Rwandan Genocide
Over approximately 100 days beginning April 7, 1994, Hutu extremists and militia (Interahamwe) systematically slaughtered an estimated 500,000–800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutu civilians.
Preceding Causes
Colonial-era Belgian policies that hardened Hutu-Tutsi identities into rigid racial categories (including identity cards), decades of post-independence anti-Tutsi discrimination and periodic violence, Hutu Power extremist ideology spread through Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM), the shooting down of President Habyarimana's plane on April 6, 1994, and the catastrophic failure of the UN peacekeeping force (UNAMIR) to intervene.
Decolonization of Africa
The wave of African independence movements following WWII that transformed 50+ colonies into independent nations between 1945–1994.
Scramble for Africa
European powers rapidly colonized virtually all of Africa, with the Berlin Conference of 1884–85 establishing rules for colonial claims — though no Africans were invited or consulted.