Name________________________________ Period_____ Date_______________ Pre-IB

Aim: To what degree did imperialism pave the way for the Rwandan Genocide?

Do Now: Analyze the maps and below and answer questions 1-2.

The 1) Identify one significant change depicted between map 1 and map 2.

2) How might this change could create conflict in Africa?The European imperialists did not take tribal boundaries into consideration when

____________________________________________________________________________European Imperialism in Africa

During the late 1800s, European nations dominated Africa in order to secure raw materials and new markets for industrialized goods. This practice is known as_____________________. European leaders met at the _____________ Conference in 1884 to redraw Africa’s borders with little regard for the existing tribal boundaries.

After WWII, European nations struggled to maintain control of their colonies and in many instances, left these nations without establishing stable governments there. Post-independence, many Africans felt a stronger connection to their local tribes than to the new country that they belonged to. This issue of tribalism has resulted in violence, civil war, and a general lack of unity in many African nations today. In Rwanda and Burundi, ethnic conflicts between the Hutus and the Tutsis led to a massive genocide in 1994. In a span of 100 days, over 1 million people were massacred between the two sides.

3) How did European imperialism lead to increased tension in Africa?

Map of African Tribes Prior to 1880 Map of Africa after the Berlin Conference

Genocide in Rwanda and BurundiRwanda was a German colony from 1894 to 1918 and later came under Belgian control after World War I, along

with neighboring Burundi. The ruling Belgians favored the minority Tutsis over the Hutus. Tutsis made up about 14% of the population and were given higher paying jobs, better land to farm, and a superior status over the Hutu majority (about 85% of population), causing great tension between the Hutus and Tutsis.

A Hutu revolution in 1959 forced as many as 300,000 Tutsis to flee the country, making them an even smaller minority. By early 1961, Hutus had forced Rwanda’s Tutsi monarch into exile and declared the country a republic. Belgium officially granted independence to Rwanda in July 1962. However, violence continued in the years following independence. In 1973, a moderate Hutu named Juvenal Habyarimana took power.

On April 6, 1994, a plane carrying Habyarimana and Burundi’s president was shot down, leaving no survivors. In an immediate response, groups of angry Hutus came together seeking revenge against the Tutsis, who they blamed for the crash. They set up roadblocks and barricades to trap any Tutsis that they could find, ultimately slaughtering about 800,000 people. Victims included mostly Tutsi, but also members of the Twa group (small, 1% minority group) and Hutus deemed too lenient towards the Tutsis.

During the roughly 3 month genocide, government-sponsored radio stations urged Rwandan civilians to murder their neighbors. Over 2 million people fled Rwanda, crowding into refugee camps in the Congo and other neighboring countries. Belgians stationed in the region were killed, causing westerners to fear further intervention in the conflict. President Bill Clinton later called America’s failure to intervene “the biggest regret” of his administration.

https://www.history.com/topics/africa/rwandan-genocide4) Explain how imperialism served as a long-term cause of the Rwandan Genocide.

5) What was the immediate cause of the Rwandan Genocide? Enrich your answer by making a meaningful *connection.The Hutu majority took control of the government following

Rwanda’s independence.

Effects of the Rwandan Genocide

6) Based on documents A and B, state two effects of the genocide in Rwanda and Burundi.

Post-genocide, a Unity government was formed [in Rwanda], and in 2000, Paul Kagame, was elected transition president. Kagame was then elected to a regular term in the country’s first standard elections in 2003. The United Nations established the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which has been trying high-level Hutu officials for crimes against humanity, while local governments have resorted to tribal councils…to sanction the estimated 80,000 people involved in the genocide…

Source: Terry George, ed., Hotel Rwanda, Newmarket Press

BA