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Flip to reveal answersWhat was the Rwandan genocide (1994)?
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All 12 Flashcards — Causes of the Rwandan genocide
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Question
What was the Rwandan genocide (1994)?
Answer
The organised mass killing of around 800,000 people, mostly Tutsi, by Hutu extremists over about 100 days in 1994.
Question
Define genocide.
Answer
The deliberate attempt to destroy a whole national, ethnic or religious group.
Question
Who were the Hutu and the Tutsi?
Answer
Rwanda's two main groups: the Hutu majority (about 85%) and the Tutsi minority, who were the main victims of the genocide.
Question
How did Belgian colonial rule deepen division?
Answer
It favoured Tutsi over Hutu and issued 1930s identity cards fixing each person as Hutu or Tutsi for life.
Question
What was the RPF, and what did it do in 1990?
Answer
The Rwandan Patriotic Front, a mainly Tutsi rebel army, invaded from Uganda on 1 October 1990, starting a civil war.
Question
What were the Arusha Accords (1993)?
Answer
A peace deal signed in August 1993 to share power with the RPF, which Hutu extremists strongly rejected.
Question
What was RTLM?
Answer
A Hutu-extremist radio station ('Free Radio of the Thousand Hills') that called Tutsi 'cockroaches' and urged Hutu to kill them.
Question
Who were the Interahamwe?
Answer
The Hutu militia that was armed and trained before 1994 and carried out much of the killing.
Question
What triggered the genocide on 6 April 1994?
Answer
President Habyarimana's plane was shot down over Kigali; extremists blamed the Tutsi and launched the prepared killings.
Question
How did the civil war help cause the genocide?
Answer
The 1990 RPF invasion spread fear and let the government paint all Tutsi as enemies, deepening hatred.
Question
How can you sort the causes of the genocide?
Answer
Long-term (colonial division), medium-term (civil war and economic crisis), and short-term (propaganda, planning, and the trigger).
Question
What does the command term 'evaluate' require?
Answer
A judgement: weigh the causes against each other and reach a supported conclusion, not just a list.
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Full study notes for Causes of the Rwandan genocide
Topic 5.1 hub
Rwanda (1990–1998)
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