Essay On Imperialism In Rwanda

Rwanda has been known as a place of major improvement in Africa in the past decade. It is a country seen by western society as a place that is prospering among many that appear hopeless. Rwanda has not always been this way, and in many ways, it is still struggling. In the past century this nation has gone through struggle after struggle. Rwanda was initially colonized by Germany in 1884 and remained a colony until 1919. After Germany’s defeat in World War I, the country was forced to surrender much of its territory, including Rwanda, to the Allied Powers during the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. Rwanda was quickly recolonized by Belgium until 1962. It was at this time that Rwanda gained its independence, as well as conflict and violence arouse. Ethnical identities imposed on the Rwandan citizens by German and Belgian rule created an ethnic divide in the country. This tension carries on today, and manifests itself in various ways. The ethnical strain in Rwanda led to civil war, genocide in the early 1990’s, and lends itself to much of the politics today. …show more content…
The physical differences were of high interest to the Belgians who even went out of their way to make measurements during their rule and they noted that in general “the Tutsi are taller, thinner and lighter-skinned than the Hutu” (Sebarenzi, p.13), but in reality these differences poorly distinguish the two. Appearance played little role in their everyday lives before colonial rule; they saw themselves as one people, as Rwandans, under a mwami, their king. “The two groups lived peacefully together- working together, marrying one another, having children together” (Sebarenzi, p.11). Once colonization occurred in Rwanda, however, this way of life was