The Mau mau uprising:
The Mau Mau Uprising was the conflict that took place from 1952 to 1960 between the Mau Mau freedom fighters of Kenya and the British government. The ‘Mau Mau’ was mainly made up of Kikuyu, the largest ethnic group in Kenya and fought a guerrilla war against the white settlers who were occupying Kenya at the time.
The Uprising, declared a ‘state of emergency’ by Britain, was one of the bloodiest episodes in the Empire’s history – so much so that the documents recording the horrific fighting and atrocities committed were destroyed or locked away by the British government. The eight years of bloody fighting involved the execution, torture and maiming of as many as 90,000 Kenyans according to the Kenyan Human Rights Commission. The Mau Mau themselves fought with primitive weapons – sometimes just bows and arrows, and attacked white colonialists in their homes and fought the British wherever they were.
There is no doubt that the Mau Mau were also viscous and aggressive fighters (they carried out the Lari Massacre of 1953 where they herded people into huts and set fire to them, killing any who tried to escape), but the fact that the British were equally so, and far more systematic in their torture, detention and breaking-down of the Mau Mau, was covered up until recently, when the hidden documents were uncovered.
The British army eventually crushed the Mau Mau completely – their superior weapons and organisation had overpowered them by 1956.
The Uprising, declared a ‘state of emergency’ by Britain, was one of the bloodiest episodes in the Empire’s history – so much so that the documents recording the horrific fighting and atrocities committed were destroyed or locked away by the British government. The eight years of bloody fighting involved the execution, torture and maiming of as many as 90,000 Kenyans according to the Kenyan Human Rights Commission. The Mau Mau themselves fought with primitive weapons – sometimes just bows and arrows, and attacked white colonialists in their homes and fought the British wherever they were.
There is no doubt that the Mau Mau were also viscous and aggressive fighters (they carried out the Lari Massacre of 1953 where they herded people into huts and set fire to them, killing any who tried to escape), but the fact that the British were equally so, and far more systematic in their torture, detention and breaking-down of the Mau Mau, was covered up until recently, when the hidden documents were uncovered.
The British army eventually crushed the Mau Mau completely – their superior weapons and organisation had overpowered them by 1956.