Ne Win (born 1911) was a Burmese general and political leader who twice seized power from elected premier U Nu and ruled Burma (now Myanmar) as a repressive and isolationist socialist government until he resigned in 1988.

Born in 1911, Ne Win was named Shu Maung by his parents. An ardent but little-known nationalist agitator in the 1930s, he failed to complete his degree at the University of Rangoon. In the 1930s, as Thakin (Master) Shu Maung, he was a member of the Dobama Asiayone (We Burmans Association), which became the most extreme and energetic nationalist group fighting British colonial rule.

"Bright Sun"

In 1941 Ne Win, then still known as Thakin Shu Maung, was selected by Aung San, the de facto leader of the younger wing of the Burmese nationalist movement, to go to Japan for training and to return with the Japanese the next year to oust the British from...