Rwanda Genocide Similarities

Genocides happen when ethnic divisions become apparent. Many times, these ethnic divisions were due to colonization from people of different race. These cases are especially true in Africa when Europeans colonized their territory, with clear racial divisions between them (Gavin). These genocides go on because of nations acting on ignorance and refusing to help out the nations in turmoil, allowing the genocides to continue, without wasting their own resources. These nations purposefully ignoring the slaughter of people cause the nations to also be guilty of the genocide underway (“The Heart”). The genocide occurred in Rwanda in Central Africa during 1994. The decades of Tutsi oppression of Hutus and the assassination of President Habyarimana in 1994 led to the genocide in Rwanda.

The victims in both genocides were desperate for a leader. In both cases, the brutal regimes recognized that their victims were poorly organized, defenseless and lacking leadership. World War I had a negative impact on Europe. There were millions of deaths and damage to the land. Jews were desperate for a leader because they were economically unstable after World War I (“Before”). Hitler saw that the Jews were weak and started the Holocaust. Similarly, in 1973 the United States bombed Cambodia which killed 150,000 people, leading many Cambodians to support Pot (“Genocide”). When the United States bombed Cambodia, the citizens of Cambodia no longer trusted the United States. Cambodians started liking

The Rwandan and Bosnian Genocides were more similar than different due to the fact that both were supported by the governing force at the time, and both were ignited due to past tensions between two separate ethnicities.

Throughout history, genocides can be seen as completely different from one another. With country dealing with their own population of people and purpose of killings, connections can be failed to seen between the growing number. Although, what is failed to be associated is the eight stages that each genocide must, and has gone through to carry out a plan of destruction. Meaning, each genocide may not closely follow the steps, but are similar to one another. An example that follow steps can be clearly seen between the Cambodian genocide of 1975-1979 and the Rwandan genocide of 1994. Through: symbolization, organization, preparation, and extermination, we are able to see the similarities between Cambodia and Rwanda in the eight steps

The Cambodian Genocide and the Armenian Genocide have similar methods of how the victims were killed. They similarly murdered their victims, starved their victims and targeted government officials. They were different in that the Armenians were deported but the Khmer Rouge targeted Cambodians based of their class and had re-education camps.

After the atrocities of the Rwandan Genocide and the lack on international intervention, Rwandan was forced to rebuild itself from scratch. Rwanda is a small country located in central Africa. Its population is divided between two ethnic groups: the hutus and the tutsis. The roots of the Rwandan genocide date back to 1924 when Belgium first took over Rwanda, formally a part of Tanzania. The Belgians viewed Tutsi superior to the hutus. Many referred to this as Hamitic hypothesis. It was motivated mainly by the fact that Tutsi were taller and thinner than hutus. This lead to a major boost in Tutsi egos and mistreatment of the Hutus for decades. This angered the Hutus leading to a major conflict between the two ethnic groups.

The Hutus are now in the position of power; the Hutu officials began to carry out massive genocides on the Tutsis. According to Document 8 it states, “The Hutu officials who took over the government organized the murders [of Tutsis] nationwide…Meanwhile, when the murders started the RPF [Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front] in Uganda invaded Rwanda again.” This quote demonstrates the back and forth genocide each ethnic group is imposing on each other. The genocide in Rwanda was sparked by the death of the Hutu Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana, when his place was shot down. Many Hutus blamed the Rwandan Patriotic Front and instantly started campaigns of slaughter. This also provided additional reasons why the Hutu had hatred against the Tutsis. According to Document 9a it states, “Over the course of the genocide nearly one million people were killed.” This shows how extreme the genocide was and how extensive the genocide

What is genocide you ask? Genocide is the deliberate killing of an astronomically immense group of people, especially those of a concrete ethnic group or nation.

Rwanda is a country located in Central Eastern Africa, with an extensive history of colonization, after Belgium attained control in 1924. Belgium’s rule however also marked the beginning of a lengthy ethnic rivalry between the Hutu and the Tutsi people. Belgium favored the Tutsi the minority at 14 percent of the population over the Hutu, the majority at 85 percent, simply because the Tutsis were more resembling of the Europeans. “Colonial policy helped to intensify bipolar differentiation between Tutsi and Hutu, by inscribing “ethnic” identification on identity cards, by relegating the vast majority of Hutu to particularly onerous forms of forced cultivation and corvee, and by actively favoring Tutsi in access to administrative posts, education, and jobs in the modern sector,” (Newbury, 12). Belgium’s control fueled the Hutu’s resentment towards the Tutsis because the Tutsis received superior treatment for decades. Thus, when Rwanda finally acquired independence in 1962, the Hutus fought for control over the government, highlighting the first warning sign of the genocide to come. Many Tutsis were killed afterwards, while many others fled to neighboring countries to escape the violence.

Despite having a prominent amount of similarities, these genocides are also very unique. As gruesome as it is to think about, one of the main differences is the reason for extermination. In other words, why the people who were killed were killed. The Holocaust had somewhat of a regimented list or criteria that had to be met before they killed anyone. Most of the people killed were practicing Jews who Hitler believed to be holding the German culture back from progressing as a society. However it is less common knowledge that Hitler and the Nazis also persecuted gypsies, homosexuals, and anyone who didn’t fit his description of the perfect race. The perfect race to Hitler was deemed the Aryan race (blonde hair, blue eyes, and pale skin) and the purpose of the holocaust was to kill the Jews and anyone else who might prevent the Aryan race from prospering (“Holocaust”). In the Cambodian genocide, people were killed for a multitude of reasons. One being that they opposed Pot’s new communist approach to running the government. Another being that they

In 1994, genocide unfolded in Rwanda claiming the lives of more than 700,000 Tutsi massacred at the hands of Hutu extremist, while the entire world stood by and watched. Some would argue this event was a result of civil unrest between the Tutsi and Hutu stemming from ancient

Rwanda is a country located in the middle of the African continent. The two ethnic groups present in the country lived in peace under their monarch until the arrival of Europeans. The Belgians arrival into Rwandan is what split the two ethnic groups of the Tutsi and Hutus, making them identify themselves with ID cards. This caused tension between the two groups as the Belgians favored the ethnic Tutsi, and made them the head of the government. Decade’s later Hutu extremists would take over the government and have revenge on the Tutsi. The new government would send out broadcasts calling on Hutus to kill their friends and neighbors. The Rwandan genocide would become the worst genocide to ever happen in Africa and one of the worst in the world. Today Rwanda’s recovery is surprisingly fast with the help of multiple nations and organizations. Rwanda’s recovery is nothing short of a miracle and is an amazing story of a war between two peoples.

The holocaust was a ethnic cleansing in Germany. The Germans were trying to get rid of Jews and many other types of people. The Rwanda genocide was the racial tension between the Hutus and the Tutsis. They were trying to purify there nation of the other group. The similarity here was the ethnic cleansing part of it all.

I will compare the Holocaust and the genocide in Rwanda. I would also identify the aggressors, the target groups, the reasons why aggressors engaged in genocide. I will also explain what occurred, the attempts made to stop the genocide and by whom and analyze the outcomes. Last of all, contrast them. I will explain why it's so different.

The Rwandan president, Habyarimana and the president of Burundi, Cyprien Ntaryamira, are killed when the president’s plane is shot down near Kigali Airport, on April 6th, 1994. That night on the 6th of April, 1994, the genocide begins. Hutu people take to the streets with guns and machetes. The Hutus set up roadblocks and stopped anyone that looked Tutsi or suspected of helping Tutsi people to hide. On April 7th, 1994 the Rwandan Armed Forces set up roadblocks and went house to house to kill any Tutsis found. Thousands of people die on the first, while the U.N. just stands by and watches the slaughter go on. On April 8th, 1994 the U.N. cuts its forces from 2,500 to 250 after ten U.N. soldiers were disarmed and tortured and shot or hacked to death by machetes, trying to protect the Prime Minister. As the slaughter continues the U.N. sends 6,800 soldiers to Rwanda to protect the civilians, on May 17th, 1994, they were meant to be the peacekeepers. The slaughter continues until July 15th, 1994, in the 100 days that the genocide lasted 800,000-1,000,000 Tutsis and Hutus