The Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) is the military force of Ethiopia. Civilian control of the military is carried out through the Ministry of Defense, which oversees the Ground Forces, Air Force, Naval Force as well as the Defense Industry Sector.
The government of Ethiopia is the federal government of Ethiopia. It is structured in a framework of a federal parliamentary republic, whereby the prime minister is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government. The prime minister is chosen by the lower chamber of the Federal Parliamentary Assembly. Federal legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament. The judiciary is more or less independent of the executive and the legislature. They are governed under the 1995 Constitution of Ethiopia. There is a bicameral parliament made of the 108-seat House of Federation and the 547-seat House of Peoples' Representatives. The House of Federation has members chosen by the regional councils to serve five-year terms. The House of Peoples' Representatives is elected by direct election, who in turn elect the president for a six-year term.
Mengistu Haile Mariam is an Ethiopian former politician and former army officer who was the head of state of Ethiopia from 1977 to 1991 and General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Ethiopia from 1984 to 1991. He was the chairman of the Derg, the socialist military junta that governed Ethiopia, from 1977 to 1987, and the president of the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (PDRE) from 1987 to 1991.
Aman Mikael Andom was an Eritrean general, and the first post-imperial acting head of state of Ethiopia. Aman was also the first Chairman of the Derg. He was appointed to this position following the coup d'état that ousted Emperor Haile Selassie on 12 September 1974, and served until his death in a shootout with his former supporters.
Brigadier General Tafari Benti was an Ethiopian military officer and politician who served as head of state of Ethiopia from 1974 to 1977 in his role as second chairman of the Derg, the ruling military junta. His official title was Chairman of the Provisional Military Administrative Council.
The Derg, officially the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC), was the Marxist–Leninist military dictatorship that ruled Ethiopia, then including present-day Eritrea, from 1974 to 1987, when the military leadership or junta formally "civilianized" the administration but stayed in power until 1991.
The People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia was a socialist state that existed in Ethiopia and present-day Eritrea from 1987 to 1991.
The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party (EPRP), informally known as Ihapa, is the first modern political party in Ethiopia. Established in April 1972, it aimed to turn Ethiopia into a democratic republic.
The All-Ethiopia Socialist Movement is a political party in Ethiopia. A Marxist-Leninist organization, MEISON played an active role in Ethiopian politics during the 1970s. Both it and the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party (EPRP) were enthusiastic supporters of the revolution that toppled Emperor Haile Selassie. However, as Mengistu Haile Mariam rose to power as leader of the ruling Derg government, conflict began to develop between the two groups. MEISON initially aligned itself with the Derg, but fell out with Mengistu as the Red Terror progressed and was repressed from mid-1977 onwards.
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.
The Ethiopian Air Force (ETAF) is the air service branch of the Ethiopian National Defence Force. The ETAF is tasked with protecting the national air space, providing support to ground forces, as well as assisting civil operations during war.
The Ethiopian Red Terror, also known as the Qey Shibir, was a violent political repression campaign of the Derg against other competing Marxist-Leninist groups in Ethiopia and present-day Eritrea from 1976 to 1978. The Qey Shibir was an attempt to consolidate Derg rule during the political instability after their overthrow of Emperor Haile Selassie in 1974 and the subsequent Ethiopian Civil War. The Qey Shibir was based on the Red Terror of the Russian Civil War, and most visibly took place after Mengistu Haile Mariam became chairman of the Derg on 3 February 1977. It is estimated that 10,000 to 980,000 people were killed over the course of the Qey Shibir.
The military history of Ethiopia dates back to the foundation of early Ethiopian Kingdoms in 980 BC. Ethiopia has been involved in many of the major conflicts in the horn of Africa, and was one of the few native African nations which remained independent during the Scramble for Africa, managing to create a modern army. 19th and 20th century Ethiopian Military history is characterized by conflicts with the Dervish State, Mahdist Sudan, Egypt, and Italy, and later by a civil war.
Ethiopia and Russia established diplomatic relations on April 21, 1943. Russia currently has an embassy in Addis Ababa, and Ethiopia has an embassy in Moscow. The Ethiopian ambassador to Russia is also accredited to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
The fall of the Derg, also known as Downfall of the Derg, was a military campaign that resulted in the defeat of the ruling Marxist–Leninist military junta, the Derg, by the rebel coalition Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) on 28 May 1991 in Addis Ababa, ending the Ethiopian Civil War. The Derg took power after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie and the Solomonic dynasty, an imperial dynasty of Ethiopia that began in 1270. The Derg suffered from insurgency with different factions, and separatist rebel groups since their early rule, beginning with the Ethiopian Civil War. The 1983–1985 famine, the Red Terror, and resettlement and villagization made the Derg unpopular with the majority of Ethiopians tending to support insurgent groups like the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF).
On 12 December 2006, the Federal Supreme Court found guilty 77 top Derg officials accused by the government of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) over the Red Terror (1976–1978). The head of the Derg, Mengistu Haile Mariam, who fled to Zimbabwe, and other 22 Derg members were sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment on 11 January 2007.
This list details about chronological aspect of the Derg, the military junta that ruled Ethiopia from 1974 to 1987 by decade.
The following is history of the Red Terror in Ethiopia, a political repression launched by the military junta Derg from 1976 to 1978, which resulted in more than 10,000 deaths.
The Ethiopian Student Movement was a period of radical Marxist–Leninist student activism and movement in Ethiopia from the mid-1960s to the 1974 revolution. The first demonstration occurred in 1965 by university student, led by Marxist–Leninist motivation chanting "Land to the Tiller" and "Is poverty a crime?". The student uprisings continued in 1966 until 1969. The movement also called for the abolish of monarchy under Emperor Haile Selassie and feudalism in Ethiopia.
The Eritrean diaspora comprises about half of population living in the country, becoming the most diasporic nation. In addition, one third Eritreans live aboard. In 2022, 37,357 Eritreans fled to Sudan, Egypt and Libya for seeking asylum, estimated around 1% of its population. Since 2001, 700,000 people have left the country as a result of political repression under Isais Afwerki. In 2015, approximately 40,000 Eritrean arrived via Mediterranean, becoming small country with large refugees in Africa.
