State of Burma The State of Burma ( ) was created in 1943 during the Japanese occupation of Burma . Background . During the early stages of World War II , the Empire of Japan invaded British Burma primarily to obtain raw materials ( which included oil from fields around Yenangyaung , minerals and large surpluses of rice ) , and to close off the Burma Road , which was a primary link for aid and munitions to the Chinese Nationalist forces of Chiang Kai - Shek which had been fighting the Japanese for several years in the Second Sino - Japanese War . The Japanese Fifteenth Army under Lieutenant General Shojiro Iida quickly overran Burma from January – May 1942 . The Japanese had also assisted formation of the Burma Independence Army ( BIA ) , which aided the Japanese during their invasion . The BIA formed a provisional government in some areas of the country in the spring of 1942 , but there were differences within the Japanese leadership over the future of Burma . While Colonel Suzuki encouraged the BIA to form a provisional government , the Japanese military leadership had never formally accepted such a plan and the Japanese government held out only vague promises of independence after the end of the war . However , a Burmese Executive Administration was established in Rangoon on 1 August 1942 with the aim of creating a civil administration to manage day - to - day administrative activities subordinate to the Japanese military administration . The head of the provisional administration was Dr . Ba Maw , a noted lawyer and political prisoner under the British . Greater East Asia Co - Prosperity Sphere . As the war situation gradually turned against the Japanese , the Japanese government decided that Burma and the Philippines would become fully independent as part of the Greater East Asia Co - Prosperity Sphere , contrary to the original plan that independence only be granted after the completion of the war . Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tōjō promised that independence for Burma would be granted within a year from 28 January 1943 , with the condition that Burma declare war on the United Kingdom and the United States . The Japanese government felt that this would give the Burmese a real stake in an Axis victory in the Second World War , creating resistance against possible re - colonization by the western powers , and increased military and economic support from Burma for the Japanese war effort . A Burma Independence Preparatory Committee chaired by Ba Maw was formed 8 May 1943 with a wide variety of respected members . On 1 August 1943 , Burma was proclaimed the independent State of Burma and the Japanese military government for Burma was officially dissolved . The new state quickly declared war on United Kingdom and the United States , and concluded a Treaty of Alliance with Japan . Ba Maw became " Naingandaw Adipadi " ( head of state ) of Burma under the new constitution , with wide powers . Government of the State of Burma . The first cabinet of the State of Burma consisted of : On 25 September 1943 , as promised , Japan ceded all of the Shan states to Burma except for the part east of the Salween River i . e . Kengtung and Mongpan , which had already been given to Thailand . Ba Maw attended the Greater East Asia Conference in Tokyo from 5 – 6 November 1943 . Though now nominally independent , the power of the State of Burma to exercise its sovereignty was largely circumscribed by wartime agreements with Japan . The Imperial Japanese Army maintained a large presence and continued to act arbitrarily , despite Japan no longer having official control over Burma . During 1943 and 1944 , the Burma National Army made contacts with other political groups inside Burma , including the Communist Party of Burma which had been operating underground . Eventually , a popular front organization called the Anti - Fascist Organisation was formed with Thakin Soe as leader . Through the communists and the Japanese - sponsored Arakan Defence Army , the Burmese were eventually able to make contact with the British Force 136 in India . The initial contacts were always indirect . Force 136 was also able to make contacts with members of the BNA ' s Karen unit in Rangoon . In December 1944 , the AFO contacted the Allies , indicating their readiness to defect to the Allied cause by launching a national uprising which would include the forces of BNA . However , this was opposed by the British , who considering the timing to be unfavorable , and who had considerable reservations about supporting the BNA . The first BNA - led uprising against the Japanese occurred early in 1945 in central Burma . On 27 March 1945 , the remainder of the BNA paraded in Rangoon and marched out ostensibly to assist the Japanese army in the battles then raging in Central Burma against invading Allied forces . Instead , the BNA openly declared war on the Japanese . Aung San and others subsequently began negotiations with Lord Mountbatten and officially joined the Allies as the Patriotic Burmese Forces . Without the support of the BNA , the government of the State of Burma quickly collapsed , and Ba Maw fled via Thailand to Japan , where he was captured later that year and was held in Sugamo Prison , Tokyo , until 1946 .