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Rwanda Alive > Teachers & Students > Rwanda Facts > History The Twa (a pygmy tribal people) were the original inhabitants of Rwanda and today still make up about 1% of the population. They were followed (A.D. 1000) and then outnumbered by the Hutus. In the 14 th or 15 th century, the Tutsis migrated into the area, and established several states. The Tutsis dominated the Hutus for several centuries, in a feudal system called ubuhake. Hutus worked as peasants on Tutsi land in return for military protection. At the turn of the 20 th century, German colonialism introduced urban development and Christianity to Rwanda. Then, after German defeat in World War I, Rwanda was passed to Belgian administration. In 1959, three years before independence from Belgium, the Hutu majority overthrew the ruling Tutsi king. Over the next several years, thousands of Tutsis were killed, and some 150,000 driven into exile in neighboring countries. The children of these exiles later formed a rebel group, the Rwandan Patriotic Front, and began a civil war in 1990. The war, along with several political and economic upheavals, raised ethnic tensions, culminating in April 1994 in the genocide of roughly 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus. The Tutsi rebels defeated the Hutu regime and ended the killing in July 1994, but approximately 2 million Hutu refugees—many fearing Tutsi retribution—fled to neighboring Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zaire. Since then, most of the refugees have returned to Rwanda. Despite substantial international assistance and political reforms—including Rwanda's first local elections in March 1999—the country continues to struggle to foster reconciliation. |
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