Anglo-Burmese Wars
The Anglo-Burmese Wars were a series of three conflicts in the 19th century between the British Empire and the independent Empire of Burma, now known as Myanmar. The First Anglo-Burmese War (1824–1826) arose from both empires' imperial ambitions and resulted in significant territorial losses for Burma, including Arakan and parts of Assam. The Second War in 1852 was driven by British commercial interests and tensions over trade practices, leading to further cessions of territory. The Third Anglo-Burmese War (1885) was sparked by British fears of French influence in Burma and culminated in the complete annexation of the country, ending its sovereignty.
The wars were marked by the British Empire's increasing militarization and expansion in Southeast Asia, motivated by economic interests and geopolitical concerns. Each conflict contributed to a profound transformation in Burmese society and governance, ultimately establishing Burma as a British colonial possession until its independence in 1948. The wars not only redefined the boundaries and political landscape of the region but also led to significant social changes, including the influence of British, Indian, and Chinese merchants in Burmese economic life.
Anglo-Burmese Wars
The Anglo-Burmese Wars were a series of three nineteenth-century wars fought between the British Empire and the then independent Empire of Burma (modern-day Myanmar). The First Anglo-Burmese War (1824–1826) was fought because of the imperialist ambitions of both the Burmese and British Empires. The Second Anglo-Burmese War (1852) was born largely from continuing British interest in Burmese markets and natural resources. The Third Anglo-Burmese War (1885) was the last of the conflicts between the two empires and was derived from British concerns that the Burmese were aligning with the French. Although this claim had dubious credibility, it nonetheless provided the British with the necessary motivation to end Burmese sovereignty. As a direct consequence of these conflicts, Burma lost its independence and became a British colonial outpost until 1948.
Brief History
Throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the British Empire and its commercial arm in the East India Company (EIC) increasingly struck a militaristic tone in Southeast Asia. Over the course of two centuries, the British absorbed many independent kingdoms in the Indian subcontinent. This resulted in a tumultuous relationship with other regional powers, including the Burmese Empire located immediately to the east of British India.
The Burmese concerns about the spread of the British Empire into their sphere of influence was not without merit. Indeed, the British viewed the Burmese-controlled areas with great interest. As their territory stretched between China and India, the Burmese controlled several important trade routes. In addition, the vast Burmese Irrawaddy River delta and teak forests of Lower Burma held great potential economic value to the British.
The specific origins of the First Anglo-Burmese War lie in the Burmese Empire's defeat of the Kingdom of Arakan in 1785. Under the Konbaung dynasty, which seized control of the Burmese throne in 1752, the Burmese Empire aggressively pursued expansionist policies through military imperialism. The Kingdom of Arakan, to Burma's west, was among the first states to fall to the increasingly powerful Burmese Empire. Arakanese refugees fled into British India and waged war against the Burmese invaders from their strongholds in Bengal. The British Empire, meanwhile, continued to defeat various small regional states and add them to their colony of British India. The rapid advancement of the British Empire in Asia was frightening to the Burmese.
The conquest of Manipur in 1814 and Assam in 1819 by the Burmese placed their newly expanded empire directly on the border with British India. Unsurprisingly, this led to heightened diplomatic tensions between the two imperial states. Compounding these issues, the British allowed the EIC to maintain great autonomy over its own interests in the region, including the use of private armies to settle claims and pacify uprisings.
When Burma appointed puppet regimes to the thrones of Manipur and Assam, the British refused to recognize Burmese authority over these states. In their interactions with them, the British elected to use the EIC instead of official governmental representatives as their negotiators with rulers in Manipur and Assam. The Burmese king Bodawpaya found this treatment to be insulting, leading to a further decline in relations.
The Arakanese refugees, meanwhile, had coalesced into a rebel force that regularly attacked Burmese targets from within British India. In 1823, Burmese forces responded to these skirmishes by invading Shapuree Island in modern-day Bangladesh to rout out the Arakanese rebels. The January 18, 1824, invasion of British-held Bengal near Cachar signaled the Burmese desire for war. Ostensibly, the Burmese sought to attack the Arakanese rebels; the Burmese also wished to confront and halt further British movement west through a show of strength.
The Burmese hoped that their unexpected drive into British territory might allow them to quickly capture Calcutta, the capital of British India. However, the Burmese were stunned by the strength and speed of the British response. By May of 1824, British forces overwhelmed the port of Rangoon. This success, however, was not enough to convince the Burmese king to accept British terms for peace. The war continued into December of 1825, when the devastated Burmese forces finally pushed for peace negotiations. In February of 1826, the resulting Treaty of Yandabo ceded the Burmese territories of Arakan, Assam, Manipur, and Tenasserim over to British control.
The following twenty-six years saw a period of uneasy but stable peace between the two empires. In 1851, tensions again surfaced in response to British anger over Burmese trade practices and the high taxes on British interests in Rangoon. In response, the British sent Commodore George Lambert to investigate the British colonialist complaints. Although the Burmese agreed to certain British-requested concessions, Lambert nonetheless provoked the Burmese by blocking the port in Rangoon and seizing one of the king's ships in November of 1851, resulting in war. The British capitalized on instability in the court of the king and the war was short-lived, lasting only from April to December of 1852. In the resulting peace terms, Burma ceded much of Lower Burma to the British, including their valuable teak forests.
Over the ensuing decades, British imperialist ambitions once again came into conflict with Burmese interests. The Burmese king had been left with control over some trade monopolies that British merchants believed inhibited their commercial success. In addition, the British began to worry about the potential influence of the French in the region after the Burmese petitioned France for military goods and assistance in the construction of a railroad in 1884. When the Burmese king rejected further British demands to limit his authority, the British invaded. The resulting Third Anglo-Burmese War was brief and one sided, lasting only three weeks. As a consequence of British victory on November 29, 1885, the Burmese king was deposed and Burma officially became a British colony.
Impact
The three Anglo-Burmese Wars played important roles in the subsequent development of Burma. The Burmese Empire had slowly been absorbed into the British Empire in pieces—each loss a direct outcome of the three wars. On the British side, the enormous costs associated with the First Anglo-Burmese War led to an economic depression in British India. As a result, the East India Company lost much of its independent authority over economic and political matters. After the Third Anglo-Burmese War, Burmese society increasingly became more pluralistic, with British, Indian, and Chinese merchants gaining heightened influence. The native Burmese were largely relegated to reduced economic and social sectors of colonial Burma. The British control over Burma also further tightened its status as the preeminent colonial power in Southeast Asia until the post–World War II era.
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