f more direct colonial rule.

[37][38] The Belgians modernised the Rwandan economy, but Tutsi

supremacy remained, leaving the Hutu disenfranchised. [39]
In 1935, Belgium introduced a permanent division of the population by strictly dividing the
population into three ethnic groups, with the Hutu representing about 84% of the population,
Tutsi about 15%, and Twa about 1% of the population.[29] Identity cards were issued labeling each
individual as either Tutsi, Hutu, Twa, or Naturalised. While it had previously been possible for
particularly wealthy Hutus to become honorary Tutsis, the identity cards prevented any further
movement between the groups. [40]
The ethnic identities of the Hutu and Tutsi were reshaped and mythologized by the colonizers.
[30]:421
 Christian missionaries promoted the theory about the "Hamitic" origins of the kingdom, and
referred to the distinctively Ethiopian features and hence, foreign origins, of the Tutsi "caste". [30]
[41]
 These mythologies provide the basis for anti-Tutsi propaganda in 1994. [30]:421

Revolution and Hutu–Tutsi relations after independence[edit]

Main article: Rwandan Revolution
After World War II, a Hutu emancipation movement began to grow in Rwanda, [42] fuelled by
increasing resentment of the inter-war social reforms, and also an increasing sympathy for the
Hutu within the Catholic Church.[43] Catholic missionaries increasingly viewed themselves as
responsible for empowering the underprivileged Hutu rather than the Tutsi elite, leading rapidly to
the formation of a sizeable Hutu clergy and educated elite that provided a new counterbalance to
the established political order. [43] The monarchy and prominent Tutsis sensed the growing
influence of the Hutu and began to agitate for immediate independence on their own terms. [42] In
1957, a group of Hutu scholars wrote the "Bahutu Manifesto". This was the first document to
label the Tutsi and Hutu as separate races, and called for the transfer of power from Tutsi to
Hutu based on what it termed "statistical law".[44]
On 1 November 1959 Dominique Mbonyumutwa, a Hutu sub-chief, was attacked close to his
home in Byimana, Gitarama prefecture,[45] by supporters of the pro-Tutsi party. Mbonyumutwa
survived, but rumours began spreading that he had been killed. [46] Hutu activists responded by
killing Tutsis, both the elite and ordinary civilians, marking the beginning of the Rwandan
Revolution.[47] The Tutsi responded with attacks of their own, but by this stage the Hutu had full
backing from the Belgian administration who wanted to overturn the Tutsi domination. [48][49] In early
1960, the Belgians replaced most Tutsi chiefs with Hutu and organised mid-year commune
elections which returned an overwhelming Hutu majority. [48] The king was deposed, a Hutu-
dominated republic created, and the country became independent in 1962. [50] As the revolution
progressed, Tutsis began leaving the country to escape the Hutu purges, settling in the four
neighbouring countries: Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania and Zaire.[51] These exiles, unlike the
Banyarwanda who migrated during the pre-colonial and colonial era, were regarded as refugees
in their host countries,[52] and began almost immediately to agitate for a return to Rwanda. [53] They
formed armed groups who launched attacks into Rwanda; these were largely unsuccessful, and
led to further reprisal killings of 10,000 Tutsis and further Tutsi exiles. [53] By 1964, more than
300,000 Tutsis had fled, and were forced to remain in exile for the next three decades. [54]
Grégoire Kayibanda presided over a Hutu republic for the next decade, imposing an autocratic
rule similar to the pre-revolution feudal monarchy.[55] He was overthrown following a coup in 1973,
which brought President Juvénal Habyarimana to power. Pro-Hutu and Anti-Tutsi discrimination
continued in Rwanda itself, although the indiscriminate violence against the Tutsi did decrease
somewhat.[56] Habyarimana founded the National Republican Movement for Democracy and
Development (MRND) party in 1975,[57] and promulgated a new constitution following a 1978
referendum, making the country a one-party state in which every citizen had to belong to the
MRND.[58]
At 408 inhabitants per square kilometre (1,060/sq mi), Rwanda's population density is among the
highest in Africa. Rwanda's population had increased from 1.6 million people in 1934 to
7.1 million in 1989, leading to competition for land. Historians such as Gérard Prunier believe that
the 1994 genocide can be partly attributed to population density. [59]
Rwandan Civil War[edit]
Main article: Rwandan Civil War

Paul Kagame, commander of the Rwandan Patriotic Front for most of the Civil War

In the 1980s, a group of 500 Rwandan refugees in