Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
FACTORS/CAUSES OF THE GENOCIDE - Coggle Diagram
FACTORS/CAUSES OF THE GENOCIDE
SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS
LAND SHORTAGE
After the independence, new farming lands were available but by mid-1980s the possibility of having lands to farm decreased due to the competition for land.
OVER-RELIANCE ON ONE CROP
The drastic fall in coffee prices in the 1980s worsened the situation in Rwanda as coffee was Rwanda's principal export. The country's over-reliance on one crop, the lack of diversity in agriculture, and declining of land yields made the situation dangerous.
GLOBAL MARKETS FLUCTUATIONS
The fall in the international coffee price worsened the situation in Rwanda. The export of coffee was heavily dependent on international countries, so when the prices plummeted in 1989, the Rwanda economy suffered.
POPULATION DENSITY
In 1978 the population was close to 5 million, and the Tutsi were 10% of the population. The majority of the Rwandan people lived in poverty. The population density on the arable land was about 800 inhabitants per square km, made its density the highest in Africa. The growing land pressure contributed to the genocide. Gerald Prnuier wrote that 'the genocidal violence of the spring of 1994 can be partly attributed to the population density"(1995: 4)
THE LOSS OF POLITICAL POWER
The Hutus (the powerful Akazu clan) were prepared to do anything to retain control. President Habyarimana was losing popularity in Rwanda after nearly 2 decades in power.
The Habyarimana ruling clique did not recognize the rebel Tutsis (the RPF) as a threat after they attacked from Uganda in October 1990. They saw the advantages in building up the RPF as a danger in order nationalist sentiment. They also saw it as a way to exploit the radical Hutu ideology and those who supported them.
The unfair treatment of the Hutus in the colonial period helped to fan the fires that capitalized on a racist ideology that served the purpose of the government who was able to manipulate the masses to preserve their own power.
The governing elite was able to blame the Tutsi for society's problems. The elite in the government and the army set out to deliberately destroy an antagonist to preserve their own dominance.
"Hutu extremism was essentially a useful tool by which the corrupt elite that ran the country could hold onto power" (Keane, 1996: 28)
ROOTS IN THE COLONIAL PAST
France's military support for the Habyarimana regime, the presence of French troops in the country, the financial, political and diplomatic support for the government from France all helped to create the conditions for the genocide to happen.
Through the UN' unwillingness to act, the international community gave the government of Rwanda signals that it could get away with extremist policies.
The situation of racial division fostered by the colonial powers from the beginning of the century, the highly organized nature of Rwanda's social structure, the growth of population and pressure on the land. the economic and political crisis of the last 2 decades prior to the outbreak of civil war in 1990.
The Hutu political elite who gained power were determined to hold onto it at all costs, and that created a situation where the implementation of a plan to exterminate an ethnic minority became a variable option.