Preview

Rewanda Genocide Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
844 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Rewanda Genocide Essay
In 1994 a genocide occurred in Rewanda that lasted for 100 days in its entirety. This event was one of the most devastating moments to hit the world. On April 5, 1994 a plane carrying the president of Rewanda, Juvenal Habyarimana, and the president of Burundian, crashed. This event started the tragedy. The uprising was against the Tutsi and Hutu people and spanned the entire country. It took only a few hours for the rebels to take over the capital of Kigali and the massacre continued until the Hutu movement was beaten.

The Rwandan Patriotic (RPF) front was targeted for extermination by the Hutus. As the violence continued to get worse, the RPF fought back but this only created a combination of civil war as well as human genocide. The brutality of the mass extermination
…show more content…
Rwanda gained their independence from Belgium in 1961. This happened after the nationalist group known as the Parmehutu led the social revolution which overthrew the tutsi ruling class. The revolution was responsible for about 20,000 Tutsis and another 200,000 were exiled to other countries. Unfortunately the Tutsis left were few and were mostly the result of family ties, or intermarriage, but were discriminated against greatly and being lesser people by the Hutu government. Tutsis who had been exiled and demanded the right to return home and they formed the RPF in 1985. They wanted an end to the discrimination against them in Rwanda. Working from neighboring Uganda, they invaded Ruwanda in 1990 which only fueled the hatred of the Tutsi by the Hutsu. It was the Tutsi invasion that paved the way to the genocide as well as the many decades of oppression and the fear the Hutsu could eventually lose power. In addition to the Tutsi people who were murdered those Hutu sympathizers who sheltered the Tutsi by providing aid and hiding them were also

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    On the 6th April 1994 the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi were both assassinated leading to the start of the Rwandan Genocide. The president of Rwanda Juvénal Habyarimana (Hutu) was with the president of Burundi Cyprien Ntaryamira (Hutu) at the time when their plane was shot down leading to some "The most horrible and systematic human massacre we have had occasion to witness since the extermination of the Jews by the Nazis”. The Hutu rebels then began their massacre slaughtering 800,000 Tutsis within on hundred days, three quarters of the Tutsi population. Ethnic rivalry between the two groups, the Tutsi and the Hutu, played a large role in the assassination of both the presidents. In the lead up to the assassination the two groups had been continuously fighting due to the fact that they both believed that they were miss-treated through previous moments in history. In both the genocides of 1972 and 1994 the Hutu people were seeking revenge on the Tutsi people because of how they were treated in the past. This treatment of the Hutu people escalated when the Belgian colonists arrived in 1916, producing identity cards classifying the people according to their ethnicity. The Belgians favoured the Tutsi people, which led to better qualities of living, which infuriated the Hutu people “In Rwanda that genocide happened because the way the Belgians judged the people”. The rivalry between the two…

    • 1384 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Rwanda, ethnic tensions were already high with the power struggle between the Hutus and the Tutsis. Since its independence from Belgium, the Hutus suppressed the Tutsis increasingly until the Tutsi rebel army forced the President to sign an agreement that equalized power. On April 6, 1994, a plane carrying the Rwandan President was shot down and resulted in an outbreak of violence by the Hutus, who began killing all Tutsis and moderate Hutus (United Human Rights).…

    • 787 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the years of April and June of 1994, the Rwanda genocide occurred. The history behind this was the resentment of being inferior. When Belgium claimed Rwanda and surrounding areas for German East Africa in about 1924, there became tension between two tribes. The Belgiums favored the Tutsi (which were 12% of the population) and the Hutu (85% of population) grew angry for being considered inferior. This struggle waged on for sixty years and finally hit its peak.…

    • 417 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Belgians left the country leaving the divide they created to suit their needs in maintaining their society well-structured and functioning the way they wanted. Having this divide made for strong point for the two ethnic groups to fight, it is this reason that many people blame the Belgians, for making the Tutsi of higher value than the Hutu. This is a very valid reason to blame the Belgians since without them, the two ethnic groups would not have known their supposed differences and hypothetically not have conflict between them. This is putting the reason very lightly, since this divide was morally wrong towards the natives with Hutu ethnicity. The Belgians made the Tutsi the superior people in Rwanda, not that this was their intention, they…

    • 740 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Rwandan Genocide occurred during the latter part of the Rwandan Civil War after the assassination of former president Juvénal Habyarimana. Close associates of Habyarimana believed the Tutsis to be behind his assassination, thus prompting procession of a planned extermination of the Tutsis (Des Forges, pp.6). Nonetheless, the systematic killing was a result of a multitude of events for which the assassination served as a breaking…

    • 1826 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    After WW1 Belgium took control of Rwanda and favored the minority, Tutsis, of the majority, Hutus, who were angered after Belgium left Rwanda and put the Tutsis in power of the Rwandan government (“The Rwandan Genocide”). Later a Hutu rebel group tried to, and did overthrow the Tutsi government (“Rwandan Genocide: 100 days of slaughter-BBC News”). This led to an estimated 300,000 Tutsi refugees that would flee the country in fear of Hutu rule and brutality (“Rwandan Genocide: 100 days of slaughter-BBC News”). After the Tutsis fled to the neighboring countries, the Rwandan Patriotic Force also know as the RPF, was created in response to the Hutu rebel group taking control (“Rwandan Genocide: 100 days of slaughter-BBC News”). Even before the genocide, conflict forced many Tutsis to flee in fear of a genocide which would eventually…

    • 756 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Conflict in Rwanda was caused by many actions throughout history and resentment and anger being built up which led to one swift cruel act - genocide. The road to genocide begins with labels, or classification. The people who brought these racist ideas to a once peaceful Rwanda in the first place were Belgian colonists who believed the white race was superior. Rwanda became a colony of Belgium in 1914, and, gained independence from Belgium in the 1960s (“Year of Africa”). Following Rwanda gaining independence from Belgium began the dispute to figure out who would rule Rwanda after the Belgians left and there was no one the favor, the Tutsis. This was when the genocide broke…

    • 754 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Supporting Evidence #1:)Under Belgium rule rwanda was made into two different groups the tutsi and the hutu. The hutu was made as a work force and the tutsi were used as extended belgium rule.McCormack, Pete. (2006)…

    • 678 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The person who took over Rwanda is Paul Kagame, he ended the Rwandan genocide, he has been in office since 2000. Belgium took control of Rwanda in 1994 after world war 1 was over, and they divided them into different groups called Hutus and Tutsis. To keep control and keep track of them they gave them cards that say if there Hutu or Tutsis. They thought the Tutsis were more white looking. There was a big effect, the Tutsis wanted more independence and they were being impatient and the Hutus were getting mad, they had know idea what was coming that affected their lives.…

    • 794 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Imperialism In Rwanda

    • 1380 Words
    • 6 Pages

    (Belgian Colonies) This transfer in power resulted in violence when extremist Tutsis attacked Hutu leader Dominique Mbonyumutwa. In response to this Hutus killed hundreds of Tutsis.(World History) This Hutu revolution forced as many as 300,000 Tutsis to flee Rwanda, making them an even smaller minority (History). Soon thereafter in 1961 the Hutus gained control of the government.…

    • 1380 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    The racial tensions that fueled the mass killing of the Tutsi people began long before April 1994. The majority Hutu and minority Tutsi and Twa people of Rwanda lived in relative peace until their country came under Belgian rule in 1916. In an effort to retaliate…

    • 843 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Rwandan genocide was an atrocity that marked an age of unrest and violence in Central Africa. A nation unbalanced for years had finally imploded, leading to the mass murder of hundreds of thousands of Tutsis. This genocide was the result of multiple things, creating instability and unbalancing the relationship between the Tutsis and the Hutus. Tensions built up for decades were finally released. While many would blame Belgium, Germany, and colonization for catalyzing the genocide, there were many other factors involved, including structural oppression, the rise of the Rwandan Patriot Front, and most notably propaganda spread by the Rwandan Radio; proving that while colonialism may have played a large role…

    • 1330 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In just three months, from April to July of 1994, more than half a million Tutsi people were murdered. Some sources say that the Rwandan genocide should be renamed “The genocide against the Tutsi” because not both groups were affected. The mass killing took place in Rwanda, located in Africa near the equator. It is one of the most populated countries in Africa, and is also one of the poorest countries in the world. The feud started because Rwanda was under the Belgian administration and the Tutsi were being treated better than the Hutu people were (Longman 2-3).…

    • 546 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Genocide Essay

    • 631 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Herero and Namaqua Genocide was considered the first genocide of the 20th century, and occurred from 1904 until 1907. This genocide took place in German South-West Africa, now known as Namibia, during the scramble for Africa. This area of Africa was highly desirable by many different countries, and was sought after using any form of brutality deemed appropriate. Africa in itself held a prime location for new territory for the invading countries, and beneath the vast areas of land and waterless dunes held a dust of gemstones and other minerals to be mined. To a foreign invader, conquering Africa meant a plethora of riches and a chance to obtain a territory they could profit off of for centuries to come.…

    • 631 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Essay On Rwanda Genocide

    • 447 Words
    • 2 Pages

    During the colonial period time, Germany, had lost custody of Rwanda because of the first world war. So Rwanda was handed over to Belgium take custody. In the late nine- teen fifties there was a huge increase of intensity over decolonization in Rwanda, because Hutus wanted independence . "In November 1959, a violent incident sparked a Hutu uprising in which hundreds of Tutsi were killed and thousands displaced and forced to flee to neighboring countries." This started a the ‘Hutu Peasant Revolution’ which had only continued for two years 1959 to 1961, which had ended the Tutsi domination and now has obviously started negative ethnic tensions between each other. In 1962, Rwanda had gained independence, 120,000 people, primarily Tutsis,and automatically set one hundred -twenty thousand Tutsi refugees into the bordering countries to breakout the violence which had been started by Hutu community who was just coming into…

    • 447 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics