what were the major causes of conflict in rwanda?

Answer 1

It was pretty much an ethnic conflict. The Tutsi's were pretty much running the country from the 17th century through around the mid 20th. The Hutus began to get more and more power in the 60's and many Tutsis left for Uganda. A fairly significant group of Tutsi refugees began demanding return and coming into the country, and there was an actual military incursion by Tutsis from Uganda around 1990.

The government began a big campaign via radio and word of mouth to resist the Tutsi invasion. Some Hutu governement officials began unofficially training militias. Some peace accords were signed around 1993, and the Hutus kept stirring ethnic tensions by publicizing events carried out during the conflict and attributing them to Tutsis, though it is questionable as to whether some were manufactured by the Hutus to generate the tension.

The Hutu president died when his plane was brought down in April 1994. Some suspect dissatisfied members of the Hutu government, worried about losing power were responsible. Regardless, this spark ignited the tinderbox that had been built and a massive rampage took place in which 500k-1M Tutsis and moderate Hutus were butchered over a 3 month period.

If you look at the whole history, both groups were beastly to the other at various times. Tutsis came out on the short end 10 years ago. Pretty typical kind of long lived ethnic conflict.

It stands out because the UN was on the ground at the time, and essentially refused to become involved, so the genocide occurred on the world stage with the United Nation's tacit approval.

Answer 2

the hutus and tutsi's did not get along