Ethiopian Civil War §

When: 1974 - 1991 Who: between Ethiopian military junta communist governments and Ethio-Eritrean anti-government rebels Where: modern day Ethiopia and Eritrea

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Background §

• The Soviet Union backed Derg conducted coup on Ethiopia in 1974

  • set Ethiopia as communist state
  • launched the Red Terror which killed many

• Opposition groups of all different ideologies and ethnic minorities against Derg with Mengistu Haile Mariam

  • Including the creation of Tigray People’s Liberation Front
    • Worked with Eritrean People’s Liberation Front due to geographical proximity
  • 1983 - 1985 famine
  • Economic decline

• Derg Dissolved and replace itself with new name People’s Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

  • 1985: Soviet Union ended support

• People’s Democratic Republic of Ethiopia defeated

  • Replaced with Tigray People’s Liberation Front

Reference §

1. Wikipedia, Ethiopian Civil War
2. Why Ethiopia is in a civil war | Vox