Similarities Between Rwanda And Angola

Building States and Societies in Post-Colonial Africa

The period of colonialism shaped most of the African continents into what it today. Through examples from Angola and Rwanda I will compare the two countries to give insight into what the European influence has caused. Angola was occupied by the Portuguese and when colonialism was coming to a close the Portuguese pulled all their influence out of the country, leaving the place in array of confusion. Rwanda was occupied by the Belgians and when they pulled out of Rwanda they left a system, a system that caused genocide. Colonization transformed the continent of Africa and when Europe was retreating Africa’s people struggled to find a direction in which to take their new state. In this essay

When colonialism first began Africa had few to no white settlers in most areas, it wasn’t a place desired by white to come, countries would have select officials making treaties and relationships with locals to go about the duties of the European states, in most cases having Africans sell Africans the Portuguese Angola however did not have this issue being on the coast (Parker p81). Slavery was one of the first relationships made between the African continent and Europeans so it is important to factor in w hen discussing how the relationship and political countries are in now. In the scene of Rwanda the colonial influences that ended this state used the Rwandan culture to manipulate the people. To start Europeans used the word tribes to refer to indigenous Africans. “Then idea of ‘tribe’ is connected with the language of empires. It was the way in which Roman conquerors envisaged the indigenous Berber peoples of North Africa.” (Parker p45) . This information above is to give a layout of how the indigenous people s of Africa was looked upon to help us better understand were there relationship with European countries has evolved

Many of lines drawn during the Berlin conference were lines that looked convent to Europeans wants and needs, the thoughts and mentions of Africans and their traditional boarders was not discussed. This was another factor that played a large role in cause conflicts between African countries when European influences left. This caused issue because many of the people within the colonies were misplaced by colonialism and when Europeans removed themselves, some indigenous people thought they would be able to go back to their traditional homes. “In much of the world, national borders have shifted over time to reflect ethnic, linguistic, and sometimes religious divisions”, but “Africa is different, its nations largely defined not by its peoples heritage but by the follies of European colonialism” (Fisher p2). This problem is becoming more prevalent in recent years due to the countries within in Africa becoming more democratic. In Angola the country was full of a variety of ethnicities and race, and in Rwanda there were two indigenous groups of Africans whom had once lived peacefully beside one another turned against each other. The boarders drawn by European states caused these tensions which may be one of the hardest issues to fix that colonialism has