by A. Y. Ford

Created on: March 14, 2009   Last Updated: September 17, 2009

The causes of the Rwandan Genocide can be traced back to racial and ethnic hate. These vices can be traced back to the time of colonial rule of that country by the Germans and the Belgians. Before colonialism in this part of Africa, the two main ethnic groups, the Tutsis and the Hutus, had little conflict. The Germans, who only briefly ruled this country, introduced them to racial profiling by favoring the Tutsis over the Hutus because the Tutsis had more European features. After World War I the Belgians took over the rule of this small African country and continued to favor the Tutsis giving them power over the Hutus.

As with any suppressed people group there was anger from the Hutus for the inequality they endured because of their physical features. Under Belgian rule the natives, but mostly the Hutus were forced to work and were often beaten into submission. It was the white Belgians and the elite Tutsis who were the oppression.

In the 1950's the Tutsis who were involved in ruling the country began to pursue independence so the Belgians switched their alliance to the Hutus because they didn't want to lose their rule in the country entirely. This caused more tension between the two native groups. To deepen the hate between the groups in 1959 the Hutus were allowed to cruelly destroy homes of Tutsis leaving many of the Tutsis homeless, poverty stricken, or dead.

The Belgians placed Hutus in control of government and even helped to keep the United Nations at bay, by stating the Hutus were now in control. Many Tutsis left the country but tried to organize a way to come back in. The attempt to return to Rwanda by the Tutsis left many more dead, over 10,000 around the end of 1963 and the beginning of 1964. The ruling Hutus in Rwanda made it difficult, if not impossible for the Tutsis to live in peace in Rwanda by not allowing them jobs and education.

Between 1973 and 1990 there was relative peace in Rwanda as long as the Tutsis who lived there did not make too much noise or fight for their rights. The ruler, Major General Juvenal Habyarimana, was a Hutu and totalitarian, so the peace did not mean there was freedom. Due to European involvement again in 1990 there was a call for changes in African governments including Rwanda.

A group of Tutsis who had been displaced from Rwanda formed a group called Rwandan Patriotic Front (RTF), to attempt to go back into Rwanda and overthrow the government of Habyarimana. This group professed the desire for equality in Rwanda, and

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