1994
In 100 days from April to July 1994, an estimated 800,000 people — the vast majority of them Tutsi — were systematically murdered in Rwanda by Hutu extremist militias known as the Interahamwe, while Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines broadcast lists of targets and called Tutsi 'inyenzi' (cockroaches), turning neighbor against neighbor in one of history's fastest and most efficient acts of mass killing. The United Nations, despite warnings from its own commander General Roméo Dallaire and the pleas of survivors sheltering in churches and schools, voted to withdraw most of its peacekeeping force at the very peak of the slaughter, while Western governments deliberately avoided using the word 'genocide' to evade legal obligations to intervene. It was ultimately the Rwandan Patriotic Front — a Tutsi-led rebel army under the command of Paul Kagame — that ended the genocide by military force, capturing Kigali on July 4, 1994, and triggering a mass exodus of Hutu civilians and génocidaires into Zaire that would destabilize Central Africa for decades.
Chapter-by-chapter narrative with maps, primary sources, and key events.
Explore battles on a live map with a timeline slider and territory overlays.
Deep-dive into every major engagement — commanders, casualties, significance.
Biographical flip cards with real portraits, facts, and full biography pages.
Trace each figure's full life journey — birth, education, battles, and death — on a live map.
Scroll-driven visualization of casualties — each dot a thousand lives.
Weapons, war machines, and the military innovations that defined how this conflict was fought.
Cause-and-effect chains tracing the war's long shadow on history.
War crimes, massacres, and the darkest chapters of this conflict — documented for history.
In 100 days from April to July 1994, an estimated 800,000 people — the vast majority of them Tutsi — were systematically murdered in Rwanda by Hutu extremist militias known as the Interahamwe, while Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines broadcast lists of targets and called Tutsi 'inyenzi' (cockroaches), turning neighbor against neighbor in one of history's fastest and most efficient acts of mass killing. The United Nations, despite warnings from its own commander General Roméo Dallaire and the pleas of survivors sheltering in churches and schools, voted to withdraw most of its peacekeeping force at the very peak of the slaughter, while Western governments deliberately avoided using the word 'genocide' to evade legal obligations to intervene. It was ultimately the Rwandan Patriotic Front — a Tutsi-led rebel army under the command of Paul Kagame — that ended the genocide by military force, capturing Kigali on July 4, 1994, and triggering a mass exodus of Hutu civilians and génocidaires into Zaire that would destabilize Central Africa for decades.
Rwandan Genocide was fought in 1994.
Rwandan Genocide was fought between Hutu Extremists / Interahamwe and Tutsi Survivors / RPF.
An estimated 800,000 people died in Rwandan Genocide, including roughly 50,000 military and 750,000 civilian deaths. Figures are scholarly estimates and vary by source.
Major engagements included RPF Military Offensive, Bisesero Armed Resistance, Hutu Refugee Exodus to Goma, and Kibuye Prefecture Massacres.