Rwanda

Question 1

What were the first 2 of the 4 main political forces in Rwanda?

Answer 1

1. Hutu moderates: mainstream opposition that had some support in the army
2. Hutu hardliners: representatives of the ruling party and had allies in military and media

Question 2

What were the last 2 of the 4 main political forces in Rwanda?

Answer 2

3. Tutsi rebels: Rwandan Patriotic Front

4. International actors: 2500 UN peacekeepers and diplomatic corps

Question 3

What were the positions of the political forces?

Answer 3

Hutu moderates and international actors supported peace/compromise
Hutu hardliners and Tutsi rebels covertly prepared for war e.g. blocking a new government and creating propaganda

Question 4

What is the current consensus?

Answer 4

Uses Hutu hardliners behaviour as evidence for a plan to commit genocide

Question 5

How does Straus argue that Hutu hardliners weren’t entirely to blame?

Answer 5

Their power was being eroded by moderates occupying key offices and new scrutiny from international actors

Question 6

What evidence is used to argue their was a Hutu plan for genocide?

Answer 6

Statements made by Hutu hardliners e.g. Rwandan army chief arguing that Tutsi rebels were preparing and the only way that peace could be secured was through their elimination

Question 7

How does Straus interpret the evidence for a Hutu plan for genocide?

Answer 7

Only uses it to argue for a frame of mind that could lead to a genocide and not meticulous nationwide planning

Question 8

What evidence does Straus use to argue that an environment in which genocide could happen was being created?

Answer 8

Hardliners found themselves with incomplete control over a country they used to dominate - so they invested in institutions they could control e.g. militias and pursued extreme tactics e.g. assassination

Question 9

What does the Hutu hardliners actions reveal?

Answer 9

Deeply distrustful contingency planning for war

Question 10

What happened on the 6th of April 1994?

Answer 10

President Habyarimana was assassinated along with several prominent Hutu hardliners

Question 11

What are the theories as to who killed Habyarimana?

Answer 11

1. Hutu hardliners who went onto take over the government and orchestrate the genocide
2. Tutsi rebels who launched an offensive and eventually won the war

Question 12

What is the thinking behind the theory that Hutu hardliners killed Habyarimana?

Answer 12

Angry over the fact he gave concession to the Tutsi rebels and planned to share power with them - sacrificed him to finally remove the Tutsi threat

Question 13

What are the key downsides of the theory that the Hutu hardliners killed Habyarimana?

Answer 13

It was a blow to them as may key hardliners who would’ve gone onto plan the genocide were killed
No solid evidence has been found to prove it was them

Question 14

What is the thinking behind the theory that the Tutsi rebels killed Habyarimana?

Answer 14

They would’ve desired a clean victory rather than a negotiated political settlement

Question 15

What evidence backs up the claim that Tutsi rebels killed Habyarimana?

Answer 15

French magistrate enquiry concluded it was them

Several former embers blame the leadership e.g. Paul Kagame for ordering it

Question 16

What is the main problem with the theory that Tutsi rebels killed Habyarimana?

Answer 16

The assassination caused the genocide against them

Question 17

What happened after the assassination of Habyarimana?

Answer 17

Initial gap in authority that Hutu moderates and hardliners competed to fill - hardliners eventually won by sing their militias (which they had been investing in) to remove moderate army officers and remove international actors as well as enticing rebels into combat

Question 18

What does Straus define the genocide as?

Answer 18

A systematic and coordinated attempt to physically eliminate the entire Tutsi population of Rwanda

Question 19

How did Hutu hardliners attempt to justify the genocide?

Answer 19

Argued the Tutsi wanted to reinstate the former feudal monarch and as a result Hutus had to ban together to defeat their common enemy

Question 20

How many Hutus were killed and why?

Answer 20

Estimated 10,000

Refusing to participate in the violence

Question 21

What forms of violence were imposed on the Tutsi’s?

Answer 21

Sexual violence - estimated 250,000 rapes - shows its important nature within the genocide
Looting

Question 22

How can a researcher ascertain whether violence is genocide or not?

Answer 22

By investigating the number of women and children who were killed as they wouldn’t have been combatants in a war

Question 23

Did Hutus begin committing genocide at the same time?

Answer 23

No - some days after Habyarimana’s assassination and others a significant amount of time after

Question 24

What is the significance of the genocide not occurring everywhere at the same time?

Answer 24

Hutu response to hardliners wasn’t monolithic and in many places violence was resisted

Question 25

What are the causal relationships that Straus found?

Answer 25

In areas where the Tutsi rebels were supported or in areas which were close to rebel bases the genocide was more intense

Question 26

What causal relationships did Straus disprove?

Answer 26

Deprivation, educational levels, land shortage or proximity to the capital