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Research

Timelines

The dates that shed light on the root causes of the Great Lakes conflicts, from 1865 to 2026.

Great Lakes · 1865-2026

Great Lakes: a century and a half of history, forty years of conflict

This timeline accompanies Tuzafrika's analysis “The roots of the Great Lakes conflicts”. Period by period, it brings together the events that show how land, nationality, poorly drawn borders, exhausted States, the war economy and impunity became intertwined.

Each date refers to its sources, numbered in square brackets. Casualty figures are given with their ranges, because they remain debated, and where a government disputes a finding, its position is stated.

Periods

Period 1

Kingdoms, colonisation and borders (1865-1959)

Before independence, colonisation draws the borders, freezes identities and moves populations: the seeds of the conflicts to come.

1865-1895

Rwabugiri's expeditions

RwandaDRC

The Rwandan mwami Kigeli IV Rwabugiri leads military expeditions towards Idjwi island and Bushi, where the Shi kingdoms put up strong resistance.[1]

1885

The Congo Free State

DRCRegion

Following the Berlin conference, the Congo Free State, the personal property of King Leopold II, is recognised by the powers. The 1981 law will take 1 August 1885 as the reference date for nationality.[1][2]

1908

The Belgian Congo

DRC

Belgium annexes the Congo Free State, which becomes the Belgian Congo.[1]

1910

Borders drawn on the map

DRCRwandaUganda

The borders between the Belgian Congo, British Uganda and German East Africa, which then included Rwanda, are set by a series of agreements concluded in Brussels and Berlin: Bufumbira goes to Uganda, Idjwi island to the Congo. People of a single culture find themselves on either side of the line.[1][3][4]

Early 1930s

Identities frozen

Rwanda

The Belgian administration introduces ethnic labels — Hutu, Tutsi or Twa — on identity cards. Fluid social categories become fixed memberships.[5][6]

1937

Resettlement in Masisi

DRCRwanda

The colonial authorities organise the resettlement of families from Rwanda to the territory of Masisi, in Kivu, to supply labour to the plantations.[7]

Period 2

Independence and nationality (1959-1979)

Secessions, coups and successive nationality laws: the question of belonging takes root at the heart of Kivu's political life.

1959-1962

First exile of Rwandan Tutsi

RwandaDRCUgandaBurundi

The so-called “social revolution” overthrows the Rwandan monarchy. Violence against Tutsi drives some 120,000 people into exile in Kivu, Uganda, Burundi and Tanganyika: the question of Rwandan refugees is set for thirty years.[6][1]

30 June 1960

Independence of the Congo

DRC

Independence of the Congo.[1]

11 July 1960

Secession of Katanga

DRC

Moïse Tshombe proclaims the secession of Katanga; South Kasai secedes in turn in August.[1]

17 January 1961

Murder of Lumumba

DRC

Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba, handed over to the Katangan authorities, is murdered in Katanga.[1]

1963-1966

The Kanyarwanda war

DRC

In North Kivu, the “Kanyarwanda war” pits Banyarwanda against so-called indigenous communities, notably the Hunde, over political control of Masisi.[8][9][1]

1964

Inviolability of borders

Region

In Cairo, the Organisation of African Unity proclaims the inviolability of the borders inherited from colonisation.[10]

24 November 1965

Mobutu's coup

DRC

General Joseph-Désiré Mobutu seizes power in a coup.[1]

1966 and 1973

Land to the State

DRC

Two laws proclaim State ownership of the land and strip customary land rights of legal value.[7]

26 March 1971

Nationality recognised

DRC

Decree-law 71-020 deems Congolese the people from Rwanda-Urundi settled in the Congo as of 30 June 1960.[1][11]

27 October 1971

The Congo becomes Zaire

DRC

In the name of the “return to authenticity”, the Congo becomes the Republic of Zaire.[1]

5 January 1972

Collective nationality

DRC

Law 72-002 collectively grants Zairian nationality to people from Ruanda-Urundi settled in Kivu before 1 January 1950.[7][1]

1972

Massacres in Burundi

Burundi

Killings first target Tutsi and then, during the army's repression, Hutu on a massive scale: over 100,000 dead according to estimates.[12]

Period 3

The 1980s: exhausted States

Economic crisis, worn-out regimes, war in Uganda and refugees with no prospect of return: the ingredients of a regional conflagration come together.

February 1981

Museveni takes to the bush

Uganda

After the disputed December 1980 elections that return Milton Obote to power, Yoweri Museveni takes to the bush.[13][14]

June 1981

Birth of the NRM

Uganda

Museveni's guerrilla merges with that of former president Yusuf Lule, forming the National Resistance Movement (NRM) and its armed wing, the NRA.[13]

29 June 1981

Nationality withdrawn

DRC

Law 81-002 annuls the collective nationality of 1972. Only those with an ancestor belonging to a community settled in the territory on 1 August 1885 are Zairian; others must seek individual naturalisation.[7][1]

May 1982

Certificates annulled

DRC

An ordinance declares the nationality certificates issued in 1972 null and void.[7]

October 1982

Expulsions in Uganda

UgandaRwanda

In Uganda's Ankole region, Rwandan refugees and Banyarwanda are driven from their land: some 40,000 people cross into Rwanda, which gathers them in camps.[15][16]

Late January 1986

The NRA in Kampala

Uganda

The NRA takes Kampala. Rwandan refugees who fought in its ranks, including Fred Rwigyema and Paul Kagame, become officers in the new Ugandan army.[14][13][16]

December 1987

Birth of the RPF

RwandaUganda

In Kampala, the Rwandan refugees' association renames itself the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF).[16]

1988

Ntega and Marangara

Burundi

The violence at Ntega and Marangara, in the north of the country, leaves between 5,000 and 50,000 dead according to sources.[12]

Late 1980s

Coffee crisis, refugee question

Rwanda

The collapse of coffee prices shakes the economy. Some 480,000 Rwandans, most of them Tutsi, live in exile; the regime refuses their mass return.[6][17]

Period 4

The regional spiral (1990-1994)

In four years, the Rwandan civil war, the Burundian crisis and the 1994 genocide shift the heart of the conflict to Kivu.

1990-1992

Nationality at the heart of debate

DRC

During the Sovereign National Conference, the nationality of Kivu's Kinyarwanda speakers, and thus their right to vote, returns to the centre of political debate. In 1991, the announced “identification of nationals”, which was to exclude the descendants of transplanted populations, sparks violence and is abandoned.[7][9][1]

1 October 1990

The RPF enters Rwanda

RwandaUganda

The RPF enters Rwanda from Uganda: the Rwandan civil war begins.[17]

March 1993

Violence in Masisi

DRC

Massacres break out in Walikale and then in Masisi. Within months, violence by militias on both sides leaves, according to the FAO, between 10,000 and 14,000 dead and more than 200,000 displaced.[7][18]

August 1993

Arusha Accords

Rwanda

The Arusha Accords suspend the civil war and provide for power-sharing and the integration of the two armies.[17]

21 October 1993

Assassination of Melchior Ndadaye

Burundi

Army officers assassinate Melchior Ndadaye, the first democratically elected Hutu president, elected in June. Within a year the violence leaves between 50,000 and 100,000 dead; the civil war will last until 2005 and claim some 300,000 lives.[12]

6 April 1994

The 6 April attack

RwandaBurundi

The plane carrying the Rwandan and Burundian presidents is shot down over Kigali. Within hours, the genocide against the Tutsi begins.[6]

April-July 1994

The genocide against the Tutsi

Rwanda

In about a hundred days, from 500,000 to over a million dead, the vast majority Tutsi; the United Nations puts the figure at over a million. The RPF prevails in early July.[6][19]

Summer 1994

The exodus to Zaire

RwandaDRC

Some 1.4 million people flee into Zaire, among them soldiers of the former army and Interahamwe militiamen, who rearm in the Kivu camps.[6]

Period 5

The Congo wars (1995-2003)

Two successive wars settle the question of the camps by force, but none of the root causes.

1995

Expulsion order

DRC

The transitional Parliament orders the removal of all people of Rwandan or Burundian origin, Banyamulenge included, to their country “of origin”.[7]

1995

Birth of the ADF

Uganda

The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) are born from the merger of several rebel movements, including the remnants of NALU.[20]

October 1996

First Congo war

DRCRwandaUgandaBurundi

Laurent-Désiré Kabila's AFDL, backed mainly by Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi, then by Angola, attacks the camps and marches on Kinshasa.[21][22]

November 1996

Bwera and Mpondwe

Uganda

The ADF attack on Bwera and Mpondwe kills some fifty people and forces 25,000 to flee.[23]

16 May 1997

Fall of Mobutu

DRC

Mobutu flees Kinshasa. The Mapping Report will document massacres of Hutu refugees and Congolese civilians during this campaign; Kigali contests these findings.[21][22]

8 June 1998

Kichwamba massacre

Uganda

At the Kichwamba Technical Institute, the ADF kills some 80 students and abducts 80 to 100 others.[23][24]

2 August 1998

Second Congo war

DRCRegion

The break between Kabila and his former allies opens the second Congo war, in which nine African states take part.[25][1]

July 1999

Lusaka Agreement

Region

Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement.[25]

2000

Birth of the FDLR

DRCRwanda

The FDLR is officially founded in Lubumbashi, from the forces that fled Rwanda in 1994, whose ranks included perpetrators of the genocide.[26]

August 2000

Arusha Agreement for Burundi

Burundi

Signing of the Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement for Burundi.[12]

16 January 2001

Assassination of Laurent-Désiré Kabila

DRC

Laurent-Désiré Kabila is shot dead in Kinshasa; his son Joseph succeeds him.[25][1]

April 2001

Plunder documented

DRCRegion

A UN panel of experts documents the plundering of resources by armies and rebellions, and recommends an embargo on this trade with Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda.[27][28]

April and July 2002

Sun City and Pretoria

DRCRwanda

Sun City and then Pretoria agreements.[25]

2003

Transition and a disputed toll

DRC

A transitional government is set up. The toll remains debated: the IRC estimates 5.4 million excess deaths between 1998 and 2007; the Human Security Report Project disputes the method and reduces the IRC's estimate of 2.8 million for 2001-2007 to around 860,000.[25]

Period 6

Rebellions and peace through integration (2004-2013)

At the end of each rebellion, fighters join the army: crimes go unpunished and rebellions are reborn.

July 2005

Ntulumamba massacre

DRC

At Ntulumamba (Walungu), 40 to 50 villagers are killed; the massacre is attributed to the FDLR or to its splinter group known as the “Rastas”.[26][29]

2005

End of the Burundian war

Burundi

The Burundian civil war, which claimed some 300,000 lives, largely ends; the FNL only lays down its arms in 2009.[12]

2006

Birth of the CNDP

DRC

Launch of the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP).[30]

January 2007

Kahemba villages

DRCAngola

According to a statement by Congolese MPs, Angolan forces occupy eleven villages in Kahemba territory, whose inhabitants are driven out.[31]

2007

Clashes on Lake Albert

DRCUganda

On Lake Albert, around Rukwanzi island, clashes between the two armies cause deaths on both sides.[32]

30 July 2007

Zone of Common Interest

DRCAngola

Agreement on a Zone of Common Interest for the disputed continental shelf.[33][34]

January-March 2009

Integration of the CNDP

DRC

The CNDP is integrated into the Congolese armed forces: integration announced in January, agreement of 23 March 2009.[30]

2009

Civilians caught in the crossfire

DRC

During operations against the FDLR, the group kills at least 701 civilians between late January and September; the Congolese army and its allies kill at least 732. At Busurungi, on 9 and 10 May, at least 96 dead.[35]

30 July - 2 August 2010

Mass rapes in Walikale

DRC

A coalition of the FDLR, Mai-Mai Sheka and deserters rapes at least 387 people in 13 villages of Walikale territory.[36]

1 October 2010

The Mapping Report

DRCRegion

Publication of the Mapping Report: 617 serious violent incidents committed in the DRC between March 1993 and June 2003, by Congolese and foreign forces.[22]

July 2012

ICC arrest warrant

DRC

The International Criminal Court issues an arrest warrant for Sylvestre Mudacumura, the FDLR's military commander.[37]

14 September 2012

Verification Mechanism

DRCRwanda

Launch in Goma of the Joint Verification Mechanism of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region.[38]

20 November 2012

The M23 takes Goma

DRC

The M23, founded by mutinous former CNDP officers, takes Goma, before withdrawing in early December.[30]

24 February 2013

Addis Ababa Framework

Region

Eleven countries sign the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework in Addis Ababa, pledging no longer to support armed groups in neighbouring countries.[39]

Period 7

From the ADF to the return of the M23 (2014-2026)

ADF massacres spread, the M23 takes up arms again and diplomacy intensifies, still without addressing the root causes.

2014

A shared basin

DRCRwandaBurundi

Signing of the convention establishing the Lake Kivu and Rusizi River Basin Authority (ABAKIR); its ratification is still under way.[40]

October 2014 - August 2016

Beni massacres

DRC

Massacres attributed mainly to the ADF in the Beni area: more than 700 civilians killed. At Rwangoma, on 14 August 2016, at least 64 bodies are found.[41]

April 2015

Boundary markers relocated

DRCRwanda

A joint commission begins relocating by GPS, around Goma, the boundary markers laid in 1911.[42]

2019

Allegiance to the Islamic State

DRCUganda

The Islamic State organisation recognises the allegiance of the ADF, which becomes part of its “Central Africa Province”.[20]

September 2019

Death of Mudacumura

DRC

Sylvestre Mudacumura is killed by the Congolese army without having been tried.[37]

October 2019

Kinigi attack

Rwanda

At Kinigi, an attack leaves 14 dead; Kigali attributes it to the FDLR, without independent verification being possible.[43]

March 2020

Zambian incursion

DRCZambia

Zambian troops take up positions in several localities of Tanganyika, before the SADC rules in the DRC's favour.[44]

Late 2021

Return of the M23

DRC

The M23 takes up arms again in North Kivu. That year, the ADF kills around 1,300 civilians according to MONUSCO.[45][20]

2022

Group of Experts report

DRCRwanda

The UN Group of Experts reports “solid evidence” of Rwandan army interventions alongside the M23, and of weapons supplied by Congolese officers to armed groups. Kigali declines to comment on a report it describes as unpublished and unvalidated.[45]

April 2023

266 armed groups

DRC

The national disarmament programme records 266 armed groups in the east: 252 local and 14 foreign.[46]

June 2023

Mpondwe school

Uganda

An ADF attack on a school in Mpondwe leaves 42 dead.[23]

July 2023

Maritime protocol

DRCAngola

Implementation protocol for the maritime Zone of Common Interest.[33]

27 January 2025

Goma and Bukavu fall

DRCRwanda

The M23 seizes Goma, then Bukavu on 16 February. UN experts conclude that Rwanda exercises “command and control” over the M23, which Kigali rejects.[47][48]

27 June 2025

Washington agreement

DRCRwanda

Washington peace agreement: neutralisation of the FDLR, withdrawal of Rwandan troops, return of refugees and regional economic integration.[49]

July and September 2025

Komanda and Ntoyo

DRC

The ADF kills more than 40 worshippers in a church in Komanda, then more than 60 people at Ntoyo. In 2025, at least 1,022 dead in more than 200 attacks.[50]

September 2025

5.7 million displaced

DRC

The DRC counts 5.7 million internally displaced people; nearly 122,500 people fled to neighbouring countries during the year.[47]

November and December 2025

Doha and Washington

DRCRwanda

A framework agreement for peace between Kinshasa and the M23 is signed in Doha; the June agreement is complemented by the Washington Accords.[51]

September 2026

A peace still unfinished

DRCZambia

Only two of the eight protocols planned in Doha have been signed and fighting continues in both Kivus. In Pweto, a DRC-Zambia joint commission works to demarcate 32 km of border rivers.[51][52]

Read the full analysis See the Great Lakes map

Timeline as of September 2026. It will be expanded as the Institute's work progresses.

Sources

  1. Jean-Luc Galabert, “Repères chronologiques de l'histoire du Congo et des conflits du Kivu”, La Nuit rwandaise, no. 7, April 2013
  2. Borders of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (22 pre-1960 border treaties)
  3. US Department of State, International Boundary Study No. 52 — Congo-Rwanda boundary (convention of 11 August 1910, 1911 demarcation)
  4. UCLouvain — The German-Congolese border conflict over the Ruzizi-Kivu (1895-1910)
  5. Camp des Milles Memorial — Rwanda: ethnic identity cards
  6. United Nations, Outreach Programme on the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda — historical background
  7. FAO — Preventing land conflicts: the case of North Kivu (migration, land laws, nationality, Masisi)
  8. Historical overview — Kanyarwanda War (North Kivu, 1963-1966)
  9. Rift Valley Institute (Usalama Project) — North Kivu: the background to conflict
  10. Diploweb — The inviolability of African borders, 1964-2014: a challenge
  11. Citizenship Rights in Africa — Decree-law no. 71-020 of 26 March 1971
  12. Historical overview — Burundian Civil War (1993-2005)
  13. Historical overview — Ugandan Bush War (1981-1986)
  14. Gérard Prunier, “Le phénomène NRM en Ouganda. Une expérience révolutionnaire originale”, Politique africaine, no. 23, 1986, pp. 102-114
  15. Cultural Survival Quarterly — Uganda: Creating a Refugee Crisis (1982 expulsions)
  16. Historical overview — Rwandan Patriotic Front (refugees in Uganda, 1982 expulsions, founding in 1987)
  17. Historical overview — Rwandan Civil War (1990-1994)
  18. Mapping Report (OHCHR) — North Kivu, 1993-1996 (Ntoto market massacre, 20 March 1993)
  19. Human Rights Watch (Alison Des Forges) — Leave None to Tell the Story: Genocide in Rwanda, 1999
  20. Congressional Research Service — The Allied Democratic Forces, an Islamic State Affiliate in the DRC, September 2022
  21. Historical overview — First Congo War (1996-1997)
  22. Human Rights Watch — DR Congo: UN report exposes grave crimes (Mapping Report), 1 October 2010
  23. Historical overview — ADF insurgency (Bwera 1996, Kichwamba 1998, Mpondwe 2023)
  24. Human Rights Watch — HRW condemns deadly attack by Ugandan rebels on school children (Kichwamba), June 1998
  25. Historical overview — Second Congo War (1998-2003)
  26. SSRC, DRC Affinity Group — FDLR: Past, Present, and Policies, March 2014
  27. UN News — Panel of Experts report on the illegal exploitation of the DRC's resources, April 2001
  28. Global Policy Forum — UN Panel on Congo exploitation calls for embargo, April 2001
  29. US Department of State — 2005 Country Report on Human Rights Practices, DRC (Ntulumamba massacre)
  30. Historical overview — Kivu conflict (CNDP, M23, armed groups)
  31. Declaration by Congolese MPs on the occupation of villages in Kahemba territory by Angola (reproduced by Bellaciao), 2007
  32. ReliefWeb (Oxford Analytica) — DRC/Uganda: Lake Albert spat imperils wider region, May 2008
  33. Actualite.cd — DRC-Angola maritime common interest zone: the start of settling a dispute, July 2023
  34. The Africa Report — DRC and Angola's borders and barrels
  35. Human Rights Watch — “You Will Be Punished”: Attacks on Civilians in Eastern Congo, December 2009
  36. Human Rights Watch — Walikale mass rapes (2010), November 2011
  37. Historical overview — Sylvestre Mudacumura, FDLR commander (ICC warrant, 2012)
  38. Radio Okapi — Launch of the ICGLR Joint Verification Mechanism, 14 September 2012
  39. Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the DRC and the region (Addis Ababa, 2013)
  40. ABAKIR — Lake Kivu and Rusizi River Basin Authority, about
  41. Historical overview — Beni massacres (2014-2016)
  42. Business et Finances — The DRC and Rwanda finally delimit their border, April 2015
  43. VOA Afrique — Deadly attack in Kinigi (Rwanda), October 2019
  44. Jeune Afrique — Disputed territory between Zambia and the DRC, a conflict from the colonial era, 2020
  45. Al Jazeera — UN Group of Experts report on the M23, August 2022
  46. Radio Okapi — Eastern DRC: 266 local and foreign armed groups recorded by the P-DDRCS, 18 April 2023
  47. Human Rights Watch — World Report 2026, Democratic Republic of Congo
  48. Reuters — UN Group of Experts report on command of the M23, July 2025
  49. Peace Barometer Africa — The Washington peace agreement between the DRC and Rwanda (27 June 2025)
  50. Amnesty International — “I'd Never Seen So Many Bodies”: War Crimes by the ADF in Eastern DRC, May 2026
  51. Security Council Report — Democratic Republic of the Congo, September 2026 forecast
  52. AfricaNews RDC — In Pweto, Kinshasa and Lusaka lay the groundwork for agreed demarcation, September 2026