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Almost every country in Africa, and the world in general, is made up of a mix of ethnic groups and there is much debate as to why Rwanda, and its southern neighbour Burundi, have been so wracked by interethnic violence when others have not.
Some blame it on Belgian colonialism. Belgium controlled both nations from the end of the First World War until independence in 1962. Belgian colonialism, in Rwanda and Burundi as well as the Belgian Congo, was of unmatched brutality and incompetence. Many have accused the Belgian system of leaving its colonies utterly unprepared for independence, and all three have had violent and unhappy histories since independence. The portion of the Great Lakes region controlled by Britain in western Tanzania and Uganda has not been marked by the same violence.
Another school of thought argues that the violence in the region is a result of the same European theories of race that lead to the Holocaust. These ideas were propagated by John Hanning Speke. Unlike the other mixed states of Africa, Rwandans were considered, by Europeans, to be on the border between Blacks and the more noble Hamites. Tutsis were viewed as Hamites and Hutus as inferior Bantus. This ingrained racism was reversed upon independence when the majority Hutus took to viewing the Tutsis as foreign invaders and not true Rwandans. Similar divisions have lead to violence in other parts of northeast Africa, most notably in Sudan.
Others see an economic explanation for the violence. The Great Lakes region, with rich soil and a more temperate climate because of its altitude, is one of the most densely populated parts of Africa. This has lead to a great deal of competition for scarce land and resources. Slaughtering the Tutsis is thus seen as an attempt by some Hutu to gain more land.
Rwanda is one of the few states in Africa to closely follow its ancestral borders. The Kingdom of Rwanda, controlled by a Tutsi royal family, ruled the region for as long as recorded history. While the upper echelons of this society were largely Tutsi, racial divisions were not stark. Many Hutu was among the nobility and significant intermingling took place. The majority of the Tutsi, who made up 15-18% of the population, were poor peasants.
This area was colonized first by the Germans in 1894, who were evicted by the Belgians in the First World War. The Europeans tended to simplify matters; they transformed a majority Tutsi elite into a solely Tutsi elite, with position in society determined by race.
In preparation for the Belgian pull out, elections brought the Hutu nationalist party PARMEHUTU to power in 1959. They launched a program of advancing the power of the Hutu majority. The former favourites of the west rapidly became viewed as feudal overlords who were rightly ousted in favour of rule by the Hutu majority. This lead to a downplaying of the violence that was associated with this process. Some 20,00 Tutsi were killed and another 200,000 fled to neighbouring countries.
After independence PARMEHUTU established a one party rule based upon Hutu nationalism. In 1964Events January January 1 Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. January 3 Senator Barry Goldwater announces that he will seek the Republican nomination for President. January 5 In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Ort and again in 19741974 is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). Events January-February January 5 Dungeons & Dragons officially released. February 4 Patricia Hearst, the 19 year old granddaughter of publisher William Randolph Hearst, is kidnapped, pogroms erupted where large numbers of Tutsi were killed and more forced into exile.
In 1973Events January events January 1 United Kingdom, Ireland, and Denmark enter the European Economic Community now known as the European Union January 3 Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) sells the New York Yankees for $10 million to a 12-person syndicate led Juvénal HabyarimanaJuvenal Habyarimana ( March 8, 1937 April 6, 1994) was president of Rwanda from 1973 until his death in 1994. While serving as defense minister, he overthrew his cousin Gregoire Kayibanda on July 5, 1973. During his 20-year dictatorship he favored his own seized power in a military coup, ousting PARMEHUTU, but continuing to rely on Hutu nationalism to stay in power.
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