ABSTRACT
In Burma as elsewhere in Southeast Asia, Japan presented its war against the Western Powers as a struggle to create an 'Asia for the Asians'. And, as was also the case elsewhere, local populations viewed the conflict in relation to their own interests and concerns. Ethnic Burman nationalists considered the Japanese invasion a positive development because it overturned British rule and appeared to move them closer to independence, but in the 'Excluded' Territories of British Burma outside of 'Burma Proper', where the population was predominantly non-Burman, the arrival of the Japanese was less welcome. There, colonial rule had brought few difficulties and a number of benefits, not least peaceful conditions and a reduction in ethnic tensions, and Britain's departure seemed likely to portend domination either by China or by Burmans, neither of which was an appealing prospect.
