Rwanda Genocide
Annie Ruth and Brooke Davidson
Cause of the Conflict
The Rwanda Genocide was fought between the Hutus and the Tutsis. The Hutu and Tutsi share a common past. When Rwanda was first settled, the people who lives there raised cattle. Soon, the people that owned the most cattle were called "Tutsi" and everyone else was called the "Hutu". These were just categories and you could easily change through marriage or cattle accumulation. Then when Europe came to Rwanda the categories became identities.
The President Juvénal Habyarimana of Rwanda was returning from a summit in Tanzania when a surface-to-air missile shot his plane out of the sky over Rwanda's capital city of Kigali. All on board were killed in the crash. Within 24 hours after the crash, Hutu extremists had taken over the government, blamed the Tutsis for the assassination, and begun the slaughter.
Immediate Effect
- The population was DRASTICALLY cut (killed about 70% of Rwandan population)
- Hatred of tribes against each other, especially the Hutu and the Tutsi
- A Civil War sparked, caused by the group Rwandese Patriotic Front that was created during the genocide
- New Presidetn was elected and the years of dictatorship were at an end
Lasting Effect
People in Rwanda were traumatized, tons of people fled the country. It broke relationships between sides and the country is still facing economic struggles. This is because there were few workers to reconstruct their country.
Lasting 100 days, the Rwanda genocide left approximately 800,000 Tutsis and Hutu sympathizers dead.
There relationships with other countries also was damaged because as the brutal killings continued, the world stood idly by and just watched the slaughter.