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Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was signed, putting Rwanda and the neighbor country, Burundi, under Belgium rule.
The Belgiums put the minority race, "Tutsi's" into power over the majority, "Hutu's". Previously, the Conference of Berlin has decided that Germany was in control of Rwanda, but this undid that decision. -
ID Cards Distributed
Belgium distubutes identifications cards and mandates that everyone must carry them. The ID cards label you as either a Tutsi or Hutu. -
Paul Rusesabagina's Birthday
Paul Ruseabagina, the hero of 'An Ordinary Man', was born in Murama, Rwanda to his Hutu dad and Tutsi mother. -
Hutu Revolution of 1959
The Hutu Revolution started in 1959. The Hutu's were revolting against the controling Tutsi's. The Hutu's got support from the Roman Catholic missionaries. Thousands of Tutsi's fled to Burundi, the country next door. Burundio has the same power system as Rwanda-- with the Tutsi's as the elite. The Hutu's instate a new, Hutu, president, Gregorire Kayibanda. -
Independance Day
Rwanda won their independance from the Belgium mother-country. The Tutsi Monarchy has offically been defeated. -
Building of Hotel Mille Des Collines
The building of the Hotel Mille Des Collines starts. This is the hotel where the book takes place. Over 1,000 innocent people were saved here in the Rwandan genocide. -
President Changed
Kayibanda (Hutu) was kicked out of office and killed. A political coup was initiated as the more radical Hutu, Juvenal Habyarimana, replaced him. -
Coffee prices drop
Coffee, Rwanda's most important cash crop and main source of income, increased in availibility, thus decreasing it's worth. This effected Rwanda's economy negativly. In contrast, the US economy was at it's peak. -
FPR Crosses Border
The Rwandan Patriotic Front, a Tutsi organization, crosses the border from the neighboring country of Burundi, to Rwanda. The Tutsi's had been previously chased out during the Hutu Revolution of 1959. They had slowly been gaining popularity over the years. -
1st Airing of RTLM
A new radio station, Radio-Television Libre des Mille Collines (a.k.a. RTLM) aired for the first time. It started off as being the channel for gossip, but gradually the radio station got bolder and bolder in it's political propaganda. Eventually, it became a radical Hutu radio that encouraged all Hutu's to "kill the cockroaches", or do what they can to rid the world of the Tutsi's. This was a major influence of the genocide. -
Habyarimana killed
While flying, Juvenal Habyarimana's private jet was shot down with a portable missile. This was most likely the work of a Tutsi extremeist, although the Tutsi race as a whole was blamed. This was the immediate spark that started the Rwandan genocide. -
1st Major Conflict
Paul Rusesabagina is met with his first major conflict in the Rwandan genocide. He is pressured to kill his neighbors and family so that his own life will be spared. He cleverly manuvers around the Hutu military personel that is trying to force him to do this, and saves the innocent peole's lives, despite the fact that it could mean trouble for him in the future. -
Moving to the Mille Collines
Paul tries to sneakily move to the Hotel Des Mille Collines under the cover of the government. He is trying to save his family, and he knows that going to this other hotel is the best chance of survival. -
Evacuation
The United Nations gave orders to the UN troops to evacuate all non-Rwandans out of the area. The main goal of the troops was now to get all foreignors out of the country as fast as possible.
