Burundi (1983: Doomsday)

This 1983: Doomsday page is a Proposal. It has not been ratified and is therefore not yet a part of the 1983: Doomsday Timeline. You are welcome to correct errors and/or comment at the Talk Page. If you add this label to an article, please do not forget to make mention of it on the main Discussion page for the Timeline.

{{NationInfo
| name = Republika y'u Burundi
| name_en = Republic of Burundi
| name_short = Burundi
| Timeline = 1983:Doomsday
| otl = Burundi, parts of Uganda
| area_unit =
| pop_unit =
| of = of
| flag = BurundiFlag.png
| flag_width = 120px
| flag_caption = | coa = BurundiCOA.png
| coa_width = 80px
| coa_caption =
| map =
| map_width = 220px
| map_caption =
| motto = May these Kingdoms never fall
| Anthem = God Save our King
| capital = London
| city_largest = London
| language = English, French
| language_other = Irish, Welsh, Gaelic, Breton
| religion = Roman Catholic
| religion_other = Lutheran
| demonym = Britian
| regime = Constitutional Monarch
| governing_body = Amalgamated Parliament
| HoStitle = King of Ireland, King of Normandy, King of Scotland, King of Wales, King of England and King of Brittany
| HoSname = Patrick II
| CoGtitle = High Minister
| CoGname = Gordon Brown
| population = 62,041,708 (2010 Estimate)
| currency = Commonwealth Sterling
| organizations = British Empire
}}

Burundi, officially the Republic of Burundi, is a landlocked country in Central Africa.

Pre-Doomsday

European Dominance

Burundi was originally a native African kingdom, led by a predominantly Tutsi elite known as the Gawa. With the advent of European colonialism, Burundi became a part of German East Africa. The German administration largely left the situation in Burundi as it was. The Europeans where of the belief that the Tutsi where in fact a caucasian race, and in their racism declared them supperior to the much more numerous Hutu peoples. This led to the Tutsi dominating the government, and where generally better educated, richer, and had access to better health care.

After the defeat of Germany in World War I, German East Africa was given to Belgium as a League of Nations Mandate. The Belgians largely continued the German methods of Administration. Notably, the Belgians allowed Burundi to keep its Kingship dynasy.

During the 1940s, a series of controversial policies caused divisions throughout the country. In 1943, the Belgians divided the legislative division of the country into two tiers of chiefdoms. By this system, the Tutsi gained control of the majority of land in Burundi. In 1948, Belgium allowed Burundians to form political parties. The fractions created by this act would have a major impact on Burundi's future.

Independance and Civil War

In 1959, the King of Burundi, Mwami Mwambutsa IV, formally requested that Belgium seperate its colonies into Burundi and Rwanda. Six months later, political parties had been formed to inform Europe of the issue of seperation and even attempt to achieve Burundian independance.

Burundi's push for independance was influenced to some extent by instability and ethnic persecution of neighboring Rwanda. In november 1959, the local Hutu people had begun massacring the Tutsi of Rwanda, largely because of their higher standard of living and because local politicians becan blaming them for Hutu poverty. Many of these Tutsi fled to Uganda and Burundi to escape persecution. The Tutsi-dominated military in Burundi began killing Hutu peasants in retaliation for the killing of Tutsi in Rwanda. The Hutu took complete power in Rwanda following the Belgian-run elections of 1960. They began to purge not only Tutsi, but Hutu moderates. The situation in Burundi was only worsened when Prince Louis Rwagasore was assasinated in 1961, allegedly with the help of the Belgian Colonial Administration.

Burundi officially achieved independance in 1962, and almost immediately joined the United Nations. Originally Burundi was a constitutional monarch, with both the Hutu and Tutsi represented in Parliament. However, when Mwami IV chose a Tutsi Prime Minister, the Hutu felt cheated. An attempted coup by the Hutu-dominated police force was put down by the predominantly Tutsi military. When the next Hutu Prime Minister, Pierre Ngendandumwe, was assasinated in 1965, the Hutu began to stage attacks on ethnic Tutsi. The Tutsi began retaliatory attacks. Both the military and the police where now under Tutsi control.

Prince Ntare V deposed his father and claimed the throne of Burundi in 1966. The same year, the current prime minister of Burundi, Tutsi former head of the army Michael Micombero deposed Ntare, abolished the monarchy, and declared Burundi a republic, though it was in effect a military regime.

In 1972, a Hutu group, the Burundian Workers Party, began organizing attacks on the Tutsi, professing the aim of annihilating the entire people. The military responded with large-scale reprisals targeting Hutus. The exact amount of casualties occuring in the Genocide was never established, but is estimated to be around 100,000. A new constitution was established in 1981, keeping Burundi a one-party state.

Post Doomsday

Survival

Burundi was not struck by any nuclear missiles during Doomsday. Burundi had never really been aligned with the Soviets of the Americans, and thus was spared the worst of the chaos. However, the environmental after effects of the nuclear war would stress food supplies and further inflame the conflict between the Hutus and Tutsi.

The Civil war with the Hutu continued, and the Tutsi continued to gain the upper hand. From 1983 to 1989, as much as 60% of the Hutu in Burundi would be forced to leave the country.

Starvation was a serious problem in Burundi. Burundi had at the time one of the largest population densities in the world, with 323 people per kilometer. With more Tutsi immigrants entering the country from wartorn Uganda and Rwanda, the population swelled further. The military began to forcibly organize farmers to better manage land. Although this policy was a considerable drain on manpower, it has been estimated without it the food crisis would have been twice as bad.