Profiles: Countries

ETHIOPIA: Transitive Government of Ethiopia

The most ancient empire in the world, which goes back thousands of years, came to an end on the 12th of September 1974. Ethiopia passed without any transition phase from a feudal, mediaeval state to “building socialism”.

The meeting point of many peoples, ancient Abyssinia was also the seat of the legendary Queen of Sheba which goes back to the 10th century before Christ. Later history is little known until the 17th century Kingdom of Gondar. Ethiopia managed to avoid colonial conquest - an attempt by Italy was stopped at Adua in 1889. In 1928 a young feudatory landlord, Ras Taffari, took power and became the emperor Hailé Selassié. He reigned for 46 years. He fought at the United Nations for the cause of his country which had been invaded by fascist Italy. In fact, the Italian invasion lasted only six years from 1935 to 1940. At the end of the war, Ethiopia took control over Eritrea, which was eventually absorbed.

After the war, the monarchy did nothing to transform the country which was still tied to the past.

The birth of a new middle class in the cities, however, brought things to breaking point between the feudal forces and those looking towards the future. The causes of the conflict were the famine of 1973 and the inability of the authorities to do anything about it.  1     2     3