"Historical Highlight": Ethnic Tensions

In our last installment of History Highlights, we explored the civil war in Rwanda that immediately preceded the genocide. But why did the civil war even start? Ethnic tensions have a long history in Rwanda and have had devastating effects long before the war and the genocide. Again, at the risk of being too simplistic, we’d like to offer a brief background of this part of Rwandan history.

Prior to European settlement in Rwanda, the Hutu and Tutsi lived largely at peace with one another. They shared language, religion, and culture, and there were few distinctions made between them. Over time, however, the Tutsi gained status and power over the Hutus in a feudal-type system known as ubuhake. Despite the slight power advantages, inclusion in a particular group was very fluid, and intermarriages were very common.

As Europeans began to settle in the region, though, the distance between the Hutus and Tustis grew as the Europeans emphasized race and created largely arbitrary racial distinctions between the two groups. Throughout the 1950s, the Belgians increasingly gave the Tutsi minority political power because they believed them to be more “European” than the Hutus. After years of growing unrest, the Hutu majority revolted in 1959. Thousands of Tutsis fled the country, and after Rwanda gained independence in 1962, the Hutu party was elected to lead the country. In the decades following, there were several attempts by Tutsis in exile to overthrow the Hutu government, as well as coups by Hutus to overthrow the president in 1973. It was during these decades that a pro-Hutu ideology took hold, and in 1990 the Tutsi exiles organized into the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) and invaded the country.

Although this certainly is a broad sweep over a large period of time, it is still clear that the Hutus and Tutsis have a long history together and tensions between them began years before the civil war began. In our next segments, we will begin to look at some of the key players in the civil war and genocide…be sure to check back soon!


For more detailed historical accounts, visit the Department of State website or UPenn's East Africa Living Encyclopedia.