Preview

The Main Cause Of The Rwandan Genocide

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
342 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Main Cause Of The Rwandan Genocide
Before beginning to analyze the similarities and differences between the perpetrators, one may first discuss the causes of the genocides. Firstly, the Rwandan genocide and the stories surrounding it have led to a birth of different explanations of the crime. According to Hintjenns, some of these interpretations include colonialism, ethnic and analytical conflict, economic and social crisis (Hintjens). Many have argued that even as all these were contributing factors, the main cause of the Rwandan genocide was the involvement of both the Belgian and the German colonial policies (Man 2005). The two main ethnic groups in Rwanda, the Hutus and the Tutsis lived in harmony for many years, but with the new born idea of “divide and rule” brought by

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    During the early 1900’s the Belgians had been colonizing Rwanda. The Belgians used the Hutu people who at the time were a majority, as slaves. The Belgian’s favored the Tutsi because they looked more “white”. The belgians would look at the skin tone, the size of their lips and the width of the bridge of their noses to determine this. The Belgians put the Tutsi people in charge of the Hutu’s…

    • 342 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Tutsi tribe was historically seen as the ruling class of Rwanda while Hutu were considered farmer folk. Following World War I the Belgians were authoritarian rulers in the region, fueling further disputes between the Hutu and the Tutsi people by dividing them stereotypically-the Hutus being the poorer folk while Tutsis were the higher class folk with a relatively lighter skin tone through European mixes. It was because of the divide, a disagreement about the separation of powers arose- just as the Dutch rule came to an end. Following a new reign the Belgians left their power to the Tutsis, further fuming the fire that had already grown for far too long. Disputes and historical milestones had occurred in between the Rawandan Genocide and the handover, yet none that refract the hopelessness of this dispute into a favorable direction. Amongst a very heated past, what contributed to the start of the Rwandan Genocide was the assassination of the Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana on the 6 of April 1994.…

    • 1068 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Hotel Rwanda Analysis

    • 2525 Words
    • 11 Pages

    The major motives behind any genocide are – Power, Psychological resentment, Purification and Pecuniary gain. Rwandan Genocide of 1994 was backed by all of these motives. The carnage had its origin for power and wealth, which once was in the hands of the Tutsis, later on seized by the Hutus after independence of Rwanda from Belgium. To retain this power, the Hutus elites planned this genocide and exercised their ‘Hutu Power’ over the Tutsis on a macro level. The director wisely linked the all main scenes of the movie in a chronological order to shows the clear picture of genocide. For instance, in one scene of the movie when the local militia leader George asked Paul to join the Hutu politics, but the Paul denied; George argues, “Politics is power and money” (Hotel Rwanda). Purification or ethnic cleansing is another major motive behind any massacre. Armenian genocide and the holocaust are the classic examples of the genocides purely effected by this motive. This ethnic and cultural prejudice often results in the creation of 'in-group' and 'out-group' thinking, where members of a group having same race, ideology or identity treats the member of other groups as their enemies or aliens. The belief behind this is that the ‘out groups’ are pollutants and need to be cleansed for the goodness of the society. Unlike the earlier genocides held in years 1959, 1964 and 1973, in which women and children were not killed,…

    • 2525 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Rwandan Genocide took place in 1994 between the Hutu and Tutsi. The Genocide rippled when the plane carrying President Habyarimana was shot down. Even though this was a starting point to the genocide, there were other factors that contributed to the Genocide. In this essay, I will explain why the Belgians are to blame for death of the Hutu President and causing the Genocide. Rwanda gained independence from Belgium (another group that is highly blamed for the genocide) in 1962.…

    • 740 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When Holocaust is compared to Rwandan genocide; “Jews and Tutsi share victimhood which here are few other parallels in recent or past history; both have been the target of a “total domestic genocide” page 111 (The dynamics of violence in Central Africa). Both genocide claim a collective memories to Tutsi and Jews. Both Germany and Rwanda leaders showed ethic discrimination to the people. The genocide took people away from their homes and families due to the corrupt political leaders. People were targeted based on their ethnicity and religion background. Both Jews and Hutu, Tutsi were dehumanized in their own country…

    • 213 Words
    • 1 Page
    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

    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

    Every case of genocide and mass murder has its own story and anotherness, they also didn’t happen in the blink of an eye. The perpetrators of these events have always had a fundamental reason to what led them to execute such gruesome crimes. Most may know, the German holocaust and the Rwandan genocide are the two most known and most terrible violation of human rights because of the amount of people that were killed and the way in which these murders were performed. This essay is a discussion of key similarities and differences of the roles of perpetrators in the two case studies; Rwandan genocide and the German…

    • 109 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Rwanda vs. Old Rwanda

    • 1099 Words
    • 5 Pages

    For the past two thousand years, civilizations, empires, and countries frequently have issues dealing with misunderstandings between ethnic groups. The American Civil War, the Spanish Civil War, the French War of Religions and the Roman Civil Wars are examples of civilizations that have gone through fights between two sides of the same people with different ideas on how to run their civilization. The wars might be gruesome, but it ultimately helped them come upon a new agreement. The 1994 genocide of Rwanda is an example of two ethnic groups trying to establish a new government that both sides agree upon. Since the 1994 Genocide of Rwanda, Rwanda has improved its status in the world by improving government stability, better economic status, eliminating social crisis, enforcing justice for those who suffered during the 1994 genocide, and receiving assist from others who want to help their situation. Many countries were criticized for not helping Rwanda, but Rwanda would possibly be more spoiled if they were helped by developed countries. The Tutsis and Hutus suffered from the selfishness of the ethnic pride, military, and government.…

    • 1099 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    There have been many Genocides throughout the years. The Rwandan Genocide and the Aborigine generational killing are just two. The Rwandan Genocide was a small scale civil war between the Tutsis and Hutus from Rwanda. While Belgium took control of Rwanda it granted the Tutsis wealthier lives, yet when they relinquished power and the Hutus no longer had restriction the Hutus they started a war.…

    • 499 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Peter Uvin’s Reading the Rwandan Genocide focuses on many aspects of the genocide and the viewpoint of a couple scholars. The journal's thesis is to analyses what led Rwanda to the mass killing of Tutsi and questions the role of the international community, through explaining the thesis, Uvin touches upon the main idea of this literature review to figure out the role of the Hutu elites and how the colonial period impacted the politics and divide within the main tribes.Uvin argues that the most acceptable theory for the Rwandan genocide is the drive from the Hutu elites to maintain the political control. After the Rwandan independence from Belgium, many events have jeopardized the hutu;s right to rule from the late 1980s economic crisis, the…

    • 477 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Imperialism In Rwanda

    • 1380 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Rwanda, a small landlocked country in central Africa, has a long and rich history of differences and conflicts. One of the most known historic events of this region is the Rwandan Genocide which took 800,000 lives over the course of four months (Britannica). The conflict between two tribal groups, the Hutu and Tutsis, had been accumulating for decades before it finally reached its breaking point. The Rwandan genocide can be attributed to three main factors: Belgian colonial policies, tribal tensions between the Hutus and Tutsis, and the assassination of the Rwandan president. Before European colonization Rwanda was united under a total Tutsi government.…

    • 1380 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Thesis: The Rwandan Genocide is one of the lesser known, quickest, and most inhumane genocides this world has ever seen, and it is still affecting the people of Rwanda till this day.…

    • 1293 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In conclusion, it is clear that there are many contributing factors that acted as a catalyst to the Rwandan genocide. During a time where political instability was the only type of political structure, it is apparent that the rise of anti-political groups, propaganda meant to influence civilians towards taking a side, and colonial oppression causing a polarizing between the Hutus and Tutsis, all played a large role in the start of the genocide. Despite this, it is apparent that there was not one cause, but instead a melting pot of different issues that spilled over into greater…

    • 1330 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Genocide of Rwanda

    • 1815 Words
    • 8 Pages

    By exaggerating stereotypes and supporting one group over the other, the European colonists drove a wedge between the Hutus and Tutsis groups, initiating the ethnic competition that led to the genocide. For 600 years the two groups lived together and shared the business of farming, with Hutus working the land as crop-growers and the Tutsis owning land as herdsman. (Rwanda 1994). When the Germans took control of the area, they applied their racist ideology and assumed that the generally taller, lighter-skinned Tutsis were the more ‘natural’ leaders, with the Hutus destined to serve them (Rusesabagina 92). The rise of influence of the Tutsis group made them feel superior to…

    • 1815 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays