Second Congo War Research Paper

Do you ever think about how lucky you are? You should. You live in one of many countries that cares for its citizens. Living in America you have opportunities that other countries will never have. For example, there are many third world countries that struggle daily to keep multiple citizens alive. These citizens have to fight for their lives and sometimes never get any form of medical help. Whereas in America we have many different resources that allow us to be a strong world power, if we lost citizens by the hundreds weekly we would be a country in need. Many countries in Africa are considered third world countries because they are overpopulated and under developed.

Rwanda is still having conflict now and they are still trying to resolve some problems they have and they are trying to shake off their image of what happened in 1994

Over a period from 1960-1965, the first Republic of the Congo experienced a period of serious crisis. There was a terrible war for power that displayed senseless violence and the desperation to rule. There were many internal conflicts among the people. The country eventually gained independence from Belgium. For many countries this would be a time for celebration. Unfortunately for the people of the Congo this became a time to forget. Almost immediately after independence and the general elections, the country went into civil war. Major developed cities like Katanga and Kasai wanted to be independent from the Lumumba government. Different factions started to fight the government and Katanga and Kasai tried to secede from the rest

On April 6, 1994, the Rwandan president was returning from Tanzania when his plane was shot down and he was killed. The death of the president was the spark needed for a campaign of violence against the Tutsi and moderate Hutu civilians across the country. In hours, Hutu rebels surrounded the capital and took over the streets. As the weeks advanced, Tutsis and anyone suspected of having connections to a Tutsi member was killed.

Sub point 1: Cause 1: According to the journal article The DRC's Crumbling Legitimacy in 2012, written by foreign policy analyst Dizolele and lawyer Kambale, the 2011 presidential election in the DRC have led to a crisis of legitimacy. Over 100 people who were against current Congolese president Joseph Kabila, who has been suspected of fraud in his election result, were wounded in the capital

In 2001, Kabila was assassinated, leading to him being replaced by his son Joseph Kabila (ECI). According to the Eastern Congo Initiative, the Congo held its first democratic elections in 2006, with Kabila being elected. At the same time, however, multiple armed groups gained power and began fighting over control of mineral resources in the Eastern Congo, resulting in more civilian lives. To this day they still continue to fight, and despite multiple peace treaties, the violence does not end (ECI).

In the Congo, many people were affected by Imperialism in many different ways. For some people were shamed, had curfews, and some were often banned from “white” people establishments. Therefore, it was like segregation to the Congolese people. They had religion forced onto them by the Roman Catholic and some Protestant Churches. However, they gained formal education systems and slowly improved their healthcare. The government even sponsored teaching a handful of languages in the schools.

Since its joining of the UN on September 18, 1962, Rwanda has long been active in the field of international politics. Rwanda was a Belgian colony. The population of this little East African nation is divided into two ethnic groups, The Hutu majority, and the Tutsi minority. Conflict caused a power struggle between these two parties and has plagued the nation for a good portion of the twentieth century. During Belgian occupation, the Belgians relied upon the Tutsis to govern the nation, as their skin was lighter and heads were physically larger. This would soon stern great strife, as in 1959, both sides began to demand more political independence and war broke out. Hundreds of thousands of Tutsis were killed, and many more fled to neighboring

Pre-1959 Rwanda was run by the Tutsis. This ended when there was an overthrow in Rwanda by the Hutus. Being 85% of the population the Hutus felt they were to take positions of

Throughout the 1600s to the mid 1990s, the Tutsi tribe in Rwanda, and the Hutu tribe of Rwanda have always been arch enemies. Although the Hutus have had a prolonged hate for the Tutsi tribe, this hate was not physically expressed, until 1994. From April to July of 1994, over 80,000 Tutsi people were murdered and tortured for their African heritage. The Rwanda genocide is considered to be one of the worst massacres the world has ever seen since the Holocaust. This paper will touch a few things that occurred after the massacre, and will also answer the questions of why this massacre started, what occurred during this genocide. The Rwandan genocide was a massacre based off of discrimination and hatred for a specific tribal group. This

The slaughter and killing from Kigali soon spread all across Rwanda. In just three months 800,000 people were killed. 3/4 Tutsi’s were murdered during the Rwandan genocide. People were killed in churches, homes, schools, and many other place (“A Good Man in Hell”). During this time, government radios and officials were telling civilians to kill. They were told to kill anyone who was Tutsi or anyone who supported the Tutsi’s. The RPF kept fighting back and by early July the RPF had claimed and got control over most of Rwanda. Then over two million Hutu’s fled the

History should not be viewed as a series of unrelated events. Rather, history is an evolutionary process in which each period and occurrence impacts subsequent eras. That said, each age has different characteristics that are unique to it. The history of the Congo amid the recent century and a half is a good illustration of the themes of both progression and change in history. Specifically, during Congo’s colonial era, its European rulers ruthlessly exploited its natural resources.

Tutsis were slaughtered where militias,FAR(Rwandan Armed Forces),and the presidential guard set up roadblocks.(100 days of death) Within an hour after the plane crash, The presidential guard,FAR,and

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

What role did competition between the superpowers have in the early stages of the Angolan Civil War (1974-76)?