War and terror: Rwanda- an aftermath of the World Wars?

Rwanda, a country infamous for its 1994 genocide. The genocide shocked the world with a total death toll of about 800,000 to 100,000. At the first sight, it is difficult to connect the link of the genocide as an aftermath for the two World Wars or even the Cold War. Most would only view it as a result of social inequality and discrimination. However, in my own opinion, the genocide is still considerably linked to the ideals and policies favored by the majority during and after the wars.

Before the wars, Rwanda was a colony under the Germans. After World War II Ruanda-Urundi became a United Nations (UN) "trust territory" administered by Belgium. Both the Germans and Belgians maintained the old system of monarchy in Rwanda. Under that system, the some Tutsi minorities were considered the upper class as compared to the Hutus majorities. But basically, there is no real difference between a Tutsi and a Hutu. If a Hutu has enough wealth, he can move up the social ladder, and be considered as a Tutsi. However, what created the unhappiness between the people was that under both colonies, the Tutsis were favored and given the white-collar jobs. The Germans even helped the Tutsis put down a rebellion of Hutus in the northern part of Rwanda who did not wish to submit to central Tutsi control. Even worse, the Belgians abolished the local posts of traditional chiefs’ positions. In doing so they stripped the Hutus of their limited local power over land. The Belgians, in doing so, may had the initial idea of incorporating the western way of bureaucracy and abolishing what they thought was inefficient traditions. But by doing this, it showed the Hutus that the Tutsis are favored, and created resentment. This showed that foreign ideas may not suit a country, even if the ideas worked for others. And, after the wars, there was an anxious attempt to spread America ideologies to prevent failing nations from falling to the hands of communism. This may also contribute to the oversight of the Belgians of the real problems in Rwanda, thus exacerbating the painful awareness of the social inequalities between people.

Furthermore, it was during the Cold War which the ideas of democracy was most advocated. The ideas of democracy may have contributed to the wave of Pan-Africanism that swept through Central Africa, including Rwanda. Anti-colonial sentiment and ideas of unity and equality for all may be the aftermath of the ideologies spread in the Cold War too. The Hutus became even more aware of the inequality that existed between them and the Tutsis. Hence, when the Tutsis pressed for independence and upset the Belgians, the Hutus were favored. The new power given to the Hutus threatened the long withstanding superiority of the Tutsis. The Hutus, repressed in history, had the chance to vent all their unhappiness on the Tutsis, and this was allowed by the Belgians. This resulted in the genocide and a Hutu-dominated-one-party-state in Rwanda. Therefore, it can be interpreted that the need for independence and equality, as influenced by the ideologies after the wars, could have lead to the genocide.

Also, nationalism reached its peak during the World Wars. Nationalism is a powerful tool in unifying people, as mentioned by the professor in the lecture. It is also used by the state to justify its interests and exerts its power. In Rwanda, this can be seen best during the rule of President Juvenal Habyarimana, who used his power and the concept of nationalism to bring hatred and fear against the Tutsis. The violence was justified in Rwanda by him, just like the violence that was justified in the wars by the respective leaders. With justification, people do not see any wrong in committing the atrocities they did in Rwanda. Killings, rape, torture, were justified to create fear in their enemies and also as “revenge” against their enemies. It was normalized through the manipulation of the concept of nationalism and state control- a product of the wars.

In all, I’m not trying to say that it was due to the ideologies or policies spread during and after the World Wars or Cold War that lead to the Rwanda Genocide. However, these ideologies and policies, after being intertwined with Rwanda’s long history of social inequalities and discrimination, have exacerbated the friction between the two groups. And along with other factors, like the UN’s inabilities to solve the problem, the genocide occurred, much to the horrors felt by the rest of the world.