Burundi History

Burundi - national flag

Burundi National Flag, the Flag's composition dates from 1962 and its current design from 1967. The White Andreask expresses a desire for peace, the green fields a hope for the future, and the red fields symbolize the struggle for independence. The three stars in the middle stand for the country's election language: unity, work and progress.

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Burundi - history

Burundi - history, Burundi's first residents were twee (pygmies). They stayed between 300- and 600-h. followed by Bantu people hutu. From 1300- to 1600-h. the shepherds of Tutsi arrived in the area and a common Hutu and Tutsi language, rundi, emerged. The Tutsic clans established batare and bezi through 1600-t. a number of monarchies, and in the formation of an organized common kingdom, the Banyigini Kingdom, the Tutsis gained a dominant position under King (mwami) Ntare Rushatsi (c. 1675-1705).

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The flowering period of the Tutsimonarchy took place during King Ntare 2. Rugaamba (c. 1795-1852). During King Mwezi 2. Kisabo (1852-1908), some division occurred, but it was not until 1899 that the political independence of the monarchy was broken. Then the area, along with the neighboring state of Rwanda (now Rwanda), was incorporated into German East Africa under the name of Rwanda-Urundi.

In 1916, Ruanda-Urundi became occupied by Belgium, and in 1924 it became a mandate under the League of Nations. King Mwambutsa 2. (regent 1916-66) cooperated with the Belgians. The Tutsi elite maintained power, but Belgian attempts to introduce democratic reforms, including abolition of the tribunal system and forced labor, created the basis for later ethnic conflicts.

Up to the independence of 1.7.1962, Burundi was divided into two political movements; partly the populist, Bezi-dominated Union pour le progrès national (UPRONA), led by Prince Louis Rwagasore, and the Belgian and Batare-backed Party Democratique Charity (PDC). Rwagasore was assassinated in 1961, but UPRONA won the election the same year. In the 1965 elections, the Hutus gained a large majority in parliament, but King Mwambutsa appointed a Tutsi, Léopold Biha, as head of government.

A Hutu rebellion then forced Mwambutsa into exile. In 1966, the son of Prince Charles Ndinzeye (1947-72) took over the throne as Ntare 3. and appointed Tutsi officer Michel Micombero as head of government. Shortly afterwards, Micombero Burundi proclaimed republic with himself as president. A centralized military regime provided the basis for ethnic tensions, and the culmination came in 1972 when a failed hutcup resulted in a massacre; approximately 80,000 Hutus were killed and more than 200,000 fled.

In 1974, a new constitution was introduced, which automatically gave UPRONA's leader the presidential post. After a bloodless coup in November 1976, Colonel Jean-Baptiste Bagaza took power; despite his socialist attitude, he maintained the Tutsis' monopoly of power. A new coup in September 1987 brought Major Pierre Buyoya to power. He created a military council and abolished the UPRONA constitution. The following year, the military carried out a massacre, killing over 20,000 Hutus, and approximately 60,000 fled.

In the early 1990's, UPRONA's Central Committee with both Hutu and Tutsi members was re-established; in 1992, following a referendum, a new democratic constitution was introduced, and in June 1993, the Hutu party Front pour la demokratie au Burundi (FRODEBU) won both the presidential and parliamentary elections. President Melchior Ndadaye immediately sought to democratize the administration, but was killed by a failed military coup on October 21, 1993. A new wave of ethnic violence then washed over the country and 100,000 Hutus are believed to have lost their lives.

In February 1994, Cyprien Ntaryamira was inaugurated as new president, but 6.4.1994 he and Rwanda president J. Habyarimana were also killed in an attack in Kigali. However, the violence continued, and in the mid-1990's the contradictions between Tutsis and Hutus evolved into civil war-like conditions. In 1996, the military carried out a coup, which set aside Sylvestre Ntibantunganya and appointed Pierre Buyoya as president. In the ensuing period, the Tutsid-dominated army conducted several massacres on civilian Hutus. At the same time, Hutu resistance groups murdered civilian Tutsis. The international community tried unsuccessfully on several occasions to force the parties into negotiations.

In 1999, the OAU attempted to mediate with Tanzania's former President Julius Nyerere as negotiator. The attempt failed and South Africa's former President Nelson Mandela took over. In August 2000, most of the parties succeeded in making a tentative agreement, and in July 2001 Mandela published a plan for transition to democratic rule in which a Huture representative, Domitien Ndayizeye (b. 1949), was appointed as Vice President.

The transitional government was deployed in November 2001, at the same time as the UN Security Council decided to send peacekeepers to the country. In 2005, a new constitution was passed by a referendum; here a division of power between the Hutus and the Tutsis was made.

The same year, new elections were held, with the hut-dominated movement Conseil pour la defenses de la democracy - Force pour la defenses de la democracy, CNDD-FDD, won and their leader Pierre Nkurunziza appointed president. CNDD-FDD was originally a hutum resistance group, but became the choice for a multi-ethnic party. The government went with the support of, among others, The UN is disarming the former militias and rebuilding the country. The last hutum resistance group, the FNL, and the Burundi government entered into a ceasefire in the fall of 2006. It is estimated that during the civil war, approximately 300,000 people in the country.

However, the peace turned out to be fragile. In 2007, clashes between various factions and the FNL occurred in several places, and in 2008 the FNL bombed Bujumbura. After the Burundian army added heavy losses to the FNL, another ceasefire was signed between the government and the FNL, which the next year abandoned its weapons and became a political party. At the same time, President Nkurunziza's regime has become increasingly oppressive and authoritarian. His 2010 election victory triggered accusations of electoral fraud and it led to widespread unrest. Since then, freedom of press and expression has been substantially curtailed. Nkurunziza posted for the third time in 2015; it triggered violent riots. Following a failed coup attempt, several opposition leaders were arrested and the precarious situation triggered a new refugee crisis during which around 100,000 people left the country.