1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,600 Speaker 1: Hey, y'all, Eve's here. We're doubling up today with two 2 00:00:02,640 --> 00:00:06,600 Speaker 1: events in history on with the show content warning. Today's 3 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:10,160 Speaker 1: episode is about genocide and it contains mention of murder 4 00:00:10,200 --> 00:00:15,480 Speaker 1: and rape. Hi again, Welcome to this day in History 5 00:00:15,520 --> 00:00:26,200 Speaker 1: class where history waits for no One. The day was 6 00:00:26,239 --> 00:00:32,640 Speaker 1: April seven. The Rwandan armed forces and Hutu militia groups 7 00:00:32,720 --> 00:00:36,479 Speaker 1: called the Interra Homway and the Imposa Mugambi set up 8 00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:39,479 Speaker 1: rope blocks and went around to houses, killing tooth Seeds 9 00:00:39,800 --> 00:00:44,440 Speaker 1: and moderate Hutu politicians. The Hutus were the ethnic majority 10 00:00:44,520 --> 00:00:48,000 Speaker 1: in Rwanda and the tooth Seeds were the ethnic minority. 11 00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:51,640 Speaker 1: Tensions between the ethnic groups have been brewing for decades 12 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:55,840 Speaker 1: after they were stirred by Belgian rule during Rwanda's colonial period. 13 00:00:56,920 --> 00:00:59,960 Speaker 1: That conflict came to a head in April nineteen ninety four, 14 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:03,560 Speaker 1: when the Rwandan military responded to the killing of the 15 00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:09,280 Speaker 1: Rewandan and Burundi presidents with months of brutal murder. The 16 00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:14,080 Speaker 1: genocide would last one hundred days into July. Somewhere around 17 00:01:14,160 --> 00:01:18,399 Speaker 1: eight hundred thousand Rwandans were killed and millions more were displaced. 18 00:01:19,800 --> 00:01:22,720 Speaker 1: Hostilities between the Hutus and the two seas go back 19 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:27,640 Speaker 1: decades before the Rwandan genocide. During the First World War, 20 00:01:27,959 --> 00:01:31,839 Speaker 1: Germany lost possession of Rewanda Urundi as the colony was known. 21 00:01:32,720 --> 00:01:37,679 Speaker 1: Rewanda Urundi then became a protectorate governed by Belgium. During 22 00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:41,200 Speaker 1: this colonial era, the Germans and the Belgians disrupted the 23 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:44,559 Speaker 1: traditional relationship between the Hutus and the two Seas, which 24 00:01:44,600 --> 00:01:48,200 Speaker 1: allowed social mobility between the higher status tooth Sees and 25 00:01:48,360 --> 00:01:52,960 Speaker 1: the lower status Hutus. The Belgians began issuing identity cards 26 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:56,680 Speaker 1: to people, labeling them by their ethnic group, and the 27 00:01:56,680 --> 00:01:59,720 Speaker 1: Belgians treated the two Seats like their favorite child, giving 28 00:01:59,720 --> 00:02:03,040 Speaker 1: them access to Western style education and using them to 29 00:02:03,160 --> 00:02:07,400 Speaker 1: enforce Belgian rule. But by the late nineteen fifties, the 30 00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:11,520 Speaker 1: Hutu political movement had gained ground. The Party for the 31 00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:15,000 Speaker 1: Emancipation of the Hutus formed, and the Hutus put out 32 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:19,959 Speaker 1: a manifesto calling for more representation considering their majority status. 33 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:24,880 Speaker 1: In November nineteen fifty nine, the Hutus rebelled against the 34 00:02:24,919 --> 00:02:29,600 Speaker 1: Belgians and Twotsies, killing hundreds and causing thousands to flee 35 00:02:29,639 --> 00:02:34,000 Speaker 1: to nearby countries. Over the next few years, the twot 36 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:38,200 Speaker 1: Sies lost power while the Hutus gained it. Intentions as 37 00:02:38,240 --> 00:02:43,519 Speaker 1: well as ethnic violence increased. By the time Rwanda separated 38 00:02:43,520 --> 00:02:46,440 Speaker 1: it from Burundi and gained its independence from Belgium in 39 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:51,280 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty two, hundreds of thousands of twosies have fled 40 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:55,639 Speaker 1: to escape the ethnic conflict. With this newly instated Hutu 41 00:02:55,680 --> 00:02:59,720 Speaker 1: president and the Jutu government, the violence against twosies escalated. 42 00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:03,880 Speaker 1: On the other hand, tootsie refugees began to target and 43 00:03:03,919 --> 00:03:09,400 Speaker 1: attack the Hutu government and sadly that cycle continued with 44 00:03:09,480 --> 00:03:13,960 Speaker 1: twoth sees attacking Hutus to regain power, Hutus attacking and 45 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:19,320 Speaker 1: retaliation for the tooth sees retaliatory violence, and more refugees 46 00:03:19,400 --> 00:03:23,320 Speaker 1: leaving the country for places like Burundi, Zaire which is 47 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:27,679 Speaker 1: now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, and Uganda. 48 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:32,760 Speaker 1: In the late nineteen eighties, the Rwandan Patriotic Front are 49 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:37,920 Speaker 1: RPF formed. It was made of mostly Toothsie refugees, but 50 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:42,640 Speaker 1: it did include some Hutus. In nineteen ninety, after the 51 00:03:42,760 --> 00:03:47,119 Speaker 1: RPF invaded Rewanda from Uganda, a civil war broke out. 52 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:54,200 Speaker 1: The Rwandan army was training civilian militias. Hutu President juvenal 53 00:03:54,440 --> 00:03:58,480 Speaker 1: Habi ab Rimana and the RPF president signed a power 54 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:01,840 Speaker 1: sharing accord, and the United Nations was sent to Rwanda 55 00:04:01,920 --> 00:04:05,720 Speaker 1: to monitor the peace agreement. But things weren't getting better. 56 00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:09,320 Speaker 1: The president stalled on creating a power sharing government and 57 00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:13,360 Speaker 1: officials efforts for peace were subverted by Hutu extremists bent 58 00:04:13,480 --> 00:04:18,640 Speaker 1: on killing Twotsies and moderate Hutus. By ninety four, there 59 00:04:18,640 --> 00:04:22,040 Speaker 1: were more than seven million people in Rwanda, which broken 60 00:04:22,080 --> 00:04:25,680 Speaker 1: down into ethnic groups, was about eighty five percent Hutu, 61 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:29,800 Speaker 1: fourteen percent Tootsie and one percent Ta the ti Are 62 00:04:29,839 --> 00:04:35,360 Speaker 1: Pygmy people. On April six, n a plane carrying President 63 00:04:35,400 --> 00:04:39,799 Speaker 1: Habiar Rimana, seven staffers and three crew members was shot 64 00:04:39,880 --> 00:04:44,440 Speaker 1: down near the Keigali airport. It's not clear who shot 65 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:47,720 Speaker 1: down the plane. Some people say leaders of the Rwandan 66 00:04:47,760 --> 00:04:50,600 Speaker 1: Patriotic Front are to blame, while others say who to 67 00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:55,560 Speaker 1: extremists were responsible. Regardless, this attack set off the genocide 68 00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:58,800 Speaker 1: of Tootsies and moderate Hutus that began. The next day, 69 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:04,239 Speaker 1: radio broadcast blasted propaganda against the tut Sees. The Prime 70 00:05:04,279 --> 00:05:08,560 Speaker 1: Minister and ten of her peacekeepers were murdered. Belgian troops 71 00:05:08,560 --> 00:05:12,960 Speaker 1: were withdrawn soon after the massacre. Hundreds of thousands of 72 00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:17,400 Speaker 1: women were raped and hundreds of thousands were murdered and May, 73 00:05:17,640 --> 00:05:21,200 Speaker 1: the RPF took over the presidential palace and the genocide 74 00:05:21,320 --> 00:05:25,200 Speaker 1: ended in July when the RPF gained control of the country. 75 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:29,520 Speaker 1: The First and Second Congo Wars developed in the aftermath 76 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:33,640 Speaker 1: of the genocide. Trials for genocide suspects began in nineteen 77 00:05:34,680 --> 00:05:37,279 Speaker 1: and a local court system was established to address the 78 00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:42,320 Speaker 1: backlog of cases. The court system was eventually closed after 79 00:05:42,440 --> 00:05:46,640 Speaker 1: issues with this operation were raised, and the U N Peacekeepers, 80 00:05:46,920 --> 00:05:50,560 Speaker 1: us UK, Belgium, France and the rest of the international 81 00:05:50,640 --> 00:05:53,799 Speaker 1: community have been accused of not doing enough to stop 82 00:05:53,839 --> 00:05:58,640 Speaker 1: the genocide. There are hundreds of thousands of survivors and 83 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:03,159 Speaker 1: many organizations have warmed to support them. The United Nations 84 00:06:03,320 --> 00:06:06,640 Speaker 1: named April seven the International Day of Reflection on the 85 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:12,320 Speaker 1: n Rwanda Genocide. I'm Eaves Jeff Coote and hopefully you 86 00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:15,919 Speaker 1: know a little more about history today than you did yesterday. 87 00:06:17,120 --> 00:06:19,640 Speaker 1: We love it if you left us a comment on Twitter, 88 00:06:20,040 --> 00:06:25,760 Speaker 1: Instagram or Facebook. At T d I h C Podcast, 89 00:06:27,360 --> 00:06:46,560 Speaker 1: thanks for showing up. We'll meet here again tomorrow. Hello, 90 00:06:46,839 --> 00:06:49,840 Speaker 1: I'm Eves and welcome to the Same History class of 91 00:06:49,960 --> 00:06:52,479 Speaker 1: podcast that flips through the book of history and tears 92 00:06:52,480 --> 00:07:04,760 Speaker 1: out a single page. The day was April seventh, nineteen 93 00:07:04,760 --> 00:07:10,040 Speaker 1: sixty three. The Yugoslav Parliament approved a new constitution and 94 00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:13,720 Speaker 1: Tito was proclaimed president for life of the newly renamed 95 00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:19,920 Speaker 1: Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Tito was born Josip Bros 96 00:07:19,960 --> 00:07:23,120 Speaker 1: in Croatia. He took the name Tito later in life. 97 00:07:24,160 --> 00:07:27,000 Speaker 1: During World War One, he served in the Austro Hungarian 98 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:29,720 Speaker 1: Army and he was in a prisoner of war camp 99 00:07:29,840 --> 00:07:32,920 Speaker 1: for a while after being captured by the Russians. He 100 00:07:33,080 --> 00:07:36,720 Speaker 1: later joined the Bolshevik Red Guards during the Russian Civil War. 101 00:07:37,920 --> 00:07:41,240 Speaker 1: The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was formed in 102 00:07:41,320 --> 00:07:46,520 Speaker 1: nineteen eighteen. It included Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and most 103 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:51,239 Speaker 1: of Croatian and Slovenia. In nineteen nine, it officially became 104 00:07:51,320 --> 00:07:56,280 Speaker 1: known as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. In nineteen Tito returned 105 00:07:56,320 --> 00:07:59,480 Speaker 1: to Croatia, which was then part of the Kingdom of Serbs, 106 00:07:59,520 --> 00:08:03,200 Speaker 1: Croats and Slovenes. He soon became involved with the Communist 107 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:07,720 Speaker 1: Party of Yugoslavia. In ninety eight, while he was in Zagreb, 108 00:08:08,120 --> 00:08:11,720 Speaker 1: he was sentenced to five years in prison for communist activities. 109 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:15,960 Speaker 1: He was released in March of nineteen thirty four. By 110 00:08:16,040 --> 00:08:19,560 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty seven, he was appointed Secretary General of the 111 00:08:19,560 --> 00:08:23,600 Speaker 1: Communist Party of Yugoslavia. Despite the fact that Soviet leader 112 00:08:23,680 --> 00:08:27,200 Speaker 1: Joseph Stalin had been purging members of the Communist Party 113 00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:32,760 Speaker 1: of Yugoslavia, Tito rebuilt the Communist Party of Yugoslavia during 114 00:08:32,800 --> 00:08:36,920 Speaker 1: World War Two. It became a powerful political and military organization. 115 00:08:37,920 --> 00:08:42,679 Speaker 1: In nineteen forty one, the Axis Powers occupied and partitioned Yugoslavia, 116 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:47,120 Speaker 1: Tito ordered the Communist Party to begin guerilla activity against 117 00:08:47,160 --> 00:08:51,160 Speaker 1: Axis forces. The resistance that he organized was called the 118 00:08:51,240 --> 00:08:56,120 Speaker 1: National Liberation Partisan Detachments, also known as the Partisans, but 119 00:08:56,360 --> 00:08:59,880 Speaker 1: civil war soon broke out between the Partisans, the Serbian 120 00:09:00,040 --> 00:09:04,359 Speaker 1: royalists known as the Chechniques, and the pro fascist Eustasia. 121 00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:09,320 Speaker 1: Despite this, by late nineteen forty one, the resistance movement 122 00:09:09,360 --> 00:09:13,679 Speaker 1: had liberated nearly half the country. By nineteen three, the 123 00:09:13,679 --> 00:09:17,240 Speaker 1: Communist Party of Yugoslavia's membership was at two hundred and 124 00:09:17,320 --> 00:09:21,679 Speaker 1: fifty thousand people. The allies chose to support the Partisans 125 00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:27,280 Speaker 1: rather than Yugoslavia's King Peter the Second. Tito's followers established 126 00:09:27,280 --> 00:09:31,079 Speaker 1: a communist government known as the National Liberation Committee, and 127 00:09:31,280 --> 00:09:35,640 Speaker 1: Tito was elected its president and field Marshal. In nineteen 128 00:09:35,679 --> 00:09:39,600 Speaker 1: forty five, Tito declared that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 129 00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:43,160 Speaker 1: had replaced the monarchy as the government of the country, 130 00:09:43,559 --> 00:09:47,640 Speaker 1: and he created a communist regime for Yugoslavia modeled after 131 00:09:47,679 --> 00:09:52,160 Speaker 1: the Soviet Union. From nineteen forty five to nineteen fifty three, 132 00:09:52,480 --> 00:09:55,360 Speaker 1: Tito acted as Prime Minister and Minister of Defense in 133 00:09:55,360 --> 00:09:59,080 Speaker 1: the government. He enacted a dictatorship that used the secret 134 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:03,000 Speaker 1: Police force to remove opposition, and he declared a five 135 00:10:03,080 --> 00:10:08,559 Speaker 1: year plan to industrialize Yugoslavia, though he delayed collectivizing agriculture 136 00:10:08,720 --> 00:10:11,320 Speaker 1: because he thought that peasants may lead an uprising that 137 00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:15,559 Speaker 1: would cause mass starvation. And Tito also put into effect 138 00:10:15,600 --> 00:10:20,280 Speaker 1: a constitution that divided Yugoslavia into six republics plus the 139 00:10:20,360 --> 00:10:25,560 Speaker 1: regions of Kosovo and Voivodina. In addition to this, Tito 140 00:10:25,640 --> 00:10:31,200 Speaker 1: pursued an anti Western foreign policy. Tito faced serious conflicts 141 00:10:31,200 --> 00:10:35,680 Speaker 1: with Stalin, who expelled Yugoslavia from the International Association of 142 00:10:35,760 --> 00:10:40,360 Speaker 1: Communist Parties in ninety eight. He even ordered Tito's assassination, 143 00:10:40,880 --> 00:10:43,960 Speaker 1: but Tito had the support of the Yugoslav people, the 144 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:48,839 Speaker 1: Communist Party of Yugoslavia, and the West. He soon began 145 00:10:48,880 --> 00:10:51,400 Speaker 1: to break up the central authority of the country's government 146 00:10:51,440 --> 00:10:56,480 Speaker 1: and economy and moved away from communist policies. He established 147 00:10:56,480 --> 00:11:00,800 Speaker 1: workers councils, transferred authority from the national government to local ones, 148 00:11:01,280 --> 00:11:05,679 Speaker 1: established new legal imprison systems, and started arresting fewer people 149 00:11:05,760 --> 00:11:10,240 Speaker 1: for political reasons. Tina was named President of Yugoslavia in 150 00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:14,360 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty three. A decade later, on April seventh, nineteen 151 00:11:14,400 --> 00:11:19,000 Speaker 1: sixty three, he was proclaimed president for life. He ruled 152 00:11:19,040 --> 00:11:21,800 Speaker 1: until his death in May of nineteen eighty. He was 153 00:11:21,840 --> 00:11:27,520 Speaker 1: replaced by a collective presidency. Tita's presidency was viewed as authoritarian, 154 00:11:27,880 --> 00:11:31,839 Speaker 1: and he repressed and purged his political opponents, but Yugoslavia 155 00:11:31,920 --> 00:11:34,800 Speaker 1: under his rule was considered the most liberal communist state 156 00:11:34,840 --> 00:11:39,000 Speaker 1: in Europe. Though he had overwhelming support in Yugoslavia and 157 00:11:39,080 --> 00:11:42,440 Speaker 1: other countries around the world, he left Yugoslavia with a 158 00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:47,800 Speaker 1: lot of overseas debt and growing ethnic tensions. I'm each 159 00:11:47,840 --> 00:11:50,160 Speaker 1: death Coat and hopefully you know a little more about 160 00:11:50,200 --> 00:11:54,240 Speaker 1: history today than you did yesterday. Feel free to tell 161 00:11:54,240 --> 00:11:57,040 Speaker 1: me something new you learned about history by sending me 162 00:11:57,120 --> 00:12:01,080 Speaker 1: an email at this day at i heeart Media dot com. 163 00:12:01,120 --> 00:12:03,440 Speaker 1: You're also welcome to leave us a message on social 164 00:12:03,480 --> 00:12:07,240 Speaker 1: media on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. At t d i 165 00:12:07,679 --> 00:12:11,920 Speaker 1: h C podcast, thanks as always for listening to the show, 166 00:12:12,080 --> 00:12:25,160 Speaker 1: and we'll see you again tomorrow. For more podcasts from 167 00:12:25,200 --> 00:12:28,000 Speaker 1: I Heeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 168 00:12:28,080 --> 00:12:29,760 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.