Rwanda: Colonial divisions and genocide

Belgium ruled Rwanda from 1916 to 1962. Belgian colonial policy hardened distinctions between Hutu and Tutsi, distributing identity cards and favoring Tutsis as colonial intermediaries. At independence in 1962, policy reversed to favor the Hutu majority. Decades of ethnic tension produced the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, in which Hutu extremists killed approximately 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus in 100 days. (Covered in detail in Unit 10.10.)