Alternative History
Alternative History
Rwanda
Timeline: Differently
Flag Rwanda 1959 Royal Rwanda Coat
Flag Coat of arms
Rwanda map Differently
Location of Rwanda (green)
Capital
(and largest city)
Kigali
Official languages English • German • Swahili
Religion 99.2% Christianity
-54.2% Catholic
-33.2% Eastern Orthodox
-11.8% other Christian
Government Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy
 -  Monarch Yuhi VI Emmanuel
 -  Prime Minister Édouard Ngirente
Establishment
 -  Proclamation 1 August 1923 
Area
 -  Total 26,338 km2 
10,169 sq mi 
Population
 -  Estimate 12,626,950 (82nd)
Currency Rwandan dollar
Drives on the right

Rwanda is a landlocked country located in the Great Lakes region of Africa. It is bordered by Uganda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and Congo to the west. There is also a coastline along Lake Kivu.

With a surface area of 26,338 square kilometers, Rwanda is Africa's fifth-smallest country, ranking only 128th by area among the world's sovereign states. Its population of 12.6 million inhabitants, however, makes it Africa's 24th- and the the world's 82nd-most populous nation.

The country is a largely rural and feudal society ruled by a monarchy. Its society is largely mixed between German and African influence, due to being a German colony. 

History[]

Before colonization, Rwanda was a rural kingdom divided between two classes: the Hutus and the Tutsis. Tutsis were the minority but were the ruling class. Once under German rule, the Germans increased the racial divide between the Hutus and Tutsi through measurements of the nose and other facial features. Following the Great War, the colony of Ruanda-Urundi was granted independence from Germany. For five years, the country stayed as Ruanda-Urundi, yet the divide between both Burundi and Rwanda became apparent. Burundi was led by Hutus.

In 1923, Rwanda seceded to form its own country, while Burundi was occupied by the British (it would later be liberated as part of independent Uganda). Early on, the ethnic divisions in Rwanda began to show signs of a conflict brewing. A Tutsi monarchy remained in power for the next nine years. Hutu unrest sparked up again. Attempts at any Democracy were shunned by the monarchy. After the assassination of the Rwandan king Yuhi V Musinga, his successor Mutara lll Rudahigwa ordered a reign of terror upon the Hutus. 30,000 were killed and many Hutus fled into neighboring Congo, setting up refugee camps. A resistance movement formed to take back the country. Fighting raged from 1932 to 1935. Once the Hutus defeated the Tutsi government, they instigated their own terror on the Tutsis, launching the Rwandan Genocide, forcing them to flee across to the Congo. The Congo, tired of these illegal crossings, massacred those inside the refugee camps.

The Hutus reigned over the country, but the Tutsi resistance movements were brewing, preparing to take back the country. In 1947, both Tutsis and Hutus came to an agreement to end hostilities. Both ethnic groups would share power in the government. The Tutsis, however, would remain in the monarchy. More than 50 years later this peace agreement does seem to have eased tensions between ethnic groups.