Rwandan Civil War

The Rwandan Civil War was a major conflict in Rwanda that lasted from October 1, 1990, to July 18, 1994. It pitted the Rwandan Armed Forces, which backed the ruling Third Rwandese Republic, against the rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). The war was rooted in a long-standing conflict between the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups in Rwanda. The trouble traced back to the Rwandan Revolution of 1959, which toppled the Tutsi monarchy and set up a Hutu-led republic. This upheaval forced over 336,000 Tutsis to flee to neighboring countries. Among these refugees in Uganda, a group formed the RPF. Under the leadership of Fred Rwigyema and Paul Kagame, the group grew into a capable army by the late 1980s. The war kicked off on October 1, 1990, when the RPF invaded northeastern Rwanda, pushing 60 kilometers (37 miles) inside. But they took a heavy blow on the second day when Rwigyema was killed in combat. The Rwandan Army, backed by French troops, soon gained the upper hand, and the RPF was largely crushed by the end of October. Kagame, who had been in the United States during the invasion, returned to take charge. He pulled his forces back to the Virunga Mountains for several months before launching another attack. The RPF then shifted to an insurgency that lasted until mid-1992, with neither side able to break the stalemate. A wave of protests forced President Juvénal Habyarimana to start peace talks with the RPF and domestic opposition groups. Despite disruptions and killings by Hutu Power—a hardline faction opposed to any deal—and a fresh RPF offensive in early 1993, the negotiations succeeded. The Arusha Accords were signed in August 1993. An uneasy peace followed, with the accords slowly being put into effect. RPF troops moved into a compound in Kigali, and the United Nations sent a peacekeeping mission, UNAMIR. Meanwhile, the Hutu Power movement gained strength and plotted a "final solution" to wipe out the Tutsi. This plan was set in motion after President Habyarimana was assassinated on April 6, 1994. Over roughly one hundred days, between 500,000 and 1,000,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutu were killed in the Rwandan genocide. The RPF quickly resumed the civil war. They steadily captured territory, surrounding cities and cutting off supply routes. By mid-June, they had encircled Kigali, the capital, and seized it on July 4. The war ended later that month when the RPF took the last areas held by the interim government, forcing the government and the genocidaires to flee into Zaire. The victorious RPF took control of the country, with Paul Kagame as the de facto leader. He served as vice president from 1994 and became president in 2000. The RPF launched a program to rebuild Rwanda's infrastructure and economy, put genocide perpetrators on trial, and promote reconciliation between Hutu and Tutsi. In 1996, the RPF-led government attacked refugee camps in Zaire that housed exiled leaders of the former regime and millions of Hutu refugees. This action sparked the First Congo War, which toppled longtime dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. As of 2026, Kagame and the RPF remain the dominant political force in Rwanda. **Background**

**Pre-independence Rwanda and origins of Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa**

The first people to live in what is now Rwanda were the Twa, indigenous pygmy hunter-gatherers who settled there between 8000 BC and 3000 BC and still live in Rwanda today. Between 700 BC and 1500 AD, Bantu groups migrated into the region and started clearing forests for farming. The forest-dwelling Twa lost much of their land and moved to the mountain slopes. Historians have different ideas about these Bantu migrations. One theory says the first settlers were Hutu, and the Tutsi came later as a separate racial group, possibly from the Horn of Africa. Another theory holds that the migration was slow and steady, with newcomers blending into, rather than conquering, the existing society. In this view, the Hutu and Tutsi distinction emerged later as a class, not a racial, divide. The population first formed clans (ubwoko) and then, by 1700, about eight kingdoms. The Kingdom of Rwanda, ruled by the Tutsi Nyiginya clan, became dominant from the mid-18th century, expanding through conquest and assimilation. It reached its greatest size under King Kigeli Rwabugiri, who reigned from 1853 to 1895. Rwabugiri expanded the kingdom west and north and introduced administrative reforms that widened the gap between Hutu and Tutsi. These reforms included *uburetwa*, a forced labor system that Hutu had to perform to get back land taken from them, and *ubuhake*, where Tutsi patrons gave cattle to Hutu or Tutsi clients in exchange for economic and personal service. The Berlin Conference of 1884 assigned Rwanda and neighboring Burundi to Germany, and Germany established a presence in 1897 by forming an alliance with the king. German policy was to rule through the Rwandan monarchy, which allowed colonization with fewer European troops. The colonists favored Tutsi over Hutu for administrative roles, believing Tutsi were migrants from Ethiopia and racially superior. The Rwandan king welcomed the Germans and used their military power to strengthen his rule and expand the kingdom. During World War I, Belgian forces took control of Rwanda and Burundi in the Tabora and Mahenge offensives, and starting in 1926, they pursued more direct colonial rule. The Belgian administration, along with Catholic clergy, modernized the local economy but also raised taxes and imposed forced labor. Tutsi supremacy continued, backed by Belgian support for the two monarchies, leaving the Hutu without rights.