Communist Party of Burma

The Communist Party of Burma (CPB), also known as the Burma Communist Party (BCP), is an underground communist party in Myanmar (formerly Burma). The party adheres to Marxism–Leninism and Maoism (officially Mao Zedong Thought). Founded in 1939, it is the oldest existing political party in the country.

The CPB initially fought against British colonial forces in Myanmar before joining them in a temporary alliance to expel the invading Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. In the final years of the war, the CPB helped establish a leftist political and military coalition called the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League (AFPFL). However, the CPB fell out of favour with the more moderate socialists within the AFPFL due to differing views on how an independent Myanmar should be governed. The moderate faction of the AFPFL became the dominant political force in Myanmar's post-independence government following independence in 1948.

The post-independence, AFPFL-led government cracked down on the CPB's activities and forced its leadership out of the capital Rangoon (present-day Yangon). The CPB consequently began a four-decade-long insurgency in the countryside, which started with an armed insurrection in Paukkongyi, Pegu Region (present-day Bago Region), and ended with an internal mutiny and the party's leadership fleeing to China.

Following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, the CPB's cadres rearmed themselves and reentered Myanmar. The CPB announced it had begun a "people's war" against the State Administration Council, the military junta established after the coup.