Rwanda - History Summary


 Rwanda is a small country in Africa, where the differences between ethnic groups have caused huge conflict, ultimately leading to genocide. The earliest colonist of Rwanda were the Twa, later joined by the Hutu and then the Tutsi. The Tutsi created a hierarchy led by a king. In 1890 Rwanda accepted German overrule and became part of the German East Africa. Belgin troops occupied Rwanda during World War 1 and became a Belgian League of Nations mandate of Ruanda-Urundi in 1916. The Belgians favored the Tutsi for their larger skulls, larger size and skin color. These characteristics lead them to believe the Tutsi were from Caucasian ancestry, making them superior to Hutus and were given more power. The Tutsi began to think that they were better then the Hutus and issued ethnic identity cards in 1931. This made the Hutus realize that there needed to be a change. The Tutsi lost their power when their King Kigeri V fled to Uganda. The Tutsi were angry and tried to kill Gregoire Kayibanda, the leader of the Hutu political party, causing the beginning of the genocide with about 100,000 Tutsis killed by Hutus. Rwanda became independent in 1962 under the power of the Hutu and the remaining Tutsi were given quotas allowing only 10% to go to school and work. Hutu could murder Tutsi without any consequence. In 1994 the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi were shot down in a plane, killing both of them. Tutsi were immediately captured and murdered by the military and militia groups, killing around 800,000 in 100 days. When the Tutsi acted back it created a 14 week civil war. The Civil War ended In July 1994 with the Tutsi victorious, causing 1.7 million Hutu to flee. In order to see peace prosper, the government has implemented a National Unity and Reconciliation Commission to oversea reconciliation process. In May 2003, 93% of Rwandans voted for balance of political power in hopes to create a country of equality.