 1884 The Berlin Conference is held on the division of Africa between European nations.
1894 The German captain, von Gotzen, is received by the Rwandan monarch, King Kigeli IV Rwabugili.
1895 Rwanda becomes part of German East Africa along with Burundi and Tanganyika.
1896 King Mibambwe IV Rutalindwa is succeeded by King Musinga Yuhi V in the famous "coup d'etat" of Rucuncu.
1900 King Musinga receives the first group of European catholic missionaries, known as the "White Fathers" or "Peres Blancs" in French.
1917 After the defeat of the Germans in WW1, Belgium establishes a political system of indirect administration with the King, effectively working under the Belgian Resident.
1923 Belgium officially wins the League of Nations mandate to administer both Rwanda and Burundi under the name of Rwanda-Urundi. Later, in 1925, Rwanda-Urundi becomes an integral part of the Belgian Colony Government under the name of Rwanda-Urundi and Belgian Congo.
1931 Belgium forces King Musinga to abdicate his throne, who is then exiled in Kamembe (current province of Cyangugu), near the Rwanda-DRC border. He is succeeded by his son, King Rudahigwa Mutara III.
1935 The Belgian colonial administration issues, for the first time, identification that clearly categorized people as "Hutu", "Tutsi"and "Twa" on the basis of the number of heads of cattle they owned. Those with ten or more cows were categorized as "Tutsi", while those with less than ten were categorized as "Hutu".
1943 King Rudahigwa becomes the first Rwandan monarch to be christianized.
In the same year, Belgium initiates a series of administrative reforms that eliminated the local chieftains who were mostly Hutu and replaces them with chiefs directly appointed by the King, and who were Tutsi.
1946 Rwanda becomes a United Nations trustee territory.
1952 King Rudahigwa agrees with the requirement by the United Nations, through the colonial administration, to increase the number of Hutu representatives at all levels of the Rwanda administration.
1954 King Rudahigwa abolishes "Ubuhake", a clientele system of servitude that was common in monarchical Rwanda.
1955 Belgium appoints J.P. Harroy as the Governor of Rwanda-Urundi.
1956 King Rudahigwa demands total independence and an end to Belgian colonial occupation. In the same year, the Vatican appoints Mgr. Perraudin, a Swiss, as the head of the Roman Catholic Church in Rwanda.
1957 Under the ideological patronage of J.P. Harroy and Mgr. Perraudin, Gregoire Kayibanda, a Hutu catechist, publishes the "Hutu Manifesto" demanding that political authority be granted to the Hutu majority. The Catholic Church encourages Gregoire Kayibanda and his associates to form political parties, namely: APROSOMA (L'Association pour la Promotion Socialedes Masses) and RADER (Le Rassemblement Democratique Rwandais), to champion "Hutu interests".
1959 At a time of strained relationship between the monarch and the Belgian authorities, King Rudahigwa dies mysteriously in Bujumbura, Burundi. Most Rwandan people believe there was a Belgian involvement in his death.
King Rudahigwa is succeeded by his half brother who becomes King Kigeli V Ndahindurwa.
UNAR (Union Nationale Rwandaise) political party is formed by the proponents of immediate independence under the Rwandan monarchy.
PARMEHUTU (Le Parti du Mouvement de l'Emancipation Hutu) is established under the guidance of the Catholic Church by the proponents of delayed independence. This Party was also openly anti-Tutsi.
A Belgian Colonel, G. Logiest, with Belgian Commandos, organizes some Hutu to kill thousands of Tutsi and send hundreds of thousands of others into exile, mainly in DRC, Uganda, Burundi and Tanzania. King Kigeli V is forced into exile.
1960 The Belgian colonial administration hastily organizes communal elections, overwhelmingly won by PARMEHUTU under Gregoire Kayibanda, who becomes Prime Minister of the provisional government then formed.
1961 The Belgian colonial administration, in conditions of terror, massacres and Tutsi running into exile, organizes a referendum on the monarchy under the auspices of the United Nations.
Belgium declares the end of the monarchy and Gregoire Kayibanda becomes the President and Prime Minister of the new republic.
More exodus of Tutsi from Rwanda to neighboring countries. Massacres of Tutsi continue.
1962 Belgium officially grants independence and Gregoire Kayibanda becomes the President of the First Republic.
1963 Some Tutsi exiles - "called inyenzi" or "cockroaches" in a derogatory manner- launch futile attacks against the Kigali regime. More massacres of Tutsi take place in Rwanda.
1965 Gregoire Kayibanda is re-elected President and Juvenal Habyarimana is appointed Minister of Defense.
1969 PARMEHUTU is renamed MDR (Mouvement Democratique Republicaine), "wins" elections and Gregoire Kayibanda is "re-elected" President.
1973 Major General Juvenal Habyarimana topples Gregoire Kayibanda in a military "coup d'etat". Massacres of Tutsi take place.
1975 Major General Juvenal Habyarimana establishes MRND (Mouvement Revolutionaireet National pour le Developpement). As in the First Republic, political parties are banned in the Second Republic. Widespread massacres of the Tutsi take place.
1978 Major General Juvenal Habyarimana introduces a "new constitution" entrenching MRND as the sole political party.
1979 RANU (Rwandan Alliance for National Unity) is established by a group of Rwandan exiles in Kenya. The objective of RANU was to find a solution for the problem of Rwandan refugees and to struggle against dictatorship in Rwanda.
1982-83 Several thousands of Rwandan refugees and Ugandans of Rwandan origin are expelled from Uganda to Rwanda by the dictatorial regime of Milton Obote. The then Kigali regime refuses entry to some, detains others in camps within Rwanda, while others are killed.
1987 RANU becomes RPF (Rwandan Patriotic Front).
1990 RPF begins the armed struggle.
1991 The N'sele Ceasefire Agreement is signed between RPF and the then Government of Rwanda.
1993 The Arusha Peace Agreement is signed between RPF and the Governmentof Rwanda.
From 1990 to 1993 widespread massacres take place notably in Kibirira, Bigogwe, Bugesera, Kibuye, etc.
In December, 1993 RPF sends a contingent of 600 troops to Kigali as part of the Arusha Peace Agreement as a protection unit for RPF officials who were to participate in the transitional government.
1994 April - President Habyarimana dies in a plane crash.
- Genocide begins.
- RPF launches the final campaign to stop the genocide.
July - The genocidal regime collapses and RPF captures Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda.
- RPF establishes a Government of National Unity together with seven other political parties.
1996-1997 The Government of Rwanda passes the law for the trial and punishment of those responsible for genocide in Rwanda.
Rwanda gets involved in the first DRC war to liberate and repatriate Rwandan refugees held hostage by ex-FAR and Interahamwe. (Rwanda's involvement in the DRC leads to President Mobutu's removal and the installation of Laurent Kabila as President of the DRC.) The Government of Rwanda repatriates over 2 million Rwandan refugees from the DRC and Tanzania.
1998
Rwanda gets involved in the second DRC war to deal with insecurity caused by the ex-FAR and Interahamwe (DRC Government supports ex-FAR and Interahamwe).
1999
Local elections take place at cell and sector levels. The Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement, to end the second DRC war, is signed.
2000
March - President Pasteur Bizimungu resigns
April - Major General Paul Kagame is sworn in as the fifth President of Rwanda.
2002
June - Gacaca judicial system was launched in Kigali |
