A timeline of events in Rwanda

The genocide in 1994 was severe enough to receive worldwide attention, although not enough action early enough to stop it.  The roots of the conflict go far back and here is a   timeline from 1918 to 1999.

The timeline starts in 1918 which was when the former German colony came under the Belgians as a League of Nations protectorate.  Both the Germans and the Belgians favoured the minority Tutsi over the majority Hutu.  The Belgians introduced ethnic identity cards to distinguish between Hutu and Tutsi back in 1926 and there were massacres long before the 1994 events that everyone now hears about.