By Tim Craddock
The risk with museums focused on warfare is that they can glorify conflict and fighting, rather than place it in its historical context and understand the opportunities for peaceful resolution.
It is to the IWM‘s great credit therefore that it is running an exhibition focused on the colonial wars (referred to euphemistically as “emergencies”) and subsequent postcolonial experience for Malaya (now Malaysia), Kenya and Cyprus.
This exhibition focuses on the wars in the three countries, all of which were part of the “setting sun” of British colonialism.
The exhibition succeeds in providing succinct summaries of the background and events of these colonial wars, interwoven with the personal stories of those directly impacted. It also highlights the attempts by the British government to prevent documents relating to the conflict from being published, for example in relation to the treatment of Kenyan people, during the brutal war against the Mau Mau.
Using the word “emergency” to describe these conflicts anaesthetised and downplayed the nature of the struggle between the British and the people of those countries; use of language is part of how warfare is framed by the protagonists (e.g. Russia referring to its invasion of Ukraine as a “special military operation”).
The conflict in Malaya ran from 1948 to 1960, and saw conflict between the British Army and the Malayan National liberation Army (MNLA). Over half a million people were forcibly resettled to “new villages” which were restrictive settlements with barbed wire fences designed to cut ties between the population and the MNLA; the same approach used by the Americans in Vietnam, with their “strategic hamlets” programme.
In Kenya, the conflict ran from 1952 to 1960, and over 80,000 Kenyans were detained in barbaric prison camps during the conflict, and many suffered cruel and barbaric treatment at the hands of the British.
In Cyprus, the conflict was shorter, from 1955 to 1959, and saw the national organisation of Cypriot fighters (EOKA) launch an armed campaign to end British colonial rule and also bring about the unification of Cyprus with Greece. The British response involved collective punishments and wide-scale incarceration of Cypriots in prison camps.
The exhibition is laid out by country, and starts with an overall introduction to the British Empire and the three conflicts, and an insight into the imperial mind. A particularly forbidding quote in the exhibition is that from Cecil Rhodes in 1877 who said; “I contend that we are the finest race in the world and that the more of the world we inhabit, the better it is for the human race”. There is a range of propaganda posters which sought to show alignment between the interests of colonised people with British rule.
The exhibition discusses the blend between traditional military force, combined with “hearts and minds” strategies, designed to win support away from the insurgent forces. The British developed expertise in “divide and rule“ tactics, favouring one ethnic group over another and/or deliberately stoking tensions between communities. In the case of Cyprus, this had its own brutal momentum between the Greek and Turkish communities, which led to the Turkish invasion of northern Cyprus in 1974 and the partition of the island into Greek and Turkish parts, which endures today.
The current of thought in Britain against colonialism is also highlighted, with parties on the left – and particularly the Communist party – urging withdrawal, and supporting the fights for independence.
In presenting the exhibition by each country in turn – with a broad introduction at the beginning – it enables the visitor to absorb without feeling overwhelmed. The layout is clear, there is a nice blend between pictures and photographs, written notes, screen presentations and oral history, with the often harrowing personal testimonies of people involved; the sexual violence employed against Kenyan women and the brutality met out to male Kenyan suspects is deeply upsetting. Evidence of these atrocities was part of what the British government had sought to hide in not releasing documents until forced to do so by court order in 2011.
A key thread throughout the exhibition was the British economic interest in exploiting the national resources of these countries, for example rubber in Malaya. So, less than a supposed “civilising “presence, the British interest was economic and strategic (witness the continuing major British airbase in Cyprus), underscored by the Cold War conflict where positions of “communism versus the West “were forged.
All three countries achieved independence, but their economic and defence ties with the UK remained.
The history of these conflicts is not always straightforward, and post-colonial relationships can be complex. The key message of the exhibition is the burning desire of people to be free in their own countries and to determine their destinies. And the pain and suffering they were prepared to ensure to achieve that.
But it recognises that in a complex multipolar world – with competing interests – nations have to adapt and compromise in order both to survive and to grow. A lesson of history is that a transparent and honest “coming to terms” with events in such conflicts can often be the best way to forge constructive future relationships (e.g. the truth and reconciliation commission in post-apartheid South Africa); denying or hiding atrocities is no way to establish a platform for mutual respect.
Throughout the exhibition there are nuggets of positivity which engender optimism and a faith that justice can prevail; there was a wonderful story of a soldier in the British Army (but who was actually Irish and had joined up for economic reasons) called Joe Lennell, who extended kindness and understanding to a Greek Cypriot resistance fighter in detention; so many years after the conflict, he was remembered with affection and warmth for his kind words and empathy; stories like this help restore faith in the human spirit and that there are good people in all environments.
Emergency exits: the fight for independence in Malaya, Kenya and Cyprus at the Imperial War Museum runs until 29th of March 2026. Find our more:
https://www.iwm.org.uk/events/emergency-exits-the-fight-for-independence-in-malaya-kenya-and-cyprus
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