Program Information

The lush and beautiful nation of Myanmar, more commonly known as Burma, is in the late twentieth century being forced to confront its lack of human rights and democracy by a diminutive housewife, a mother of two, Aung San Suu Kyi.

A Moment in Time is a brief, exciting and compelling journey into the past. Created to excite and enlighten the public about the past, its relevance to the present and its impact on the future, A Moment In Time is a captivating historical narrative that is currently broadcast worldwide.

Transcript

Lead: The lush and beautiful nation of Myanmar, more commonly known as Burma, is in the late twentieth century being forced to confront its lack of human rights and democracy by a diminutive housewife, a mother of two, Aung San Suu Kyi.

Tag: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts.

Content: The struggle for Burmese democracy cannot be separated from its experience as a part of the British Empire. Like so many nations that look back to a time under British rule, Burma was an important outpost in the British trading system. For most of the nineteenth century, the British were reluctant imperialists. There were English statesmen that longed to the see the Union Jack fly above capitals around the world, but they were in the minority.

British thinking through most of the this period was dominated by liberalism and its conviction that free trade and limited democratic government were good for everybody. At heart the Brits were traders, they were out to make money, and believed with all their hearts the words of future Prime Minister William Gladstone, speaking in 1842, when he said, "commerce leads to civilization with one hand and peace with the other. It renders mankind happier, wiser, and better."

The problem is that free trade required enforceable contracts, and security for money, goods and trade frequently conflicted with customs, laws or policies of those with whom the British wished to do business. Often nations did not wish to surrender their national resources to British exploitation. This resistance required the flag to follow the merchant. As the nineteenth century progressed the tribal empires of Africa as well as long established states such as China, Japan and Burma felt first the insistent pressure of British commerce followed soon after by the looming presence of Royal Navy gunboats. Sometimes by treaty, but if not that by direct rule, nation after nation were pulled into the British colonial orbit. After three Anglo-Burmese wars, by 1886, Burma had become a province of British India. Next time: Burmese independence.

At the University of Richmond, this is Dan Roberts.

Virginia Standards