ABSTRACT
The manufacture of myths has marked the history of Rwandan politics since the first days of colonialism. A broadening of the local administration during the 1950s to include local councilors appointed by the Tutsi chiefs failed to accommodate the growing political consciousness of either group. The impact of the church as a social element—as a provider of education and therefore the qualifications to rule, as an institution in which one’s involvement was a mark of social position—was as marked as its impact on traditional belief systems was inadequate and destructive. Despite its relatively small size, Rwanda’s unity as a single state was only fully established in 1931, with the incorporation of all the chiefdoms into the colonial-monarchical state. The “revolution” of 1959, which saw Tutsi power terminated, was allowed to be regarded as such in part because the expulsion of Rwanda’s Tutsi was never condemned by the outside world.
