12. Rwandan Civil War 1990-1994
The “Scramble for Africa” began in the 19th century and the Berlin Conference of 1884 divided African into European colonies with Germany colonizing what became Rwanda. In 1916, Belgium took over the colony. Both the Germans and the Belgians enforced the idea that Tutsi people were superior to the Hutu and Twa despite any physical distinctions. In 1935, Belgium implemented national identification cards that listed ethnicity, further dividing the ethnic groups. Tutsi and Hutu remained at odds, even after Rwandan independence in 1962. Between 1935 and 1990, the population increased from 1.6 million to over 7 million people, placing a strain on natural and man-made resources.
The Rwanda Civil War happened in two phases. The first phase began on October 1, 1990 when the Rwandan Armed Forces (FAR) invaded the north of Rwanda from neighboring Uganda, comprised mostly of Hutu. The FAR and the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) brutally fought each other for three years. The Arusha Accords ended the war with a power sharing agreement between the FAR and RPF.
Conservative Hutus did not like the agreement. Once it was adapted, they began formulating plans for a “final solution” for all Tutis. President Juvenal Habyarimana was killed when his plane was shot down on April 6, 1994, beginning phase two of the war.
Hutu militants systematically began killing Tutsi. Using machetes, blunt objects, clubs, and fire, Hutu citizens were encouraged to kill their Tutsi neighbors. Over 100 days 500,000 to 1 million people were murdered in the Rwanda Genocide. The RPF resumed the civil war and methodically began capturing territory. On July 4, 1994, they took control of Kigali and forced the interim government to Zaire. Rwanda was decimated. Thousands of children became orphans, refugees flooded into surrounding countries, and HIV/AIDS infections increased dramatically due to the use of rape as a war tactic.
Sources For Further Reading:
World History – Peloponnesian War
History Channel – Qing Dynasty
Council Foreign Relations – Christianity in China
The Vintage News – 20 million Deaths in The Name of God: Son of God, Brother of Jesus – Hong Xiuquan
Sup China – The Time Jesus’s Younger Brother Led a Revolution in China
History Collection – 9 Bloodiest Battles of the Civil War by The Numbers
History Collection – 5 Pivotal Battles that Changed the Course of the Civil War
VOI – January 27 in History: Boshin War Breaks Out, Civil Battle Modernizing Japan
Wilson Center – China, North Korea, and the Origins of the Korean War
Deseret – China Enters the Korean War
JSTOR – Making War & Lots of Money: The Political Economy of Protracted Conflict in Angola
The United Nation University – A Land Cursed by its Wealth? Angola’s War Economy 1975-99
Office of Historian – Oil Embargo, 1973-1974
The Atlantic – America’s Role in El Salvador’s Deterioration
New World Encyclopedia – Scramble for Africa
The New Time – Remembering the Day Rwanda Gained Independence
BBC – Rwanda Genocide: Habyarimana Plane Shooting Probe Dropped