The Soviet Union 's Breakdown And The Cold 's War

This investigation studies two of the causes of the 1994 genocide of Rwanda. The two causes are examined in order to see to what extent each contributed to the genocide. The social and ethnic conflicts between two Rwandan groups called the Hutus and the Tutsis caused violent disputes and riots. The assassination of President Juvenal Habyarimana is often thought of as the event that sparked the mass murders. Did the assassination of President Juvenal Habyarimana influence the Rwandan genocide of 1994 more than the ongoing social and ethnic conflicts?

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.

America’s foundation was constructed on the ideal of freedom, whether that be religious, political, or individual freedom. U.S. citizens have very strong feelings about their independence and will do almost anything to protect their rights from being taken away. During the 1950s Americans were afraid that their freedom was going to be threatened and taken away by the communist style of government. The Soviet Union and America were both trying to win control on a global scale, but with the USSR being communist the paranoia of a socialism takeover was heightened. Americans were so fearful of communism that it became known as the Red Scare. All over the country people were being accused of being communist spies and federal employees were being interrogated, the U.S. was in full panic mode. The United States was so fearful of the USSR being able to gather more communist allies and take over that the U.S. stepped in militarily to protect South Korea from North Korea’s communist invasion. This battle for dominance between the nations was named the Cold War. I believe that this war was justified because there were clear threats towards the United States and their capitalist ideals. In the very beginning of the Cold War the Soviet Union successfully tested an atomic bomb. This seemed like a clear indication that the USSR had plans to use that bomb in order to establish their dominance and embark on a communist takeover. America fought to keep their freedom and rights safe from the

In the year of 1945, one major war ended while another one began. The Cold War began in 1945 just after World War II had ended and last for roughly forty-five years. The war occurred between the United States and the Soviet Union. The war was the attempt by the Allied powers to stop the spread of communism by the Soviet Union. The Allied powers did not want the Soviet Union’s form of government to take over the world. The United States was the only country that had the resources to stand up against the Soviet Union.

When WWII ended, the US and the Soviet Union emerged not as friends, but as enemies. This occurred for a multitude of reasons including: direct opposite experiences in WWII, the US 's desire to contain communism, and economic incentives. These factors caused the cold war to materialize and then further escalate into an arms race.

The Cold War is unique among war’s to be not a war between states, but a war between ideologies. The United States and other allies defend social democracy capitalism, as the pinnacle of freedom and equality; and the Soviet Union though communism was the pinnacle of equality. These ideologies manifested themselves through the superpowers, which caused the conflict between them. Both the United States, and the Soviet Union are to blame for the outbreak of the Cold War. The United State’s mission to contain communism with the Marshall Plan, personal remarks against Stalin, the creation of NATO, and the use of the atomic bomb in Japan without warning the Soviet’s, their ally in the war. On the other side, Stalin’s remarks on Churchill and Truman, the Berlin blockade, and the breaking of agreements in Poland, escalated the situation from tense to a Cold War.

There have been many conflicts and wars fought over communism and capitalism. One of the longest and intense conflicts was the Cold War. “The Cold War was a nearly 50-year long period of tense relations between the United States and the Communist-ruled Soviet Union. The Cold War began almost immediately after World War II and ended with the 1991 dismantling of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics” (Turner, 2001-2014 p.1). The Soviets fought to expand communism and destroy capitalism, but in the end capitalism was one of the reasons the Soviet Union dissolved.

After a series of events during the time of World War II, tensions between the United States and the Communists such as the Soviet Union and China, developed into a military and political conflict such as the Cold War. During the Cold War, which went on for 50 years, the Soviet Union and the United States competed to expand their economical and political influence. Although, the United States military has increased in size and it’s strategy. The United States power today is highly supreme when it comes to competing with other countries in the world. The United States is the world 's largest producer of nuclear power, holding an immense amount of nuclear and atomic bombs, accounting for more than big percentage of worldwide nuclear

Along the course of American history, this nation has seen many conflicts in its brief timeline. However, as the alliance between America and the USSR dissolved after the second World War, the relationship between both superpowers began to fluctuate as they competed to spread their varying ideologies. This unique time period became known as the Cold War, a conflict unique as it was not fought with normal methods of warfare. In fact, it was not fought with weapons at all. To fully understand this unconventional war, it is important to understand the background to the hostile relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union. It is also important to study its methods of warfare and the conflicts that arose. The Cold War began as a

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

Imagine living a life of fear, turmoil, with death all around. Hearing gun shots being fired, death chants, machete use, dead bodies everywhere. Afraid to close your eyes at night to rest, yet more afraid to wake up in the morning. To sustain your life and the life of your loved ones you must hide out, kill others, watch your neighbors be killed at the hands of the enemy. Knowing if you are caught you could be forced to murder your own family, be raped, be held captive, be starved to death, and most likely be killed. In 1994, this was the life many faced in Rwanda. “Rwanda has become a synonym for one of the worst genocides of the 20th century (Lemarchand, (n.d.), p. 483).

Many were killed and had to be buried in mass graves due to the corpses in mass amounts (“Genocide”). The few survivors lost their families, homes, friends, and suffered awful health complications. Many survivors already lived in poverty, but now lived in unpropitious poverty. Survivors also had to undergo severe trauma from their horrific experiences. They had to reconstruct their lives as well as the city they knew and loved. These people subsided the awful treachery they had endured and united as a community to rebuild their homeland. Although, ten years after the genocide, ethnic relations in Rwanda remained tense (Genocide & Persecution Rwanda 39). Signs of genocide are still everywhere today and the effects of this tragedy are

Genocide is “the deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, ethnic, political, or cultural group”. In Rwanda for example, the Hutu-led government embraced a new program that called for the country’s Hutu people to murder anyone that was a Tutsi (Gourevitch, 6). This new policy of one ethnic group (Hutu) that was called upon to murder another ethnic group (Tutsi) occurred during April through June of 1994 and resulted in the genocide of approximately 800,000 innocent people that even included women and children of all ages. In this paper I will first analyze the origins/historical context regarding the discontent amongst the Hutu and Tutsi people as well as the historical context as to why major players in the international

Genocide is defined by the United Nations as "...acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group..." (UN, 1) While there are many sovereign nations engaged in international politics, only a few engaged (or disengaged) in African politics during the Cold War era. Through realism and liberalism the actions of global leaders and members of the United Nations will be explained and their actions defined that led to the crisis of Central Africa from 1960 through 1994 and ending in Rwanda. These global state actors have an obligation to protect human rights throughout the world, but in 1994 allowed 800,000 ethnic Tutsi to be brutally murdered in their homes and in the streets of a place that once used to be safe. This all occurred because a global power struggle was top priority.

When studying international relations there are six main theories to look at: realism, liberalism, Marxism, social constructivism, poststructuralism, and postcolonialism. These six theories take different approaches to explain various regimes, actions, and events that have occurred around the world throughout time. Not only do these six theories vary by regimes, but also by individuals. For instance, looking at the Rwandan genocide of 1994, it can be argued that the overarching theory to explain it is realism, but notions of liberalism, constructivism, and postcolonialism can also be seen from individuals experiencing it. These four theories are represented in the movie, “Hotel Rwanda.” “Hotel Rwanda” is based off of a true story of a man named Paul Rusesbagina and the hotel he manages, Hotel de Mille Collines. Although not everything depicted in the movie is a real-life event, one is still able to understand how world views can differ from person to person depending on what they were going through during that time. Concepts presented in the movie are concepts that tried to stick to the real events as much as they could. The movie clearly distinguishes the feud between the Tutsi tribe and the Hutu tribe within Kigali. Furthermore, characters Paul Rusebagina, Colonel Oliver, Georges Rutaganda, depict motivating world views. When viewing these three characters and Kigali as a whole, it is evident that not everyone experiencing the same event will view it in the same way.