During the 20th century, there was an increase in domestic and international tensions worldwide. This had various effects on society, economics, and politics that permeated every aspect of life. Amongst these effects were confusion and blame that evolved into violence such as World War I, World War II, and the subject of this essay-- genocide. More specifically, the Cambodian Genocide that was conducted by the Khmer Rouge and the Rwandan Genocide. These two genocides have complex causes, justifications, and conclusions that differ greatly. To begin with, the causes and effects are quite different. The Rwandan genocide is more simple: It is directly related to European colonialism in the early 20th century. Modern Rwanda sits in the Congo River …show more content…
The Cambodian Prince at the time, Prince Sihanouk, was overthrown by his prime minister. Angry and hungry for power again, Prince Sihanouk sided with his political enemies, the Communist Party of Kampuchea, a.k.a the Khmer Rouge. A Civil War broke out from the tensions between the Government of Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge which landed the Khmer Rouge in power. This is when the actual genocide began, it was the paranoid systemic elimination of those associated with the previous government, ethnic minorities such as the Vietnamese and Chinese, and even the Khmer Rouge’s own members. In summary, the Cambodian genocide arose from tensions relating to the Cold War while the Rwandan Genocide was the result of almost a century of colonialism. During both of the genocides, both Rwanda and Cambodia had different rationales for the violence although their methods of ensuring compliance were slightly similar. The difference primarily stemmed from the level of organization within the organizations conducting the genocides. The Rwandan Genocide involved Hutu of all places in society receiving anti-Tutsi propaganda in places such as the radio which spurred people to kill their neighbors with household objects such as machetes or bludgeoning