Edward Northey. Politically, it is observed that the Nyongik assimilated back into the traditional power structure in much the same positions they had left some three or four years earlier. Within that structure, age and not stars and stripes counted for seniority. The obligations and ties they resumed were to their families, age-set and korotinwek meaning the common interests of veterans gave way to a man's traditional associations. Greenstein notes that the concept of a formal organisation of veterans appears either not to have occurred or perhaps not appealed to them. Even the pension issue did not impel the Nyongik to form any sort of coherent organization. Greenstein states that in the period following the War, the minority European civilian population resident in Kenya and the Protectorate Government, were worried about the possibility of armed insurrection among the indigenous peoples. He notes that one of the greatest fears of the Europeans, which he observes to have been true for both Wars, was that they had lost prestige in the eyes of Africans. He quotes Shiroya who was writing after the war to illustrate a then commonly held perception which was that "the ex-askari had learned and observed that without modern technology, a European was no better than an African". There was also a belief held by some "that blacks, having seen white men kill other white men, would sooner or later realize that they too could do the same". The latter states that "to make this argument is to suggest that Africans once regarded Europeans as superior, perhaps even as demi-gods". He counter-argues that "the evidence including armed primary resistance in many parts of the continent, and especially in Nandi, makes it seem very unlikely that this was ever the case". Accounts by European adventurers in the 19th century, such as Thompson who spoke of having to deal with the 'overbearing' attitude of the Maasai seem to be in line with his assertion. The introduction of the Maxim gun altered the power symmetry which Greenstein suggests was apparent to Africans hence "the deference showed, which some Europeans took as awe and respect". This attitude has been commented upon outside Africa as well. The environment following the war was thus one in which the European population was worried about civilian unrest. Fears that appear to have been stoked by an upsurge in political activity in the 1920s, notably Archdeacon Owen's Piny