Colonization played a significant role in the social harmony in Rwanda. Before being colonized, the Tutsi and Hutu lived together peacefully and with a negligible amount of resentment (some words and phrases suggest that there may have been a small amount of tension between the groups but there is no other evidence of friction). However, when the Rwanda and Great Lakes region (see map) was separated in the Berlin Conference in 1890, the st
art of the disintegration of the peace began. The colony borders were established in 1900, there was a ten year delay because poor maps made it difficult to find the boundaries of each country. The Germanic Empire ended up holding Rwanda and smaller kingdoms on the shore of Lake Victoria. In 1897, German missionaries and colonists moved to Rwanda. This country was very submissive and heavily influenced by the Germans. At this time, race was being emphasized and studied in Europe. In Rwanda, the Germans believed that the Tutsi were of a superior race because they were taller, had more "eloquent" personalities, many readily converted to Roman Catholicism, and their people originally came from the Horn of Africa (which was considered "more European" than the origination sites of the Hutus). This separation, that is simply based on ideas with a moral and logical foundation that is nonexistent, is the root of the problem in Rwanda. The Germans created a system similar to feudalism and put the Tutsi in charge of the farming Hutus. Eventually this rule would evolve into the ruling of the whole country. Before the Germans came in, the Hutu held a significant amount of power in the ruling class, but the Germans replaced all of the ruling Hutus with Tutsi rulers. After WWI, the Germans had the colony taken away, but the changes and damage they left behind were irreparable.
art of the disintegration of the peace began. The colony borders were established in 1900, there was a ten year delay because poor maps made it difficult to find the boundaries of each country. The Germanic Empire ended up holding Rwanda and smaller kingdoms on the shore of Lake Victoria. In 1897, German missionaries and colonists moved to Rwanda. This country was very submissive and heavily influenced by the Germans. At this time, race was being emphasized and studied in Europe. In Rwanda, the Germans believed that the Tutsi were of a superior race because they were taller, had more "eloquent" personalities, many readily converted to Roman Catholicism, and their people originally came from the Horn of Africa (which was considered "more European" than the origination sites of the Hutus). This separation, that is simply based on ideas with a moral and logical foundation that is nonexistent, is the root of the problem in Rwanda. The Germans created a system similar to feudalism and put the Tutsi in charge of the farming Hutus. Eventually this rule would evolve into the ruling of the whole country. Before the Germans came in, the Hutu held a significant amount of power in the ruling class, but the Germans replaced all of the ruling Hutus with Tutsi rulers. After WWI, the Germans had the colony taken away, but the changes and damage they left behind were irreparable. 
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