Troops order a crowd 26 August 1988 in downtown Rangoon (Yangon) to disperse in front of sule pagoda sealed off by barbed wires. Hundreds of thousand people gathered two kilometers away to demand democracy and the end of the 26 years old authoritarian regime. 8888 Uprising was a national uprising demanding democracy that took place on 08 August 1988 in Burma (now Myanmar). It ended on 18 September 1988, after a bloody military coup. Because of the uprisings, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) was formed. The military killed thousands of civilians, including students and Buddhist monks. During the crisis, Aung San Suu Kyi emerged as a national icon. AFP PHOTO/TOMMASO VILLANI (Photo credit should read TOMMASO VILLANI/AFP/Getty Images)
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A Burmese woman stands on a stage 27 August 1988, leading hundreds of thousand of anti-government protestors, most of them students who gathered at downtown Rangoon (Yagon). 8888 Uprising was a national uprising demanding democracy that took place on 08 August 1988 in Burma (now Myanmar). It ended on 18 September 1988, after a bloody military coup. Because of the uprisings, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) was formed. The military killed thousands of civilians, including students and Buddhist monks. During the crisis, Aung San Suu Kyi emerged as a national icon. AFP PHOTO/TOMMASO VILLANI (Photo credit should read TOMMASO VILLANI/AFP/Getty Images)
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(FILES) In this picture taken August 26, 1988, Burmese democratic opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi (top-C) addresses an anti-military regime rally in Yangon (Rangoon). As China celebrates the start of the Olympics on August 8, 2008, with much fanfare, activists in neighbouring Myanmar will silently mourn the bloody end of an uprising that crushed their dreams of democracy 20 years ago. In August 1988, cities and villages across the country then known as Burma were bursting with optimism. The military dictator Ne Win had just stepped down after decades of iron-fisted rule, and Burma was inspired by a prophecy that it would become a free nation on August 8 -- known as 8-8-88. Students who had already protested for almost a year against Ne Win's socialist government called for a national uprising on the auspicious date, drawing activists, Buddhist monks, and even young military cadets into the streets clamouring for freedom. AFP PHOTO/STR/FILES (Photo credit should read AFP/AFP/Getty Images)
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