myanmar had a strong kingdom in ancient times, but the nation was taken over by the british in the 1800s. it was occupied by the empire of japan in the 1940s. myanmar became independent in 1948 as the union of burma, and had a democratic government at first. however, in 1962, a coup d'état brought the military into power, where it has been ever since. the founder of modern myanmar, aung san was assassinated months before independence. his daughter aung san suu kyi was placed under house arrest many times for leading the democracy movement.