Reasons of Rwandan Genocide

The Rwandan Genocide

        The Rwandan Genocide took place in 1994. It was a sort of war, mainly between the Hutu and Tutsi tribes of Rwanda. There was also a third tribe, the Twa, but they did not have much of an effect on the war because they made up a very small part of the population, one even smaller than that of the Tutsi people. The Hutu were the majority in Rwanda, while the Tutsi were a small minority of the population. The Tutsi did not like the Hutu because in 1959 the Hutu forced around 300000 Tutsi to flee the country (Editors).  They had to move to Uganda, where they stayed for about 30 years. In 1990 however, they decided that they had had enough and they wanted to be back in their own country. The Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), led the invasion. The RPF consisted mostly of Tutsi refugees and their descendants. During these 30 years, hatred and anger were being built up inside the Tutsi that were forced to leave everything behind and migrate to strange lands they were not familiar with. This made them want to invade and take their lands back. Once they got to Rwanda, they were outnumbered and did not last very long (May). The Hutu then killed off most of the Tutsi that remained in Rwanda. The Rwandan Genocide was the result of racial discrimination imposed on by the Dutch, and by the the three tribes in that region. 

The primary cause of the Genocide was ethnic tension between the Tutsi, Twa, and Hutu tribes of Rwanda. One of the reasons for there being so much tension was that Rwanda had the highest population density in all of Africa, and was ranked highly in the world. When there is  high population density, people tend to be more annoyed with each other. This mainly affected the Hutu, who were the peasants (History). The higher class Tutsi were not as affected by this because they were rich and owned a lot of land. The Hutu on the other hand, were very distraught by this. At a certain point, they decided that they were done living like that under the Tutsi. This is when a rebellion broke out. The Hutu completely outnumbered the Tutsi and ultimately drove many of them out of the country, as many as 300,000. They were forced to seek refuge in Uganda. After 30 years of waiting, they came back to Rwanda to try and take it back as their own. The Tutsi were still greatly outnumbered and they ended up taking the most casualties.

The Rwandan Genocide was one of the bloodiest encounters in history. This was due to the astronomically high amount of deaths during such a short period of time. Around 800,000 people were murdered in a period of time as short as about 100 days (Rwandan Genocide: 100 Days of Slaughter.). Many Genocides have more deaths than this one, but they were throughout a more expansive period of time. If those other Genocides had gone on at the rate of the Rwandan Genocide, their deaths would have increased tenfold. The number of injured people was even greater than this, even impossible to calculate. Most of the victims were part of a group called the Tutsi, which were a minority in Rwanda at the time. They were murdered mostly by the Hutu tribe, which was the majority in east-central Africa. There were far too many of them, even though they were highly outclassed in just about every way possible by the Tutsi.

In this situation, clearly quantity was more advantageous than quality. The sheer number advantage allowed the Hutu to obliterate the Tutsi. The Tutsi stood no chance and lost most of their people, and there was nothing they could about it.

The majority of the forces that stopped the Genocide were from other countries. Since it looked like the Hutu was not going to stop hunting and murdering the Tutsi, outsiders had to step in to stop the madness. First of all, the French sent a couple thousand of their own troops to help out the Tutsi. They did this mainly because the Tutsi were their allies, and they know that they had a responsibility to aid them in this time when they were most needed. If they wanted to remain allied to the Tutsi they had to defend them. Even though the French did not do much, they definitely contributed to the ending of this tragic period of time. The French only actually fought in an area called the Humanitarian Zone. This zone was in the south-western part of Rwanda. French soldiers were able to save tens of thousands of Tutsi lives (Leila). The United Nations also sent about 5,000 troops once word had spread about the Genocide. It was voted by the security council that they should intervene to stop the fighting. They were not able to save any lives, however, because once they got there the Genocide had ended. Since Rwanda is such a small country, it took time for word to get out about what had been happening, which is why it took so long for other countries to respond. The only reason the French knew about it earlier was because they were allied with the Tutsi, so they were one of the first to be informed. If it had not been for the French, the casualties may have even risen to close to a million.

        In conclusion, the genocide in Rwanda was the result of discrimination between the three tribes that inhabited that area. The Rwandan Genocide ended up being one of the bloodiest genocides in history with over 800,000 casualties, and countless victims who were injured. This all happened within the short span of 100 days, which is what is incredible about this Genocide. It was primarily caused by ethnic tensions between the three tribes of that area, the Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa. The tribes did not like each other, as one was basically enslaved to the other. The country was also very densely populated, which made it even more annoying for the people that lived there, and made it easier for them to get more agitated. The main forces that stopped the genocide were from other countries, but mainly the French. They were able to save tens of thousands of Tutsi lives. The United Nations also tried to intervene, but they were a few months too late (Editors). This genocide is a great example of what countries should not do if they want to keep peaceful and as happy as possible, for as long as possible.

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