Ethnic Groups In 19th Century Rwanda

Rwanda was first a kingdom divided into three ethnic groups: Tutsi, Hutu, and Twa. The Tutsis (14% of the population) were the in charge of the cattle, the Hutus (85% of the population) were the farmers, and the Twa (1% of the population) were the servants. The Tutsis were the upper class and the Hutus were vassals. Cattle measured wealth in Rwanda, the more cows you had the richer you were considered. During the late 19th Century, Rwanda was still considered a kingdom and it was lead by Kigeli IV Rwabugiri.

Kigeli was important because he was the first king to come in contact with a European (German) called Count von Götzen. This meeting took place in 1894 and one year later King Kigeli dies. After his death there was confusion about who would be the next leader. Germany took advantage of this confusion and moved into Rwanda. “At the same time they claim Burundi, a separate kingdom to the south. The entire area is treated as one colony, to be known as Ruanda-Urundi.”

With the Germans in power they kept the Tutsis superior to the Hutus. Germans colonized Rwanda from 1897 until the Belgium’s took control in 1916. The Belgians kept on with the separation of Hutus and Tutsis. They actually decided to go a step further and create national cards that were based on racial identification. These cards said weather you
After his death Rwandan foreign minister tweeted “This man was a self-declared enemy of my Gov & my country, U expect pity?” after that the Rwandan defense minister James Kabarebe said, “Keep away from those making noise saying that someone was strangled with a rope in the seventh floor in a certain country; if you choose to be a dog you die like dog and cleaners will remove the trash. Those that have fallen victim, it’s because they have chosen that path, there is nothing we can do about it and we cannot be