Can We Blame It All on Colonialism? Episode 1: Rwanda, 1994

This episode examines how Belgian colonial rule transformed fluid social categories into rigid ethnic identities, while also exploring the forces that led directly to genocide: extremist propaganda like RTLM, the civil war with the Rwandan Patriotic Front, the political climate under President Juvénal Habyarimana, and the aftermath of his assassination.

This episode looks at how long-term historical change and immediate political choices converged into mass violence.

Colonialism played a crucial role but was it the main one? if we can’t blame it all on colonialism, where does responsibility truly lie?