Rwanda
Rwanda is a country in Africa.
Contents
History
The Republic of Rwanda is a small landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of east-central Africa, bordered by Uganda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania. Home to approximately 10.1 million people, Rwanda supports the densest population in continental Africa, with most of the population engaged in subsistence agriculture. A verdant country of fertile and hilly terrain, the small republic bears the title "Land of a Thousand Hills".
Rwanda had been a colony of Germany in the 19th century (German East Africa) and later of Belgium for the first half of the 20th century. Since the end of 1884, Peters had concluded agreements with local rulers on the East African mainland on behalf of the Society for German Colonization, from which the DOAG emerged, thereby establishing colonial claims. Modeled on British charters, Otto von Bismarck had the colonial society, renamed the German East African Society (DOAG), issue an imperial letter of protection covering the regions of Usagara, Nguru, Useguha and Ukami. This gave Peter's colonial association the necessary backing for further expansion.
The country has garnered international attention most markedly for the infamous Rwandan Genocide of 1994. Rwanda became the 54th nation to join the Commonwealth of Nations at the 2009 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). It became the second country (after Mozambique) not to have any historical ties with the United Kingdom.
Expeditions
1892
The first European traveler to actually set foot in Rwanda was the geographer Oskar Baumann. In service of the “German Anti-Slavery Committee” (Deutsche Antisklaverei-Komitee in Koblenz), he headed an expedition that led to Lake Tanganyika. In September 1892, he crossed the border to Rwanda from Burundi and was welcomed for the time being. When he wanted to leave after four days, the tribal chieftan, callimg himself "king", did not give his permission. The Europeans and their bearers still set off and were then attacked by Rwandan archers. Baumann quickly had them shot at and then left the country towards Burundi.
1894
The next expedition was led by 2nd Lieutenant à la suite of the 2. Garde-Ulanen-Regiment[1] Gustav Adolf Graf von Götzen and crossed Rwanda from 2 May to 29 June 1894. His caravan was initially received curiously and he was granted, as the first white man ever, an audience with the chieftan ("king"). The tribe responded increasingly defensive and contemptuous, calling the Europeans “wild animals”. The black Africans did not answer the questions of Graf von Götzen or deliberately spread false information. The caravan, on its way through Rwanda, was repeatedly obstructed and even violently attacked.
But his achievements were great and he discovered Lake Kivu. Rwanda is a hilly highland, which means the climate is pleasant despite being close to the equator. Lake Kivu is the highest of the Central African lakes; it is 1460 m above sea level, is 100 km long, 50 km wide and very deep. It is four times larger than Lake Constance in Southern Germany. There are hot springs in the northeast of the lake. During World War I, the Belgian and German troops of the Schutztruppe halted fighting one day a week to swim together in the lake. The very Germanophile King Musinga ruled the tribes from 1895 to 1931.[2]
External links
Encyclopedias
References
- ↑ Dienstalters-Liste der Offiziere der Königlich Preußischen Armee, 1894, p. 307
- ↑ Hildegard Neumann: Gustav Neumann und das „Bodelschwingh-Boot“. In: "Deutsches Schiffahrtsarchiv", No. 2, 1978, pp. 35–44
