Communist Derg and the legacy of Mengistu(1974-1991)
Emperor Hailesellassie knew that factions within the army were actually rebeling against his rule. Despite receiving intelligence about a possible coup by a limited number of military officials the Emperor did not sanction immediate response.
A day after the Ethiopian new year of 1974 a group of army lead tanks to the streets of Addis and marched into Hailesellassie's palace. They spent the night arresting the Emperor's Ministers and gathered them all at the palace on that fatefull morning. Hailesellassie was informed that he was removed from power and was detained. A council formed immediately sentenced the Emperor's officials to death as more than 80 members of his government were ruthlessly killed. The fate of the king remained unknown until, decades later, his body was recovered in the palace. His successor had him killed and buried him in his office, underneath his office chair.
The fall of Hailesellassie promissed to be the beginning of a new age as feudalism was abolished. The newly in power communist government proclaimed the land ownership of the disadvantaged peasants. Landlords were stripped of their lands and their wealth expropriated. They were entitled to only one house as the rest of their assets were taken and shared to the poor. Businesses faced the same fate, as no individual was entitled to a business with more than 500,000 ETB capital. Ethiopia became a communist country.
The regime ended out by being the opposite of what it promised to be. It was the beginning of the bloodiest period in Ethiopian history. This begun when different political movements opposed the regime of the dictator of Mengistu. Attempts on his life were made by different movements and, at a given time, in his palace by his closest advisors. He escaped the last attempt by hidding in a tank parked in the palace compound.
People close to mengistu have written in their books that this moment was the turning point. He not only stopped trusting anyone but also became hysterical. He developped significant mistrust especially against the youth. Mere suspicion was enough to kill someone in public. He put in place what are known as the guards of the revolution with full mandate to shoot anyone who opposed( or even showed sign of opposing the regime). This resulted in the death of hundreds of thousands in a bloody 17 year
This desprate attempt to ensure authority back fired on Mengistu. Some who have seen first hand the mass slaughter rebelled and took arm to liberate the people from the brutal regime. Although the movement was head speared by as few as 5 individuals, their force started to increase as more and more people were given a reason to fight back.
The little educated Mengistu felt that he could reverse this small resistance by building the biggest army in Africa. A staggering 1,000,000 soldiers were part of his military force. This was supplemented with an up to the date arsenal of fighter jets and missiles. He also went as far as building large rifle and bullet factories. 90% of the country's economy went to the army defense budget lines leading Ethiopia's economy to stagnation.
This sacrifice however was still not enough as rebels continued gaining ground. In a desprate attempt to fill in for defecting soldiers Mengistu began to forcefuly recruit unmotivated and untrained students to join the army. Young people were being caught in the street and forcefully taken to battle zones. Nothing however seems the halt or even slow the advance of the rebels to the capital.In 1991 Mengistu fled to Zimbabwe when EPRDF was only kilometers from the capital. After dark 17 years of brutal dictatorial rule, the Derg regime was finaly abolished in May.
Emperor Hailesellassie knew that factions within the army were actually rebeling against his rule. Despite receiving intelligence about a possible coup by a limited number of military officials the Emperor did not sanction immediate response.
A day after the Ethiopian new year of 1974 a group of army lead tanks to the streets of Addis and marched into Hailesellassie's palace. They spent the night arresting the Emperor's Ministers and gathered them all at the palace on that fatefull morning. Hailesellassie was informed that he was removed from power and was detained. A council formed immediately sentenced the Emperor's officials to death as more than 80 members of his government were ruthlessly killed. The fate of the king remained unknown until, decades later, his body was recovered in the palace. His successor had him killed and buried him in his office, underneath his office chair.
The fall of Hailesellassie promissed to be the beginning of a new age as feudalism was abolished. The newly in power communist government proclaimed the land ownership of the disadvantaged peasants. Landlords were stripped of their lands and their wealth expropriated. They were entitled to only one house as the rest of their assets were taken and shared to the poor. Businesses faced the same fate, as no individual was entitled to a business with more than 500,000 ETB capital. Ethiopia became a communist country.
The regime ended out by being the opposite of what it promised to be. It was the beginning of the bloodiest period in Ethiopian history. This begun when different political movements opposed the regime of the dictator of Mengistu. Attempts on his life were made by different movements and, at a given time, in his palace by his closest advisors. He escaped the last attempt by hidding in a tank parked in the palace compound.
People close to mengistu have written in their books that this moment was the turning point. He not only stopped trusting anyone but also became hysterical. He developped significant mistrust especially against the youth. Mere suspicion was enough to kill someone in public. He put in place what are known as the guards of the revolution with full mandate to shoot anyone who opposed( or even showed sign of opposing the regime). This resulted in the death of hundreds of thousands in a bloody 17 year
This desprate attempt to ensure authority back fired on Mengistu. Some who have seen first hand the mass slaughter rebelled and took arm to liberate the people from the brutal regime. Although the movement was head speared by as few as 5 individuals, their force started to increase as more and more people were given a reason to fight back.
The little educated Mengistu felt that he could reverse this small resistance by building the biggest army in Africa. A staggering 1,000,000 soldiers were part of his military force. This was supplemented with an up to the date arsenal of fighter jets and missiles. He also went as far as building large rifle and bullet factories. 90% of the country's economy went to the army defense budget lines leading Ethiopia's economy to stagnation.
This sacrifice however was still not enough as rebels continued gaining ground. In a desprate attempt to fill in for defecting soldiers Mengistu began to forcefuly recruit unmotivated and untrained students to join the army. Young people were being caught in the street and forcefully taken to battle zones. Nothing however seems the halt or even slow the advance of the rebels to the capital.In 1991 Mengistu fled to Zimbabwe when EPRDF was only kilometers from the capital. After dark 17 years of brutal dictatorial rule, the Derg regime was finaly abolished in May.
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