Genocide - Pre 1950s

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Genocide - Setting the Scene Pre 1950s

In 1885 at the Berlin conference Rwanda and Burundi were officially assigned to Germany as part of the German East Africa colonisation policy developed in Europe to divide up the African continent amongst themselves. It was not until 1892 (7 years later) that any German entered Burundi. When the first German entered Rwanda what he found was a very well organised country with effective administrative structures in place. During this period of time (plus previously) the leaders within the country where from the Tutsi tribe with a Tutsi Monarch. Even though the Tutsi tribe were the major administrators of Rwanda there were two principalities (areas) that resisted Tutsi control. In 1912 with the assistance of the Germans the Tutsis successfully took administrative control of these two principalities. Resentment and a sense of grievance started to smoulder within these proud people.

1916 saw the outbreak of WW1 and the Belgium invasion of Rwanda and Burundi. In 1923 Belgium was officially given to task of administering the two countries. It is interesting to note that although Belgium was given the task of administering these two countries they were never totally in control in that any decisions for any major changes remained with the then League of Nations. Annual reports had to be submitted by the Belgium Government. In its 40 years of administration the infra structure of the colony developed considerably. Schools, hospitals, roads etc were built. In the area of social development and social harmony very little was done which led to tragic results.

As the years past under Belgium’s administration the traditional power structures under the Mwami (Tutsi Monarch) and his chiefs began to erode. The last Tutsi Mwami, Mwami Musinga was forced to abdicate in 1931 in favour of his son who was more westernized. Even though power was being eroded from the Tutsi dominated hierarchy the Hutus where still treated as second class citizens. The result was that the Hutus, Tutsis and even Twas (who had no recognition at all) reacted to colonisation with various degrees of anger and distrust between the groups. In the area of Education during the 1930 to 1950s the Tutsis held the advantage over the Hutus. Most schools in Rwanda during this period where being administered or run by the Catholic Church and as they developed and widened their curriculum it became obvious that the main beneficiaries where the Tutsis. I was fascinated to discover that one school (administered by the Germans) actually had a height requirement - thus excluding most if not all Hutus.

During the 30s the Belgium administrators became fascinated with the different physical characteristics of the Rwandan people and eventually created identity cards which categorized you as a Tutsi, Hutu or Twa. This made recognition of your ethnic group much easier during the genocide. Interestingly enough in a number of cases due to intermarriage using the physical characteristics of a person to determine their ethnic group became very challenging. To overcome this dilemma it was agreed that if a person was reasonably wealthy or owned more than 10 cows they would be classified as Tutsi. Bad luck if you were a well to do Hutu.

In 1945 the United Nations was formed to replace the dysfunction League of Nations. During 1948 a report was tabled at the UN criticizing the Belgium Administration of Rwanda and Burundi. The major concern this report highlighted was the manner in which the Belgium administration gave superior status to the Tutsi over the Hutus and Twa ethnic groups.

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Photos

Traditional Headwear.
This headwear was used in traditional dances.

Catholic Cathederal
This Cathederal was constructed in the 1930s. This is typical of a number of Catholic Churches built in Rwanda during this time. The Belgium Government encouraged the Catholic Church participation in Rwanda.

Rwanda-map
This map of Rwanda (courtesy of Lonely Planet) just shows the boundries that where imposed in colonial days when Europe became interested in the Dark Continent.

-Rwanda Dancers
Just as in Australian Aboriginal culture dance was used in Rwanda to tells tales of great battles and of hunts. These dancers are in the traditonal ceremonial outfits.