1994 Rwanda Genocide: An Overview
1994 Rwanda Genocide
Overview
On April 6, 1994, when a plane carrying Rwanda’s president, Habyarimana, was shot down, it was the beginning of a terrible act that took place. This was the start of a war. While this war took place, the Hutu people made and launched plans to wipe out the Tutsi population. The Hutus were majorly successful in this act, and during the uyear 1994, killed approximately 800,000 Tutsi men, women and children. This was caused by the hutu’s rise to power. they were the majority of the population, and they wanted to gain and keep power of the country. the war and genocide ended only when the RPF, a Tutsi-dominated rebel group, defeated the Hutu perpetrators and a new president took control of Rwanda.
Part I
The summer of 1994 brought a terrible thing over the country of Rwanda. The acts that took place that summer were some of the worst the country had ever seen. It was a disaster of mass proportions that shocked the country. In the very early 1900’s, the groundwork for a war was already being laid down; and Rwanda had one of the highest population densities in the world. It was made up of 85% Hutu people, 14% Tutsis, and only about 1% Twa, a pygmy group who were the original inhabitants of Rwanda. After World War One, Twanda came under the control of the League of Nations, which was controlled by Belgium. The ruling Belgians favored the minority Tutsis over the Hutu, creating the long-standing tension in the country which would later erupt into violence. All this happened before the Hutu Revolution, which took place in 1959. The revolution, which forced up to 300,000 Tutsis to flee the country, made the Tutsis and even smaller minority. In 1990, the Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF), which consisted mostly of Tutsi refugees from Uganda, invaded Rwanda. This led to negotiations between the government and the RPF. Then, in 1993, President Habyarimana, the current president of Rwanda signed an agreement that introduced a
Overview
On April 6, 1994, when a plane carrying Rwanda’s president, Habyarimana, was shot down, it was the beginning of a terrible act that took place. This was the start of a war. While this war took place, the Hutu people made and launched plans to wipe out the Tutsi population. The Hutus were majorly successful in this act, and during the uyear 1994, killed approximately 800,000 Tutsi men, women and children. This was caused by the hutu’s rise to power. they were the majority of the population, and they wanted to gain and keep power of the country. the war and genocide ended only when the RPF, a Tutsi-dominated rebel group, defeated the Hutu perpetrators and a new president took control of Rwanda.
Part I
The summer of 1994 brought a terrible thing over the country of Rwanda. The acts that took place that summer were some of the worst the country had ever seen. It was a disaster of mass proportions that shocked the country. In the very early 1900’s, the groundwork for a war was already being laid down; and Rwanda had one of the highest population densities in the world. It was made up of 85% Hutu people, 14% Tutsis, and only about 1% Twa, a pygmy group who were the original inhabitants of Rwanda. After World War One, Twanda came under the control of the League of Nations, which was controlled by Belgium. The ruling Belgians favored the minority Tutsis over the Hutu, creating the long-standing tension in the country which would later erupt into violence. All this happened before the Hutu Revolution, which took place in 1959. The revolution, which forced up to 300,000 Tutsis to flee the country, made the Tutsis and even smaller minority. In 1990, the Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF), which consisted mostly of Tutsi refugees from Uganda, invaded Rwanda. This led to negotiations between the government and the RPF. Then, in 1993, President Habyarimana, the current president of Rwanda signed an agreement that introduced a
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