Abstract

This study is an exploration of several of the factors that have often been used to understand why the Rwandan genocide occurred in 1994. While previous studies have pointed to deep rooted ethnic rivalries and tribal hatreds, the role of the Rwandan media, and psychological factors, this study makes the argument that the collapse of the economy was the most significant factor that contributed to the massacre of nearly one million persons over a one hundred day period.

The study concludes that ethnic rivalries set in place by European colonizers and the role of the radio, while factors, cannot explain the enthusiastic fervor in which the genocide was carried out by many Hutu peasant farmers. Instead, relying on World Bank data and post-genocide interviews, this study concludes that the single most significant factor in explaining why so many ordinary Hutu citizens passionately engaged in the murder of their Tutsi neighbors, friends, acquaintances, and family members was the drastic economic decline that left so many uneducated, unemployed, and hopeless.