Answer & Explanation:Identification and evaluation of sourcesdetailed analysis and evaluation of two sources with explicit discussion of the value and limitations of two of the sourcesPick two of the best sources and write 250 words max for both.
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Rwandan History:
The Tutsi vs. the Hutus
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Introduction
During the colonial era, the Belgians took over Rwanda, after the demarcation of the East
African region. Other colonizers took other nations such as the British in Kenya and Uganda.
The colonizers took advantage of the divide and rule policy, but the Belgians took more
advantage in Rwanda. Since time in memorial, the Hutus and the Tutsi had a violent relationship
and never got along well. The Belgians found the more organized and politically enlightened
ethnic group easier to work with. This was the Tutsi. They had a king and the Hutus were their
servants. The Belgians continued to empower this Tutsi rulers, even with the formation of thee
modern political systems by the colonizers. The situation left the Hutus bitter about their political
inferiority, yet they outdone the Tutsi in numbers. A division resulted. The Belgians had,
therefore achieved the political divide and rule system that is termed as categorization into
majority, minority, politically superior and politically inferior. History has it that thee Hutus
entered and displaced the Twa in the 1st century, while the Tutsi invaded and inhibited the same
region of Rwanda and Burundi in the 15th Century (Newbury, 1998).
Rwanda before Colonization
The Twa were the first ethnical group to inhibit Rwanda. That was before the 1st century.
The Hutus joined them in the 1st century and displaced them. The Twa, to current date are the
smallest ethnical group in the country, making up a 1% of the population. The Hutus are said to
have originated from somewhere around the horn of Africa. In the 15th century the Tutsi, a more
organized group came in with a feudal governance system, and mwami as their king. They were
Bantus, therefore good in agriculture but also did well in cattle rearing. The Hutus signed
agreements to serve the Tutsi in exchange of land and the cattle. The relationship made the Tutsi
more powerful politically, but was lesser in numbers compared to the Hutus (Newbury, 1998).
The Hutus majority and the Tutsi Minority
Even with the Tutsi ruling the region, the Hutus were always the larger group. The Hutus
displaced the Twa, but some members of the Twa remained in the vicinity, and still make up the
1% population of Rwanda. The Hutus are the majority of the groups, and have been occupying a
whooping estimated 85% of this population. The average group in numbers, which was the most
politically superior is the Tutsi and they make an average of 14% of the Rwandese population. It
can be concluded that the Hutus have been the majority and the Tutsi the minority (Newbury,
1998).
Tension increase
The Hutus majority were discriminated against by the Germans and the Belgians, since
the Tutsi were ore organized and they looked ‘whiter.’ The Hutus began to feel unsettled about
their inferiority politically, and grew more frustrated with the radicalization. Towards 1950, the
Tutsi were powerful, but under the Belgians’ rules. They wanted to rule more independently, as
African countries began to fight for independence. Belgians felt threatened by resistance from
both sides, and wanted to support the Hutus to gain some power, so that they could have some
support to rule a little longer. They started pushing for democracy in the governance of Rwanda.
The Tutsi knew they were fewer in numbers, and wanted to retain their power, so they opposed
democracy. All Rwandese ethnical groups opposed the white rule and the rule of the opposing
Rwandese ethnicity. The raising tension was all due to the ratio division and it continued to the
year 1994, when the president of Rwanda was assassinated (Robinson, & Ghahraman, 2008).
Aeroplane attack on president
In the year 1994, two presidents were assassinated in the same plane. A Burundian
President and the Rwandese president died in the plane that was shot in the Rwandese capital,
Kigali. The main target was the Rwandese president. He was a Tutsi, and there were Anti-Tutsi
militants who were involved. It was clear because, after the assassination, they set up roadblocks
in various major roads and slaughtered any Tutsi or moderate Hutu who passed this road blocks.
The anti-Tutsi militants were extremist Hutus who were doing it in a bid to reduce the numbers
of the Tutsi and eliminate them from power, completely (Robinson, & Ghahraman, 2008).
Hutus coming to power
The Hutu took power in the year 1959 when very many Tutsi group members died, and
Wa Yakabanda took power as the first Hutu president of Rwanda. The Hutus still embraced the
colonial systems as it worked while they were inferior, but this time round, they were superior
and the oppression was mainly on the Tutsi. They kept their vengeance within and did not
continue with their killing antics. However, they were bitter inside and still oppressed the initial
superiors, the Tutsi. The Tutsi took power again later in the 1990s and the Hutus could not buy
the ideal of being inferior again o under the rule of the Tutsi. The assassination described in the
paragraph above took course as they tried to climb their way back to the presidency and other
powerful positions (Robinson, & Ghahraman, 2008).
Tutsi fleeing
After the 1994 Rwandese President assassination, the world was watching and trying to
help with saving lives. The most affected groups were the Tutsi and the moderate Hutus. The
extreme Hutus had accomplished too much bloodshed. The RPF took their stand to defend their
nation, but the new government was under the rule of the guerrillas. The UNAMIR stands for the
United Nations Assistance mission for Rwanda. It was present during the massacre but was
powerless, since the UN believes in talking out solutions and mild action at the expense of war
and fights. UNAMIR was helping the numbers of the Tutsi and moderate Hutus free the
genocides, by giving them refuge in camps. The RPF was assisting UNAMIR keep the extremist
Hutus off while in their salvation missions (Begley, 2013).
RPF and their effect on genocide
The RPF was formed by the Tutsi and moderate Hutus in Uganda who had been
displaced following ethnical reasons before the genocides. They were a group of patriots, with
RPF standing for the Rwandan Patriotic Front. It was lead by revolutionists such as Paul
Kagame. The group wanted to go back to their country and overthrow the president
Habyarimana’s government. The president noted the threat and blackmailed them through giving
them a chance to come back to their nation. The president also signed agreement with the RPF to
harmonize the nation. The RPF became the opposition (Begley, 2013).
The presidential assassination occurred, and the government’s commanders demanded
that the opposition official be killed. It happened. The government officials were mainly the
extremist Hutus and they though that the best way to remain in power was through terminating
the Tutsi ethnic group and the moderate Hutus completely. As a result, they genocides took toll.
The RPF remained patriotic and joined the battle, to defend the innocent. They fought the Hutu
extremists and none of the sides was ready to declare a cease fire. The government failed and
Paul Kagame took power. This party has showed a difference in the country, and there is
democracy. It has driven the nation from genocide to a powerful economy, being termed as the
diamond of the Eastern Africa Region (Begley, 2013).
Conclusion
The aftermath of the genocide was mainly negative. Many bodies of innocent citizens
killed were dumped in the rivers and many families experienced losses. Any women were raped,
the UN mentioning quarter a million women. The country experiences too much loss of property
in the genocides, and had to pull their economic catapult to come to their current position.
However the country can take pride of their current integration. There has not been bad blood
registered in the magnitude it was registers at during the genocide between the ethnic groups.
The economy is one of the leading economies in the EA region. President Kagame will be
remembered through history as a president that restored a country that seemed to lack a remedy
to genocide. There have been massive efforts of reconciliation, and the government is all
inclusive (Nowrojee, 1996).
References
Newbury, C. (1998). Ethnicity and the Politics of History in Rwanda. Africa
Today, 45(1), 7-24.
Robinson, P., & Ghahraman, G. (2008). Can Rwandan President Kagame be held
Responsible at the ictr for the Killing of President Habyarimana?.Journal of International
Criminal Justice, 6(5), 981-994.
Begley, L. (2013). The RPF Control Everything! Fear and Rumour under Rwanda’s
Genocide Ideology Legislation. In Emotional and Ethical Challenges for Field Research in
Africa (pp. 70-83). Palgrave Macmillan UK.
Nowrojee, B. (1996). Shattered lives: sexual violence during the Rwandan genocide and
its aftermath (Vol. 3169, No. 164). Human Rights Watch.
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