UNIT SIX

ETHIOPIA: INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS & EXTERNAL INFLUENCES FROM 1941 TO 1991

6.1 Major Administrative Reforms and Socio-Economic Conditions in the Post-Liberation Period
• 6.1.1 External Influences
• A. The British Era
• In 1941, Haile Selassie returned to Addis Ababa.
• Ethiopia remained under the control of Britain.
• They control the most important government bodies (the police force, the army, and finance)
• The British set up the Occupied Enemy Territory Administration (OETA) over the Ogaden and Eritrea.
• The first agreement between Ethiopia and the British was signed on 31 January 1942.
• The treaty recognized Ethiopia as an independent state.
• However, the agreement restricted the country’s sovereignty in many ways.
These include the following:
• The Ethiopian army was to be trained by the British military mission.
• The British minister enjoyed a privilege over the other diplomatic representatives in Ethiopia ;
• British advisors were assigned to each government ministry office
• The high-power radio transmitting station, the telephone system and the railway were to remain under the
British control.
• The British East African Shilling was made the official Monetary Unit.
 The Second Anglo-Ethiopian treaty was signed in 1944.
 The British promised to restore Ogaden to Ethiopia
 Allowed Ethiopia to use the Djibouti-Addis Ababa railway.
 They setup a mission called British Military Mission to Ethiopia (BMME).
 However, the Ogaden stayed under the British until 1954,
 While Eritrea remained under their administration from 1941 to 1952
By Kebede Aboma
Different political parties emerged and came up with different options to address the question of Eritrea.
• These were: The Independence bloc
The Muslim League,
The Liberal Progressive Party and Pro-Italian party
The UN passed a resolution called UN Resolution 390V, adopted in 1950.
This Resolution decides that Eritrea should be united with Ethiopia by a federation.
B. The American Era
 Ethiopian-American ties began in 1903
 It began with the arrival of the first American mission to Ethiopia, led by Robert Skinner,
 The Point Four Agreement was signed by the two countries In 1952.
 As a result, the United States assisted to Ethiopia in the areas of;
Locust management, agricultural and
Public health education, public administration training, and
Scholarship awards to Ethiopian students.
The 1953 deal let the US to operate the Kagnew station, communication facility in Asmara
In return, the US government promised to provide military assistance to Ethiopia
 They set up a unit known as the Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG).
 In the 1960s and 70s, Ethio-US relations began to decline.
 Ethiopian students Opposed American Imperialism.
 6.1.2 Administrative reforms:
 In the post-liberation period Ethiopia reorganized into twelve taqlaygezats in 1942.
 Haile sillasie suppressed regional nobilities.
 Each province was subdivided into sub-provinces (awrajas), districts (weredas
 The head of each taqlaygezat was appointed by the Emperor and was known as endarase
•
• The 1955 Constitution
• The Revised Constitution of 1955 strengthened the absolute power of the Emperor.
• Haile Selassie remained the head of the executive, the legislative and the judiciary organs of the government.
• The Revised Constitution of 1955 did not introduce constitutional principles
• like the popular sovereignty, rule of law, good governance, and religion-state relations.
• It focused on the centralization of governmental authority in the hands of the monarch
• Rather than promoting the values of Ethiopians as culturally diverse people.
 Agriculture, Land Tenure and Tenancy
 The indigenous system of land tenure in Ethiopia were communal Gult and Rist.
 Gult referred to the right to collect tributes (gibr) from peasants
 They granted by the emperor to various ranks of the warrior class, local rulers, the church and others.
 Rist refers to land owned based on a lineage system.
 The measured land was divided into lam, lam-taf and taf (fertile, semi fertile and unfertile, respectively
 Lam land paid the highest and taf the lowest rate of tax.
 As a result of the feudal exploitation, most of the peasants became subsistence
 farmers living in miserable poverty
 in the southern half, where the tenancy system, locally known as Chisegna, was widespread.
 In the post-liberation period, the country continued to be dependent on few agricultural products for export.
 The leading agricultural export was coffee.
 Import items during this period were machinery and chemicals.
 Italy, Japan and the USA were Ethiopian partners in imports
By Kebede Aboma


 In 1954/55, the government created the National Economic Council to coordinate the state’s development
plans. The First Five-Year Plan (1957-61)
 The Second Five-Year Plan (1962-67
 The Third Five-Year Plan (1968-73)
 Several factors hindered the implementation of Ethiopia’s development planning during the imperial period.
 These included a lack of administrative and technical capabilities
 During Haile Selassie’s regime, the Ministry of Public Health was founded in 1947,
 The Ministry of Education and Fine Arts was established in 1942
 Schools started growing in some of the urban centres of the country.
 From the time of liberation up to ealry 1950s, the Ethiopian education system was highly influenced by the
British.
 In1950s, the American educational system had replaced the British system.
 American citizens were assigned as directors and teachers in Ethiopian
Peasant RevoltsTigray
The earliest noticeable revolt took place in Tigray and is known as the Woyyane revolt.
The revolt was led by Bilata Haile Mariam Reda.
The semi-pastoral communities of Southern Tigray especially the Raya and Azebo, felt that centralization posed
a danger to their communal ideals of egalitarianism and justice.
The highland cultivators sought to prevent feudal exploitation and wanted to terminate the excessive demands
of state officials and the militia.
This was the most serious internal threat that Haile Selassie faced.
It was finally crushed with the imperial force in collaboration with the British Royal Air force
By Kebede Aboma

.
Bale peasant revolt
The revolt in Bale started in the district of Elkere in 1963 and ended
in1970.
By 1964, the revolt was spread to the districts of Bale, like Wabe,
Dallo, and Ganalle.
One of the leaders of the Bale uprising was Waqo Gutu.
Causes of Bale peasant revolt
Land alienation taxation religious discrimination
Ethnic hostility corrupt administrative practices
The arrival of Christian settlers into Muslim area intensified
religious tensions.
The uprising was finally quelled after leaders including Waqo
surrendered in 1970.
The government assigned General Jagema Kello as governor of
Bale.
By Kebede Aboma
 Gojjam peasant revolt
 The causes of Gojjam peasant’s revolt were;
The ill-treatment of patriots and
 Imposition of heavy taxation.
 When the central government sent tax assessors to Gojjam, the peasants refused to allow
them to enter their land and resisted the government agents.
 They presented their petition to the state
 Two other areas which witnessed significant peasant uprisings against the Imperial rule
were Yejju in North East Wallo, and Gedeo in the southern province of Sidamo.
 Both uprisings had their genesis in land alienation.
 The Coup of 1960
 The most serious challenge to the administration of Emperor Haile Selassie in the post-
liberation period was the attempted coup d’état of 1960.
 The coup was organised by the two brothers, Mengistu Neway and Germame Neway.
 Menegistu was then the commander of the Imperial Bodyguard.
 The two brothers were joined by the Chief of Security, Colonel Warqenah Gabayahu, the
Police Commissioner, Brigadier General Tsege Dibu and a few educated radicals.
 The coup makers proclaimed the establishment of a new government 1960.
 The emperor’s son and heir, Asfawosen Haile Selassie, was appointed head of state.
By Kebede Aboma
• Ras Emeru Haile Selassie was designated prime minister of the new
government
• General Mulugeta Buli was nominated chief of staff of the armed
forces.
• The emperor entered the city two days later, aborting the coup
d’état
• General Tsige Dibu, Chief of the Police force was killed in action.
• Germame and Colonel Workneh Gebeyehu committed suicide
• Mengestu was captured and was sentenced to death.
• The main cause for the failure of the coup was a lack of support
from the army.
• It also lacked proper organization.
By Kebede Aboma
• The Ethiopian Student Movement
• The nucleus of the student movement was the University College of Addis Ababa
(founded in 1950), later named Haile Selassie I University.
• They demanded improvement in education facilities and services.
• They began to demand a free press and the right to form their union.
• The undemocratic rule of the Haile Selassie government system was the main reason
for the student movement
• other additional factors strengthened their activism and radicalism. These include:
Ethiopian student’s activism abroad,
The attempted coup of 1960,
The anti-imperialist and pro-socialist movement in some Western
The presence of students from different African countries
• The famous slogan of the students was “Meret Learashu”, “Land to the Tiller”.
• The students were advocating Marxism-Leninism as the right and appropriate
ideology.
• In 1969, the president of the student union, Tilahun Gizaw, was shot by the security
police.
By Kebede Aboma
• Deposition of the Emperor and Emergence of the Derg
• The life of rural people deteriorated as they were hit by various natural and
man-made famine.
• The most serious of these occurred in Tigray in 1958/59, Wag-Lasta in 1956/66,
and Wallo province in 1972/73.
• These famines resulted in the death and dislocations of tens of thousands of
people.
• The urban population was suffering from inflation and corrupt administration.
• The devastating famine was made public to the international community by
Ethiopian students and a documentary film produced by the British journalist
Jonathan Dimbleby.
• Popular uprisings became widespread
• Students, teachers, the unemployed youth, the civil servants, taxi drivers and
soldiers had their active roles.
• Armed forces began to demand a pay increase and improvement in their
working conditions.
• In 1974, the Ethiopian Teachers Association opposed the new educational
reform program known as the Sector Review.
• The teachers were accompanied by students and some parents.
• Taxi drivers went on strike in protest against the 50% rise in petrol prices.
• The Confederation of Ethiopian Labour Union (CELU) demands included;
- the passing of new labour legislation,
- freedom of organization (association),
- pension and wage increase,
 - job security, and free education for all.
 The Muslim community demonstrated against the age-old discrimination they suffered.
 The military uprising and riots in the capital eventually led to the resignation of Prime Minister Aklilu
Habtewold.
 He was replaced by the new Prime Minister, Endalkatchew Mekonnen.
• Ever since its establishment on 28 June 1974, the Derg acted as a de facto government and began to
exercise power and take action.
• The first move was the detention of high ranking officials of the imperial regime, including Prime
Minster Endalkachew. Following this,
• Lij ichael Emiru became prime minister.
• The Derg introduced its motto or slogan called ‘Ethiopia Tikdem
• 1974, the Derg deposed Haile Selassie and transformed itself into a Provisional Military Administration
Council (PMAC).
• Lieutenant General Aman Michael Andom became the first chairman of PMAC.
• Major Mengistu Haile Mariam and Major Atnafu Abate also became the first and second vice-
chairman respectively. By Kebede Aboma
• General Aman, who was a well-known, popular commander and hero of the war in
the first Ethio-Somalia War was in conflict with the radical elements in the Derg over
the question Eritrea.
• Finally, he was killed at his home while resisting arrest.
• In1974, Brigadier General Tafari Benti became both the new Chairman of the Derg
and head of state
• With Mengistu Haile Mariam and Atnafu Abate as his two vice-chairmen.
 Socio-Economic and Political Reforms of the Derg
 The Derg introduced a series of radical reforms and measures
 The Development through Cooperation Campaign or Edget Behebret, aimed at
implementing a literacy and rural development programs was launched.
 The military junta nationalized private banks and insurance companies in 1975,
 Private industrial and business companies were also confiscated
 1975, the Land Reform Proclamation which nationalized all rural land
 Brought to an end feudal relations in rural Ethiopia.
 Redistribution of land.
 Urban Land and Extra Houses were nationalized
By Kebede Aboma
• There were political groupings
• The All Ethiopian Socialist Movement (AESM) or MEISON and
• The EPRP (Ethiopian People Revolutionary Party).
• A bitter struggle emerged between these political parties.
• All Ethiopian Socialist Movement led by Haile Fida
• The National Democratic Revolution (NDR) program was announced in 1976.
• In 1976 and 1977, EPRP intensified its armed struggle against supporters and functionaries
of the Derg.
• The military regime,in turn, carried out systematic and ruthless elimination of its
opponents in a campaign known as Red Terror, a bloody campaign against the EPRP and
other suspected individuals.
• Mass killing and torture became the order of the day.
• Thousands of students, teachers, workers and ordinary people who were suspected of
supporting opposition groups, were imprisoned without charge, tortured and executed.
• By 1978 the Red Terror more or less succeeded in suppressing opposition in the cities.
• These insurgent groups fought a long civil war against the Derg throughout the 1970s and
1980s.
• The Derg established a party known as the Workers’ Party of Ethiopia (WPE) as a
vanguard party in 1984.
• In 1987, the People’s Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (PDRE) was proclaimed and the
constitution promulgated. By Kebede Aboma
• The PDRE was a unitary state made up of 24 administrative and 5
autonomous regions (Eritrea, Tigray, Asseb, Dire Dawa, and Ogaden).
• Actual power rested on Mengistu, who was not only president of the
country but also general secretary of the WPE.
• He and the other surviving members of the Derg dominated the
WPE.
• The constitution was a carbon copy of other communist countries.
• The party was granted even more power than the government.
• The Ethio-Somalia War of 1977
• In 1977, Ethiopia and Somalia entered into a serious conflict over the
Ogaden region.
• The war was initiated by President Siad Barre of Somalia, who
pursued his irredentist policy of achieving the creation of “Greater
Somalia”.
• Ethiopia was supported by the Soviet Union, Cuba, and Yemen.
• Somalia got military from the USA and the Arab world.
• Following the invasion of Somalia, Derg mobilized hundreds of
thousands of militia forces.
By Kebede Aboma
• The war had far-reaching political, economic, and social implications for both
countries.
• In Somalia, it brought a massive influx of refugees from the north which, in turn,
worsened the land and property rights of the local people.
• In Ethiopia, the victory encouraged Mengistu’s government to focus on fighting
the northern opposition forces.
• The Question of Eritrea and the Armed Struggle up to Referendum
• In 1941, Eritrea came under British control following the expulsion of the
Italians.
• The federation of Eritrea with Ethiopia in 1952 was the compromised solution
recommended in 1950 by the United Nations General Assembly
• Eritrea was given legislative, executive, and judicial power to govern its domestic
affairs
• The defence, foreign affairs, currency and finance, interstate commerce, and
communications became the responsibility of the Ethiopian government.
By Kebede Aboma
• The discontent finally led to the establishment of a movement known as the Eritrean
Liberation Movement (ELM) in 1958.
• In 1973, the Eritrean People’s Liberation Forces (EPLF,) also known as Shabbiya which
means popular in Arabic was founded.
• After defeating the invading forces of Somalia in 1978, the Ethiopian military force
deployed from the eastern front to the northern front., Eritrea.
• In 1982, the Derg announced a military campaign named Operation Red Star, to solve the
Eritrean problem once and for all.
• However, the operation was not successful.
• The Fall of the Derg
• Several factors led to the fall of the military regime.
• The famine of 1984/5,
• Economic and political crisis,
• The forceful and Villagization programs contributed to the downfall of the régime.
• EPLF, TPLF. (OLF) and the (SALF), were active as in 1975.
• Soviet Russia and other Eastern European countries, gradually withdrawn their economic
and military assistance to the Derg.
• In 1991, the EPLF and EPRDF (Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF)
forces launched a highly successful operation in their respective areas and secured military
victories that resulted in the collapse of the military regime.
By Kebede Aboma