IB History Kenyatta and Kenya - Methods Used and Reasons for Success Notes

Key Questions

1. What methods were used by the Mao Mao movement to achieve independence?
2. What role did the Lancaster Conferences play in Kenya achieving independence?
3. What was the role and importance of leaders of the independence movement?

What methods were used by the Mau Mau movement?

1. Mass Oathing

1. Traditionally, the Kikuyu people used oathing to create unity during times of war or crisis, binding the community together.
2. The Mau Mau movement transformed this practice, extending oathing to include men, women, and children.
3. Mass ceremonies often involved over one hundred participants, serving as a powerful symbol of collective resistance.
4. These rituals alarmed Europeans, who viewed them as barbaric, with one police report claiming they were “driving the Kikuyu to become primitive beasts who will ultimately massacre all Europeans in Kenya.”

2. Guerrilla Warfare

1. From 1952, the Mau Mau launched a campaign of violent resistance through guerrilla warfare.
2. Attacks targeted multiple groups, including:
   1. White settlers – The first European victim was a woman stabbed to death near Thika on 3 October 1952. In total, 32 white settlers were killed, often brutally.
   2. Kikuyu loyalists – On 9 October 1952, Senior Chief Waruhiu, a key British ally, was shot dead in broad daylight, a significant blow to the colonial government.
   3. Kikuyu non-oath takers, who were viewed as traitors.
   4. Cattle and property, through maiming, poisoning, and arson attacks.
3. Large-scale assaults also occurred, including:
4. The 1953 Naivasha police station attack, which ended in a police defeat and the release of 173 prisoners, many of whom were Mau Mau fighters.
5. The Lari massacre of Kikuyu loyalists, where at least 97 people were killed.

3. Tactics and Community Involvement

1. Facing the military superiority of the British, the Mau Mau relied on guerrilla tactics, focusing on night attacks and surprise ambushes.
2. They used home-made weapons, traditional arms, and stolen firearms from settler farms.
3. Forests became key hideouts and bases of operation for Mau Mau fighters.
4. The entire community played a role in sustaining the movement:
   1. Women maintained supply lines, transporting food, ammunition, medical supplies, and intelligence between hideouts and strongholds.
   2. Their contribution was vital to the survival and coordination of the guerrilla campaign.

How did the British Respond?

1. Declaration of the State of Emergency

1. Following the assassination of Chief Waruhiu, the British colonial government declared a state of emergency in Kenya.
2. The initial response of the administration was to arrest the leaders of the Kenya African Union (KAU).
3. Jomo Kenyatta and five others were put on trial, despite no evidence linking Kenyatta to Mau Mau violence.
4. The trial was widely regarded as a “show trial”, and Kenyatta was sentenced to six years in prison.

2. Military and Security Actions

1. Kenyan security forces, now under British Army command, encircled Mau Mau strongholds in the forests.
2. The Royal Air Force (RAF) conducted bombing raids on forest hideouts.
3. The government launched mass evictions of Kikuyu squatters and carried out large-scale arrests.

3. Collective Punishment and Forced Relocation

1. A policy of collective punishment was introduced to erode Mau Mau support.
2. If one member of a village was found to be a Mau Mau supporter, the entire village was punished.
3. Many Kikuyu were evicted, dispossessed, and relocated to designated reserves.

4. Detention Camps and Human Rights Abuses

1. Concentration camps were established to “process” suspected Mau Mau sympathisers.
2. Torture, sexual abuse, and executions were commonplace, as guards used violence to extract information or force renunciation of the anti-colonial cause.
3. This process was known as “screening.”
4. The Hola Camp massacre became infamous after 11 detainees were beaten to death by their African warders.
5. The Kenya Human Rights Commission later alleged that 90,000 Kenyans were executed, tortured, or maimed, and 160,000 detained in poor conditions.

5. Role of the Home Guard

1. A local Kikuyu Home Guard, numbering 25,000 men, was established.
2. This freed British troops for offensive operations, but the Home Guard also committed numerous abuses against their own people.

6. Major Operations and Villagisation

1. In April 1954, Operation Anvil was launched — a massive cordon-and-search operation in Nairobi.
2. The operation crippled Mau Mau activities in the capital and captured over 16,000 suspects.
3. The government also implemented villagisation, forcing rural Kikuyu to move from scattered homesteads into newly built villages under British control.

7. Consequences

1. These repressive measures deepened resentment and fear among the Kikuyu population, who had already suffered from land dispossession.
2. The crackdown and brutality pushed hundreds of Kikuyu squatters to join the Mau Mau resistance in the forests.