Rwanda Imperialism Essay

The Hutu and Tutsi were once peaceful people, who together made up the majority of Rwanda. In the 1800s when Imperialism and Industrialization were popular trends in Europe, Rwanda was colonized. The colonial occupation of Rwanda by Germany, and later Belgium instilled pro-euro ideology in the Tutsi tribe which quickly changed the peaceful mentality of the country. The next century was full of power shifts and tribal violence. However, no man could have predicted the events that took place on April 6th. On that fateful day in 1994, centuries worth of boiling racial tension finally exploded when the president of Rwanda, Juvenal Habyarimana was assassinated. What ensued was the most chaotic and controversial event of the late 20th century and one of the most tragic

The Belgians initially favored the Tutsis due to their obstructed views of race. According to the Belgians, “ The Tutsi were supposedly a Hamitic” (Encyclopedia), which indicates that Tutsi were “more Caucasian” therefore “more European”. These findings were concluded by skull measuring, and nose analysis (Gourevitch 55). As time passed, the Belgians began to emphasize the division of the two tribes.“From 1933 everyone in Ruanda-Urundi is issued with a racial identity card, defining them as Hutu (85%) or Tutsi (14%)” (HISTORY). As observed in the previous quotation, it is noteworthy that the aristocratic class (the Tutsi) were a quite large minority. This did evidently did not factor into the Belgians decision to make the Tutsi the ruling class. It also displays that race science trumps all other metrics in the imperialist eyes. The Belgians also possessed unrelenting political power within Rwanda as they were able to dispose of “a Mwami they considered overly independent and installed a new one, Mutara Rudahigwa, who had been carefully selected for his compliance”( Gourevitch