Language/Kinyarwanda/Culture/Rwanda-Timeline
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Historical Timeline for Rwanda - A chronology of key events
Rwanda Timeline[edit | edit source]
Date | Event |
---|---|
Pre-colonial period (13th century to 1899)[edit | edit source] | |
13th century | Formation of Rwanda. |
16th century | The Nyiginya dynasty conquers about fifty small kingdoms, each led by a king of divine right called Umuhinza or Umwami, kingdoms that it ends up uniting under its authority. This movement ended in the 19th century with the reign of Kigeri IV Rwabugiri, the last independent king of Rwanda. |
Colonial period (1899-1962)[edit | edit source] | |
1884-1885 | International Conference in Berlin: the regions of Ruanda-Urundi and Tanganyika are allocated to the Germans. |
1892 | Oscar Baumann, German doctor, crosses Rwanda from the east and continues towards Burundi. |
1894 | Count von Gotzen is received by King Kigeli IV Rwabugiri (or Rwabugili) in Kageyo. |
1895-1896 | Reign of Rutalindwa under the dynastic name of Mibambwe IV. |
1896 | Musinga succeeds Mibambwe IV under the dynastic name of Yuhi V. |
1899 | Rwanda becomes a German protectorate. |
1900 | King Yuhi Musinga receives the first European Catholic missionaries, "the White Fathers". |
1919 | After the defeat of Germany and its withdrawal in 1918, the allied powers give Belgium the mandate over Ruanda-Urundi. The League of Nations ratifies the mandate in 1923 which will be transformed into Trusteeship in 1946. |
1925 | Ruanda-Urundi is officially annexed to the Belgian Congo and placed under the authority of a vice-governor general. |
November 12, 1931 | King Yuhi V Musinga is deposed and replaced by his son Mutara III Rudahigwa, then aged 20 (enthroned on November 16, 1931). Musinga was exiled to the Belgian Congo in Moba (near Kalemie) where he died on December 25, 1944. |
October 17, 1943 | Baptism of King Mutara III Rudahigwa. |
1946 | Rwanda-Urundi becomes a United Nations (UN) trust territory and on October 27 of the same year, Ruanda is consecrated to Christ the King by Mutara III. |
1954 | Suppression of the ubuhake contract. |
1955 | Belgium appoints Jean-Paul Harroy, Governor of Ruanda-Urundi. |
1956 | Mutara III calls for total independence and the end of the Belgian colonial occupation. The Vatican appoints Monsignor Perraudin, a Swiss, Archbishop of Ruanda-Urundi. |
1957 | Publication of the Bahutu Manifesto. |
1959 | Mysterious death of Mutara III in Bujumbura. |
July 28, 1959 | Enthronement of Jean-Baptiste Ndahindurwa, half-brother of Rudahigwa, under the dynastic name of Kigeli V. |
November 3, 1959 | The outbreak of the civil war, which was later qualified as the "Social Revolution of 1959" by the Church. |
The Republic (since 1962)[edit | edit source] | |
1961 | Rwanda separates from Burundi, with which it formed Ruanda-Urundi since 1898. |
July 1, 1962 | Proclamation of the independence of Burundi and Rwanda. Grégoire Kayibanda becomes president, against the backdrop of the massacres of thousands of Tutsis. |
1973 | Coup d'Etat by Major Juvénal Habyarimana. Ethnic clashes and significant exodus of Tutsi populations. |
1983 and 1988 | Habyarimana is re-elected with more than 99.8% of the votes. |
1990 | Creation of the first associations for the defense of human rights in Burundi (Iteka) and Rwanda (Ardho). |
October 1, 1990 | The Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) attacks Rwanda from Uganda with more than 2,000 men. |
1991-1993 | Fighting between the RPF and the army. Mobutu intervenes alongside France and the Rwandan Armed Forces (FAR). |
August 4, 1993 | Signature of the Arusha accords between the Rwandan government and the RPF. |
November 1, 1993 | Beginning of the deployment of UNAMIR forces in Rwanda. |
July 19, 1994 | New government in Kigali, with Pasteur Bizimungu as president and Paul Kagame as vice-president. |
25 August 1995 | First government crisis in Rwanda: resignation of Prime Minister Faustin Twagiramungu and Minister of the Interior Seth Sendashonga. |
March 8, 1996 | End of the UN mission in Rwanda. |
August 9, 1996 | Adoption by the National Assembly of Rwanda of the law on the prosecution of the crime of genocide or crimes against humanity from October 1, 1990. |
October 1996 | Beginning of the "first war" launched from Kivu by the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation (AFDL) supported by Rwanda, with Laurent-Désiré Kabila as spokesperson. Return to Rwanda of 1.5 million Rwandan refugees. |
May 17, 1997 | AFDL captured Kinshasa and Mobutu fled. |
May 22, 1997 | Laurent-Désiré Kabila proclaims himself president of the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire). |
December 1997 | Massacre of Tutsi refugees by Hutu rebels in the Mudende camp (near Rubavu). |
July 27, 1998 | Expulsion of Rwandan officers from the Congolese army after a failed coup against Laurent-Désiré Kabila. |
August 2, 1998 | Beginning of the "second war" in the Congo, supported by Rwanda and Uganda. Seven countries involved. |
March 1999 | First local elections in Rwanda. |
May and August 1999 | Clashes in Kisangani between Rwandan and Ugandan troops. |
July 10, 1999 | Signature of the Lusaka agreements between the government of Kinshasa and the various parties to the Great Lakes conflict. |
March 23, 2000 | Resignation of President Pasteur Bizimungu. |
April 17, 2000 | Paul Kagame is chosen as President of the Republic by Parliament. |
May-June 2000 | Third clash in Kisangani between Rwandan and Ugandan troops. |
June 16, 2000 | Condemnation of Rwanda and Uganda by the Security Council (resolution 1304) for violating the territorial integrity of the Congo and requiring the withdrawal of foreign troops. |
2001 | Assassination of L.-D. Kabila. His son Joseph succeeds him. |
April 2002 | Incarceration of former president Pasteur Bizimungu. |
July 30, 2002 | Signature in Pretoria of an agreement between Rwanda, which undertakes to withdraw its troops from the Congo, and President Joseph Kabila, who undertakes to organize the disarmament and repatriation of the Rwandan Hutu militias present on the Congolese soil. |
January 1, 2003 | In Rwanda, announcement by President Kagame of the release of 43,000 genocide suspects in order to unclog prisons. |
May 19, 2003 | Ban of the Republican Democratic Movement (MDR), the main opposition party. |
August 25, 2003 | Following the establishment of a new constitution by referendum, Paul Kagame was elected president by direct universal suffrage (95% of the vote). |
September 29-October 2, 2003 | Parliamentary elections: RPF victory at 73.78%. |
November 15, 2003 | Voluntary return to Rwanda of 103 members of the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda, led by their leader Paul Rwarakabije, after ten years in the Congo. |
November 24, 2006 | Breakdown of diplomatic relations between Rwanda and France. |
April 6, 2007 | Release of ex-president Pasteur Bizimungu, by presidential pardon. |
July 1, 2007 | Rwanda, along with Burundi, officially joins the East African Community (EAC). |
July 26, 2007 | The death penalty is definitively abolished in Rwanda. |
November 28, 2009 | Rwanda is officially admitted to the Commonwealth. |
January 2009 | Kigali and Kinshasa launch a joint military operation to dislodge the Rwandan rebels who are rampant in eastern Congo. |
February 26, 2010 | Visit of President Sarkozy to Kigali, first visit by a French president since the genocide. Restoration of diplomatic relations. |
March 2, 2010 | Arrest in France then placement under judicial supervision of Agathe Habyarimana, widow of the former president. |
August 9, 2010 | Triumphant re-election for a new seven-year term of President Paul Kagame, who wins with 93%. |
July 1, 2012 | Joint celebration of the 18th anniversary of liberation and the 50th anniversary of independence, under the sign of "resilience". |
July 12, 2012 | Signature in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) of an agreement between the DRC, Rwanda and a dozen states in the Great Lakes region, in order to eradicate armed groups active in eastern Congo. |
September 16, 2013 | In Rwanda, the RPF won 76% of the votes in legislative elections, or 40 of the 53 direct-elected seats. |
April 7, 2015 | The French government declassifies its archives on Rwanda from 1990 to 1995, on the 21st anniversary of the genocide. |
October 29, 2015 | The Chamber of Deputies unanimously adopts a constitutional reform bill authorizing President Paul Kagame to run for a third term in 2017. |
November 17, 2015 | The Senate adopts a reform of the Constitution allowing Paul Kagame to stand for re-election in 2017 and theoretically authorizing him to rule the country until 2034. |
December 31, 2015 | President Kagame announces his intention to run for a third term in 2017. |
March 20, 2016 | The UN transfers Ladislas Ntaganzwa, former mayor of Nyakizu, one of the nine Rwandan genocidaires still wanted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda to Kigali. |
April 15, 2016 | Léon Mugesera, considered as the "thinker of the genocide" is sentenced to life imprisonment in Rwanda where he had been extradited from Canada. He appealed. |
May 10, 2016 | Opening of a historic trial before the Paris Assize Court of alleged actors in the Rwandan genocide. |
August 17, 2016 | Rwanda formalizes its return to the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS). |
October 2016 | French justice relaunches the investigation into the attack in 1994 against the plane of Rwandan President Habyarimana, |
October 16, 2016 | Death in exile of the last king of Rwanda, Kigeli V, who had lived in the United States since 1992. His remains are repatriated to Kigali. |
October 25, 2016 | Appeal trial of Pascal Simbikangwa in France. The first Rwandan convicted in France for his participation in the massacres against the Tutsis in 1994, he was sentenced to 25 years of criminal imprisonment for genocide. The sentence will be confirmed on December 3. |
November 29, 2016 | The French public prosecutor's office announces the opening of an investigation into the role of 20 French officials in the 1994 genocide. |
March 20, 2017 | During a visit to the Vatican, President Paul Kagame is received by Pope Francis, who asks forgiveness for the role played by the Church and some of its members during the genocide. |
April 4, 2017 | Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo sign a cooperation agreement covering oil exploration in Lake Kivu over a 2,700 km area that they share. |
August 5, 2017 | Paul Kagame is re-elected for a third term (98.8% of the vote). |
January 28, 2018 | Paul Kagame is appointed by his African peers to succeed his Guinean counterpart Alpha Condé as the rotating presidency of the African Union. |
Sources[edit | edit source]
World Timelines[edit source]
Videos[edit | edit source]
The Kinyarwanda Language - YouTube[edit | edit source]