On March 2, 1962, this battle-hardened machine seized power. Military administrations were then the norm across Asia: South Korea, Thailand, Pakistan, and Indonesia were all under army rule in the 1960s. But Burma’s was different: it sealed the country off from the world. The army set up a Revolutionary Council and embarked on what it called a “Burmese Way to Socialism”: 400,000 Indians were expelled, all external trade was stopped, and all major businesses were nationalized.
