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Causes of the rwandan genocide essay
What was the cause of Rwanda genocide
Cause and effects of Rwanda genocides
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Not only was the genocide a political and ethnic conflict, it was also an economical conflict. A huge factor the causes economical conflicts is poverty; in 1989 the coffee market collapsed which devastated the economy greatly. This effected jobs for peasants and landowners, poverty rose and many men who were not married or could afford marriage got drafted into the army (Wareham). Also, “state-owned enterprises went bankrupt and health and education services collapsed...Hutus were most dramatically affected since, under Habyarimana, they were the primary recipients of the civil service jobs which could no longer be funded” (The Global Coffee Economy ). Many times when an economy collapses and people start wanting change and have had enough; …show more content…
Having a past history of discrimination and jealousy towards the Tutsis because of the Belgians caused hatred within them that later on grew. The small ethnic differences they had stirred up the conflicts; however political and economical issues added on to the problem which made the problem huge. Hatred from the past with Elite Hutus wanting power and control and an economic collapse causing massive poverty added led to one of the deadliest genocides. Around a million innocent Tutsis died within the span of three to four months. I believe the Belgians discriminating the Hutus and favoring the Tutsi based on their physical appearance had the greatest impact on the starting of the Genocide because if they were treated equally from the beginning they would have no reason to hate and blame the Tutsi for their problems. The political and economic issues however, added on to the conflict and made it a much more difficult situation. No one should be discriminated for their physical looks and/or appearances because it is something they can not control. On the other hand, no matter how bad the economy or hatred is, no one should have to go through or be involved in a genocide or mass killings. It is injustice and inhumane ot be killed for reasons that are not in your control. The Rwandan genocide was a very complex conflict that has many factors that influenced
The Hutu and the Tutsi have been in conflict with each other for years but after what happened in 1994 I don’t think that anyone will ever forget. In that year Rwandas Presidents plan was shot down and he was killed. In the days following is when the genocide started, because the Hutu believed that it was the Tutsi that shot down the plan and killed the President because he was a Hutu. The United Nations let this go because of the killing of ten of their own and because of their rules of engagement that resulted from the ten Belgian members being killed while trying to protect the Prime Minister. During a short time period of only a few months about 800,000 Tutsi and Hutu moderates were killed by the militia, other groups and even neighbors.
The Rwandan genocide occurred due to the extreme divide between two main groups that were prevalent in Rwanda, the Hutu and the Tutsi. When Rwanda was first settled, the term Tutsi was used to describe those people who owned the most livestock. After the Germans lost control over their colonies after World War I, the Belgians took over and the terms Hutu and Tutsi took on a racial role (Desforges). It soon became mandatory to have an identification card that specified whether or not an individual was a Hutu, Tutsi, or Twa (a minority group in Rwanda). The Tutsi soon gained power through the grant of leadership positions by the Belgians. Later on when Rwanda was tying to gain indepe...
For the past centuries, the world has endured mass human extinctions and brutal violence from the well-known holocaust to the under recognized Rwanda genocide. According to Dictionary.com, genocide is the deliberate and systematic extermination of a national, racial, political, or cultural group. Genocide has been occurring for centuries and centuries and continues to occur in countries such as Syria, Nigeria, Iraq and many more. These recent genocides are mostly occurring at the hands of extremist groups such as Boko Haram and ISIS
Former UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali once said, "We were not realizing that with just a machete, you can do a genocide." To be candid, nobody anticipated the Rwandan Genocide that occurred in 1994. The genocide in Rwanda was an infamous blood-red blur in modern history where almost a million innocent people were murdered in cold blood. Members of the Tutsi tribe were systematically hacked or beaten to death by members of the Interahamwe, a militia made up of Hutu tribe members. In just 100 days, from April 6, 1994 to mid-July, 20% of Rwanda's population was killed; about 10,000 people a day. Bodies literally were strewn over city streets. Genocide obviously violates almost all articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; however, the article I find most important is Article 3 - the right to life, liberty, and personal security. In just 100 days, one million people were denied the most basic privilege granted to every human – the right to live, simply because they were born to the wrong tribe.
If ancient chaos/race were an actual reason for why the genocide occurred, the racial tensions of the Hutus and the Tutsis would have existed long before the genocide and colonization. This notion is supported by Robert Melson, author of “Modern Genocide in Rwanda”. Melson alludes to the fact that during precolonial Rwanda, the Hutus and the Tutsis lived fairly peacefully with one other. Melson demonstrates that if it were tribal chaos, it would have to involve disputes over “land, booty, and women”. Because that was not seen in precolonial Rwanda, it would be hard to attribute the genocide only to race and territory.
The Rwandan Genocide was a terrible event in history caused by a constantly weakening relationship between two groups of people. The country of Rwanda is located in Africa and consists of multiple groups of people. Majority of Rwanda is Hutu, while a smaller amount of people are Tutsis. The genocide started due to multiple events that really stretched the relationship between the two groups to its end. One of the starting factors was at the end of World War 1. Rwanda was a German colony but then was given to Belgium “who favored the minority Tutsis over the Hutus, exacerbated[exacerbating] the tendency of the few to oppress the many”(History.com). This created a feeling of anger towards the Tutsis, because they had much more power then Hutus.
Africa has been an interesting location of conflicts. From the conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea to the revolutionary conflict in Libya and Egypt, one of the greatest conflicts is the Rwandan Genocide. The Rwandan Genocide included two tribes in Rwanda: Tutsis and Hutus. Upon revenge, the Hutus massacred many Tutsis and other Hutus that supported the Tutsis. This gruesome war lasted for a 100 days. Up to this date, there have been many devastating effects on Rwanda and the global community. In addition, many people have not had many acknowledgements for the genocide but from this genocide many lessons have been learned around the world.
...ause the colonial masters believed that they resembled them. It was unethical for the Belgians to interfere with the peaceful coexistence that the two communities had enjoyed in the past. As a result, the Hutus acquired negative misconceptions about the Tutsis’ origin, what they stood for, and what they had done for them in the past. The Hutus expertly planned and organized the Rwandan genocide as a result of such historical distortions created by their country’s colonial masters.
There had always been tension between the Hutus and the Tutsis but, certain events increased tensions between the two groups. Rules, appearances, and opportunities were never the same for any of the groups therefore hate begin to build upon the two groups. This tension would continue for years until the genocide in 1994.
Realism is one of the oldest and most popular theories in International Relations. It offers a perspective about competition and power, and can be used to explain the actions between states. An example of realism is the U.S. reaction – or lack thereof – during the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
On April 6, 1994 the genocide was ignited. A Hutu president’s (Juvenal Habyarimana) plane was shot down killing him. Of course the blame was put on Tutsi rebels. Within a few hours Tutsis were being killed by Hutu militia known as the Interahamwe. At first they only went after the Tutsi business and political elite but soon they went after Tutsi citizens.
The Tutsis had better education and administrative training than the Hutus. The Tutsis were landowners while the Hutus were farmers. In 1959 the tensions between the Hutus and Tutsis grew. ”The revolution began with an uprising on Nov. 1, 1959, when a rumour of the death of a Hutu leader at the hands of Tutsi perpetrators led groups of Hutu to launch attacks on the Tutsi.“(Encyclopædia Britannica) There was a change in power in 1962, when the Hutus gained control of the Rwandan government. Genocide caused by the Hutus started in April and ended in July of 1994, killing more than 800,000 Tutsis. “The skeletons of genocide victims are still occasionally discovered, stuffed into sewers and under dense bushes.” (Gwin Nat Geo) This mass murder caused chaos in other countries. To stop this mass murder the Rwandans had to on countries to do something about this and few foreigners came to the rescue. The UN tried to stop the genocide of the Tutsis, but the UN could not fight back until these Hutus fired first. The UN had to watch Tutsis get killed by machetes all the time. According to Encyclopedia Britannica; It is estimated that some 200,000 Hutu, spurred on by propaganda from various media outlets, participated in the genocide. More than 800,000 civilians—primarily Tutsi, but also moderate Hutu—were killed during the campaign. As many as 2,000,000 Rwandans fled the country during or immediately after the
On April 6, 1994, the plane that was carrying the rwandan president was shot down by an unidentified person. Then killings began the next day. If people watched one another and the certain way they acted, people may be able to stop them before they start to do things. People don’t need to be suspicious of one another, people just need to pay attention to one another. For an example, there may end up being something wrong or they may be planning something wrong. So the genocide could have been prevented if people tried to understand one another and the way certain people think.
“Everyone is just walking along concerned with his own problems, his own life, his own worries. And we're all expecting other people to tune into our own agenda. ‘Look at my worry. Worry with me. Step into my life. Care about my problems. Care about me,’”-Sharon Creech. Likewise to what Sharon Creech has stated, many country leaders and citizens pay more attention to their own agenda and self problems instead of worldwide dilemmas. In addition, the holocaust is one of the most disastrous and devastating predicaments that have struck the world in anguish and terror, however the people at that time ignored the huge quandary taking place in Central Europe. Factors such as social media, Isis, and the mixed motivations of “rescuers” today can
A lack of alternative media sources in Rwanda contributed to the attention these outlets received.” This is significant because of propaganda Hutu were able to dehumanize Tutsi creating a rigid convincing others and justifying the harm towards Tutsi.According to Katlyn Burmeister author of European Colonialism Tied to the 1994 Rwandan Genocide “When Germany came into Rwanda in 1890, they immediately started making changes to the social structure which created major distinctions between the Hutu and Tutsi and ultimately turned the two against each other. [4] The Tutsi minority was considered “elite” or “superior” in the eyes of the Germans due the tribe’s history as dominating “precolonial royalty” in Rwanda, and members of the Tutsi were