Journal of Military and Strategic Studies

Journal of Military and Strategic Studies

Volume 8, Issue 3, Spring 2006

 

Journal of Military and Strategic Studies

MAU MAU AND THE DECOLONISATION OF KENYA

Hilda Nissimi General History Department, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel

 

Abstract

The Mau Mau rebellion surprised the British government in 1952 by its ferocity and its initial success. Although the expectation of a speedy suppression of what appeared to be primitive and atavistic groups without firearms was frustrated, law and order was restored by 1955/6. The duration and protracted effort of the counterinsurgency beg an evaluation of its influence on the fate of Kenya as a colony. Yet, decolonisation did not arrive until nearly a decade later. Hence, the contention over the possible effect of the Mau Mau on the British retreat from Kenya.

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