History of Burundi - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Burundi
Burundi
Burundi , officially the Republic of Burundi , is a landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Its capital is Bujumbura...

is one of the few countries in Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

, along with its closely linked neighbour Rwanda

Rwanda

Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...

among others, to be a direct territorial continuation of a pre-colonial era African state.

Kingdom of Burundi

The origins of Burundi are known from a mix of oral history

Oral history

Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews...

and archaeology

Archaeology

Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...

. There are two main founding legends for Burundi. Both suggest that the nation was founded by a man named Cambarantama. The legend most promoted today states that he was Rwandan. The other version, more common in pre-colonial Burundi says that Cambarantama came from the southern state of Buha.

The first evidence of the Burundian state is from 16th century where it emerged on the eastern foothills. Over the following centuries it expanded, annexing smaller neighbours and competing with Rwanda. Its greatest growth occurred under Ntare IV Rutaganzwa Rugamba

Ntare IV Rutaganzwa Rugamba

Ntare IV Rutaganzwa Rugamba was the king of Burundi from 1796 to 1850. He was the son of king Mwambutsa I Mbariza....

, who ruled the nation from about 1796 to 1850 and saw the kingdom double in size.

The Kingdom of Burundi was characterized by a hierarchical political authority and tributary economic exchange. The king, known as the mwami
Mwami
Mwami is the chiefly title in Kirundi and Kinyarwanda, the Congolese Nande and Bashi languages, Luhya in Kenya and various other Bantu languages, such as the Tonga language . The word is usually translated as king...

headed a princely aristocracy

Aristocracy

Aristocracy , is a form of government in which a few elite citizens rule. The term derives from the Greek aristokratia, meaning "rule of the best". In origin in Ancient Greece, it was conceived of as rule by the best qualified citizens, and contrasted with monarchy...

(ganwa) which owned most of the land and required a tribute, or tax, from local farmers and herders. In the mid-18th century, this Tutsi

Tutsi

The Tutsi , or Abatutsi, are an ethnic group in Central Africa. Historically they were often referred to as the Watussi or Watusi. They are the second largest caste in Rwanda and Burundi, the other two being the Hutu and the Twa ....

royalty consolidated authority over land, production, and distribution with the development of the ubugabire—a patron-client relationship in which the populace received royal protection in exchange for tribute and land tenure.

European explorers and missionaries made brief visits to the area as early as 1856, and they compared the organisation of the kingdom of Burundi of that of the old Greek empire. It was not until 1899 that Burundi became a part of German East Africa

German East Africa

German East Africa was a German colony in East Africa, which included what are now :Burundi, :Rwanda and Tanganyika . Its area was , nearly three times the size of Germany today....

. Unlike the Rwandan monarchy, which decided to accept the German advances, the Burundian king Mwezi IV Gisabo

Mwezi IV Gisabo of Burundi

Mwami Mwezi IV Gisabo Bikata-Bijoga was the king of Burundi from 1852 to 1908. He was the son of king Ntare IV Rutaganzwa Rugamba....

opposed all European influence, refusing to wear European clothing and resisting the advance of European missionaries or administrators. The Germans used armed force and succeeded in doing great damage, but did not destroy the king’s power. Eventually they backed one of the king's sons-in-law Maconco in a revolt against Gisabo. Gisabo was eventually forced to concede and agreed to German suzerainty

Suzerainty

Suzerainty occurs where a region or people is a tributary to a more powerful entity which controls its foreign affairs while allowing the tributary vassal state some limited domestic autonomy. The dominant entity in the suzerainty relationship, or the more powerful entity itself, is called a...

. The Germans then helped him suppress Maconco's revolt. The smaller kingdoms along the western shore of Lake Victoria

Lake Victoria

Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. The lake was named for Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, by John Hanning Speke, the first European to discover this lake....

were also attached to Burundi.

Colonial rule

Even after this the foreign presence was minimal and the kings continued to rule much as before. The Europeans did, however, bring devastating diseases affecting both people and animals. Affecting the entire region, Burundi was especially hard hit. A great famine hit in 1905, with others striking the entire Great Lakes region in 1914, 1923 and 1944. Between 1905 and 1914 half the population of the western plains region died.

In 1916 Belgian

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

troops conquered the area during the First World War

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. In 1923, the League of Nations

League of Nations

The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...

mandated to Belgium the territory of Ruanda-Urundi

Ruanda-Urundi

Ruanda-Urundi was a Belgian suzerainty from 1916 to 1924, a League of Nations Class B Mandate from 1924 to 1945 and then a United Nations trust territory until 1962, when it became the independent states of Rwanda and Burundi.- Overview :...

, encompassing modern-day Rwanda and Burundi, but stripping the western kingdoms and giving them to British administered Tanganyika

Tanganyika

Tanganyika , later formally the Republic of Tanganyika, was a sovereign state in East Africa from 1961 to 1964. It was situated between the Indian Ocean and the African Great Lakes of Lake Victoria, Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika...

. The Belgians administered the territory through indirect rule, building on the Tutsi

Tutsi

-dominated aristocratic hierarchy.

Following World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, Ruanda-Urundi became a United Nations Trust Territory under Belgian administrative authority. After 1948, Belgium permitted the emergence of competing political parties. Two political parties emerged: the Union for National Progress

Union for National Progress

The Union for National Progress is a nationalist political party in Burundi, receiving most of its support from members of the Tutsi ethnic group. It is celebrated for its role in gaining Burundian independence. UPRONA's most famous prime minister and Burundi National Hero is Prince Louis Rwagasore...

(UPRONA), a multi-ethnic party led by Tutsi Prince Louis Rwagasore

Louis Rwagasore

Prince Louis Rwagasore is Burundi's national and independence hero. He was a Burundi nationalist and prime minister.- Biography :...

and the Christian Democratic Party (PDC) supported by Belgium. In 1961, Prince Rwagasore was assassinated following an UPRONA victory in legislative elections.

Long-Term Ethnic Distribution of Leadership Positions
Ethnic group	1929	1933	1937	1945	1967	1987	1993	1997	2000a	2000b	End-2001
Tutsi	22	15	18	28	71	72	32	38	89	100	47
Hutu	20	6	2	0	18	28	68	62	11	0	53

Independence

Full independence was achieved on July 1, 1962. In the context of weak democratic institutions at independence, Tutsi King Mwambutsa IV Bangiriceng

Mwambutsa IV Bangiriceng of Burundi

King Mwambutsa IV Bangiricenge was the king of Burundi from December 16, 1915 to July 8, 1966. He was given the title of Mwami,King. He succeeded Mutaga IV Mbikije. Like other Burundian kings, he was an ethnic Ganwa. During the early part of his reign, Burundi was transferred from Germany to...

established a constitutional monarchy

Constitutional monarchy

Constitutional monarchy is a form of government in which a monarch acts as head of state within the parameters of a constitution, whether it be a written, uncodified or blended constitution...

comprising equal numbers of Hutu

Hutu

The Hutu , or Abahutu, are a Central African people, living mainly in Rwanda, Burundi, and eastern DR Congo.-Population statistics:The Hutu are the largest of the three peoples in Burundi and Rwanda; according to the United States Central Intelligence Agency, 84% of Rwandans and 85% of Burundians...

s and Tutsis. The 1965 assassination of the Hutu prime minister set in motion a series of destabilizing Hutu revolts and subsequent governmental repression. These were in part in reaction to Rwanda's "Social Revolution" of 1959-1961, where Rwandan Tutsi were subject to mass murder by the new government of Hutu Grégoire Kayibanda

Grégoire Kayibanda

Grégoire Kayibanda was the first elected and second President of the Republic of Rwanda. He led Rwanda's struggle for independence from Belgium, and replaced the Tutsi monarchy with a republican form of government. He asserted Hutu majority power.-Early life and education:Grégoire Kayibanda was...

. In Burundi the Tutsi became committed to ensuring they would not meet the same fate and much of the country's military and police forces became controlled by Tutsis. Unlike Rwanda, which allied itself with the United States in the Cold War

Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

, Burundi after independence became affiliated with China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

.

The monarchy refused to recognize gains by Hutu candidates in the legislative elections held in May 1965. In response, a group of Hutu carried out a failed coup attempt against the monarchy, which in turn prompted the killing of scores of Hutu politicians and intellectuals. In 1966, King Mwambutsa IV was deposed by his son, Prince Ntare V, who himself was deposed by his prime minister Capt. Michel Micombero

Michel Micombero

Michel Micombero was the first President of Burundi from November 28, 1966 to November 1, 1976. He was member of the Tutsi ethnicity....

in the same year. He abolished the monarchy and declared a republic. A de facto military regime emerged and civil unrest continued throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s. Micombero headed a clique of ruling Hima, the Tutsi subgroup located in southern Burundi. Similar to 1965, rumors of an impending Hutu coup in 1969 prompted the arrest and execution of scores of prominent political and military figures.

In June 1971, a group of Banyaruguru, the socially "higher up" subgroup of Tutsi located in the north of the country, were accused of conspiracy by the ruling Hima clique. On 14 January 1972, a military tribunal sentenced four Banyaruguru officers and five civilians to death, and seven to life imprisonment. To the Hima concerns about a Hutu uprising or Banyaruguru-led coup was added the return of Ntare V from exile, a potential rallying point for the Hutu majority.

1972 genocide

On April 29, there was an outbreak of violence in the south of the country, also the base of the Hima, where bands of roving Hutu committed innumerable atrocities against Tutsi civilians. All civilian and military authorities in the city of Bururi

Bururi

Bururi is a city located in southern Burundi. It is the capital city of Bururi Province and has around 20.000 inhabitants in 2007.In 1972, local Hutu gendarmes in Bururi drove out military and civil government control of the Tutsi military regime of Micombero. A republic was declared, and a week...

were killed and the insurgents then seized the armories in the towns of Rumonge

Rumonge

Rumonge is a city in Bururi Province, Burundi, by Lake Tanganyika. It had a big Arab presence before Burundi's independece in 1962....

and Nyanza-Lac. They then attempted to kill every Tutsi they could, as well as some Hutu who refused to participate in the rebellion, before retreating to Vyanda, near Bururi, and proclaiming a "Republic of Martyazo."

A week after the insurgent proclamation of a republic, government troops moved in. Meanwhile, President Micombero declared martial law on May 30 and asked Zaire

Zaire

The Republic of Zaire was the name of the present Democratic Republic of the Congo between 27 October 1971 and 17 May 1997. The name of Zaire derives from the , itself an adaptation of the Kongo word nzere or nzadi, or "the river that swallows all rivers".-Self-proclaimed Father of the Nation:In...

an President Mobutu Sese Seko

Mobutu Sese Seko

Mobutu Sese Seko Nkuku Ngbendu wa Za Banga , commonly known as Mobutu or Mobutu Sese Seko , born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, was the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1965 to 1997...

for assistance. Congolese paratroopers were deployed to secure the airport while the Burundi army moved into the countryside. Africanist René Lemarchand

René Lemarchand

René Lemarchand is a French political scientist who is known for his research on ethnic conflict and genocide in Rwanda, Burundi and Darfur. Publishing in both English and French, he is particularly known for his work on the concept of clientism. He is a Professor Emeritus at the University of...

notes, "What followed was not so much a repression as a hideous slaughter of Hutu civilians. The carnage went on unabated through the month of August. By then virtually every educated Hutu element, down to secondary school students, was either dead or in flight." Because the perpetrators, composed of government troops and the Jeunesses Révolutionnaires Rwagasore (JRR), the youth wing of the Union for National Progress

Union for National Progress

ruling party, targeted primarily civil servants, educated males and university students, solely because of the "Hutuness" and irrespective of if they posed a threat, Lemarchand terms the eradication a "partial genocide." One of the first to be killed was deposed monarch Ntare V, in Gitega

Gitega

Gitega is the second largest city in Burundi, lying east of Bujumbura. It is the capital of Gitega Province, one of the 17 provinces of Burundi. It is the home of the Burundi National Museum and the Archdiocese of Gitega...

,.

From late April to September 1972, an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 Hutu were killed. About 300,000 people became refugee

Refugee

A refugee is a person who outside her country of origin or habitual residence because she has suffered persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or because she is a member of a persecuted 'social group'. Such a person may be referred to as an 'asylum seeker' until...

s, with most fleeing to Tanzania

Tanzania

The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...

. In an effort to attract sympathy from the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, the Tutsi-dominated government accused the Hutu rebels of having Communist leanings, although there is no credible evidence that this was actually the case. Lemarhand notes that, while crushing the rebellion was the first priority, the genocide was succeessful in a number of other objectives: ensuring the long-term stability of the Tutsi state by eliminating Hutu elites and potential elites; turning the army, police and gendarmie into a Tutsi monopoly; denying the potential return of monarchy through the murder of Ntare V; and creating a new legitimacy for the Hima-dominated state as protector of the country, especially for the previously fractious Tutsi-Banyaruguru.

Post-1972 genocide developments

In 1976, Colonel Jean-Baptiste Bagaza

Jean-Baptiste Bagaza

Jean-Baptiste Bagaza is a Burundian politician who was Chairman of the Supreme Revolutionary Council in Burundi until November 10, 1976, and President from November 10, 1976 to September 3, 1987. While travelling abroad, Bagaza was deposed in a military coup d'état. He was replaced as president by...

took power in a bloodless coup. Although Bagaza led a Tutsi-dominated military regime, he encouraged land reform, electoral reform, and national reconciliation. In 1981, a new constitution was promulgated. In 1984, Bagaza was elected head of state

Head of State

A head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...

, as the sole candidate. After his election, Bagaza's human rights record deteriorated as he suppressed religious activities and detained political opposition members.

In 1987, Major Pierre Buyoya

Pierre Buyoya

Major Pierre Buyoya is a Burundian politician who has ruled Burundi twice, from 1987 to 1993 and from 1996 to 2003...

overthrew Col. Bagaza in a military coup d'état

1987 Burundian coup d'état

The 1987 Burundian coup d'état was a bloodless military coup d'état that took place in Burundi on 3 September 1987. Tutsi president Jean-Baptiste Bagaza was deposed whilst travelling abroad and succeeded by Major Pierre Buyoya, also a Tutsi.-Background:...

. He dissolved opposition parties, suspended the 1981 constitution, and instituted his ruling Military Committee for National Salvation (CSMN). During 1988, increasing tensions between the ruling Tutsis and the majority Hutus resulted in violent confrontations between the army, the Hutu opposition, and Tutsi hardliners. During this period, an estimated 150,000 people were killed, with tens of thousands of refugees flowing to neighboring countries. Buyoya formed a commission to investigate the causes of the 1988 unrest and to develop a charter for democratic reform.

In 1991, Buyoya approved a constitution that provided for a president, non-ethnic government, and a parliament. Burundi's first Hutu president, Melchior Ndadaye

Melchior Ndadaye

Melchior Ndadaye was a Burundian intellectual and politician. He was the first democratically elected and first Hutu president of Burundi after winning the landmark 1993 election...

, of the Hutu-dominated Front for Democracy in Burundi

Front for Democracy in Burundi

The Front for Democracy in Burundi is a progressive political party in Burundi.It was formed by followers of Melchior Ndadaye from the disbanded Burundi Workers' Party in 1986...

(FRODEBU) Party, was elected in 1993.

Civil war

Ndadaye was assassinated three months later, in October 1993, by Tutsi army extremists. The country’s situation rapidly declined as Hutu peasants began to rise up and massacre Tutsi. In acts of brutal retribution, the Tutsi army proceeded to round up thousands of Hutu and kill them. The Rwandan Genocide

Rwandan Genocide

The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate...

in 1994, sparked by the killing

Assassination of Habyarimana and Ntaryamira

The assassination of Juvénal Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira on the evening of April 6, 1994, was the catalyst for the Rwandan Genocide. The airplane carrying Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana and Burundian president Cyprien Ntaryamira was shot down as it prepared to land in Kigali, Rwanda....

of Ndadaye’s successor Cyprien Ntaryamira

Cyprien Ntaryamira

Cyprien Ntaryamira , was President of Burundi from 5 February 1994 until his death when his plane was shot down on 6 April 1994.-Biography:...

, further aggravated the conflict in Burundi by sparking additional massacres of Tutsis.

A decade of civil war followed, as the Hutu formed militias in the refugee camps of northern Tanzania. An estimated 300,000 people were killed in clashes and reprisals against the local population, with 550,000 citizens (nine percent of the population) being displaced. After the assassination of Ntaryamira, the Hutu presidency and Tutsi military operated under a power-sharing political system until July 1996, when Tutsi Pierre Buyoya

Pierre Buyoya

Major Pierre Buyoya is a Burundian politician who has ruled Burundi twice, from 1987 to 1993 and from 1996 to 2003...

seized power in a military coup

1996 Burundian coup d'état

The 1996 Burundian coup d'état was a military coup d'état that took place in Burundi on 25 July 1996. In the midst of the Burundi Civil War, former president Pierre Buyoya deposed Hutu President Sylvestre Ntibantunganya. According to Amnesty International, in the weeks following the coup, more...

. Under international pressure, the warring factions negotiated a peace agreement in Arusha in 2000, which called for ethnically balanced military and government and democratic elections. Two powerful Hutu rebel groups (the CNDD-FDD and the FNL) refused to sign the peace agreement and fighting continued in the countryside. Finally, the CNDD-FDD agreed to sign a peace deal in November 2003 and joined the transitional government. The last remaining rebel group, the FNL, continued to reject the peace process and committed sporadic acts of violence in 2003 and 2004, finally signing a cease fire agreement in 2006.

Post-war

Former President Domitien Ndayizeye

Domitien Ndayizeye

Domitien Ndayizeye is a Burundian politician who was President of Burundi from 2003 to 2005. Of Hutu descent, he succeeded Pierre Buyoya—a Tutsi—as national president on April 30, 2003, after serving as Buyoya's vice-president for 18 months...

and his political supporters were arrested in 2006 and accused of plotting a coup, but later he was acquitted by the Supreme Court. International human rights groups claimed that the current government was framing Domitien Ndayizeye

Domitien Ndayizeye

by torturing him into false confessions of the coup plot. Along with these accusations, in December 2006 the International Crisis Group

International Crisis Group

The International Crisis Group is an international, non-profit, non-governmental organization whose mission is to prevent and resolve deadly conflicts around the world through field-based analyses and high-level advocacy.-History:...

labeled Burundi’s government with a “deteriorating” status in its treatment of human rights. The organization reported that the government had arrested critics, muzzled the press, committed human rights abuses, and tightened its control over the economy, and that "unless it [reversed] this authoritarian course, it risk[ed] triggering violent unrest and losing the gains of peace process."

In February 2007, the U.N. officially shut down its peacekeeping operations in Burundi

United Nations Operation in Burundi

The United Nations Operation in Burundi was established by United Nations Security Council in May 2004 to ensure the continuation of the Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement signed on 28 August 2000....

and turned its attention to rebuilding the nation’s economy, which relies heavily on tea and coffee but suffered severely during 12 years of civil war. The U.N. had deployed 5,600 peacekeepers since 2004, and several hundred troops remained to work with the African Union

African Union

The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...

in monitoring the ceasefire

Ceasefire

A ceasefire is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be declared as part of a formal treaty, but they have also been called as part of an informal understanding between opposing forces...

. The U.N. donated $35 million to Burundi to work on infrastructure, promote democratic practices, rebuild the military, and defend human rights

Human rights

Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...

.

SOS Children, an NGO, claims success in the use of ARVs

Antiretroviral drug

Antiretroviral drugs are medications for the treatment of infection by retroviruses, primarily HIV. When several such drugs, typically three or four, are taken in combination, the approach is known as Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy, or HAART...

and condoms to combat AIDS

AIDS

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...

when sample testing showed that the amount of those whom were HIV positive were 20 percent. The death toll due to the syndrome has still been devastating with the UN estimating 25,000 deaths in 2001 and Oxfam estimating 45,000 dead in 2003.

Reaching a stable compromise on post-transition power sharing was difficult. Although a post-transition constitution was approved in September 2004, it was approved over a boycott by the Tutsi

Tutsi

parties. In addition, the Arusha Peace Agreement mandated that local and national elections be held before the ending of the transitional period on 31 October 2004, but transitional institutions were extended. On 28 February 2005, however, Burundians popularly approved a post-transitional constitution by national referendum, with elections set to take place throughout the summer of 2005. After local, parliamentary, and other elections in June and July, on 19 August 2005, the good governance minister, Pierre Nkurunziza

Pierre Nkurunziza

Pierre Nkurunziza is a Burundian politician who has been President of Burundi since 2005. He is the Chairman of the National Council for the Defense of Democracy-Forces for the Defense of Democracy , the ruling party in Burundi, and also the current Chairman of the East African...

, became the first post-transitional president.

External links

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Kingdom of Burundi

Colonial rule

Independence

1972 genocide

Post-1972 genocide developments

Civil war

Post-war

See also

External links