Rwanda Crisis, 1954-94 : History of a Genocide

This text analyzes the events leading up to genocidal conflicts in Rwanda during 1994, arguing that the Hutu-Tutsi conflict was not an act of "bloodlust and ancestral hatreds", but of political mass murder. Prunier delineates the political actors and explains their role in the events of 1991-94.

This text analyzes the events leading up to genocidal conflicts in Rwanda during 1994 and discusses the country's prospects in their aftermath. In tracing the political machinations that preceded the genocide, the author argues that there was a carefully orchestrated plan which set the killings in motion. For Prunier, therefore, the Hutu-Tutsi conflict was not the result of "insatiable bloodlust and ancestral hatreds", but an act of political mass murder. Accordingly, he delineates the leading political actors and explains their role in events of 1991-1994. Although the main focus is on internal politics, the role of external forces is examined as well: for example, the role of the French government during 1990-1994 and in Operation Turquoise; the establishment and development of the Rwandese Patriotic Front in the context of Ugandan politics in the 1980s; and the part played by the international community, NGOs and aid agencies. Gerard Prunier is a French historian of Africa with first-hand experience of working in both Rwanda and Uganda. He has also acted as a consultant to various French governmental and non-governmental organizations and is well placed to unravel the international involvement in Rwanda.