Catholic Influence in Rwanda History
The Belgian Roman Catholic influence favored the Tutsis and led to destabilisation in Rwanda, admiring Tutsi leadership qualities. 
The church evangelized also, beginning with the Tutsis, leading more Tutsis to share in the benefits that came with associating with the colonizers' Roman Catholic culture.Click here to read more about the Belgian Colonialism in Rwanda King Yuhi Musinga was exiled by the Belgians after he refused to be baptised and the catholic influence. He was succeeded by his son Mutara Rudahigwa who had received a seminary education. He was baptised and renamed Charles, and he sought to bring about political changes by allowing Hutus greater access to positions of authority. He chose Catholics for his appointments...Click here to read more about Rwanda history 
DestabilisationFollowing World War II, Rwanda-Urundi became a UN trust territory with Belgium as the administrative authority. Reforms instituted by the Belgians in the 1950s encouraged the growth of democratic political institutions but were resisted by the Tutsi traditionalists who saw in them a threat to Tutsi rule. From the late 1940s King Rudahigwa, a Tutsi with democratic vision abolished the "ubuhake" system and redistributed cattle and land. Even though the majority of pasture lands remained under the control of the Tutsi, the Hutus began to feel yet a deeper sense of liberation from Tutsi rule established by the Belgian "divide and rule" policy. Through the reforms, the Tutsis were no longer perceived to be in total control of cattle, the long-standing measure of a person's wealth and social position. Thus, these reforms marked the beginning of a long period of ethnic tension in Rwandan history. In addition, the Hutus began to develop a group consciousness as the Belgians instituted ethnic identity cards (in 1933, Belgium required all its Rwandan and Burundian subjects to self-identify as Tutsi, Hutu or Twa; this data appeared on the cards themselves).Click here to learn more on Rwanda culture 
Yet a further step was Belgium's system of electoral representation for Rwandans. At first, the Tutsis retained total control, and then Belgium decided to make the electoral process function by means of secret ballots. Thereafter, Hutus made enormous gains within the country. The Catholic Church, too, began to oppose Tutsi mistreatment of Hutus, and began promoting Hutu equality. Tutsis were about to be removed from their traditional role as masters in Rwanda.
Rwandan history and the Colonial Times Colonial era change the history of Rwanda.Unlike much of Africa, the fate of Rwanda and the Great Lakes region was not decided by the 1884 Berlin Conference. Rather the region was divided in an 1890 conference in Brussels. This gave Rwanda and Burundi to the German Empire as colonial spheres of interest in exchangeMore _______________________________________________ Rwanda History and Catholic Influence The Belgian Roman Catholic influence favored the Tutsis and led to destabilisation in Rwanda, admiring Tutsi leadership qualities.More _________________________________________ • Rwandan history and strife for Independence Charles made many changes and these resulted into strife and independence - in 1954 he shared out the land between the Hutu and the Tutsi. The Tutsi were unhappy with this, which led to Charles' assassination in 1959.More _____________________________________________ • Rwandan History and Military rule On July 5, 1973 marked the start of military rule in Rwanda, while serving as defense minister, Maj. Gen. Juvénal Habyarimana, a native of the northwestern province of Gisenyi overthrew Grégoire Kayibanda, a native of central province of Gitarama. He dissolved the National Assembly and the PARMEHUTU Party and abolished all political activityMore ____________________________________________ • Rwandan history and Genocide aftermath and Peace On April 6, 1994 marked the start of the Rwandan Genocide, the airplane carrying Juvénal Habyarimana- the then President of Rwanda and Cyprien Ntaryamira, the President of Burundi, was shot down as it prepared to land at Kigali. Both presidents were killed when the plane crashed.More ___________________________________________________
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