Between April and June 1994, an estimated 800,000 Rwandans were killed in the space of 100 days. The country of Rwanda has had a long and turbulent history, but the scale and speed of the deaths around the nation left the country in shock. However, the massacre did not just happen for no reason at all. There is a history behind how it all happened and today I am going to describe to you how this was brought about.
It all started way back in the 15th century, according to tribal stories. Originally, the Hutus were the indigenous people of the land, until one day, the Tutsis came down along the coast from the horn of Africa with cattle and set up a Monarchy. Now the Hutus did not have cattle, so they pledged themselves to the Tutsi king in return for cattle and land.
In the late 1800's, the Germans arrived and offered protection in exchange for resources. The Tutsis did not like this idea, but finally gave up in 1899. Only 16 years down the track were the Germans run off by the Belgians. The Belgians saw the two races as two different groups of people and divided them and set the Tutsi as the leaders of the country, making a large split between the people. Belgium later on tried to make the county Democratic but failed as the Tutsi wanted to keep control thus heightening the racial tension.
In 1959, the Belgium military helped the Hutu spark a revolt against the Tutsi rule which resulted in the end of the Tutsi monarchy. After the revolt 160,000 Tutsis fled the country in fear of persecution. In 1962 the UN abolished the Belgium rule and gave the Party of the Hutu Emancipation Movement (PARMEHUTU) full control. The country made good progress but began to falter in the 1960's because of Government corruption, which resulted in the military uprising which was headed by Maj. Gen. Juvenal Habyarimana on the 5th of July, 1973
The Government was then made into the National Revolutionary Movement for Development (MRND) whose goals were to promote peace, unity, and national development. On October 1st, 1990, Rwandan exiles banded together as the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) and invaded Rwanda from their base in Uganda. The war lasted for 2 years until a cease fire was called for.
On April 6, 1994, the airplane carrying President Habyarimana was shot down by an unknown source. This was blamed on the RPF. The military and the militia began slaughtering 800,000 people. In retaliation to this, the RPF fought back. In June 1994, the French landed in Rwanda and quelled the fighting and genocide.
The RPF beat the Rwandan army back over it's boarders and took control over the country on the 16th of July, 1994.
In the end 2 MILLION People had fled and another 1 Million were internally displaced.
