The British Imperial Establishment, Post Imperial Era, and the ‘Churchillian’ World View, 1945-2016. (Adjustments & Challenges in Contemporary British Diplomatic Strategy)

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Kenya
presented the greatest embarrassment to the British Colonial
authorities. There were a total of 200,000
immigrant Indians and Arabs, and
60,000 European settlers. Additionally, there were 6 millions from
different
African tribes in that country. The European settlers, many with privileged status
in a
land of cheap labour and who had farmed 16,000 square miles of the
Highlands of Kenya, about a quarter of
the country’s arable land, had laid claim
to the country on the basis that the prosperity was created
by them. These white
settlers were confronted with the native African tribes asserting that they had
left
the Highlands unoccupied only temporarily. The resentments grew into great
bitterness and
almost catastrophe. The Africans in Kenya felt that the impact of
missionary teaching was leading to the
breakdown of African customs. In
Nairobi, the factories were encouraging a concentration of African
workers.
However, it was Jomo Kenyatta’s return to Kenya, in 1946, after seventeen years
in
London and Moscow, that had reinforced opposition to the European settlers.
He became the leader of the
Kikuyu tribe and, ultimately, also of the other tribes.

The
Kenya Africa Union, of which Kenyatta immediately became
President, sought creation of further
educational and administrative opportunities
for Africans, and African representation on the Legislative
Council. By 1952,
however, a movement called Mau Mau had grown among two minor tribes as
well as the
Kikuyu, and Jomo Kenyatta became its leader. The objective of Mau
Mau was the expulsion of the European
settlers who had taken over the
Highlands, adding that all the developments and prosperity that
Europeans
brought were because of African labourers. There were fierce antagonism and
battles as a
result of the Mau Mau movement against white settlers. By the time
the upheaval had been brought to an
end, 1875 civilians had lost their lives, 1786
of them Africans. Moreover, about 1811 Mau Mau fighters
died in the campaign.
To control the uprising more troops were sent to Kenya from Britain and
more
than £30 million was spent on emergency measures between 1952 and 1955. The

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