92 Scarcity and Surfeit
Colonial rule
The elements of group identity, political structure and economy noted above
were all radically transformed under colonialism. Colonial rule was first
imposed on the Burundian kingdom from 1888 to 1915 by the Germans, who
had to give up their colonial territories after the end of the First World War
through the provisions of the Versailles Treaty. In 1919, Belgium assumed
possession of Rwanda-Urundi as trust territories of the League of Nations,
which was formally accepted by the Belgian parliament in October 1924.
Belgium held the territories until their independence in 1962."
The colonial administrations had five major effects on Burundian society,
all of which became important elements of later conflicts:
- The disenfranchisement of Hutus in relation to the fledgling state was
increased through the administrative reforms which shaped the structure
of the state. - The ethnic differential of opportunity was cemented through opening edu-
cation mainly to Tutsi and ganwa. - Ethnic identities became fixed and politicised.
- The economy began to be structured for primary product export.
- The state administration, rather than the royal court, became the central
locus of patronage and source of wealth for the elite.
Through the choice of indirect rule as administrative model, the Germans and
later the Belgians entrenched the position of the Tutsi aristocratic class, the
ganwa, who held virtually all positions of leadership and the attendant
access to political and socio-economic advancement. Administrative central-
isation introduced in the 1930s under Belgian rule further strengthened the
Tutsi generally and the ganwa-ltsi particularly, while eroding traditional
Hutu claims to power. The progressive decimation of the Hutu ranks in the
administration, and their removal from political, social and traditional roles,
led to a minuscule Hutu elite by the time of independence in 1962. Education
opportunities, while in theory open to all, were for the most part open only
to the children of the Tutsi aristocracy with the result of reinforcing their pre-
dominant position in local colonial administrative position~.~~
In privileging the aristocratic Tutsi, the colonial powers did not only sup-
port the hierarchical system which already existed in Burundian society -
they qualitatively changed the relationship between the social groupings as
well as their self-perceptions. From a system of mutual dependence and to
some extent flexible identities, colonialism concretised and rigidified ethnic
identity and placed Tutsi and Hutu in relationship to each other as rulers and
subjects. The Belgians, Reyntjens notes, turned ethnic groups into politically
relevant categorie~.~~