1962 Burmese coup d ' état The 1962 Burmese coup d ' état on 2 March 1962 marked the beginnings of socialist rule and the political dominance of the army in Burma / Myanmar which spanned the course of 26 years . The resulting political system lasted until 18 September 1988 , when the military took over power as the State Law and Order Restoration Council ( then renamed the State Peace and Development Council ) following the nationwide 8888 Uprising and virtual breakdown of the Socialist regime . The 1962 coup was led by Ne Win and the socialist Union Revolutionary Council , made up of 24 members . For the next 12 years until 1974 , the country was ruled under martial law , and saw a significant expansion in the military ' s role in the national economy , politics and state bureaucracy . The government ' s policies and ideology following the coup were based on the Burmese Way to Socialism , which was publicly announced a month after the coup and supplemented with the founding of the Burma Socialist Programme Party . Background . Following Burmese independence there were uprisings in the army and amongst ethnic minority groups . In late 1948 , after a confrontation between army rivals , Ne Win was appointed second in command of the army , and his rival Bo Zeya , a communist commander and fellow member of the Thirty Comrades , took a portion of the army into rebellion . Ne Win immediately adopted a policy of creating socialist militia battalions called " Sitwundan " under his personal command with the approval of U Nu . On 31 January 1949 , Ne Win was appointed Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces , and given total control of the army replacing General Smith Dun , an ethnic Karen . He rebuilt and restructured the armed forces along the ruling Socialist Party ' s political lines , but the country was still split and the government was ineffective . Ne Win was asked to serve as interim prime minister from 28 October 1958 by U Nu , when the AFPFL split into two factions and U Nu barely survived a motion of no - confidence against his government in parliament . Ne Win restored order during the period known as the " Ne Win caretaker government " ' . Elections were held in February 1960 and Ne Win handed back power to the victorious U Nu on 4 April 1960 . Coup d ' état . Less than two years later , on 2 March 1962 , Ne Win again seized power in a military - staged coup d ' état . Ne Win became head of state as Chairman of the " Union Revolutionary Council " and also Prime Minister . He arrested U Nu , Sao Shwe Thaik and several others , and declared a socialist state run by a " Revolutionary Council " of senior military officers . Sao Shwe Thaik ' s son , Sao Mye Thaik , was shot dead in what was generally described as a " bloodless " coup by the world ' s media . Thibaw Sawbwa Sao Kya Seng also disappeared mysteriously after being stopped at a checkpoint near Taunggyi . Following riots at Rangoon University in July 1962 troops were sent to restore order . They fired on protesters and destroyed the student union building . Shortly afterward , Ne Win addressed the nation in a five - minute radio speech which concluded with the statement : " if these disturbances were made to challenge us , I have to declare that we will fight sword with sword and spear with spear " . On 13 July 1962 , less than a week after the speech , Ne Win left for Austria , Switzerland and the United Kingdom " for a medical check up " . All universities were closed for more than two years until September 1964 . In 1988 , 26 years later , Ne Win denied any involvement in dynamiting of the Student Union building , stating that his deputy Brigadier Aung Gyi , who by that time had fallen out with Ne Win and been dismissed , had given the order and that he had to take responsibility as a " revolutionary leader " by giving the " sword with sword and spear with spear " speech . Aftermath and effects . The coup transformed Burma from a multi - party federational union into a single party state where the Burma Socialist Programme Party was the sole legal political entity allowed to operate in the country . Various private commercial interests , especially those owned by non - Burmese , were nationalised and many foreign companies withdrew from their operations . Up until 1974 , the Union Revolutionary Council ruled the country with martial law . In 1974 , a referendum on a new constitution greatly influenced by socialist doctrine was held , and the country became the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma . A new flag with socialist symbols was adopted and the country came under the rule of a parliament filled solely by the BSPP . The 1962 coup is seen as the beginning of military dominance in Burma ' s political and internal affairs , which still lasts today . The Socialist regime and the system of governance alongside the Autarky and Isolationism greatly afflicted the economy and development of Burma , which by 1987 was relegated a Least developed country .