Decolonization 1173the Kenyan African Union, which by the early 1950s encompassed almost
the entire Kikuyu population. What became known to the British as the
“Mau Mau” rebellion (the origins of the term are mysterious but the rebels
called themselves the “Land and Freedom Army ”) began in 1952, with vio
lence directed at British settlers, thirty-two of whom were killed in the rebel
lion. Kenyatta’s arrest, trial, conviction, and imprisonment for his role in the
Mau Mau insurgency (despite no evidence) helped make him an interna
tional symbol of Kenyan resistance.
The British government declared a state of emergency and detained per
haps as many as 1.5 million people, virtually the entire Kikuyu population,
in what amounted to a mass gulag. At the same time, the Mau Mau exacted
bloody revenge against loyalist Kenyans with guerilla attacks. The British por
trayed the struggle as one between civilization and savagery. British forces,
including the Home Guard of w hite settlers recognized as part of the secu
rity forces in 1953, and indigenous loyalists killed tens of thousands of peo
ple, not counting thousands who perished in the detention camps or were
shot when allegedly trying to escape. The counter-insurgency included ter
ror, atrocious brutality, and widespread torture, most of w'hich the British
government succeeded in keeping secret. About 1,000 Kikuyu were hung
after being convicted in British courts. British authorities enacted collective
punishments against villagers w'ho refused to cooperate with them, seizing
livestock and closing down markets for months. The bloody struggle lasted
until 1957, when British forces succeeded in breaking apart the Mau Mau
armies.