History Fact Finder | War and Conflict: Twentieth Century - What Was The Issue In The Conflict In Rwanda?

What was the issue in the conflict in Rwanda?

The conflict in Rwanda, reaching a crisis in 1994, involved a long-standing power struggle between two ethnic groups, the Hutu and the Tutsi. Rwanda had a population of about 7,000,000 people who belonged to three major groups—the Hutu, the Tutsi, and the Twa—but there were so few Twa that they played no political role. The Rwandan government, which was run by the Hutu, was at war with the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a rebel organization dominated by the Tutsi. While significantly outnumbering the RPF rebels, the Hutu resented and feared the Tutsi because they remembered years of oppressive Tutsi rule in the past. The situation was made even more desperate because Rwanda was one of the poorest nations in the world and did not have enough land to support its people. In addition, Rwandans were worn down by years of warfare, food production had decreased because of a...

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