Rwanda is mountainous, but they are dependent on agriculture for their economy. Most of the residents in Rwanda are actually farmers. The main consumptions that are domestic include yams and bananas, while coffee is their main export. Rwanda was separated into three ethnic groups: Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa for hundreds of years. The three ethnic groups shared many things, such as: Kinyarwanda, which is their language, culture, and customs. The ethnic division in 1994 was 1% Twa, 15% Tutsi, and 84% Hutu. The Rwandan President, Gregoire Keyibanda, wanted the Tutsi refugees to remove their power so the whole race will be gone. In the 1990s RPF forces invaded Rwanda. The members of "Hutu Power" took control of the government after the murder of the
Along with the Belgians support toward the Hutu came the Hutu Revolution in 1959. It all started with the Belgians getting the Hutu more political positions, getting them into secondary schools, and getting them to just participate in more public life. This scared the Tutsi. The Tutsi, feeling that there power was being jeopardized, decided they had to do something. Feeling that they were in a desperate situation they ended up killing a Hutu sub-chief. The vivid Hutu, feeling that it was time to take a stand, attacked Tutsi officials, who in return attacked the Hutu. This turned into one of many small
The Hutu’s believe the Tutsi’s were trying to regain power. There was a long history of rivalry and violence between these two tribes and the killing of the president was the catalyst ignited the voracious flames of revenge. The Hutu’s began their manhunt to find and kill the Tutsi’s in revenge for the years of perceived oppression when the Tutsi’s ruled Rwanda.
Between the months of April and July in 1994 approximately one million people were killed in Rwanda. There are three ethnic groups in Rwanda, Hutu, Tutsi, and Aboriginal Twa. The genocide occurred between two different groups, the Hutu and Tutsi people. The Hutu composed close to 85% of the population while the minority Tutsi people make up approximately 14% with the Twa people composing the remaining 1%. The Republic of Rwanda like most African nations has a history of colonization from different European countries with different and conflicting ideas of governance and how a colony should be developed and used. It can be argued that many of the
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.
After RPF victory, they established a partnered government with Pasteur Bizimungu(Hutu) and Paul Kagame(Tutsi). Bizimungu as president and Kagame as vice president.
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
On April 4, 1994, Hutu President, Juvenal Habyaimana and another Hutu leader, Cyprien Ntaryamira were on an airplane flying back to Rwanda. The plane was shot down and everyone on board was killed. The Hutu people blamed the terrorist attack on the RPF political group. They began to create hit lists for the Hutu militia to kill all of the Tutsi officials. Roadblocks were set up by the Hutu and if Tutsi people tried to pass, their IDs were checked. If they had any form of Tutsi identification, they were killed. The slaughter was just getting started. Neighbors were killing neighbors. Friends were killing friends. Family was killing family. Even religious leaders were killing the Tutsi people. There was thought to be no stop to the slaughter. (BBC)
The Rwanda revolution of 1959 was significant because it marked the shift in power between two ethic groups within Rwanda. The country was originally led by the Tutsis and was later given to the Hutus by their colonizers Belgium. The change in power between the Tutsis and the Hutus caused tensions within the country as both groups battled for power. These tensions led to uprisings and as a result led to the death of many Tutsis. The revolution of 1959 not only emphasized the exsiting tensions between the two ethnic groups but it as well showed the impact of Belgium’s influcences even after Rwanda gained independce in 1962.
Located in Central Africa, east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and north of Burundi, the Republic of Rwanda is predominantly rural, and its population relatively young; additionally, its population density is one of the highest in Africa. Humans began inhabiting the region between 8,000 BCE - 3,000 BCE, and had structured themselves into various clans (Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa) by the 15th century. The Tutsi Nyiginya clan grew to be the more dominant, and during the 19th century, under the reign of King Kigeli Rwabugiri, reached its greatest expansion. Hutus make make 84 percent of the population, Tutsi 15, and Twa 1 percent.
The assassination of Habyarimana in April of 1994 set off even more violence during which Hutu groups conducted mass killings of Tutsis. The genocide was supported and coordinated by the national government as well as local military. Along with the local military, primary responsibility for all of the Tutsi killings lies with two Hutu militias that were organized for this purpose by political parties, the Interahamwe and the Impuzamugambi. Although once the genocide began, a great number of Hutu civilians took parts in the murders as well. There was no peace agreement in place at this point, the Tutsi rebels started their offensive, defeating the army and seizing control of the country.
The Country of Rwanda is composed of three main ethnic groups. They are the Hutu, which make up about 85% of the population, the Tutsi which make up 14%, and the Twa which make the other 1% (United End to Genocide). Even though
Rwanda is a country in East Africa, which has had a mass killing with over 800,000 of its civilians dead. On April 6, 1994, present Rwandan President, Paul Kagame - at the time the leader of a Tutsi
For years, Rwanda has been a hotbed of racial tension. The majority of the Rwandan population is made up of Hutu's, with Tutsi's making up the rest of it. Ever since European colonial powers entered the country and favoured the Tutsi ethnic group over the Hutu by putting Tutsi people in all important positions in society, there has been a decisive political divide between the two groups. This favouring of the Tutsi over the Hutu, and the Hutu subjugation as an ethnic lower class resulted in the civil war and revolution of 1959, where the Hutu overthrew the Tutsi dominated government, and resulted in Rwanda gaining their independence in 1962.
In the 1990s, the Rwandan population was about 14% Tutsis and 85 % Hutus (XXXXXXXX). This ethnic composition has remained similar since biblical times. As with most civil wars, the aversion between opposing sides, that precipitates the war is usually deeply entrenched. The hate between the Tutsis and the Hutus dates back to the 16th century. The hunter-gatherer Hutus were the original settlers of the Rwanda area around 1000AD, then new farming settlers called Tutsi set up their republic. The Tutsis had status, wealth and controlled the politics. Germans favored the Tutsi when they took control of the territory in 1884. Tutsis garnered favor with the racist Germans because they were taller and had lighter-skin.
Prior to colonial era, Rwanda had larger population of Hutus compared to Tutsis and Twa. Rwanda as a country was divided into three ethnic groups i.e. Hutu (approximately about 85%), Tutsi (14%) and Twa (1%) (United Nations). Although, Tutsis were the minorities, they belonged to the higher strata compared to the other ethnic groups; Tutsis were privileged and had power and control over the Hutus and Twas. “Hutus were formerly bound to their Tutsi patrons via client ship” (Sinema, 2012). When Rwanda was colonized by Germany followed by Belgium, they favored Tutsis as they represented the upper class prior to the colonization. These created a social system like feudal system where there was a power difference between the Hutus and the Tutsis. Tutsis were considered as lord and the Hutus on the other hand, were considered as peasants. As a consequence, this created an ethic tension between the Hutus and the Tutsis and created a system more like apartheid. Nonetheless, they managed to co exist in Rwanda until they were decolonized. Although there is no social distinction between the Hutus and the Tutsis, the conflict between these tribes increased tremendously after the independence from Belgian that led to mass murder and ethnic cleansing of the Tutsi by the Hutu.