Fighting the Mau Mau

The British Army and Counter-Insurgency in the Kenya Emergency

Inbunden, Engelska, 2012

AvHuw Bennett,Aberystwyth) Bennett, Huw (University College of Wales

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British Army counterinsurgency campaigns were supposedly waged within the bounds of international law, overcoming insurgents with the minimum force necessary. This revealing study questions what this meant for the civilian population during the Mau Mau rebellion in Kenya in the 1950s, one of Britain's most violent decolonisation wars. For the first time Huw Bennett examines the conduct of soldiers in detail, uncovering the uneasy relationship between notions of minimum force and the colonial tradition of exemplary force where harsh repression was frequently employed as a valid means of quickly crushing rebellion. Although a range of restrained policies such as special forces methods, restrictive rules of engagement and surrender schemes prevented the campaign from degenerating into genocide, the army simultaneously coerced the population to drop their support for the rebels, imposing collective fines, mass detentions and frequent interrogations, often tolerating rape, indiscriminate killing and torture to terrorise the population into submission.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2012-11-22
Mått155 x 234 x 18 mm
Vikt630 g
FormatInbunden
SpråkEngelska
SerieCambridge Military Histories
Antal sidor317
FörlagCambridge University Press
ISBN9781107029705
UtmärkelserRunner-up for Templer Medal, Society for Army Historical Research 2013

Tillhör följande kategorier

Introduction; 1. 'A determined campaign against the terrorist bands'; 2. 'Harmonious relations': soldiers, civilians, and committees; 3. 'Possibly restrictive to the operations': marginalising international law in colonial rebellions; 4. 'The degree of force necessary': British traditions in countering colonial rebellions; 5. 'Restraint backed by good discipline'; 6. 'A dead man cannot talk': the need for restraint; 7. 'A lot of indiscriminate shooting': military repression before Erskine's arrival; 8. 'Severe repressive measures': the army under Erskine'; 9. 'An essential part of the campaign': civil-military alliances; Conclusion; Bibliography.

'Bennett demolishes the myth that the British army fought against the Mau Mau by trying to win the 'hearts and minds of the people'. He shows in unsurpassed detail the ways in which the army used coercion to cow the civil population into capitulation. This book is indispensable to a proper understanding of what happened in Kenya during the Mau Mau emergency.' David French, author of The British Way in Counter-Insurgency, 1945–1967