Rwanda Genocide

In 1994, there was a mass genocide between the Hutus and the Tutsis of Rwanda. Rwanda is located near Uganda, Congo, and Tanzania. These countries are located in Africa. Due to the location of Rwanda it caused controversy because many countries surrounding it wanted to take control over it. It caused tension between multiple countries and sparked a war which lead to a genocide. There are three groups in Rwanda – Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa. The Twa group was initially the first group to settle in Rwanda and was soon followed by the Hutus and then the Tutsis, who came from Ethiopia. Once the Tutsis and Hutus took over Rwanda, there were always profound social differences between the two groups. The Tutsis gained social, economic, and political ascendency over the Hutus, who were primarily agriculturists. (Britannica, 2012) Other than these differences, there were no other differences between the Hutus and the Tutsis because there was intermarriage and use of common language between the two groups. The difference between the two was not apparent and therefore was never recognized. Because the Hutus were agriculturists there were agreements made that the Hutus would raise the crops for the Tutsis took over economically and politically. Germany took over Rwanda in 1894 and continued to control Rwanda until after World War I when they lost the colonies in 1933 to the Belgians. Once the Belgians took over, they gave all leadership positions to the Tutsis because according to the Germans and Belgians they looked the most European of the two groups. This irritated the Hutus because Rwanda at the time was 90% Hutu and 10% Tutsi and giving them leadership positions was unfair. Belgium also mandated that every person was to wear an identification card that stated if they were Tutsi, Hutu, or Twa (which are a very small group of hunter-gatherers in Rwanda). Rwanda continuously struggled for independence from Belgium, which then lead Belgium to switch the roles of leadership. Facing a