Weeks 32-35: Modern history IDs

Hotel Rwanda

The history of the Hutu Tutsi conflict began 600 years ago when the Tutsi tribe invaded the territory of the Hutus.  The Hutu peoples submitted to the Tutsis in return for protection.  This relationship even carried through the Imperial Age when the Belgium controled the region.  As the Imperial Age came to a close and the Europeans pulled their troops out of Africa, the two tribes began to fight again.  In 1962 the the two tribes formed the two nations of Rwanda (Hutus) and Burundi (Tutsis).  Although War did not break out between the two nations, ethnic tension was growing under the surface and the pressure was reaching dangerous levels.

In 1959, revolution redefined Rwanda.  150,000 Tutsis were expelled from the country, and the revolution ended with the deterioration of the Tutsi monarchy and the establishment of a Hutu state.  In 1964, violence broke out for unfair laws, such as a Hutu could murder a Tutsi and never be prosecuted, passed by the Hutu leaders.  Tutsi political parties formed, but there forcebly put down and disbanded.  Tutsis fled from Rwanda to neighboring countries in search of some safety and freedom

On October 1, 1990, Rwanda was invaded by a band of the RPF (Rwandan Patriotic Force) from Uganda.  While the invasion was meant as a demonstration to making concessions, but the Rwandans viewed it as an attempt to reestablish Tutsi control.  On April 6, 1994, a plane carrying both the Rwandan and Burmundi presidents was shot down and both were killed.  The Rwandan militia began to gather and kill all the people of Tutsi and suspected Tutsi ethnicity.   The Tutsi rebels continued on their path and soon overturned the Hutu government.  Hutu refugees fled Rwanda and soon found themselves finding shelter in the Tutsi state of Burundi...

The effects of the Rwandan Genocide are evident in one boy's suffering

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Nationalism and ethnic violence