Causes Of The Rwandan Genocide

On April 6, 1994, the deliberate and systematic extermination of millions of Tutsi ethnic people began to strangle the entire population of Rwanda. The genocide destroyed lives; those that survived were left without loved ones, and ordinary Hutus turned against their neighbors and slaughtered them. Those that led the sadistic massacres were Hutu extremists. They were able to eliminate from 800,000 to 1,000,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutu in Rwanda in less than 100 days, helped by almost 200,000 Hutu civilians. Killers used machetes, clubs, guns and other brutal weapons to dispose of their victims, often in places of congregation like schools and churches, as well as at road blocks set up by the government. The genocide had serious planning put into it, and the regime of the last president before the genocide helped do that. The Habyarimana regime was able to set the stage for the Rwandan Genocide through preexisting economic conditions, ethnically biased political promotions and ethnic killings, and international support.

Preexisting economic conditions were one of the most vital contributors to the ability of the Habyarimana regime to carry out genocide. From colonial times, Tutsi and Hutu had had different ways of supporting themselves; Hutu were farmers and Tutsi were cattle herders, which created an imbalance. This imbalance also started a constant rise of tension and violence between the two ethnic groups. In 1974, a Belgian anthropologist discovered that lots of Hutu were using a World Bank Project that would help establish cattle ranches around Rwanda, to create dependence on Hutu by the Tutsi. During this time in the Habyarimana regime, the economy was booming, and Habyarimana gained popularity from Rwandans bec...

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...bt that Western powers knew about it, and yet chose to ignore it. The economic conditions and land, food and job shortages that increased ethnic tensions could be seen by any reasonable person. The Hutu extremists used the trained and propagandized Interahamwe and Impuzamugambi to rally civilian Hutu to kill any Tutsi they could find. The militias were authorized by President Habyarimana, who was instrumental in carrying out the genocide, all the way until his death, which was the spark to the inferno that was the Rwandan genocide. The President also approved Radio Rwanda, the Kangura and other Hutu Power promotions that encouraged genocide of the Tutsi. The Habyarimana regime and the Akazu were able to carry out the genocide using that propaganda, massacres of political opponents and Tutsi, preexisting economic conditions and support from other countries.