The Contribution of Women to Peace and Reconciliation
The Contribution of Women to Peace and Reconciliation
The Contribution of Women to Peace and Reconciliation
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1894: Count Gustav Adolf von Götzen is received by King Kigeli IV<br />
Rwabugiri<br />
1896: In the “Rucunshu Coup”, Musinga succeeds Mibambwe IV<br />
under the dynastic name <strong>of</strong> Yuhi V.<br />
1899: Rw<strong>and</strong>a becomes a German Protec<strong>to</strong>rate.<br />
1900: King Yuhi Musinga receives the first European Catholic missionaries,<br />
the “White Fathers” (the missionaries <strong>of</strong> Africa), who first<br />
settle at Save, in the South. This is the beginning <strong>of</strong> a religious colonization<br />
<strong>and</strong> forced Christianization.<br />
1919: After the defeat <strong>of</strong> Germany <strong>and</strong> its withdrawal in 1918, the<br />
Supreme Council <strong>of</strong> the Allied Powers awards Belgium the M<strong>and</strong>ate<br />
for “Ru<strong>and</strong>a-Urundi”. <strong>The</strong> League <strong>of</strong> Nations, the precursor <strong>of</strong><br />
the UN, ratifies the m<strong>and</strong>ate in 1923; later, in 1946, it is transformed<br />
in<strong>to</strong> a “trusteeship”.<br />
1923: <strong>The</strong> League <strong>of</strong> Nations awards a m<strong>and</strong>ate <strong>to</strong> Belgium <strong>to</strong> administer<br />
Ru<strong>and</strong>a-Urundi. <strong>The</strong> king no longer has any authority, <strong>and</strong> is<br />
forced <strong>to</strong> remain in Nyanza, the capital. Everything is destabilized.<br />
1925: Ru<strong>and</strong>a-Urundi is formally annexed <strong>to</strong> the Belgian Congo <strong>and</strong><br />
placed under the authority <strong>of</strong> a Belgian Vice-Governor-General.<br />
Nov. 12, 1931: King Yuhi V Musinga, who is very suspicious <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Belgian Government <strong>and</strong> Catholicism, is removed <strong>and</strong> replaced<br />
by his son Rudahigwa Mutara III, age twenty (crowned on November<br />
16, 1931). Musinga is exiled <strong>to</strong> Moba (near Kalemie) in<br />
the Belgian Congo, where he dies on December 25, 1944. For<br />
Rw<strong>and</strong>ans, it is as if the sky has fallen on them.<br />
Nov. 16, 1931: Belgium imposes a Christian king, Mwami Mutara III,<br />
<strong>and</strong> an identification system indicating membership in one <strong>of</strong> the<br />
communities <strong>of</strong> Hutu, Tutsi or Twa, which the colonizers view as<br />
ethnic groups.<br />
After the christianization <strong>of</strong> the kingship, the population was baptized<br />
en masse, since it was attached <strong>to</strong> its king. <strong>The</strong> church thus pulled <strong>of</strong>f<br />
a successful coup. Here it should be noted that the Rw<strong>and</strong>ans were a<br />
monotheistic people. <strong>The</strong>y prayed <strong>to</strong> one God, Imana, who had nothing<br />
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