Ethnic Conflict DBQ free essay sample

Over the course of the years world history has continued to change. New conflicts are constantly developing. In order to keep these conflicts under control special foundations and laws such as the United Nations and the Declaration of Human Rights have been founded. Despite the creation of the United Nations and the issuance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, conflict has continued in the post-World War II era. The attempts at keeping peace have and have not been effective since conflicts around the world keep reoccurring Although the severity of ethnic conflict has been improved by the making of the United Nations and Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it is still a major issue in some parts of the world. A major conflict arose in a central African country called Rwanda. In Rwanda there were two tribes called the Hutus and the Tutsis. The break out of the genocide was an effect of longstanding competition and rivalry between the Hutu people who had come to power during this rebellion and the Tutsi people who were being targeted in the genocide. We will write a custom essay sample on Ethnic Conflict DBQ or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The Hutu people were not always in power in Rwanda (Doc. 7). During the time of Belgium colonial power in Rwanda the Tutsis took over the land and held control over the Hutus. Once the colonial power left Rwanda the Hutus took power. After the Hutus took power they showed no mercy on the Tutsi people. The genocide officially began when a plane was gunned down that contained the leader of the Rwandan government who was also a Hutu. The Hutus began slaughtering the Tutsi people including women and children. Tutsi women were being violently raped every minute of every hour of every day, every 60 seconds men women and children were being murdered (Doc. 8). This conflict came about because of a fight for power over. The genocide in Rwanda was not interrupted or stopped by those in the western power. Since Rwanda was not an ally to the West the genocide didn’t concern the western government officials as much as it would have if the genocide happened in places such as France, Britain, and the United States (Doc. 9). This conflict between the Hutu and the Tutsi people was a major event in the history of Rwanda. During the 1990’s another ethnic conflict emerged in the former Yugoslavia. In 1995 the Bosnian Serb forces attempted ethnic cleansing. Ethnic cleansing is the mass killing or genocide of a specific religion or ethnicity in a society. This attempt at ethnic cleansing is also known as the Bosnian Genocide. The Bosnian genocide took place in Srebrenica in 1995. During this genocide nearly 8,000 people were executed by the Bosnian Serbs on the United Nations safe area (Doc. 6) A majority of the men women and children who were targeted were of the Muslim faith. This genocide also caused the death of Bosnian Muslim civilians in and around Srebrenica. The Bosnian Serbs did disgusting things to the Muslim civilians. The civilians were raped, murdered, sexually assaulted, tortured, etc. The crimes were committed against innocent and defenseless people (Doc. 6). The main goal in committing these terrible acts of torture on the innocent people was to destroy the Bosnian Muslim population. This act of genocide occurred on the U. N. designated safe areas in Srebrenica. This genocide was a conflict of great important for the Bosnian Muslim society. At the time of the genocide the U. N. was looked at with disappointment. The events that took place in Srebrenica were supposed to be handled by the U. N. because it happened on their safe land. The U. N. forces did not defend their safe area therefore, they were being put under scrutiny for not sparing the lives of those people killed during the Bosnian genocide. The conflicts such as the Rwandan genocide and the Bosnian genocide were both major events in the world history. These two conflicts had similar circumstances that led to the events. The Rwandan genocide came about because of a fight for power between two different groups of people meanwhile the Bosnian genocide was caused by a specific group of people wanting to eliminate another group of people because of their religious beliefs. Though the reasons for the uprising of these events were different the concept of genocide remained the same. During both the Rwandan and Bosnian genocide many innocent people were killed due to their religion and ethnicity. In both events men, women, and children were raped, beaten, murdered, sexually assaulted, etc. These genocides are examples of serious ethnic conflicts. These conflicts are brutal and should not be taken so easily and in such a nonchalant matter. Despite the intensity of these events, neither of these genocides were interrupted or stopped. Perhaps these genocides were too violent and dangerous for anyone else to get involved in such as the United Nations, other allies, etc. The genocides remained unresolved In conclusion the creation of the United Nations and the issuance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights did not have much of an effect on solving ethnic conflict. Ethnic conflicts are still very much a problem. Ethnic conflicts were common and occur in almost every country. Until a better solution for solving ethnic conflicts is found they will keep reoccurring.