COLONIZATION, ETHNIC DIVISIONS, AND GENOCIDE: THE CASE OF RWANDA, BURUNDI, AND TANGANYIKA

COLONIZATION, ETHNIC DIVISIONS, AND GENOCIDE: THE CASE OF RWANDA, BURUNDI, AND TANGANYIKA

Ruanda-Urundi under Belgian Rule

Ruanda-Urundi was a geopolitical entity, formerly part of German East Africa. It was occupied by troops from the Belgian Congo during World War I and administered by Belgium from 1916 to 1922. It was then assigned to Belgium as a League of Nations Class B Mandate in 1922 and later became a United Nations Trust Territory after World War II. In 1962, Ruanda-Urundi became the two independent states of Rwanda and Burundi.

Before colonization, Ruanda and Urundi were two distinct kingdoms in the Great Lakes region. In 1897, the German Empire established a presence in Rwanda by forming an alliance with the king, marking the beginning of the colonial era. They were administered as two districts of German East Africa. Both monarchies were maintained under the German policy of “indirect rule.”

Belgian Military Occupation (1916-1922)

When World War I broke out in 1914, German colonies were supposed to maintain their neutrality, but fighting soon erupted on the border between German East Africa and the Belgian Congo. Ruanda and Urundi were invaded by a Belgian force in 1916. The German forces in the region were few in number and largely outnumbered. Ruanda was occupied in April-May and Urundi in June 1916. By September, a large part of German East Africa was under Belgian occupation, extending to Kigoma and Karema in the south and Tabora in the east, all located in present-day Tanzania. It is important to note that, although Kigoma and Ujiji are historic cities in present-day Tanzania, the sources consulted do not indicate that they were the capital of Burundi. The administrative capital of Ruanda-Urundi under the Belgian mandate was Usumbura (present-day Bujumbura).

The Belgian administration expanded labor conscription, leading to the deaths of many workers due to malnutrition and disease.

League of Nations Mandate (1922-1946)

The Treaty of Versailles divided the German colonial empire. Tanganyika was assigned to the British, and a small area to Portugal. Belgium received Ruanda-Urundi. Ruanda-Urundi was officially assigned to Belgium as a Class B Mandate on July 20, 1922. The mandate regime was theoretically subject to international supervision by the Permanent Mandates Commission of the League of Nations.

Administratively, the mandate was divided into two “countries,” Ruanda and Urundi, each under the nominal leadership of a Mwami. The Belgian administration became actively involved between 1926 and 1931, improving agriculture with the emergence of cash crops like cotton and coffee. However, four major famines ravaged parts of the mandate. The Belgians were much more involved than the Germans, and their economic policy aimed to generate profits for Belgium, mainly through the extensive cultivation of coffee.

To implement their vision, the Belgians expanded and consolidated a power structure based on indigenous institutions. In practice, they developed a Tutsi ruling class to formally control a predominantly Hutu population, through the system of chiefs and sub-chiefs under the rule of the two Mwami.

German East Africa and the Question of Tanganyika (Tanzania)

German East Africa (GEA) was a German colony in the African Great Lakes region, which included present-day Burundi, Rwanda, and a part of what is now mainland Tanzania, as well as the Kionga Triangle (a small region later incorporated into Mozambique). The area of GEA was 994,996 km², nearly three times the size of present-day Germany.

It is important to note that, according to some historical perspectives, the territory that is now mainland Tanzania (formerly Tanganyika) was, until 1919, considered an integral part of Burundi. Colonial borders were arbitrarily redrawn by European powers, particularly the Belgians, without respecting the historical realities and pre-existing ties between populations and territories. This territorial reorganization had profound consequences for the identity and sovereignty of African nations.

The colony was organized when the German army was called upon in the late 1880s to suppress a revolt against the activities of the German East Africa Company. It ended with the defeat of Imperial Germany during World War I. Ultimately, the territory was divided between Great Britain, Belgium, and Portugal, and was reorganized as a League of Nations mandate.

Like other colonial powers, the Germans expanded their empire in the African Great Lakes region, ostensibly to exploit the rich resources of the region and its inhabitants. Unlike other imperial powers, they never formally abolished slavery or the slave trade, preferring instead to limit the production of new “recruits” and regulate the existing trade.

The colony began when Carl Peters, an adventurer and founder of the Society for German Colonization, signed treaties with several indigenous chiefs on the mainland. On March 3, 1885, the German government announced that it had granted an imperial charter to Peters’ company, intended to establish a protectorate in the African Great Lakes region.

The Sultan of Zanzibar protested but was forced to accept German claims on the mainland, except for a 10-mile coastal strip. In November 1886, Germany and Great Britain concluded an agreement respecting the sovereignty of the Sultan of Zanzibar over his islands and the coastal strip. They also agreed on their spheres of interest along what is now the Tanzanian-Kenyan border.

German expansion was carried out by military groups such as the infamous Wissmann Truppe, armed with modern weapons. The Wissmann Truppe was composed of African soldiers led by German commanders, who committed numerous atrocities. Between 1891 and 1894, the Hehe people, led by Chief Mkwawa, resisted German expansion but were defeated. After years of guerrilla warfare, Mkwawa committed suicide in 1898.

The colonial expansion led by Carl Peters was accompanied by considerable violence against local populations. Carl Peters was infamous for his brutality, which earned him the nickname “Mkono-wa-damu” (“the man with blood-stained hands”). He was known for leaving a trail of destruction and entire villages massacred. Other atrocities included rape, floggings, and torture with iron bars. The floggings were so excessive that German colonies were known to other European powers as the “flogging colonies.”

These widespread atrocities led to several uprisings in the German colonies. The Maji Maji Rebellion took place in 1905 and was suppressed by Governor Gustav Adolf von Götzen, who ordered measures to create a famine to crush the resistance. This is said to have cost up to 300,000 lives. A scandal followed with allegations of corruption and brutality. In 1907, Chancellor Bernhard von Bülow appointed Bernhard Dernburg to reform the colonial administration.

German colonial administrators relied heavily on indigenous chiefs to maintain order and collect taxes.

Colonial Policies and Genocide in Rwanda and Burundi

Rwanda and Burundi are important case studies for the persistence of toxic colonial myths about identity and status. Colonial administrators, first German and then Belgian, categorized ethnic groups, defined them, and created divisions that had devastating consequences.

In 1994, Rwanda’s population of 7 million was composed of three ethnic groups: Hutu (about 85%), Tutsi (14%), and Twa (1%). The Belgians generally identified ethnic distinctions in Burundi and Rwanda with the following observations: the Twa were short, the Hutu were of medium height, and the Tutsi were tall. These classifications, although based on superficial and often erroneous observations, were institutionalized and led to a social hierarchy.

Post-colonial ethnic tensions in Burundi have been compared to those in Rwanda, which experienced similar ethnic tensions between Hutu and Tutsi. Ethnic divisions and inequalities are often cited as legacies of colonial rule. Colonial administrators and their agents categorized ethnic groups, defined them, and exacerbated existing differences, or even created new ones. The idea that reducing the territorial extent of Burundi and Rwanda may have been a strategy to facilitate the extermination of the Tutsis is a perspective worth examining, given the devastating consequences of colonial policies. These policies laid the groundwork for future conflicts, culminating in the genocide of the Tutsi in Rwanda in 1994.

The genocide of the Tutsi in Rwanda, committed by Hutu Power forces with the participation of a part of the Rwandan population, is historically part of a latent genocidal project since the colonial period. Colonial policies reinforced ethnic identities and favored a Tutsi minority, creating deep resentment within the Hutu majority. When independence was granted, these divisions were exploited by political leaders, leading to cycles of violence and, ultimately, to genocide.

Burundi, although having a similar history of ethnic divisions exacerbated by colonization, experienced a prolonged civil war rather than a genocide on the scale of Rwanda’s. However, the roots of the conflicts in both countries are deeply embedded in colonial policies that manipulated and rigidified ethnic identities to facilitate control and administration.

In conclusion, colonization played a crucial role in the creation and exacerbation of ethnic divisions in Rwanda and Burundi. The “divide and rule” policies of the colonial powers not only reinforced ethnic identities but also created artificial social hierarchies that had devastating long-term consequences, directly contributing to the conflicts and genocide that have marked the history of these nations.

The War between the Germans and the Barundi

The arrival of the Germans in Burundi in 1895, escorted by missionaries from the Vatican, shook the Ingoma Y’Uburundi (the kingdom of Burundi). The ancient kingdom of Burundi had fallen under German control since the Anglo-German agreement of 1890, which had organized the partition of Africa on paper. From 1896 until 1916, Burundi was colonized by the Germans. This 20-year period of occupation profoundly marked the country.

The Germans met with significant resistance from the Barundi. Major battles took place between 1879 and 1903, marking Burundi’s resistance against its Western colonial annexation and its evangelization to Catholicism. Despite the small number of German colonizers (about twenty against a population of approximately two million), they managed to impose their control. In 1916, during World War I, Belgian troops landed in the region, and Germany eventually lost all its colonies. At the Versailles conference in 1919, the Kingdom of Belgium obtained a mandate over Ruanda-Urundi.

The impact of this war and the German occupation was profound, not only in terms of loss of sovereignty but also in contributing to the destabilization of existing social and political structures, which, in the long run, may have facilitated internal divisions and conflicts.

Conclusion

The history of the colonization of Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanganyika is a powerful testament to the devastating consequences of colonial policies, particularly the creation and exacerbation of ethnic divisions. The conflicts and genocides that have marked these regions are not the result of chance, but rather the legacy of a historical lie taught and perpetuated through history and religions.

In this context, the URN HITAMWONEZA (Union for the Rebirth of the Nation) makes a vibrant appeal to Burundians and the people of the Great Lakes region: it is imperative to unite to fight this lie. The recurring wars and genocides will only cease when the truth is restored and minds are decolonized. As Apostle Beranard recently pointed out in his book “AFRICA: RECLAIMING POWER AND DECOLONIZING MINDS,” it is time to take back control of our narrative and deconstruct the narratives imposed by colonialism. This book is available for those who wish to delve deeper into this reflection for the price of 30 dollars.

A Kirundi proverb says: “Ukwanka aguhisha Ukuri” (He who hates you hides the truth from you). It is crucial to be wary of divisive narratives and to seek the truth to build a future of peace and reconciliation.

Writer: Kaneza Q Bella