In the first article we described the unbelievably cruel and inhuman policies of Belgium's King Leopold II in the Congo. Sadly, Belgium's pernicious influence in Africa did not end with Leopold.

Being on the winning side of World War I made Belgium the assignee of Ruanda-Urundi (separately Rwanda and Burundi since 1962), courtesy of a League of Nations mandate. This territory was formerly part of German East Africa.

Rwanda's two main ethnic groups are the Hutu and the Tutsi. Although the Tutsi migrated into this region later than the Hutu, and although they comprise a minority of the population, they came to dominate the Hutu. Historically, this occurred through a mostly peaceful process whereby the Tutsi's cattle ownership and advanced combat skills created a feudal-like system over the small-scale agriculturist Hutu. The Hutu indentured themselves to a Tutsi lord, giving him crops and personal service, in exchange for the use of land and cattle. At the head of it all was the Tutsi king, the Mwami.

When The Belgians took over, the feudal system was modified to the extent that payment of tribute, as such, was eliminated. Yet, the de facto dominance of the Tutsi over the Hutu increased greatly, because of the institutionalized racism imposed by the Belgians.

In their eyes, the Tutsi appeared more European looking, and less Negroid, thus they must be superior to the Hutu. Colonial policies made this a self-fulfilling prophecy, and ethnic tensions seethed for years.

What began as a peasant revolt in November, 1959, eventually transformed itself into an organized political movement aimed at the overthrow of the monarchy, and the vesting of full political power in Hutu hands. Under the leadership of Grégoire Kayibanda, Rwanda's first president, the Party for Hutu Emancipation emerged as the spearhead of the revolution.

The Belgians were able to play the situation like a violin. After favoring the Tutsi all this time, they started sympathizing with the Hutu, agreeing that the Tutsi were the enemy and the exploiters.

Following the 1960 elections and the January, 1961 coup in Gitarama-- carried out with the tacit approval of the Belgian authorities--an all-Hutu provisional government came into being. Even as the republic was proclaimed in July, 1962, thousands of Tutsi began fleeing Rwanda. By early 1964--following a failed Tutsi raid from Burundi--at least 150,000 were in neighboring countries.

The Hutu had their own problems as coups occurred in 1973 and 1980, but the real violence was yet to come.

In 1990, the Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front (FPR) rebels invaded from Uganda. A cease-fire was negotiated in early 1991, and an agreement between the government and the FPR was signed in August, 1993 at Arusha, Tanzania, that called for the creation of a broad- based transition government that would include the FPR.

Extremist Hutu were strongly opposed to this plan. In April, 1994, a plane carrying the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi crashed, killing both men. It was thought that the plane had been shot down by extremist Hutu.

A wave of anarchy and mass killings followed over the next several months, in which more than 500,000 civilians, mostly Tutsi, were slaughtered. The FPR responded by resuming their fight, declaring victory in July, and establishing a transitional government. Hundreds of thousands of Rwandans--both Hutu and Tutsi--fled, most of them into what is now called Congo (Kinshasa). The great majority returned to Rwanda in late 1996 and early 1997.

All told, colonial-inspired ethnic violence claimed nearly 1 million lives in Rwanda. Yet, I'm sure that you've heard far more regarding the plight of this tragic country's mountain gorilla.

Another sobering portrayal of the value of human life.