Eritrean nationalism

Last updated

Eritrean nationalism is centered on the fact that the Eritreans share a common history, and as such constitute a nation unto themselves. Even though there is a natural basis for Eritrean nationalism, there is still diversity within Eritrean demographics. Eritrea has nine major ethnic groups, each with their own language and culture and is split between two major religions, Christianity and Islam. However, the Eritrean government seeks to foster Eritrean nationalism through programs such as national service, the promotion of civic nationalism and the formation of the youth organization YPFDJ, as well as curbing foreign influences. [1] [2]

Contents

Symbols

Symbols that have been associated with Eritrean nationalism include the emblem of Eritrea, the anthem Ertra, Ertra, Ertra, and the Flag of Eritrea as well as the Flag of the EPLF. Movements that have been associated with Eritrean nationalism include the Eritrean Liberation Front, Eritrean People's Liberation Front and People's Front for Democracy and Justice. People that are often associated with Eritrean nationalism include Isaias Afwerki, Sebhat Efrem and Ramadan Mohammed Nur.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">People's Front for Democracy and Justice</span> Political party in Eritrea

The People's Front for Democracy and Justice is the founding, ruling, and sole legal political party of the State of Eritrea. The successor to the left-wing nationalist Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF), the PFDJ holds itself open to nationalists of any political affiliation. The leader of the PFDJ party and current President of Eritrea is Isaias Afwerki. It has been described as totalitarian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flag of Eritrea</span> National flag

The flag of Eritrea is the national flag of Eritrea. It was adopted on December 5th, 1995. The flag combines the basic layout and colours from the flag of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front with an emblem of a wreath and an upright olive-branch derived from the 1952–1962 flag.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Regions of Eritrea</span> Geographical divisions of Eritrea

The regions of Eritrea are the primary geographical divisions through which Eritrea is administered. Six in total, they include the Central, Anseba, Gash-Barka, Southern, Northern Red Sea and Southern Red Sea regions.

Regionalism is a political ideology that seeks to increase the political power, influence and self-determination of the people of one or more subnational regions. It focuses on the "development of a political or social system based on one or more" regions and/or the national, normative or economic interests of a specific region, group of regions or another subnational entity, gaining strength from or aiming to strengthen the "consciousness of and loyalty to a distinct region with a homogeneous population", similarly to nationalism. More specifically, "regionalism refers to three distinct elements: movements demanding territorial autonomy within unitary states; the organization of the central state on a regional basis for the delivery of its policies including regional development policies; political decentralization and regional autonomy".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black anarchism</span> African diasporic adherents of anarchist principles

Black anarchism is a term applied to a group of people of African descent who identify with the principles of anarchism. These people include, but are not limited to, Ashanti Alston, Kuwasi Balagoon, Lorenzo Kom'boa Ervin, Greg Jackson, and Martin Sostre. Critics of the term suggest that it broadly eclipses important political differences between these multi-varied thinkers and incorrectly presents them as having a shared theory or movement. Black anarchism has had a major influence on the anarchist movement, black anarchists have a 100-year history in black-led anti-fascist and anti-racist history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eritrean War of Independence</span> 1961–1991 conflict within Ethiopia

The Eritrean War of Independence was a war for independence which Eritrean independence fighters waged against successive Ethiopian governments from 1 September 1961 to 24 May 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Assembly (Eritrea)</span> Unicameral legislature of Eritrea

The National Assembly of the State of Eritrea has 150 members, 75 members appointed and 75 members representing the members of the Central Committee of the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), the sole legal political party of Eritrea. According to the IPU, the National Assembly has 150 indirectly elected members. The National Assembly was composed in 1994, and its meeting place is located in Asmara.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oromo Liberation Front</span> Oromo nationalist political party in Ethiopia

The Oromo Liberation Front is an Oromo nationalist political party formed in 1973 to promote self-determination for the Oromo people inhabiting today's Oromia Region and Oromia Zone in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. The OLF has offices in Addis Ababa, Washington, D.C. and Berlin from where it operates Amharic and Oromo radio stations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethiopian Civil War</span> 1974–1991 conflict in Ethiopia

The Ethiopian Civil War was a civil war in Ethiopia and present-day Eritrea, fought between the Ethiopian military junta known as the Derg and Ethiopian-Eritrean anti-government rebels from 12 September 1974 to 28 May 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eritrea</span> Country in the Horn of Africa

Eritrea(listen), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the south, Sudan in the west, and Djibouti in the southeast. The northeastern and eastern parts of Eritrea have an extensive coastline along the Red Sea. The nation has a total area of approximately 117,600 km2 (45,406 sq mi), and includes the Dahlak Archipelago and several of the Hanish Islands.

Tripuri Nationalism is an ideology that supports self-determination by the Tripuri people. The conflict is in essence ethnic and the Tripuri community, indigenous to the region formed the clear majority of population in the princely state of Tippera, which joined the Republic of India in 1949 as the state of Tripura.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bereket Mengisteab</span> Eritrean musician (born 1938)

Bereket Mengisteab is a well-known Eritrean songwriter, composer and singer and is known as the "Godfather of Eritrean music".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transitional Government of Ethiopia</span> 1991–1995 provisional government of Ethiopia

The Transitional Government of Ethiopia (TGE) was an era established immediately after the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) seized power from the Marxist-Leninist People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (PDRE) in 1991. During the transitional period, Meles Zenawi served as the president of the TGE while Tamrat Layne was prime minister. Among other major shifts in the country's political institutions, it was under the authority of the TGE that the realignment of provincial boundaries on the basis of ethnolinguistic identity occurred. The TGE was in power until 1995, when it transitioned into the reconstituted Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia that remains today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethiopian nationalism</span> Political principle centered on a unified Ethiopian identity

Ethiopian nationalism, also referred to as Ethiopianism or Ethiopianness, is a political principle centered on the unification of Ethiopian identity. Originated from throughout ancient history, the Aksumite Empire was the first kingdom for their unified civilization and social integration to adopt the name "Ethiopia" under Ezana's reign in 4th century. For more than a century, Amhara ruling elite used the ideology to pursue an assimilation policy and consolidate power. Moreover, the notion of Ethiopian integrity was reinforced by Battle of Adwa, an important event where Ethiopia defied European colonization by defeating Italy in 1896.

The Eritrea for Eritreans Party, also known as the Liberal Progressive Party (LPP) was a political party in Eritrea. The party was founded on February 18, 1947 in Adi Keyh. It was a secular party dominated by Christians. It opposed union with Ethiopia. The party program accepted the notion of a U.S. trusteeship as intermediary step towards independence. The party gathered a membership of 53,500.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oromo conflict</span> Armed conflict between Oromo Liberation Front and the Ethiopian government

The Oromo conflict is a protracted conflict between the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) and the Ethiopian government. The Oromo Liberation Front formed to fight the Ethiopian Empire to liberate the Oromo people and establish an independent state of Oromia. The conflict began in 1973, when Oromo nationalists established the OLF and its armed wing, the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA). These groups formed in response to prejudice against the Oromo people during the Haile Selassie and Derg era, when their language banned from public administration, courts, church and schools, and the stereotype of Oromo people as a hindrance to expanding Ethiopian national identity.

Revolutionary nationalism is a name that has been applied to the political philosophy of many different types of nationalist political movements that wish to achieve their goals through a revolution against the established order. Individuals and organizations described as being revolutionary nationalist include some political currents within the French Revolution, Irish republicans engaged in armed struggle against the British crown, the Cần Vương movement against French rule in Vietnam, the Indian independence movement in the 20th century, some participants in the Mexican Revolution, Benito Mussolini and the Italian Fascists, the Autonomous Government of Khorasan, Augusto Cesar Sandino, the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement in Bolivia, black nationalism in the United States, and some African independence movements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethiopian civil conflict (2018–present)</span> Episode of intrastate conflicts during Abiy Ahmeds administration

Many of the roots of the ongoing civil conflict within Ethiopia date back to the mid-twentieth century and earlier. Following the 2018 dissolution of the ethnic federalist, dominant party political coalition, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front, there was an increase in tensions within the country, with newly resurgent regional and ethnically based factions carrying out armed attacks on military and civilians in multiple conflicts throughout Ethiopia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">OLA insurgency</span> Internal conflict in Ethiopia since 2018

The OLA insurgency is an armed conflict between the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), which split from the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) in 2018, and the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF), continuing in the context of the long-term Oromo conflict, typically dated to have started with the formation of the Oromo Liberation Front in 1973.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the federal government of Ethiopia</span> History of national government of Ethiopia since 1991

Federalism in Ethiopia can be best explained by considering the ethnic and geographic diversity of modern-day Ethiopia, interpreted through the history of the nation’s reunification. Ethiopia contains over 80 ethnic groups of varying sizes, languages, religions and customs. According to the 2007 census, the top seven groups constitute 83% of the population. Ethiopia is mainly a rural country, with an urbanisation rate of only 23.2% (2023) and exhibits a wide variety of topography that impacts agricultural and economic activity.

References

  1. KILLION, TOM (19 March 1995). "PERSPECTIVE ON ERITREA : Putting Nationalism in a Good Light : A fierce love of their land, newly independent from Ethiopia, unites a diverse people against powerful odds" via LA Times.
  2. Sorenson, John. "Discourses on Eritrean nationalism and identity." The Journal of Modern African Studies 29.2 (1991): 301-317.