The British, during its administration in Malaya, had imposed the divide-and-rule policy where the three major races, namely the Malays, the Chinese and the Indians were segregated from one another. The colonist placed the Chinese community in town areas where there were more economic activities, the Malays in the villages where they were to cultivate lands, and the Indians to work in rubber estates. Only the Malay elite were accepted to work with the British administration.

World War II led the Japanese to Malaya and other parts of Southeast Asia. The Japanese inflicted "Asian Asia" in the minds of its colonies to help in their conquest, as well as to change the myth of the white men's invincibility.

After the defeat of the Japanese at the end of the war, the British did not waste their time in making their presence felt again in Malaya. They had to rebuild their colonies that had been destroyed economically and politically.

The colonist planned Malayan Union, a unified administrative unit, while making Singapore a separate colony. Under the proposed Malayan Union, citizenship was to be offered to all, irrespective of race or origin, and sovereignty of the Malay Rulers was to be transferred to the British Empire.

During the same period Dato’ Onn bin Jaafar became Menteri Besar of Johor. Onn formed the Peninsula Johor Malay Association. In March 1946, delegates from various Malay organisations in the Peninsula met at the inaugural Malay Congress, held at the Sultan Sulaiman Club in Kuala Lumpur. A resolution was made to form one central Malay organisation to fight against Britain’s Malayan Union scheme. A Second Congress followed soon after.

As a result of fiery Malay nationalism following the Malayan Union scheme, on May 11, 1946 during the Third Malay Congress held at the Johor Grand Palace, United Malay National Organisation (Umno) was born with Onn chosen as the first president.

The ultra-strong resistance from the young and vigorous political movement eventually resulted in the derailment of the Malayan Union plan.

The British administration was forced to begin negotiation with the Malay rulers and Umno, for a new constitutional arrangement. Britain realised that the Malays had taken the first big step towards gaining independence. The Federation of Malaya, comprising eleven states of the Peninsula, was formed and instituted in February 1948.

The following decade saw Umno forming the backbone of the Alliance (together with the Malayan Chinese Association and Malayan Indian Congress), the coalition that successfully negotiated with Britain for the Independence for Malaya.

In October 1951, an internal crisis in Umno caused Onn to resign as party president. The Malays then looked for Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra for leadership. The Tunku held the post of Umno President for the following 20 years

Forty-seven years on since the historic Third Malay Congress in 1946, Umno stands strong as the choice of the majority Malays. Although a number of new Malay political parties emerged throughout the years, Umno is still the popular party among the Malays.