 Following the end of World War II, ambassador-level diplomatic relationships between France and Burma were established in 1948, soon after the Burmese nation became an independent republic on 4 January 1948, as "Union of Burma", with Sao Shwe Thaik as its first President and U Nu as its first Prime Minister.The political relations between the United States of America and Myanmar began to face major problems following the 1988 military coup and the junta's outbursts of repression against pro-democracy activists.Subsequent repression, including that of protestors in September 2007, further strained the relationship.