In 1994, a civil war led to the genocide of 800,000 Rwandan citizens. The country was made up of three ethnic groups: Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa. The Hutu were the majority, and they formed an extremist government that vowed to murder all Tutsi people in Rwanda. The government fostered hatred against the Tutsis through propaganda, and militias were formed. Machetes were distributed, and in 100 days between April and July 1994, a violent massacre destroyed nearly the entire Tutsi population.
RECOMMENDED RESOURCES
Books
Jennie E. Burnet – Genocide lives in us: women, memory, and silence in Rwanda
Jean Hatzfeld – Machete season : the killers in Rwanda speak: a report
Robert Lyons – Intimate enemy: images and voices of the Rwandan genocide
Josias Semujanga – Origins of Rwandan genocide
Scott Straus – The order of genocide: race, power, and war in Rwanda
Samuel Totten – We cannot forget: interviews with survivors of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda
Search Terms
Children and genocide — Rwanda
Genocide — Rwanda
Genocide — Rwanda — History — 20th century.
Hutu (African people) — Rwanda — Politics and government
Tutsi (African people) — Crimes against
Women — Rwanda — Social conditions
