Did the European Imperialism cause the Rwandan Genocide in 1994?
Ultimately, yes. The oppression of the Rwandan people by European imperialists began a cycle of violence perpetuated by those in power. Europeans put Tutsis in charge, even though they were a minority, and Europeans and Tutsis together abused the Hutu majority (and the Twas, another minority). The angry Hutu majority (made angry by European favoritism) revolted against the Tutsis in power. To get revenge and to keep their power, the Hutus oppressed the Tutsis, just as they had been oppressed by the European imperialists’ Tutsi puppets. To profit from the Rwandan people’s exploitation, Europeans had long ago made a Rwandan economy based on tea and a few other goods that all began to do poorly in international markets in the 1960s. To distract people from the poor economy, the Hutu government began to use the Tutsis as scapegoats for all Rwanda’s problems, going so far as to condone the murder of all Tutsis, setting the stage for subsequent events.
