History of the British Army as Irgun and the Stern Gang after the British attempted to limit Jewish immigration into Palestine. British military and other forces eventually withdrew in 1948 and the State of Israel was established on 14 May. Elsewhere, within British territories, Communist guerrillas launched an uprising in Malaya, starting the Malayan Emergency. In the early 1950s, trouble began in Cyprus, and in Kenya—the Mau Mau uprising. In Cyprus, an organisation known as EOKA sought unity with Greece, the situation being stabilised just before Cyprus was given independence in 1960. Kenya was one of many deployments for the Army in Africa during the
Mau Mau Uprising conflict, postulates that the British preferred to use the term "Mau Mau" instead of "KLFA" in an attempt to deny the Mau Mau rebellion international legitimacy. Kariuki also wrote that the term "Mau Mau" was adopted by the rebellion in order to counter what they regarded as colonial propaganda. Another possible origin is a mishearing of the Kikuyu word for oath "muuma". The armed rebellion of the Mau Mau was the culminating response to colonial rule. Although there had been previous instances of violent resistance to colonialism, the Mau Mau revolt was the most prolonged and violent anti-colonial warfare in