Rwanda is made of 3 ethnic groups which are the Hutu (85% of population), the Tutsi (14%) and the Twa (1%). During colonisation the minority Tutsi were typically considered the elite because they had much lighter skin compared to the Hutu this created division between the Rwandan populations because they ruled the country during colonisation. When Rwanda gained independence in 1962, the Hutus thought that the Tutsi people were to blame for the increasing social and economic problems that the country was facing and they were angry at the Tutsi. This was one of the long term causes of the Rwandan genocide.
Furthermore, in August 1993, General Habyarimana (a Hutu) signed an agreement at Arusha, Tanzania, that was about including the Rwandan Patriotic Front, which would mean that the government would have both Hutu and Tutsi representatives leading the country. This made the Hutu very angry as they felt that the Tutsi did not deserve to be in power and so they tried to prevent the RPF from joining the government. Then in 1994, General Juvenal Habyarimana was elected as the president of Rwanda, in the same year his plane was shot while flying above Kigali airport in Rwanda and there were no survivors. When the news about the presidents’ death were announced to the public, the Hutu suspected that his plane was shot by the Tutsi. Source 2 is proof of this hatred that the Hutu had against the Tutsi, because the eye witness speaks about o they came to attack her family because she
The two ethnic groups that were include in the Rwanda Genocide was the Tutsis and Hutus. The Tutsis were the minority population in Rwanda, but they held all the positions of authority. On the other hand, the Hutu made up around 85% of Rwanda’s population, but held no political power, they were denied higher education and land ownership. The size of the nose and the color of the eyes were the factors that determined whether a person was Hutu or Tutsi. The Tutsis disapprove of the colonial rule of the Belgians and demanded to become more independent. After World War II, the Tutsis felt impatient and that it was time they took matters in their own hands to pursuit their independence. In 1959, the tension and violence between the Tutsis and Hutus were greatly increased.
Between the months of April and July in 1994 approximately one million people were killed in Rwanda. There are three ethnic groups in Rwanda, Hutu, Tutsi, and Aboriginal Twa. The genocide occurred between two different groups, the Hutu and Tutsi people. The Hutu composed close to 85% of the population while the minority Tutsi people make up approximately 14% with the Twa people composing the remaining 1%. The Republic of Rwanda like most African nations has a history of colonization from different European countries with different and conflicting ideas of governance and how a colony should be developed and used. It can be argued that many of the
After the atrocities of the Rwandan Genocide and the lack on international intervention, Rwandan was forced to rebuild itself from scratch. Rwanda is a small country located in central Africa. Its population is divided between two ethnic groups: the hutus and the tutsis. The roots of the Rwandan genocide date back to 1924 when Belgium first took over Rwanda, formally a part of Tanzania. The Belgians viewed Tutsi superior to the hutus. Many referred to this as Hamitic hypothesis. It was motivated mainly by the fact that Tutsi were taller and thinner than hutus. This lead to a major boost in Tutsi egos and mistreatment of the Hutus for decades. This angered the Hutus leading to a major conflict between the two ethnic groups.
The killing of the people in this ethnic group leads to the genocide which is my dependent variable. As you can see in this first example each of my variables connect to one another to show what caused the genocide in Rwanda. Although, the fall of government was one big factor that caused the genocide there is also two more that I will eventually talk about in my paper.
Tutsis were tall and well educated. Not only did they have better social status, but there also appeared to be more entitled, whereas, the Hutus were those who worked for Tutsis. During the pre- World War I, Rwanda was colonized by Germany, but later when Germany had lost the war, Rwanda came under Belgium’s administration. Under the ruling of Belgium, Tutsis were more favored to be educated, which had made Hutus felt under appreciated, as if they were really treated like servants. (Rwanda Genocide) However, the population of Hutus has always outnumbered the Tutsis, where it accounts 80 percent of the Hutus, 19 percent of Tutsis, and only 1 percent of Twa and Pygmy, the original inhabitants of Rwanda. (Rwanda genocide: 100 days of slaughter, 2014) Towards the end of Belgium’s ruling, the Hutus were given more authority from the Belgians. Since the majority is the Hutus, the group had seeked influence to subdue the minorities, specifically the Tutsis. Even before independence in 1959, the Hutus had ultimately sparked revolution, causing around 300,000 of Tutsis to escape to the neighboring country, Uganda, where they settled down for nearly 30 years. In 1961, the Hutus had victoriously overthrown Tutsi’s power, advocated the country a republic, and within that same year, Rwanda gained its independence. After the Tutsis had fled the country, in 1973, Major General Juvenal Habyarimana,
On April 6, 1994, Rwanda experienced a period of great turmoil as thousands of people fell victim to the horrors of the Rwandan genocide. The main targets of the genocide were Tutsis and Hutu moderates. Though the main cause of the genocide was a conflict between two ethnicities, the genocide was also fueled by political factors and social conditions. Rwanda is the smallest sub-Saharan country with a population of about 7 million inhabitants. Although the indigenous peoples of Rwanda are the Twa, they are now the minority. 90% of Rwanda's population is comprised of Hutus, and the rest of the population's majority consists of Tutsi people. Hatred between the two ethnic groups had begun in the pre-colonial era, which was long before the 20th
For years, Rwanda has been a hotbed of racial tension. The majority of the Rwandan population is made up of Hutu's, with Tutsi's making up the rest of it. Ever since European colonial powers entered the country and favoured the Tutsi ethnic group over the Hutu by putting Tutsi people in all important positions in society, there has been a decisive political divide between the two groups. This favouring of the Tutsi over the Hutu, and the Hutu subjugation as an ethnic lower class resulted in the civil war and revolution of 1959, where the Hutu overthrew the Tutsi dominated government, and resulted in Rwanda gaining their independence in 1962.
Before long, the massacre has started as war crept up on the Tutsi’s and the Hutu’s. “Rwanda: How the genocide happened” states the start of the genocide was triggered by the death of the Rwanda President Juvenal Habyarimana, who’s plane had been shot down. The Rwandan’s were most certain the shot was from the President’s guard (Sullivan), but the act was pointed to President Paul Kagme, leader of the “Tutsi Rebel group” (“Rwanda: How the genocide happened”). Beforehand, Habyarimana signed a peace record with a rebel group of Tutsi, for his people had thought it was to share his power with Tutsis. Slaughter had taken place less than thirty minutes afterwards (Sullivan). Recruits were being sent throughout the continent to begin the massive
On the 6th of April 1994, the Rwandan President Juvenual Habyarimana was killed when his plane was shot down above Kigali Airport. The Hutu population of Rwanda used this death as a reason to start hunting down and killing the Tutsi, the other main group of people in Rwanda. On the 7th of April, the day after the genocide started, the Rwandan Patriotic Force gave the Hutu forces an ultimatum, either cease the killing or resume civil war with the RPF. The Hutu launch a pre-emptive attack against the national parliament building which the RPF successfully defend. After that the RPF launched a 3 pronged attack from the north with the goal being to meet up with the isolated RPF soldiers in Kigali. While the RPF pushed across Rwanda, taking
During the beginning in the 20th century the majority of the Rwandan population belonged to the Hutu ethnic group. The Hutu were the laborers and the Tutsis were the landowners. It is estimated that about 200,00 people participated in the Rwandan Genocide. These two ethnic groups are not really different but there are still problems of ethnicity in Rwanda, “although Rwanda has made significant progress since the genocide, ethnic tensions remain (Modern Genocide: Understanding Causes and Consequences 186).” Yes Rwanda has made progress throughout time since the genocide, but ethnic tensions still does exist
On April 6th, 1994, President Habyarimana was flying back to Rwanda when his plane was shot down and he was killed. Hutu extremists accused the RPF of this action, using it as an excuse to launch the genocide. Within hours of the plane crash, Hutu extremists quickly began exterminating the Tutsis and moderate Hutus. In the meantime, the Interahamwe set up road blocks to identify Tutsis, assembled killing squads armed with machetes, and instructed them to hunt down and kill all Tutsi and moderate Hutus. To spread the word, the Interahamwe set up radio stations broadcasting messages to kill all Tutsi “cockroaches”, a term the Hutus used in reference to the Tutsis. According to René Lemarchand, a French-American political scientist, "An estimated 20,000 people were killed in Kigali and its environs in the three weeks following the crash" (Lemarchand 2). The speed and extent of the massacre were unprecedented and the killings in Rwanda rapidly expanded from the capital, Kigali, to the rest of the country. Lemarchand continues, “For weeks and months, hundreds and thousands of Tutsi civilians (and Hutu civilians who looked like Tutsi), men, women and children, were shot, speared, clubbed or hacked to pieces in their homes, church compounds and courtyards” (Lemarchand 7). The Interahamwe and brainwashed Rwandan civilians, hunted down and brutally hacked to death their Tutsi neighbors
The genocide was a terrible thing in the country of Rwanda in Africa. It was one of the most brutal killing sprees in human history. The genocide was a terrible thing which caused people’s death, and affected many people’s lives, and had a terrible outcome in the end.
You would think that the world would never another genocide after the Holocaust. Until 1994 when the Hutu citizens of Rwanda wanted to wipe out the whole Tutsi population. Even though the people from the Hutu and Tutsi tribe are the same the Dutch split the two making one side Hutu and one side Tutsi. Everyone got a card telling who was Tutsi and who was Hutu. There was always tension between these groups, so 1994 is when the Hutus hit their boiling point with the Tutsi. Right after the president of Rwanda was assassinated the Hutu extremist group the “Interahamwe” started slaughtering the Tutsi. Around 800,000 people and 75% of the Tutsi population was killed. The amount of deaths could have been a lot less if the Interahamwe would have realized
Prior to colonial era, Rwanda had larger population of Hutus compared to Tutsis and Twa. Rwanda as a country was divided into three ethnic groups i.e. Hutu (approximately about 85%), Tutsi (14%) and Twa (1%) (United Nations). Although, Tutsis were the minorities, they belonged to the higher strata compared to the other ethnic groups; Tutsis were privileged and had power and control over the Hutus and Twas. “Hutus were formerly bound to their Tutsi patrons via client ship” (Sinema, 2012). When Rwanda was colonized by Germany followed by Belgium, they favored Tutsis as they represented the upper class prior to the colonization. These created a social system like feudal system where there was a power difference between the Hutus and the Tutsis. Tutsis were considered as lord and the Hutus on the other hand, were considered as peasants. As a consequence, this created an ethic tension between the Hutus and the Tutsis and created a system more like apartheid. Nonetheless, they managed to co exist in Rwanda until they were decolonized. Although there is no social distinction between the Hutus and the Tutsis, the conflict between these tribes increased tremendously after the independence from Belgian that led to mass murder and ethnic cleansing of the Tutsi by the Hutu.
There’s multiple genocides that happened in the world and some genocides are still happening today. Most genocides aren’t as known as other genocides. The genocides that are known, most people either don’t know information about them or know little information about the genocide. The Rwandan genocide happened in 1994. Belgian colonization of Rwanda favored Tutsis over Hutus. After the Belgians left in 1962, the Hutus took power. Tutsis led attempted coup in 1990 leading to civil war. President Habyarimana called for an end to war, but was killed when his plane was shot down in 1994. Hutus responded with mass killings of the Tutsis. Within 100 days, 800,000 Tutsis were dead. The Rwandan genocide can be classified as one of the most tragic and terrible genocide there is.