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CHAPTER FOURTEEN
HISTORICAL ANTECEDENTS OF RWANDA HISTORY IN PRE-COLONIAL 
TIMES 
AFRICAN PERSPECTIVE
 
traces the origin of Rwanda, a former German colony, to the 15th 
century. At this time, the territory was inhabited by three ethnic groups: the Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa, 
the minority group. Before John Speke visited Rwanda and the Rwandese became part of German 
East' Africa following German conquest in 1895, the Tutsis had conquered the territory and 
forced all the others into a feudal political system in which the Twa became court jesters, the 
Hutus subjects and the Tutsis the rulers. 
Oral tradition asserts that present day Rwanda was in the period before the 15th century 
part of a centralized state s- largely roots to the Buganda and Bunyoro Kingdoms in neighboring 
Uganda. It comprised of a cattle-owning nobility and an agricultural serfdom majority considered 
by historians to be the precursors of the modem day traditionally more powerful Tutsi minority 
and the Hutus respectively. (GAP, 2007: 34). 
German Colony 
No matter which historical version the reader prefers, this power equation did not change 
in real politic terms once the Germans declared Rwanda their colony, for the Germans, who kept 
the indigenous administration system by copying the British strategy of indirect rule in 
neighboring Uganda, depended at the beginning completely on the existing government. No 
wonder, the German colonial authorities did practically nothing to develop the colony 
economically. Once Germany ignited the First World War, it was clear that nothing would change 
in this connection. 
Belgians on Behalf of the League of Nations 
But Rwanda was not blessed with the disappearance of the Germans after the First World 
War. The more direct rule of the Belgians, who took over "on behalf of the League of Nations", 
was even harsher than German rule. Ironically, the Belgians, who evidently realized the value of 
native rule, used the classic intrigue card to play the minority Tutsi upper class over lower classes 
of Tutsi and Hutus, with their forced-labour policies and stringent taxes being enforced not by 
Belgians, but by the Tutsi upper class. This way, the Belgian colonial masters sought to build a 
buffer against anger from the Rwandese people while polarizing the Hutu and Tutsi. 

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To escape harassment and hunger, many young Rwandese peasants of both Hindu and 
Tutsi origin escaped into neighboring Zaire (today Democratic republic of Congo) and Uganda, 
where their skills came to the advantage of plantations in those foreign countries. 
But the Belgians were still there to stay even after the collapse of the League of Nations 
and the end of the Second World War. Rwanda became a United Nations trust territory 
administered by Belgium 
The Belgians soon became dominant players in internal affairs. With their help, the Hutus, 
until now the subjects of the Tutsi royal class, would gain the upper hand and hold virtually all 
power upon Rwanda's independence on July 1, 1962. The process began in 1959, when King 
Mutara III was assassinated to give way to his younger brother to become King Kigeli. About 
two years later, as he was in Kinshasa, Zaire (Democratic Republic 0f Congo), to meet UN 
Hammarskjold, King Kigeli V was overthrown by Dominique Mbonyumutwa, who boasted 
Belgian government support. The King fled to neighboring Uganda. The era of the Hutus at the 
expense of the Tutsis was born, just as one could say that Tutsi domination of Hutus finally ended. 
(GAP, 2007: 35). 
Many Tutsis saw themselves forced to leave the country. At independence, the problem 
of "Tutsi refugees" could not be ignored as it led to increasing social tension. The fact that 
neighboring countries soon had up to million Tutsi refugees meant that this problem would gain 
an international dimension. Affected were mainly neighboring Uganda and Burundi.