Mau Mau Uprising 1952-60 - Anti-British Rebellion in Kenya 

Please, don't spare us the gruesome details, they deserve to be taught as well. Just add a little warning beforehand so those who eat breakfast can skip forward.

“Oppress the bell button” 😂

I'm a Kenyan and this is part of the history I learned in primary school and high school. My grandparents grew up during colonial rule and were in their teens- early and mid 20s during the Mau Mau Rebellion. In Kenyan schools, we learned that both the Mau Mau Rebellion and the peaceful constitutional changes that followed it were instrumental in gaining independence. And the acts of both the political party KANU (that under Jomo Kenyatta formed the first independence government) and the leaders of the Mau Mau are a source of pride to my native ethnic group (the Kikuyu) as well as the entire country as a whole. We say that even though the Rebellion failed, it showed the British Empire that Kenya was sick and tired of colonial rule and all its injustices. (And also it is said that many Mau Mau soldiers were ex-World War II veterans who were denied renumeration and retirement)

No matter the injustices the African has faced, when you meet them they always have a smiling face and good hearted people

As a Kenyan, I appreciate this excellent video on our struggle against oppression. I look forward to more content on Sub-Saharan Africa's turbulent history during the Cold War. Zimbabwe, Congo and Angola have very compelling stories that could be explored in future videos.

Great video! The British were not the only power to commit mass atrocities in Sub-Saharan Africa. In Cameroon, the French were waging an atrocious war against the UPC since 1954. Not many people mention it today. As someone who had come through the French school system, I can confirm sadly no single mention of this brutal uprising appeared in the textbooks. Maybe it is time for France to come to terms with its Françafrique policy.

When are you going to make a video on de-Stalinization in the Soviet Union? Stalin died in 1953, so it makes sense chronologically to make it now

Thanks for this. I am writing my grandmas biography and a big part of her story is the Mau Mau concentration camps. in 1952 she had just been married and in 19554 she and her mother and sis in law were taken to concentration camps with their babies, the youngest being months old. I need to understand what happened from the British side, why there was so much cruelty, loss of land, etc. A once wealthy family lost everything including their homes to be put in slum areas with no land of their own. A decision by a power-hungry that changed the lives of families for generations. This is very nformative!

Can't wait for the episodes on apartheid and federation of Rhodesia Nyasaland

Hi, i was born in Kenya in 1950, grew up during the Mau Mau era, as a child it was very bad for me to grow up in such tense and cruel circumstances, we were farming 7miles out of Nairobi on the way to Kiambu. One of the last murders of two young boys were committed on our farm. They went out with pellet guns to shoot birds, where they came upon a mau mau gang who chopped them up with pangas. However i never knew the true reason behind the mau mau uprising. Now that i do it makes sense to me, who do the British think they are to force their colonial beliefs on people, who have been care free lives for years. Of course it had to back fire. We left in 1961. I miss and love my country, i have never been back. Obviously i don't condone the very cruel murders on the settlers, but it cuts both ways.

I believe those that are oppressing others are the Vilains and those that are fighting for liberation are the heroes.

Normally you guys are very thorough in your historical research, but as a student of the Mau Mau Uprising I have to say you grossly understated the horrifying war crimes that the Mau Mau committed on their fellow Kikuyu and Kenyans. It was these actions: the forced oathing, the kidnapping/conscription of unwilling individuals, and of course the mutilating murders (including women and children) and occasional massacres (especially at Lari); that were key components in the Mau Mau never gaining support among Kenyans at large and even for large portions of the Kikuyu people. Yes, the British committed war crimes. There were gross miscarriages of the justice system throughout the uprising. The concentration camps were compared to Nazi and Soviet camps by contemporaries. And the routine beating and assaulting of suspects in order to get "information" makes a mockery of any regime that claims to be for "law and order" (As the colonial government claimed). But to basically brush over the influence of the Mau Mau war crimes on the Kenyan peoples to both not support the uprising and how it actively moved many into the colonial camp does this topic, your viewers, and your channel a major disservice. There were no "good guys" in this conflict, both sides were equally capable of getting bloody and dirty to advance their cause; it's just that the magnitude of British war crimes was larger and thus more easily spotted and (rightfully) condemned. To anyone interested in the era I would recommend "Histories of the Hanged" by David Anderson. It remains mostly neutral when many books on the topic are decidedly in one camp or the other.

They did this to my grandparent's generation. My father was born before this colonialism ended. Racism and imperialist violence is not that far back

Thank you for not ruining my lunch with those details. Good job!

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People act like this wasn't slavery as recent as the 60s. My dad was alive during this and we are suppised to put it in the past like the effects are not there still today.

My great uncle served as an officer in the British Army in the later phase of the Mau Mau Rebellion. He was stationed in Kenya after the British pulled out of Malaya in 1957, he fought in the Malayan Emergency before he was moved to Kenya. Before he was in Malaya he served in India and Burma during World War II.

Does anyone remember the Magnum PI episode on the Mau Mau and the PTSD it inflicted on the British soldiers? Ahead of its time I would say.

im kenyan and would love to see more content like this my grandfather was part of the mau mau mau mau was deprived from the word uma which meas get out in Kikuyu if said repeatedly it sounds like maumau

Commenting to boost engagement in the RU-vid algorithm. Keep up the good work.

Great episode as always really are doing a service covering everything that falls in your period in such detail, I was wondering will you guys be discussing the 'troubles' in Northern Ireland in future episodes as the fire in Britain's back garden that burned on throughout this period or would ye consider it to fall outside the scope of this channel because it doesn't conclude during the cold war and depending on your political thinking (though I would not agree with this thinking) could be considered a domestic British concern?

As someone eating lunch right now I thank you.

Imagine this. You are from Yorkshire. Very proud of your heritage. A Kenyan comes to your region and declares the whole of Yorkshire " black highlands ". He brings his fellow kenyans and forcibly take the land from you. They banish you to concentrated villages where due to lack of income you are forced to work in the farms they establish. You are not allowed to open any business. You are given an ID Which you must produce at anytime and if you want to move about you require special permission. Now tell me would you just sit back and accept this? Or would you rise up against the oppressor? What would you call such a person? A terrorist or freedom fighter? Now the occupier best chance is to use divide and rule tactics. He rewards loyalists and punishes those who rebel. So if the one who is rising up attacks those who supports the oppressive regime is that wrong? Am a child of those who were dispossessed. My grandmother had bottles pushed up her secret parts by the British soldiers. They took our land and killed many people. This is my history. You can spin it anyway you want. After all , until the lion tells his side of the story, the tale of the hunt will always glorify the hunter. The British did exactly as I described. They called it white highlands and invited other leeches like them to come and settle. Sorry for the language. They tortured and killed alot of people. So there is no moral equivalence here. In our eyes they are the African nazis.

Great video guys, keep up

the british used the same practices also in Cyprus during the 1950s. the cypriot revolt (EOKA against the british) will be a nice subject to bring on on one of your videos.

I'm Kenyan, but grew up in UK. My granda and his brothers were mau mau. My ex girlfriend was from England and at Christmas dinner with her whole family a few years back, her granda told me his brother was killed by mau mau. He was a British colonial soldier in Kenya. Imagine how awkward that conversation went as he cursed out the mau mau, while I explained how my granda and his brothers were heroes.

VERY well done! Thank you!

We mostly don’t get taught about these atrocities at school in the UK. I had to go look for myself when we were studying decolonisation at A-level - got taught we committed war crimes, but they mostly spared the gory details and concentration camps. My parents and most of their generation still seem to think the Empire was a good thing, because we built railways. They always try to minimise it deny the evils of our past whenever I try to remind them. It’s staggering to me that anyone can even try and justify this shit, and the only answer I can find is that they simply don’t want to feel complicit. It’s easier to look away.

My grandfather fought in this conflict.

Well from what i remember ,The Mau Mau didnt really fail,and wasnt the only movement ,we tried both peaceful political ways and the military ways......the political won in the end but without the mau mau we would have been discussing independence into the 80 or 90s,what the mau mau did is crank up the pressure in the country for both the political parties and british government to show their hands ,which they did and the political parties started up from grassroots demanding elections,seats in the government which we got,majority representative and even a kenyan for a prime minister and outright independence which we got in 1963!!

The British gave us the bible and taught us to close our eyes when we pray. But When we opened our eyes our land was gone.

Am Kenyan, this piece is not only informative but very educative. Thank you.

Kenya: can I be independent UK: can ya?

I read an account where a British former soldier said they rounded up people they thought were supporting the Mau Mau, but they torture this one guy so bad that his left eye dangled out of his eye socket and he shortly after died. Some of these crimes were unthinkable. But today British want to act like arbiters of righteousness

My cat loves the mau mau she always cheers for them

Reserves, A nice British word for concentration camps...... The same thing happened to the South Africa Boers. I know Britain has been a U.S. allie for many years(due to President Woodrow Wilson). That does not change the fact. Nor does nice words, change history.

Anyone who says that the U.S. and its allies were the 'good guys' in the Cold War is most likely either selectively remembering history or (as was the case with me for several years) uninformed of what truly occurred. I now realize that there were only 'bad guys' and 'badder guys' with each title belonging to different groups at different times.

I am a proud Kenyan and my grandfather and granduncle were in Mau Mau🇰🇪✊🏾.

0:55 Context 2:58 Mau Mau Rebellion 5:42 Brutal tactics of the brits 8:40 Aftermath

I’m a big fan of your channel! I’m wondering about the back drops you all use. Is that stuff in the room with you or is it green screen? I can’t tell. It’s kinda making me crazy! Just curious.

Very informative. And yes, I know it glosses over some important details and leaves out some terrible things. It is still informative, if not perfect.

Will you do for EOKA (55-59)in Cyprus?

Why does that helmet in the background keep moving through out the video?

Does someone know the name of song playing in the intro?

I love this video. The only thing I'd lift up is that contrarary to your closing statement, this conflict did have heroes and villains. The heroes, no doubt, were the men women and children who defended themselves from colonial oppression in their native land. We often choose not to glorify indigenous people who rebel violently, because they used violent means. Truthfully, as your analysis shows, their oppressors were more than willing to exercise violence even in times of "peace". Therefore, we must not strip them of the title of "hero" because they used the only means available to make change, though we have been sensitized to it.

The mau mau were the real heroes and still are in the kenyan setting......i have never really understood how someone thinks they can come to your land and oppress you........in this new era Africans need to free themselves from mental slavery......change is gonna come

hi where could I find the sources for this video ?

How many Kenyans were straight out murdered by British soldiers?

my knowledge on the revolt comes from antidotes from people who where missionaries there at the time. There little to nothing said in world history classes that I took in high school which was in the seventies. Thanks for your explanation of the issue. On a second note I notice that your back round changes throughout the episode. Would you do an episode that explains some of the items you use & their significance to the series?

Well done look at this often overlooked post-colonial conflict. I hope to see a similar video on the Congo soon.

@ 10:50 You said, "This is a story with no heroes and no villains?" Wow! I must've not heard this story correctly.

talk about the bush war and the border war please

Was there ever any evidence of Soviet involvement with the Mau Mau leadership?

A great book to read on this, 'British Gulags, The brutal end to British rule in East Africa' by Caroline Elkins

Both my grand fathers were thrown into detention camps because they were young influential Kikuyu men. My mom's Dad was a long distance trader with links all over Nyeri. My dad's old man was a telex exchange operator for the home office in Nairobi. The worst thing about it is the government that came in didn't do anything for them. They had to find a way to pick themselves up after being incarcerated for so many years yet still finding ways to leak Intel to the MauMau......

Idi Aimin served in the East Africa Rifles during this time

I wish that I could put myself in the mindset of the Europeans who felt that it was acceptable to treat indigenous people this way. You’d think that the tenants of Christianity would have tempered their animalistic behavior, apparently not. Was life still so rough at the time, that it was still a matter of extreme selfishness?

The Cold War, when exactly are you gonna make a video on Argentina under Juan Peron?

A few years ago, Netflix produced a series called the “Crown” about the Windsor Royal family from Princess Elizabeth to her death. The first season was about Elizabeth's II rise to be Queen and her reign coinciding with of the decline of the English colonial Empire. I enjoyed how the series juxtaposed between the trivialities of Royal family and the political conflicts of the Government. The wedding of the Princess and Prince Philip included a honeymoon in Kenya. In Nairobi the people were lined up for review when Philip inadvertently insulted a tribal king in regards to his crown, Philip replayed, “Nice hat.” The native King was stoic. I watched with keen interest... I thought to myself, “Finally they are going to confront the Mau Mau rebellion.” It was not to be. The series turned soapy and I abandoned it... It seems that there great periods of unacknowledged history are swept under the rug. The news is that they are still there. Thank you for your thoughtful series..

Not to be antisemitic, but i always wondered why countries like the US, USSR and UK condemed Germany for the holocaust but continued to do stuff like this to other cultures...or how not many people know about these atrocities.

I just read the book Dreams in a Time of War: a childhood memoir, what a great book about Kenya history, greetings from Brazil and shame on you England.

This makes me ashamed to be British. I. Atrocities such as this are well documented, but not taught in the UK. Through this, we are not only denying the victims of these crimes justice, but are (to take an ironic stance) "doomed to repeat it". This is no excuse for ignorance in the UK, however. We must still educate ourselves.

Excellent! Thank you!

I'm a vet of the modern sort, and see a doc that deals with us. I was chatting with an older guy that lost his leg in Kenya. He was blown away that I knew the name of the Mau-Mau uprising.

Hmm, I'm happy my beloved Tanzania didn't go through anything as bad as that. Tanganyika became independent in 1961 and united with Zanzibar in January 1964 to become Tanzania. Thus the Mau-Mau had little to do with that. And I would not be surprised if Kenya had become independent, just as Tanganyika, without the Mau-Mau.

Sir, the villains were the British for invading a foreign country and taxing the locals to live on their own land, work for free or for less than deserved, starving locals etc. You can't play it off like it was all good and the Kenyans were happy for the colonial rule. The British should've stayed their behinds in Europe. So the heroes are the Kenyans who fought for their land. Fixed it for ya! You're welcome!

Your description giving quality is good

Thank you for doing a video about Kenya.

So glad for this episode, war crimes by the "usually good guys" western regimes are not something people tend to keep in memory, thank you, much appreciated.

"So uncivilized..."

Nice Video, Can I use your video for school research?

God... the 1900's were so bloody. I'm glad to find a video about the Mau Mau, I first heard of this conflict from the Podcast Radiolab.

"no heroes and no villains" doubt that very much. plenty of villains there and heroes too.

I am proud that my grandpa who was in his late teens back then, worked in supplying intelligence to the Mau Mau. Be glad that The Cold War spared you the gruesome details, I myself cant stomach some of the details of British colonial barbarity when my grandpa decides to share what he witnessed. PS: Surprised that the Mau Mau leader, Field Marshal Dedan Kimathi didn't get a shout out in this video.

Thumbs up and subscribed!

my mom was born a couple years after this conflict she said that her mom grandma would talk about her uncle who went to go fight the war but died in it

Colonialism is always the same with some differences, like french colonialization in North Africa.

When a regiment of kings African refiles from Uganda was deployed to fight in Kenya, the British identified one soldier by the name Idi Amin who was very effective in fighting the rebels. He became one of the first officers in Ugandan army and the rest is history. An Act of violence just spreads more violence,

Good to see this channel is unbiased

I'm from kandara feeling proud and respect our great grandfathers for freedom that we have I'm kikuyu also "Thai thathaya ngai" means God is Great

Kenya must have been very valuable to the British government.

Just me trying to find a way for Kenya to get into civ 6

Of course this video decides not to include the brutal and relevant details of Mau Mau attacks on civilians, but will call British Courts biased. Gotta love that

Informative video on Kenyan history.

Kenyans were the Heroes,the UK were the villians.simple

Thought I would revisit this video on the death of the SYMBOL of Colonialism. Nothing is complicated here. the Mau Mau did their best to resist this atrocity and to every last one of them may their blood be a strength for future generations

“No heroes no villains”... pretty sure if your side is building concentration camps then you are probably the villain...

"I want you to know that this was a conflict with no heroes and no villain". How can you even say that. What were the British doing there in the first place ? How did they end up with the land and resources, surely not by peaceful means.

Thank you for this. Here in Kenya , The MauMau are Heroes. Whatever cruelty the brits handed down, they never backed down until they left 🇰🇪

You completely glossed over all the horrific things the Mau Mau did to both the British and their fellow Kenyans

masai is nomadic tribes have there own way of doing things?

This conflict must have been horrible in order for the host to avoid talking about some of it. Wow. Glad Britain n Kenya are on good terms now. My compliments to those who made this video a reality.

My grandparents didn't like to talk about the torture they went through in those concentrations camps. My grandma was particularly sensitive about the topic. You could tell she was struggling with PTST. Atrocities committed by the mau mau are well documented but those committed by the British are understated. There are mass graves in central Kenya. Some have been built on buy colonial puppets as if to insult the memory of the fallen. Still our ancestors linger.

My African Religion teacher was from Kenya, a Masai. From just a random illiterate primitive isolated village child, to teaching upper level college classes with a doctorate. One of the friendliest and kindest people I ever met, and a great class. As a kid, he thought the Volkswagon bug (used by the priest who taught him to read to reach the village) was the coolest thing in in the world lol Great work here, as always I'm really looking forward to either channel talking about Jonas Savimbi and the 3 way civil war in Angola with the MPLA and all that. I love amazing people who start a Black Ops 2 campaign by saying "That's a real guy. He has twice my education, from an excellent school in the UK." The UN leaders voted him the world's most intimidating leader or some such lol. It was cool to listen to him speak to the whole UN, and imagine him on top of an APC with an MGL like in CoD lol 6:11 A lot people see images like this (or the famous ones of people being executed during the Battle of Hue City in Vietnam) and say things like, "See!? That's what guns are for! See how evil and scary they are! Get rid of them all! Why do you need such things?" I'm like, "What do you think the Mau Mau were using? What do you think I learned how to shoot on as a child? What are those things that there are more of in my town than human beings by far for over a century - with 0 murders ever from them? What would you use to stop something like this? What would someone like you use to stop horrible things where the bad people are tough and or numerous - but don't have guns? What stopped the offices of the Black Panthers from being closed by cops with no warrant? What did Malcolm X tell black men to go out and form clubs around? What is that sitting there in the case on the firing line that me and over a dozen other friends just safely shot for hours as kids? The same thing." Half the time the gun on screen that they're so frightened of as adults and don't think I should have as an adult, is the exact same type that I learned to shoot on a child or that friends had. The people who QQ have projection issues. What it all reminds me of is the very sad story of a very old lady, who had only ever known abuse and beatings etc at the hands of every single male in her life. She told her story on an NPR broadcast I heard years ago from a senior citizen home. She said her whole life that men and even boys past a very young age were all just scary and threatening to her, because all they had ever done was dominate her with force and cruel treatment. That includes the police, who had guns. At most, they were males she rarely saw who did nothing to her, the acquaintances in passing, etc. She just concluded that that's how it was, that everyone else knew and just didn't say anything. She cried when one of the sound crew guys walked up and hugged her, because she'd never experienced affection or kindness from a male. Especially a young muscular 200 plus pound one. I'd do the same thing. That poor lady... I think most people's hatred and fear of firearms comes from only hearing (and lived) stories like that, having never seen what the normal and majority is. Plus, "People fear what they don't understand."-Professor X. Oh, and a political agenda based on total ignorance of the tool and disregard for human rights... Guns are a very powerful tool. "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure."-Marianne Williamson, not Nelson Mandella lol If that poor old lady had the firearm skill plenty of girls I know had before reaching puberty - she wouldn't have had to take any of that shit. What applies to an individual on the micro level, applies to nations on the macro level. I don't see anyone having much luck colonizing or oppressing or occupying the US against it's will any time soon. If a bunch of ignorant 3rd world people who shoot holding the gun around the corner hundreds of yards away most of the time and never clean their weapons (much less the ones who do better than that, like Giap's guys) is that tough for Modern armies, they aren't ready for the American gun culture. The PAVN/NVA did not systematically teach basic 3 position rifle marksmanship (like my NRA jr. rifle team teaches little kids to high schoolers across the country...) until after the battle of Khe Sanh, against the USMC - which has a well earned reputation for it. I got that from reading sources by or about North Vietnamese generals, I'm pretty sure it was Giap himself who said that in his memoir - but I won't cite it lol. Apparently, the French at Dien Bien Phu didn't make enough of an impression to drive the point home like the Marines did. Although Russian manuals of arms and war-fighting doctrine (which armies like North Vietnam, North Korea, Iran, Iraq, etc copy) generally teach troops to move while shooting and use the underarm assault position, (the crosshairs on the screen, in FPS terms) before trying to teach sighted fire or stationary shooting positions, I can't see why Ho's military NEVER though to teach people how to lay down, kneel, or stand and shoot the right way - and yet got to 1968 against the US without it! Well, Giap had only shot a shotgun at some clays doing trap shooting a few times before becoming the leader of an armed rebellion, that may have something to do with it. The black and white picture where almost half of their aprox. 50 guys (against the Japanese in WW2) have frackin' crossbows (as opposed to Marines en masse reciting the Rifleman's Creed) might also have something to do with it...

Cold you do the Algerian War?

If there's alot of cruelty, and an overwhelming amount of injustice, but no hero's, aren't there only bad, worse and terrible villains? Also Please do a video on Senegal. Please.

"This was a conflict with no heros and no villains?" WTF are you talking about?

i really hope the same video is done for all the decolonized countries in the commonwealth

They never wiped out the mau mau in four years. Many still live on today. Don't spare the gruesome details , ,, they castrated the rapist and put them on display for the rest to watch,, beheaded and made sure they created terror,, to the white settlers who had stolen their ancestral land and made them squatters on their own land ,,, The settlers slowly started to leave because they were scared.

I like your videos, could you please make video about Somalia's independence story. Thanks