Their movement led a revolution against the Dutch. Other nationalist organizations similarly arose in other countries of the region but not necessarily with the same revolutionary fervour or outcomes. Aung San, a nationalist leader, intellectual and later general, formed a number of nationalist organizations in Burma, starting in the late 1930s. They culminated in the creation in the creation in 1944 of the Anti-Fascist People’s Freedom League, which constituted a broad alliance of nationalists, communists and socialists. While initially these groups supported the Japanese as liberators from British colonial rule, after it became clear that the Japanese intended to maintain control and imposed harsh conditions, they opposed the Japanese occupation and later the return of the British, while demanding that the Burmese control their own land. The formation of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) in 1946 constituted the clearest expression of Malay nationalism. No strong movement had there been a revolutionary program. Although redefining Malays as a nation, UMNO for some time did not challenge British rule. This form of nationalism also differed from others in the region by claiming Malays as the nation, and reclaiming their legitimacy of rule as “sons-of-the-soil” ,the original inhabitants of Malaya. Formed around a Malay, Muslim identity, it adopted a much clearer ethic form that excluded Chinese and Indians from this newly imagined nation. Such exclusion would later limit the ability of Malaysia’s leaders to create a common, overarching bond.
Nationalism mixed with other ideological influences to produce various political forms. Liberalism, for instance, propagated ideas of individual freedom and equality. On the economic side, it had led to the enshrinement of property rights, as well as capitalist economies based on notion of free markets and the pursuit of individual wealth. The flourishing of liberal in Europe and the pursuit of personal wealth had fuelled colonial ventures in some respect. The expansion of markets and capitalism in the region presupposed individual liberties and property right, which among other changes would displace local forms of collective land ownership. On the political side, liberalism shared close affinities with nationalism, in the idea of equality between individuals. But a notion of individual rights, freedom and choice inspired specific forms of democratic politics. Certainly the spread of modern elections based on “one person, one vote” found its roots in liberal ideas.