Declaration
KNU declaration of war, 1949
The KNU declared war on the newly independent Burmese government, beginning the world's longest-running internal armed conflict.
What happened
On 31 January 1949, the KNU declared war on the Burmese government, beginning what has become the longest continuously waged internal conflict in the world.[1]
Sources for this page
Each number marks a specific claim. Notes give the source, its locator and how it relates to the claim.
-
1.
Claim: The Karen National Union (KNU) was founded in 1947; following Myanmar's independence in January 1948, it organised local defence militias, and on 31 January 1949 it declared war on the newly independent Burmese government, beginning what has become the longest continuously waged internal armed conflict in the world. Contributing factors identified by historical sources include the exclusion of the Karen from pre-independence secession negotiations involving the Shan, Karenni and Kachin, and rising communal violence between Karen and Bamar populations.
- Karen conflict (Wikipedia) link, Formation, Background and 1949 Insurgency sections. Source record