In 1912, a coalition of various opposition groups rebelled against the Kingdom of Rwanda and aligned German colonial forces. The insurgents were headed by Ndungutse, an individual who claimed to be the rightful king of Rwanda, and consisted of peasants, separatists, adherents of a rival royal lineage, anti-colonial rebels, and bandits. Initially, Ndungutse's coalition garned much support across the kingdom and seized control of a substantial territory from January 1912, while the Germans were unsure about how to react to the uprising as it was mainly aimed at overthrowing their ally King Yuhi V Musinga of Rwanda instead of directly targeting Europeans. As a result, the German commander Eberhard Gudowius initially prevented a counteroffensive by Yuhi's followers and instead enforced a de facto ceasefire.

In April 1912, open hostilities resumed as the Germans finally opted to aid Yuhi V in eliminating the insurgents. The German-led campaign crushed the opposition forces by May after heavy fighting, resulting in widespread destruction, looting, death, and hunger in the region. The rebel leaders were either captured and executed or disappeared. The 1912 campaign contributed to the centralization of Rwanda, strengthening the local monarchy at the expense of previously autonomous northern communities.

Background Ascension of Yuhi V of Rwanda The Kingdom of Rwanda was an old state located in the African Great Lakes region. An expansionist realm led by a royal family and nobility of Tutsi ethnicity, the kingdom exploited a lower class of Hutu and Twa to fund its wars of conquest. In the 17th and 18th century, the Rwandan monarchs attempted to conquer a number of northern border territories, though faced high resistance. As a result, Rwanda opted for a more indirect expansion in this territory by allying with or vassalizing the local small statelets. Rwanda significantly grew in strength and territory in the 19th century, with King Kigeli IV Rwabugiri in particular conquering a series of smaller kingdoms and principalities. He also strengthened the Rwandan presence in the north by resettling nobles who subsequently displaced parts of the native upper class and exploited the northern Hutu, creating much resentment. Northern resistance efforts against Kigeli IV Rwabugiri often rallied around mediums who claimed to speak for the spirit Nyabinghi whose movement grew increasingly popular in the wider region. Meanwhile, the Berlin Conference assigned Rwanda to the German colonial empire without the Rwandans' knowledge and consent. Regardless, Germany initially did little to establish a lasting presence in Rwanda aside of a few expeditions. Though not particularly approving of the German intruders, the Rwandan elite quickly realized that it could use the European arrivals to its advantage to further cement their own control of the kingdom's Hutu population.

In 1895, Kigeli IV died, passing the throne to his son Mibambwe IV Rutarindwa. Seeing a chance to increase their power, elements of the nobility plotted against the new ruler. In late 1896, a faction at the royal court overthrew and murdered King Mibambwe IV in the Rucunshu Coup. Afterward, Queen Mother Kanjogera enforced the enthronement of her own son by Kigeli IV, namely Yuhi V Musinga. As a result of the circumstances of his rise to power, Yuhi V was largely backed by Kanjogera's relatives –the Bega or Ega clan– and seen as an illegitimate usurper by many other nobles. His regime was popularly dubbed Cyiimyamaboko ("It is force that rules"), and would keep this monicker for more than 15 years despite propaganda efforts by Yuhi's supporters. Conversely, Rwanda saw the arrival and establishment of a German colonial administration around this time. Impressed by the Rwandan royal court and its seemingly tight grip on power, the Germans opted for an indirect rule through Yuhi V, meaning that they secured his position while he assisted their overlordship. This system worked to the benefit of the two sides, but marginalized nobles and other groups opposed to the monarch.

As the German support allowed Yuhi V to cement his control over the court, the opposition to his reign moved to northern Rwanda. Never fully pacified to begin with, this part of the kingdom had been partially overrun by rebels after Kigeli IV Rwabugiri's death and remained largely autonomous. One of those who moved to the north was Basebya, a warrior who had previously served as a bodyguard of Mibambwe IV Rutarindwa and led a contingent of Twa warriors. Disgusted over the Rucunshu Coup, he and his followers relocated to the Rugezi Marsh where they became bandits, raiding the surrounding lands. Basebya proved to be a skillful tactician who evaded royal punitive expeditions and gradually grew his forces. Other opposition members were sheltered by the traditional Hutu rulers of the northern territories, hoping to use the anti-Yuhi forces as allies to further increase their freedom from the court. For a time, a northern resistance movement was led by Muserekande, another widow of Kigeli IV Rwabugiri who tried to claim the throne for her own son. Muserekande and her son were ultimately defeated and killed by Kanjogera's forces, but many believed that she had actually survived and fled into exile. After defeating the most extensive revolts, the Rwandan court under Kanjogera used their German allies to increase their control over the north. This region began to particularly suffer under the dual royalist-colonial system, as the royal notables and nobles could increase their exploitation while calling on the Germans to violently crush any resistance. Thus, they were no longer reliant on cooperating with the old northern elites and instead imposed more state control, higher taxes, and various manpower demands (for warriors and workers). The Germans and the newly arrived White Fathers, an influential order of Christian missionaries, also tried to implement new levies and taxes, furthering the northern resentment. Resentful northerners resisted through banditry or by retreating into more remote areas, with many joining Basebya's followship.

Meanwhile, Kanjogera and her allies continued their attempts to cement their position by also purging potential rivals at the court. One of these was Rukara, head of the powerful Hutu-Barashi clan and royal provincial governor in the northeastern kingdom. Though a loyal follower of Kigeli IV, he fell from favor after the Rucunshu Coup, clashing with other notables and insulting Kanjogera at one point. Furthermore, the new German authorities distrusted him after he swore a blood feud against Europeans after Belgian soldiers of the Congo Free State killed his father in 1901. Eventually, Rukara was imprisoned at the royal court, but set free after he agreed to assist a scientific expedition of Jan Czekanowski in 1908.

Growing tensions in northern Rwanda After returning to northern Rwanda, Rukara increasingly opposed the Rwandan royal government and attempted to turn the province of Mulera into an independent kingdom. He dubbed his own base "Nyanza" after the royal capital, scorned and insulted the rule of Yuhi V, and started to act like a king. Though the local German representatives such as Resident Richard Kandt generally favored the royal court in this dispute, they initially tolerated Rukara's activities due to harboring some sympathy for his viewpoints. Conversely, Rukara came under growing pressure from both the court for his resistance but also from among his clan due to his authoritarianism. The dissatisfied Barashi rallied around his cousin Sebuyange who represented a "more customary" leadership style, rapprochement with the court, and more cooperation with the Europeans. To gain more support for his own actions, Rukara turned to the White Fathers who tried to remain neutral. He met with the White Fathers' station head in Rwaza, Paulin Loupias, who angrily rebuffed the intervention requests and even slapped Rukara's face during one heated argument. On 1 April 1910, Rukara again attempted to convince Loupias to take his side, but the dispute again went badly. According to researcher Helmut Strizek, the missionary seemingly raised his hand to slap the Hutu chief a second time, whereupon his furious warriors killed Loupias. Historian Alison Des Forges stated that Loupias held a rifle with one hand and grabbed Rukara's wrist with the other, whereupon the chief asked for aid from his followers who killed the White Father. Either way, the incident was described by another missionary as the result of escalated self-defense, but many northerners perceived Loupias' murder as an act of anti-colonial resistance.

The German colonial administration could not tolerate the murder of a White Father in their territory, and thus Rukara was deemed a rebel. The Schutztruppe colonial military immediately sent a punitive expedition, though it failed to catch the Hutu chief. Seeing no other option, Rukara subsequently joined the militant resistance in northern Rwanda. At this point, an uprising was developing in the border region. In 1911, a spiritual leader named Muhumusa was organizing an anti-colonial movement at Mpororo in British Uganda. One of the famous Nyabinghi mediums, she claimed to have been a widow of Kigeli IV or Mibambwe IV, possibly posing as the disappeared Muserekande to add a form of royalist legitimacy to her spiritualist reputation. She was aided by two lieutenants, namely Ndungutse and Basebya. At this point, Basebya had established his own fiefdom in the Rugezi Marsh and led two regiments of warriors dubbed Basengo (consisting of his clients) and Ibijabura (composed of Twa raiders). Ndungutse was a figure of a much more dubious background who would later claim to be of royal descent; his ethnicity was variously reported as Tutsi, Hima or Hutu, and his birthplace located either in Rwanda or at Mpororo. Kanjogera and Yuhi V suspected that a number of royal court members were supportive of Muhumusa and Basebya; as royal expeditions failed to eliminate them, the Rwandan leadership requested the Germans' aid. Basebya evaded the Germans, while Muhumusa was captured in 1908 and exiled to Bukoba, only to eventually escape detention in July 1911.

Upon her escape, Muhumusa returned to the Rwandan-Ugandan border region, rallying the locals by proclaiming the imminent return of a king, the discovery of royal drums –an important piece of royal regalia in the region–, and promising the distribution of cows. Muhumusa's forces were eventually defeated by a joint German-British operation in September 1911. She was imprisoned and exiled to Kampala, where she stayed until her eventual death. With news of her downfall spreading slowly, many northern Rwandans continued to believe that her rebellion was gaining traction and would soon spread to their land to expel the Europeans. Meanwhile, Ndungutse and Basebya had survived the defeat of their superior and relocated to the Rugezi Marsh, where they continued their operations and reignited the armed opposition.

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