From 1885-1961, Rwanda was a possession of two European countries, Germany, from 1885-1919, and Belgium, from 1919 to 1961. The same held true in neighboring Burundi, which was also populated by Hutu and Tutsi peoples. During this period, European ideas about ethnicity and racial superiority permeated much of Africa. To many Europeans, there was no doubt, white Europeans were superior to black Africans. BUT, people are people, no matter what their color, and it doesn't take much for one group of people to hate another, even if they look very similar to each other. There is a long complicated history of tribal relations and tribal warfare in Rwanda, and the area around it. To the north, Uganda has had issues between different ethnic groups, and to the south, in Burundi, ethnic tensions got so high in 1972 and 1993 that hundreds of thousands of people were killed. In Burundi and Rwanda, the two dominant ethnic groups are the Hutu and the Tutsi. Caught between them in Rwanda are the Twa, a pygmy tribe
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