The Failure of United Nations Peacekeeping free essay sample

The Republic of Rwanda is a country located in East-Central Africa. It is surrounded by the countries Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its capital city is Kigali. 1. 1 Pre-Colonial Rwanda In the fifteenth century, one chiefdom managed to integrate several of its neighbors, hereby establishing the Kingdom of Rwanda. This kingdom ruled over most of what is now considered Rwanda. Through a contract known as ubuhake, the Hutu farmers pledged their services and those of their descendants to a Tutsi lord in return for the loan of cattle and use of pastures and arable land.Thus, the Tutsi reduced the Hutu to virtual serfdom. However, boundaries of race and class became less distinct over the years as some Tutsi declined until they enjoyed few advantages over the Hutu. Although some ethnic Hutus were among the nobility and significant intermingling took place, the Hutu made up 82–85% of the population and were mostly poor peasants. We will write a custom essay sample on The Failure of United Nations Peacekeeping or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In general, the kings, known as Mwamis, were Tutsi. Besides the Tutsis and Hutus, there are also the Twas. The Twas, or pygmy people, are often neglected to be mentioned in history. Although several thousand Twas were killed during the 1994 genocide. 1. 2 Colonial RwandaAlthough the Hutus and Tutsis had their ethnic conflict, it had never led to any real slayings between these two ethnic groups. At least not until the kingdom of Rwanda became colonized by the Germans in the 19th century. â€Å"The Germans were the first Europeans to set foot in Rwanda. † Although there was already some sort of ethnic division among the Hutus and the Tutsis, it was the Germans that brought the situation to escalation. The Tutsis considered themselves superior to the Hutus and the Twas. When the Germans came they did not try and change this way of thinking in Rwanda. Instead, the Germans encouraged train of thought.Actually, the Germans went a step further by classifying these people. Tutsis were those that had a â€Å"European nose† and were light-skinned. Because of their outward appearance, the Germans regarded the Tutsis as being the superior race in Rwanda. They (the Germans) made sure that the Tutsis were the ruling race and the Hutus the inferiors. After World War I, control of Rwanda passed to Belgium. Rwanda was then known as Ruanda-Urundi. Though there was a new nation to govern Rwanda, the Belgians continued with the ethnic division. During this period, citizens of Rwanda were given racial identification cards.These cards indicated whether one was Hutu, Twa or Tutsi. Later on this slightly changed due to the fact that there were many wealthy Hutus. The citizens still given racial identification cards but now if a citizen owned 10 or more cows he/she was then considered Tutsi. 1. 3 The Years Following Colonialism In 1962, Rwanda was granted independence by Belgium and from this point on the racial hatred grew. Unlike all the previous years, the Hutus took control in Rwanda. The first Rwandan president, Gregoire Kayibanda, was a Hutu and was president from 1962 until 1973, when he was relieved of his presidency by Juvenal Habyarimana, also a Hutu.Under the presidency of Juvenal Habyarimana, Rwanda did enjoy a few years of economic prosperity. This, however, did not last all too long. Many Tutsis had fled Rwanda to Burundi when the Hutus came to power, because they feared that they would be treated badly due to the history shared by these two ethnic groups. While in Burundi, the Tutsis were able to seize military control over the country. This led to random violence within the country. It is estimated that in Burundi, more that 20,000 Hutus were slaughtered by the Tutsi army. Although there were many uprisings by the Hutus, the Tutsi army in Burundi was much too powerful.Around 1986, Tutsi military leader by the name of Paul Kigame and Fred Rwigema formed the Rwandan Patriot Front, better known as the RPF. The RPF began creating an army in order to invade Rwanda from Uganda. In 1990, the RPF invaded Rwanda from Uganda which eventually led to the establishment of the anti-Tutsi propaganda by the Hutus. The fighting continued for 3 years, until in 1993 the Arusha Declaration was signed by both sides. The Declaration was supposed to be a beginning for a cease-fire. However, neither side abided by the declaration and the fighting continued.