Editing History of Burundi (section)

===Belgian and United Nations governance (1916–1962) ===
{{Further|Ruanda-Urundi}}

In 1916 [[Belgium|Belgian]] troops conquered the area during the [[World War I|First World War]].<ref name=":3" /> In 1923, the [[League of Nations]] mandated to Belgium the territory of [[Ruanda-Urundi]], encompassing modern-day Rwanda and Burundi,<ref name=":3" /> the western kingdoms being assigned to [[Tanganyika (territory)|Tanganyika]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tanganyika {{!}} historical state, Tanzania {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Tanganyika |access-date=2023-01-24 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> The Belgians administered the territory through [[indirect rule]], building on the [[Tutsi]]-dominated [[Aristocracy|aristocratic]] hierarchy.<ref name=":3" />

Following the [[World War II|Second World War]], Ruanda-Urundi became a [[United Nations Trust Territory]] under Belgian administrative authority.<ref name=":3" /> The trust territory guidelines required that the trust territories be prepared for independence and majority rule but it wasn't until 10 November 1959 that Belgium committed itself to political reform and legalised the emergence of competing political parties.

On 20 January 1959, Burundi's ruler [[Mwambutsa IV Bangiriceng of Burundi|Mwami Mwambutsa IV]] requested Burundi's independence from Belgium and dissolution of the Ruanda-Urundi union.<ref name="wein7">{{cite book | last = Weinstein| first = Warren |author2=Robert Schrere | title = Political Conflict and Ethnic Strategies: A Case Study of Burundi| publisher=Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs | year = 1976| location = Syracuse University | isbn = 0-915984-20-2|page=7 }}</ref> In the following months, Burundian political parties began to advocate for the end of Belgian colonial rule and the separation of Rwanda and Burundi.<ref name="wein7" /> The first and largest of these political parties was the [[Union for National Progress]] (UPRONA).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Burundi - History {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Burundi/History |access-date=2023-01-24 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> UPRONA was a multi-ethnic party led by Tutsi Prince [[Louis Rwagasore]] while the [[Christian Democratic Party (Burundi)|Christian Democratic Party]] (PDC) was supported by Belgium,<ref name=":3" /> which was being ruled by the [[Christian Social Party (Belgium, defunct)|Christian Social Party]], whose party leader, [[August de Schryver]], was Minister of the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi from 1959 until 1960.<ref>''afrika focus'' — Volume 28, Nr. 2, 2015 — pp. 156 -164, The murder of Burundi’s prime minister, Louis Rwagasore, Guy Poppe, http://www.afrikafocus.eu/file/96</ref>

Burundi's first [[Burundian legislative election, 1961|elections]] took place on 8 September 1961 and UPRONA won just over 80% of the electorate's votes. In the wake of the elections, on 13 October, the 29-year-old [[Prince Louis Rwagasore#Assassination|Prince Rwagasore was assassinated]], robbing Burundi of its most popular and well-known nationalist.<ref>[http://web.africa.ufl.edu/asq/v7/v7i1a5.htm "Ethnicity and Burundi’s Refugees"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090105110647/http://web.africa.ufl.edu/asq/v7/v7i1a5.htm |date=2009-01-05 }}, ''African Studies Quarterly: The online journal for African Studies''. Retrieved 12 July 2008.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.africa.upenn.edu/NEH/bhistory.htm|title = East Africa Living Encyclopedia}}</ref> Historians have speculated over Belgium's role in Rwagasore's death and the two highest ranking Belgian colonial officials in Burundi ([[Jean-Paul Harroy]] and [[Roberto Régnier]]) were accused of involvement by Rwagasore's convicted murderer ([[Jean (Ioannis) Kageorgis|Jean Kageorgis]]).<ref name="afrikafocus.eu">''afrika focus''
 — Volume 28, Nr. 2, 2015 — pp. 156 -164, The murder of Burundi’s prime minister, Louis Rwagasore, Guy Poppe, http://www.afrikafocus.eu/file/96</ref> The day after Kageorgis' execution Burundi was granted independence.<ref name="afrikafocus.eu"/>

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Ethnic Distribution of Leadership Positions<ref>Numbers from 1929-1967 are actual number of leadership positions held; subsequent numbers are percentages of the total. Ngaruko & Nkurunziza, 41</ref>
|-
!  ''Ethnic group''
!  1929
!  1933
!  1937
!  1945
!  1967
!  1987
!  1993
!  1997
!  2000a
!  2000b
!  End-2001
|-
!  ''Tutsi''
|  22
|  15
|  18
|  28
|  71
|  72%
|  32%
|  38%
|  89%
|  100%
|  47%
|-
!  ''Hutu''
|  20
|  6
|  2
|  0
|  18
|  28%
|  68%
|  62%
|  11%
|  0%
|  53%
|}