Blog Questions

1) What were some early civilizations in East Africa?  Why were these civilizations important?

• Aksum (present day Ethiopia)- trading city
• Kilwa- trading city

2) What happened at the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885?

• 14 European nations got together to spilt up Africa- NO African leader was invited even though this dealt with Africa

3) What African countries managed to remain free of European control?

• Liberia & Ethiopia

4) How did colonialism cause conflicts in East Africa after independence?

• ethnic boundaries created forced cultural divisions
• internal conflicts
• affected the economy

5) How did Ethiopia manage to defeat Italy in 1896?

• Menelik II protected his countries with the knowledge of his land and the weapons of Russia and France.

6) What are some cash crops of East Africa?

• coffee, tea, and sugar

7) What is East Africa's most critical health-care problem.

• AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome)

8) Research the Rwanda massacre (genocide?) and briefly discuss what happened and why.
INFO source click HERE

• "April 6, 1994, Hutus began slaughtering the Tutsis in the African country of Rwanda. Lasting 100 days, the Rwanda genocide left approximately 800,000 Tutsis and Hutu sympathizers dead. People who owned the most cattle were called "Tutsi" and everyone else was called "Hutu." At this time, a person could easily change categories through marriage or cattle acquisition. But the name "Tutsi" & "Hutus" took on a more racial term. The Germans were the first to colonize Rwanda in 1894. They looked at the Rwandan people and thought the Tutsi had more European characteristics, such as lighter skin and a taller build. Thus they put Tutsis in roles of responsibility. When the Germans lost their colonies following World War I, the Belgians took control over Rwanda. In 1933, the Belgians solidified the categories of "Tutsi" and "Hutu" by mandating that every person was to have an identity card that labeled them either Tutsi, Hutu, or Twa. (Twa are a very small group of hunter-gatherers who also live in Rwanda.)Although the Tutsi constituted only about ten percent of Rwanda's population and the Hutu nearly 90 percent, the Belgians gave the Tutsi all the leadership positions. This upset the Hutu. When Rwanda struggled for independence from Belgium, the Belgians switched the status of the two groups.Facing a revolution instigated by the Hutu, the Belgians let the Hutus, who constituted the majority of Rwanda's population, be in charge of the new government. This upset the Tutsi.The animosity between the two groups continued for decades. At 8:30 p.m. on April 6, 1994, President Juvénal Habyarimana of Rwanda was returning from a summit in Tanzania when a surface-to-air missile shot his plane out of the sky over Rwanda's capital city of Kigali. All on board were killed in the crash.Since 1973, President Habyarimana, a Hutu, had run a totalitarian regime in Rwanda, which had excluded all Tutsis from participating. That changed on August 3, 1993 when Habyarimana signed the Arusha Accords, which weakened the Hutu hold on Rwanda and allowed Tutsis to participate in the government. This greatly upset Hutu extremists.Although it has never been determined who was truly responsible for the assassination, Hutu extremists profited the most from Habyarimana's death. Within 24 hours after the crash, Hutu extremists had taken over the government, blamed the Tutsis for the assassination, and begun the slaughter."