Key Idea: This topic tells one long, connected story. Colonial rule in the Congo and Rwanda (c.1875-1962) created mass exploitation and a rigid ethnic hierarchy. That hierarchy exploded into civil war and genocide in Rwanda (1990-94), while next door, Congo's own post-independence collapse produced Mobutu's 32-year dictatorship. When the genocide ended, its fallout triggered two Congo wars that killed millions. Nothing here happens in isolation — always trace the chain from colonial cause to 21st-century consequence.
How this topic is tested
You will answer HL Paper 3 essays: 'To what extent do you agree...' style questions worth [15] marks each, drawn from the wider Topic 10 region (Peace and cooperation / Authoritarian states, depending on your paper's section). The skill being tested is evaluating a claim and reaching a substantiated judgement — not just narrating events. Top-band answers state a clear thesis in the introduction, weigh evidence for AND against the claim with specific named dates/people/policies, and end with a decisive verdict. You do NOT need historiography (naming historians) to reach the top band — precise factual evidence does the job.
Must-know facts — one line per sub-topic
| Sub-topic (micro) | What it covers | Must-know names/dates |
|---|---|---|
| 10.7.1a — Congo Free State | Leopold II's private colony run for rubber profit | 1885 Berlin Conference; Force Publique terror (mutilation, hostage-taking); population roughly halved by 1908; Casement Report 1904 / Congo Reform Association (E.D. Morel) |
| 10.7.1b — Belgian Congo | State takes over from Leopold but keeps exploitation | 1908 annexation; Union Minière du Haut-Katanga (copper); total political exclusion; évolués and Patrice Lumumba's Mouvement National Congolais (1958); independence 1960 with almost no trained Congolese leadership |
| 10.7.1c — Colonial Rwanda | Flexible Hutu/Tutsi/Twa categories turned into fixed 'races' | Kigeli IV Rwabugiri (c.1867-95) hardens ubuhake; Germany rules indirectly (1885-1916); Belgium takes over as League of Nations mandate, 1922; Hamitic hypothesis; identity cards fix ethnicity permanently, 1933-35 (ends kwihutura) |
| 10.7.2a — Rwanda to civil war | Independence-era purges, land crisis, RPF invasion | 1959-early 1960s Hutu Revolution purges ~150,000-300,000 Tutsi into exile; land pressure + collapsing coffee prices + 1990 IMF austerity; RPF invades from Uganda, 1 Oct 1990; President Habyarimana; Interahamwe militia formed |
| 10.7.2b — Arusha and assassination | Peace deal collapses in violence | Arusha Accords signed Aug 1993 (power-sharing, UNAMIR deployed); hardliners + RTLM hate radio sabotage the deal; Habyarimana's plane shot down 6 April 1994 (disputed — Hutu extremists vs RPF theories) |
| 10.7.2c — Mobutu's Zaire | Congo Crisis produces a 32-year personalist dictatorship | Congo Crisis 1960-65 (army mutiny, Katanga secession, Lumumba murdered Jan 1961, UN's ONUC); Mobutu's coup 1965; renamed Zaire 1971; kleptocracy — billions stolen while inflation hit 1,000%+ |
| 10.7.3a — Rwandan genocide | ~800,000 killed in 100 days | 6 April 1994 trigger; Interahamwe, RTLM radio, Kangura magazine's 'Hutu Ten Commandments'; RPF (Paul Kagame) captures Kigali, July 1994, ending it by force |
| 10.7.3b — International response & justice | World fails to intervene, then prosecutes after the fact | UNAMIR commander Dallaire's warnings ignored; UN cuts troop numbers; France's Opération Turquoise (June 1994) lets killers flee to Zaire; ICTR set up in Arusha 1994 (convicted PM Jean Kambanda); gacaca community courts |
| 10.7.3c — Second Congo War | Genocide fallout drags in up to 9 African states | Kabila overthrows Mobutu 1997 (Rwanda/Uganda-backed); Kabila expels them 1998, sparking war; 'Africa's World War', 3-5.4 million deaths; Kabila assassinated Jan 2001, son Joseph succeeds; coltan/diamonds/gold fund fighting; peace deal 2002-03; M23 emerges 2012 |
Colonial identity politics (1933-35 Rwanda identity cards; Belgian Congo's total exclusion of Africans from power) → post-independence purges and dictatorship (Hutu Revolution; Mobutu) → civil war and failed peace (RPF invasion, Arusha, assassination) → genocide (1994) → regional war (Congo Wars, 1996-2003). Learn this chain and you can answer almost any question on this topic.
Modelled exam question 1
To what extent do you agree that Belgian colonial policy, rather than pre-existing African divisions, was responsible for the depth of exploitation and division seen in the Congo and Rwanda by 1960?
🔒 Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.
Modelled exam question 2
To what extent do you agree that the international community's failure to intervene was the main reason the 1994 Rwandan genocide reached the scale that it did?
🔒 Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.
Important: Do not write Congo and Rwanda as two separate, unrelated stories. Examiners specifically reward essays that trace the causal chain across both: colonial identity politics feeds the 1994 genocide, and the genocide's fleeing perpetrators directly trigger the Congo Wars. Also, never just narrate — 'to what extent do you agree' always needs a thesis, evidence on both sides, and a clear final judgement.
What was the Congo Free State and why did it collapse into scandal? Leopold II's personal colony (1885-1908), run for rubber profit via Force Publique terror (hostage-taking, mutilation, forced labour). The population roughly halved. Exposed by Roger Casement's 1904 report and the Congo Reform Association, forcing Belgium to annex it as a state colony in 1908.
How did Belgium turn Hutu/Tutsi/Twa into rigid categories? Pre-colonial identity was flexible (kwihutura let wealthy Hutu become Tutsi). Belgian rule (from 1922) applied the false 'Hamitic hypothesis' favouring Tutsi, then issued identity cards in 1933-35 that fixed ethnicity permanently and ended that flexibility for good.
What caused the 1990 Rwandan civil war? A mix of causes: colonial-era Tutsi purges after independence created a large exile population; land pressure, falling coffee prices, and 1990 IMF austerity created economic desperation; the Tutsi-led RPF then invaded from Uganda on 1 October 1990, demanding refugee return and an end to one-party Hutu rule.
Why did the Arusha peace deal fail? The August 1993 Arusha Accords promised power-sharing with the RPF, but Hutu Power extremists (backed by RTLM hate radio) refused to give up their power and sabotaged it. Habyarimana's plane was shot down on 6 April 1994 — the spark that triggered the genocide within hours.
How was the 1994 genocide organised, and who ended it? The Interahamwe militia, incited by RTLM radio and Kangura magazine, killed roughly 800,000 people (mostly Tutsi) in about 100 days, with mass participation by ordinary citizens and officials. The RPF under Paul Kagame ended it by force, capturing Kigali in July 1994.
How did the genocide's fallout cause the Congo Wars? Fleeing Hutu extremists regrouped in Zaire; Rwanda helped Kabila overthrow Mobutu in 1997, but when Kabila expelled Rwandan/Ugandan troops in 1998, they backed a rebellion, starting the Second Congo War — 'Africa's World War', involving up to 9 states and 3-5.4 million deaths, partly fuelled by coltan and other mineral resources.
1) Memorise the date chain: 1885 Berlin Conference to 1908 Belgian Congo to 1922 Belgian Rwanda to 1933-35 identity cards to 1990 RPF invasion to 1993 Arusha to 6 April 1994 genocide to 1996-97 First Congo War to 1998-2003 Second Congo War. 2) For 'to what extent' essays, always name specific policies (Force Publique, ubuhake, identity cards, Arusha Accords) rather than general statements. 3) Remember there is no single 'correct' answer on who shot down Habyarimana's plane — examiners want you to weigh both theories, not pick one as fact. 4) Link colonial causes to modern consequences in your conclusion — that joined-up thinking is what separates top-band answers from merely descriptive ones.