from the United Kingdom]]. Nu became the prime minister of the newly independent Burma and appointed Thant as director of broadcasting in 1948. By then, civil war had broken out. The [[Karen conflict|Karen insurgency]] began and Thant risked his life to go to Karen camps to negotiate for peace. The negotiations broke down, and in 1949 the advancing insurgents burned his hometown, including his house. The insurgents pushed the front to within four miles of the capital Rangoon before they were beaten back. In the following year, Thant was appointed secretary to the government of Burma in the [[Ministry of Information (Burma)|Ministry of Information]]. From 1951 to 1957, Thant was secretary to the prime minister, writing speeches for U Nu, arranging his foreign travel, and meeting foreign visitors. During this entire period, he was U Nu's closest confidant and advisor.{{Sfn|Dorn|2007|p=145}}

He also took part in a number of international conferences and was the secretary of the 1955 [[Bandung Conference]] in [[Indonesia]], which gave birth to the [[Non-Aligned Movement]]. From 1957 to 1961, he was Burma's permanent representative to the United Nations and became actively involved in negotiations over [[Nationalism and resistance in Algeria|Algerian independence]]. In 1961, Thant was named Chairman of the UN Congo Commission. The Burmese government awarded him the title ''Maha Thray Sithu'' as a commander in the [[Pyidaungsu Sithu Thingaha|order of Pyidaungsu Sithu]].<ref>H.W. Wilson Company (1962). ''Current biography, Volume 23.'' H. W. Wilson Co.</ref>