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131-742: In June 1974, a group of army officers established the Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, later branding itself as the Derg , which struggled to topple Haile Selassie's cabinet under Prime Minister Endelkachew Makonnen . By September of that year, the Derg began detaining Endalkachew's closest advisors, dissolved the Crown Council and Imperial Court and disbanded the emperor's military staff. The Ethiopian Revolution ended with

262-468: A Homo erectus jaw was found, dating from 100,000 BCE. On Devil's Island , tools dating back 6,000 years have been found, which were used to open shells. In the area at the bottom of Goubet (Dankalélo, not far from Devil's Island), circular stone structures and fragments of painted pottery have also been discovered. Previous investigators have also reported a fragmentary maxilla, attributed to an older form of Homo sapiens and dated to c. 250 Ka, from

393-552: A Solomonic army and killed the Emperor. He then advanced to the mountains of Mokha, where he encountered a 30,000 strong Solomonic army. The Adalite soldiers surrounded their enemies and for two months besieged the trapped Solomonic soldiers until a truce was declared in Mansur's favour. During this period, Adal emerged as a centre of Muslim resistance against the expanding Christian Abyssinian kingdom. Adal would thereafter govern all of

524-539: A T-shaped symbol. Additionally, archaeological excavations at Tiya have yielded tombs. As of 1997, 118 stelae were reported in the area. Along with the stelae in the Hadiya Zone , the structures are identified by local residents as Yegragn Dingay or "Gran's stone", in reference to Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi (Ahmad "Gurey" or "Gran"), ruler of the Adal Sultanate . Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi

655-709: A clear sign that Harare would be prepared to extradite Mengistu in a reversal of Jokonya's policy. Given the turmoil in Ethiopia with the Tigray conflict, there have been no further apparent developments. Upon entering Addis Ababa, the EPRDF immediately disbanded the WPE and arrested almost all of the prominent Derg officials shortly after. In December 2006, seventy-three officials of the Derg were found guilty of genocide. Thirty-four people were in court, fourteen others had died during

786-561: A customs house and galleys patrolling the Bab-el-Mandeb . By the 17th century, when the Ottomans were compelled to retire from Zeyla, the town and its environs such as Tadjoura fell under the control of the rulers of Mocha and Sana'a , who had leased the territory to a Sana'a merchant called Sayyid Al-Barr. Zeyla was subsequently ruled by an Emir, whom Mordechai Abir suggested had "some vague claim to authority over all of

917-464: A drastic fall in general productivity of food and cash crops. Eritreans came under increased oppression and economic disruption at the hands of the regime. During 1976, civilian opposition to the regime was ruthlessly cracked down on following an attempt on Mengistu's life. In some cases entire families were executed based on the accusation of being 'reactionary'. These grouped ranged from the conservative and pro-monarchy Ethiopian Democratic Union to

1048-604: A giraffe are also found at Dorra and Balho . Handoga , dated to the fourth millennium BCE, has in turn yielded obsidian microliths and plain ceramics used by early nomadic pastoralists with domesticated cattle. The site of Wakrita is a small Neolithic establishment located on a wadi in the tectonic depression of Gobaad in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa . The 2005 excavations yielded abundant ceramics that enabled us to define one Neolithic cultural facies of this region , which

1179-775: A language of the Cushitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages . Djibouti is near some of the world's busiest shipping lanes, controlling access to the Red Sea and Indian Ocean . It serves as a key refuelling and transshipment center and the principal maritime port for imports from and exports to neighboring Ethiopia . A burgeoning commercial hub, the nation is the site of various foreign military bases. The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) regional body also has its headquarters in Djibouti City. Djibouti

1310-551: A number of government ministers and officials who were under arrest for corruption and other crimes, three days later the Derg was announced. The Derg, which originally consisted of soldiers at the capital, broadened its membership by including representatives from the 40 units of the Army, Air Force, Navy , Kebur Zabagna (Imperial Guard), Territorial Army and police : each unit was expected to send three representatives, who were supposed to be privates, NCOs and junior officers up to

1441-579: A policy of state atheism , a tenet of Marxist-Leninist ideology; this was opposed by the vast majority of the Ethiopian population. On 4 March 1975, the Derg announced a program of land reform , according to its main slogan of "Land to the Tiller", which was unequivocally radical, even in Soviet and Chinese terms. It nationalized all rural land, abolished tenancy and put peasants in charge of enforcing

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1572-504: A proposed constitution creating a constitutional monarchy was presented to the emperor, the Derg began a program of dismantling the imperial government to forestall further developments in that direction. The Derg deposed and imprisoned the emperor on 12 September 1974. On 15 September, the committee renamed itself the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC) and took full control of

1703-579: A settlement at Sagallo in 1889 was promptly thwarted by French forces after just one month. In 1894, Léonce Lagarde established a permanent French administration in the city of Djibouti and named the region French Somaliland . The construction of the Imperial Ethiopian Railway west into Ethiopia turned the port of Djibouti into a boomtown of 15,000 at a time when Harar was the only city in Ethiopia to exceed that. Although

1834-582: A succession of battles with neighbouring Abyssinia . At its height, the Adal kingdom controlled large parts of modern-day Djibouti, Somaliland , Eritrea and Ethiopia. Between Djibouti City and Loyada are a number of anthropomorphic and phallic stelae . The structures are associated with graves of rectangular shape flanked by vertical slabs, as also found in Tiya , central Ethiopia . The Djibouti-Loyada stelae are of uncertain age, and some of them are adorned with

1965-540: A united Somalia as had been proposed by Mahmoud Harbi , Vice President of the Government Council. Harbi was killed in a plane crash two years later under suspicious circumstances. In 1966, France rejected the United Nations ' recommendation that it should grant French Somaliland independence. In August of the same year, an official visit to the territory by then French President Charles de Gaulle ,

2096-702: A warning to the Mamluk ruler that if he did not stop the persecution of Christians in Egypt, he would retaliate against Muslims under his rule and would starve the peoples of Egypt by diverting the course of the Nile. According to Pankhurst, of the two threats, the diversion of Nile was an idle threat and the Egyptian sultan dismissed it because he likely realized this to be so. The fear that the Ethiopians might tamper with

2227-628: Is officially known as the Republic of Djibouti . In local languages it is known as Gabuuti (in Afar ) and Jabuuti (in Somali ). The country is named for its capital, the City of Djibouti . The etymology of the name is disputed. There are several theories and legends about its origin, varying based on ethnicity. One theory derives it from the Afar word gabouti , meaning "plate", possibly referring to

2358-549: Is the Ethiopian Unity Patriots Front which waged an insurgency in the Gambela Region from 1993 to 2012. At the conclusion of a trial lasting from 1994 to 2006, Mengistu was convicted of genocide , war crimes and crimes against humanity and sentenced in absentia to death by an Ethiopian court for his role in Ethiopia's Red Terror . The Ethiopian legal definition is distinct from

2489-465: The 12 September coup d'état of Haile Selassie by the Coordinating Committee. For many centuries, the Ethiopian Empire had a semi-feudal mode of production , with most land held by the church (25%), the Emperor (20%), the feudal lords (30%) and the state (18%), leaving a mere 7% to the roughly 23 million Ethiopian peasants. The landless peasants lost as much as 75% of their produce to

2620-558: The Derg , which decided to seize power from the emperor while confronting the Prime Minister, Endelkachew Makonnen . Endelkachew was criticized for his backwardness in reforms which the Emperor , as the constitutional head, agreed to. On the Coordinating Committee's recommendation, Haile Selassie appointed him Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces in early July 1974. Endalkachew resigned from office on 22 July and went to Djibouti ;

2751-537: The Eritrean People's Liberation Front had gained control of all of Eritrea except for Asmara and Assab in the south. The Soviet Union, mired in its internal turmoil, could no longer prop up the Derg. In the words of the former US diplomat Paul B. Henze, "As his doom became imminent, Mengistu alternated between vowing resistance to the end and hinting that he might follow Emperor Tewodros II 's example and commit suicide." His actions were frantic: he convened

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2882-617: The Ethiopian Army , who were not ideologically united, comprised conservatives, moderates and radicals. In the process of socialist reforms, the radicals emerged victorious and wrested state power. In April, the Ethiopian Muslim protests occurred which was considered a massive rally at the time as over 100,000 citizens were witnessed participating. The Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces formed in June 1974, later called

3013-659: The French Territory of the Afars and the Issas (French: Territoire français des Afars et des Issas ). The Bab-el-Mandeb region has often been considered a primary crossing point for early hominins following a southern coastal route from East Africa to South and Southeast Asia . The Djibouti area has been inhabited since the Neolithic . According to linguists, the first Afroasiatic -speaking populations arrived in

3144-683: The Ogaden War , and the 1983–1985 famine from which the Derg itself estimated more than a million deaths during its time in power. Conflicts between the Derg and various ethnic militias saw a gradual resurgence, particularly the Ethiopian Civil War and the Eritrean War of Independence . Mengistu formally abolished the Derg in 1987 and formed a Marxist-Leninist one party state, the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia led by

3275-468: The Republic of Djibouti , named after its capital city . The new state joined the United Nations in its first year. In the early 1990s, tensions over government representation led to armed conflict , which ended in a power-sharing agreement in 2000 between the ruling party and the opposition. Djibouti is a multi-ethnic nation with a population of 1,066,809 at the census held on 20 May 2024 (

3406-520: The Sahil , but whose real authority did not extend very far beyond the walls of the town." Assisted by cannons and a few mercenaries armed with matchlocks , the governor succeeded in fending off incursions by both the disunited nomads of the interior, who had penetrated the area, as well as brigands in the Gulf of Aden. Although Tadjoura claimed complete independence, it was considered subordinate to Zeyla as

3537-464: The Shengo , for an emergency session and reorganized his cabinet, but as Henze concludes, "these shifts came too late to be effective." On 21 May, claiming that he was going to inspect troops at a base in southern Ethiopia, Mengistu slipped out of the country into Kenya . From there, he flew along with his immediate family to Zimbabwe , where he was granted asylum and where he still resides. Mengistu

3668-946: The Western world , creating, for the first time, an Ethiopian diaspora . The 1984–1985 Tigray famine brought the political situation in Ethiopia to the attention of the world and inspired charitable drives in Western nations , notably by Oxfam and the Live Aid concerts of July 1985. The money they raised was distributed among NGOs working in Ethiopia. A controversy arose when it was found that some of these NGOs were under Derg control or influence and that some Oxfam and Live Aid money had been used to fund Derg's enforced resettlement programmes , under which they displaced millions of people and killed between 50,000 and 100,000. A BBC investigation reported that Tigray People's Liberation Front rebels had used millions of dollars of aid money to buy arms; these accusations were later fully retracted by

3799-667: The Workers' Party of Ethiopia , with a new government containing civilians but still dominated by members of the Derg. In May 1991, the Derg regime fell to the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front , ending the civil war that had been ongoing since 1974 following the toppling of the Ethiopian Empire. Before the revolution, the Ethiopian Student Movement presented a threat to

3930-460: The continent , was another factor that compelled observers to doubt that the French would attempt to hold on to the territory. A third independence referendum was held in the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas on 8 May 1977. The previous referendums were held in 1958 and 1967 , which rejected independence . This referendum backed independence from France . A landslide 98.8% of

4061-778: The government and enforcing law since the establishment. By 1976, the Soviet and Derg relations strengthened with the Soviet aided the Derg military with arms. Together with the Cuban soldiers, the military gained support against Somali Democratic Republic during the Ogaden War . According to the United States State Department report in May 1977, 50 Cuban advisors trained Ethiopian troops to combat, while another report in July stated that 3,000 Cubans were in Ethiopia with one Eritrean Liberation Front officer there. Under

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4192-569: The military junta formally " civilianized " the administration but stayed in power until 1991. The Derg was established on 21 June 1974 as the Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, Police and Territorial Army , by junior and mid level officers of the Imperial Ethiopian Army and members of the police . The officers decided everything collectively at first, and selected Mengistu Haile Mariam to chair

4323-573: The resettlement and villagization from the Ethiopian Highlands became priorities. Mengistu became chairman in 1977, launching the Red Terror ( Qey Shibir ) political repression campaign to eliminate political opponents, with tens of thousands imprisoned and executed without trial. By the mid-1980s, Ethiopia was plagued by multiple issues, such as droughts , economic decline and increasing reliance on foreign aid , recovering from

4454-523: The 1974 revolution started as demands for better working conditions and wages for troops in remote regions, particularly the Ogaden, Negele and the desert of western Eritrea. By 1973, it was clear to many observers that the army was the true power behind the throne and it was widely expected that the military would take over in the event of the Emperor's death. Since the failed Ethiopian coup attempt during 1960, no further coup were attempted largely due to

4585-709: The 2,434 riflemen deployed, 517 were killed and 1,200 wounded in Europe. After the Italian invasion and occupation of Ethiopia in the mid-1930s, constant border skirmishes occurred between French forces in French Somaliland and Italian forces in Italian East Africa . In June 1940, during the early stages of World War II , France fell and the colony was then ruled by the pro- Axis Vichy (French) government . British and Commonwealth forces fought

4716-508: The 60s and early 70s, the political consciousness of the armed forces grew as well. This awareness grew as the army was increasingly utilized to put down student protests, peasant uprisings and regional revolts in Ogaden , Bale and Eritrea . The multiplication of regional revolts and economic downturn in the country during the early 70s made many army units rebellious as their living conditions deteriorated. The military mutiny that precipitated

4847-506: The Afars largely opting to remain associated with France. The referendum was again marred by reports of vote rigging on the part of the French authorities. Shortly after the plebiscite was held, the former Côte française des Somalis (French Somaliland) was renamed to Territoire français des Afars et des Issas . Announcement of the plebiscite results sparked civil unrest, including several deaths. France also increased its military force along

4978-523: The Commander of the patrol sloop L'Inferent reported on the Egyptian occupation in the Gulf of Tadjoura. The Commander of the patrol sloop Le Vaudreuil reported that the Egyptians were occupying the interior between Obock and Tadjoura . Emperor Yohannes IV of Ethiopia signed an accord with Great Britain to cease fighting the Egyptians and to allow the evacuation of Egyptian forces from Ethiopia and

5109-478: The Coordinating Committee took power by the end of the year. On 12 September, they arrested Haile Selassie, who remained at the National Palace until his death on 27 August 1975. Elleni Zeleke argues that 1960s' student movements ' views on social sciences and social change were major factors in not only the 1974 revolution itself, but also in socially progressive and lethally repressive aspects of

5240-552: The Derg announced the National Revolutionary Development Campaign to mobilize human and material resources to transform the economy, which led to a ten-year plan (1984/85 - 1993/94) to expand agricultural and industrial output, forecasting a 6.5% growth in GDP and a 3.6% rise in per capita income. Instead, per capita income declined considerably to 0.8% over this period. Many Ethiopians viewed

5371-543: The Derg, the Ethiopian military was dominated by the Amhara ethnic group. Similar to the period of the Ethiopian Empire under Menelik II and Haile Selassie , over 80% of generals and over 65% of colonels in the armed forces were Amhara's. While the Amhara constituted the majority of the officer corps , the army was still ethnically heterogeneous. By 1980, the Derg was estimated to have an excess of 250,000 troops. This

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5502-542: The Derg. No new members were ever admitted, and the number decreased, especially in the first few years, as some members were expelled or killed. The Derg first assembled at the Fourth Division headquarters, and elected Major Mengistu Haile Mariam as its chairman and Major Atnafu Abate as vice-chairman. Their stated mission was to study and address the grievances of various military units, investigate abuses by senior officers and staff and root out corruption in

5633-587: The Eastern bloc communist parties. Mengistu became Secretary-General of the WPE and President of the PDRE while remaining the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. Opposition to the reign of the Derg was the main cause of the Ethiopian Civil War . This conflict began as extralegal violence between 1975 and 1977, known as the Red Terror , when the Derg struggled for authority, first with various opposition groups within

5764-579: The Egyptian garrison at Sagallo to retire to Zeila . The cruiser Seignelay reached Sagallo shortly after the Egyptians had departed. French troops occupied the fort despite protests from the British Agent in Aden , Major Frederick Mercer Hunter, who dispatched troops to safeguard British and Egyptian interests in Zeila and prevent further extension of French influence in that direction. On 14 April 1884

5895-798: The Emperor. According to Mordechai Abir, Sa'ad ad-Din II raids against the Ethiopian empire were largely hit-and-run type, which hardened the resolve of the Christian ruler to end the Muslim rule in their east. In the early 15th century, the Ethiopian Emperor who was likely Dawit I collected a large army to respond. He branded the Muslims of the surrounding area "enemies of the Lord", and invaded Ifat. After much war, Ifat's troops were defeated in 1403 on

6026-441: The Ethiopian army out of much of the region and into fortified urban centers. During the Ogaden War that soon followed, Somalia launched a full scale invasion to assist the WSLF. Under the Derg, Ethiopia became the Soviet bloc's closest ally in Africa and became one of the best-armed nations in the region as a result of massive military aid, chiefly from the Soviet Union , East Germany , Cuba and North Korea . In October 1978,

6157-420: The Fleuriot de Langle to colonize the south of the Gulf of Tadjoura . On March 26, 1885, the French signed another treaty with the Issas where the latter would become a protectorate under the French. It was established between 1883 and 1887, after the ruling Somalis and Afar sultans each signed a treaty with the French . An attempt by Nikolay Ivanovitch Achinov , a Russian adventurer, to establish

6288-401: The French Ambassador to Somalia, Jean Guery, to be exchanged against two activists of FLCS members who were both serving life terms in mainland France . He was exchanged for the two FLCS members in Aden , South Yemen . The FLCS was recognized as a national liberation movement by the Organization of African Unity (OAU), which participated in its financing. The FLCS evolved its demands between

6419-421: The Gendarmerie Nationale Intervention Group over a bus hijacking en route to Loyada . This event, by showing the difficulties of maintaining the French colonial presence in Djibouti, was an important step in the independence of the territory . The likelihood of a third referendum appearing successful for the French had grown even dimmer. The prohibitive cost of maintaining the colony , France's last outpost on

6550-433: The Harar plateau, Sultan Sa'ad ad-Din subsequently fled to Zeila where Ethiopian soldiers pursued him. Al-Maqrizi narrates: the Amhara pursued Sa'd al-Din as far as the peninsula of Zeila , in the ocean, where he took refuge. The Amhara besieged him there, and deprived him of water; at last one of the impious showed them a way by which they could reach him. When they came upon him a battle ensued; and after three days

6681-585: The Imam, each year at the time of the fairs, a perpetual annuity which the governor of Zeyla would be responsible for extracting. Tadjourah's vizier Mahammed Mahammed renewed it for the benefit of the Turkish pasha of Al-Hodeida although the Ottoman Empire never exercised political right over Tadjoura. Mohammed Al-Barr would later be succeeded as governor of Zeila and its dependencies( Sahil ) by Sharmake Ali Salih . Muhammad Ali , Pasha of Egypt , came to control Yemen , Harar , Gulf of Tadjoura with Zeila and Berbera included. The Governor Abou Baker ordered

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6812-494: The Muslim territories in the Horn of Africa in much the same way as Emperor Yekuno Amlak was attempting to consolidate the Christian territories in the highlands during the same period. In 1320 a conflict between the Christian monarch and Muslim Ifat leaders began. The conflict was precipitated by Al-Nasir Muhammad of Egypt . The Mamluk ruler Al-Nasir Muhammad was persecuting Christian Copts and destroying Coptic churches. The Ethiopian Emperor Amda Seyon I sent an envoy with

6943-441: The Nile, states Pankhurst, was nevertheless to remain with Egyptians for many centuries. Sabr ad-Din's rebellion was not an attempt to achieve independence, but to become emperor of a Muslim Ethiopia. Amda Seyon's royal chronicle states that Sabr ad-Din proclaimed: In fact, after his first incursion, Sabr ad-Din appointed governors for nearby and neighboring provinces such as Fatagar and Alamalé, as well as far-off provinces in

7074-435: The Red Sea coast of Sudan, Djibouti is considered the most likely location of the territory known to the Ancient Egyptians as Punt (or Ta Netjeru , meaning "God's Land"). The first mention of the Land of Punt dates to the 25th century BC. The Puntites were a nation of people who had close relations with Ancient Egypt during the reign of the 5th dynasty Pharaoh Sahure and the 18th dynasty Queen Hatshepsut . According to

7205-417: The Red Sea in order to obtain bitumen , copper, carved amulets, naptha and other goods transported overland and down the Dead Sea to Elat at the head of the gulf of Aqaba where they were joined with frankincense and myrrh coming north both by sea and overland along trade routes through the mountains running north along the east coast of the Red Sea. Together with northern Ethiopia, Somaliland, Eritrea and

7336-398: The Somaliland littoral. The Egyptian garrison was withdrawn from Tadjoura . Léonce Lagarde deployed a patrol sloop to Tadjoura the following night. The boundaries of the present-day Djibouti state were established as the first French establishment in the Horn of Africa during the Scramble for Africa . The March 11, 1862, agreement the Afar sultan , Raieta Dini Ahmet, signed in Paris

7467-478: The area's geographical features. Another connects it to gabood , meaning "upland/plateau". Djibouti could also mean "Land of Tehuti " or "Land of Thoth ( Egyptian : Djehuti / Djehuty )", after the Egyptian moon god. Under French administration, from 1862 until 1894, the land to the north of the Gulf of Tadjoura was called " Obock ". While 1897 to 1967 the area was known as French Somaliland (French: Côte française des Somalis ), and from 1967 to 1977 as

7598-405: The battalion's companies were awarded the Croix de Guerre, and the RICM flag received the Legion of Honor. Reorganized as a combat unit by December 1916, the battalion fought at Chemin des Dames in May 1917 and later in significant battles such as Malmaison, the 3rd Battle of the Aisne, and the 2nd Battle of the Marne, earning multiple citations and the right to wear the Croix de Guerre fourragère. Of

7729-466: The century. The earliest reference to Adal was following the collapse of the Makhzumi dynasty in July 1288 when 'Ali Baziyu led a campaign in Adal and Mora which was concluded by the killing of the lords of Adal and Mora , the victorious Sultan then annexed Adal and Mora to his Kingdom. Adal is also mentioned by Marco Polo in 1295 as a state continuously in conflict with Abyssinia. According to fourteenth century Arab historian Al Umari , Adal

7860-600: The city. A local battalion from French Somaliland participated in the Liberation of France in 1944. In 1958, on the eve of neighboring Somalia's independence in 1960, a referendum was held in Djibouti to decide whether to remain with France or to be an independent country. The referendum turned out in favour of a continued association with France, partly due to a combined yes vote by the sizable Afar ethnic group and resident French. There were also allegations of widespread vote rigging . The majority of those who had voted no were Somalis who were strongly in favour of joining

7991-484: The civilian segments such as students and trade unions. The Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, Police and Territorial Army, known as the Derg, was officially announced on 28 June 1974 by a group of military officers. This was done under the pretext of maintaining law and order, due to the powerlessness of the civilian government following widespread mutiny in the armed forces of Ethiopia earlier that year. Its members were not directly involved in those mutinies nor

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8122-426: The climate was already beginning to change, with sources of fresh water becoming more scarce. Engravings show dromedaries (animal of arid zones), some of which are ridden by armed warriors. The sedentary people now returned to a nomadic life. Stone tumuli of various shapes and sheltering graves dating from this period have been unearthed all over the territory. The earliest recorded ancient Egyptian expedition to Punt

8253-440: The coast of Somalia . Districts within Adal included Hubat , Gidaya and Hargaya . It also occasionally included the Hadiya Sultanate . The region was mostly located in modern day Awdal and had Zeila as a capital city but also controlled other interior towns like Abasa or Dakkar extending into the Harar plateau to the south-east and modern day Djibouti in the west. The Walashma dynasty are regarded by scholars as

8384-424: The communist government in the late 1980s, with the Soviet Union retreating from the expansion of Communism under Mikhail Gorbachev 's glasnost and perestroika . Socialist bloc countries drastically reduced their aid to Ethiopia and were struggling to keep their own economies going. This resulted in even more economic hardship, and the military gave way in the face of determined onslaughts by guerrilla forces in

8515-432: The corporation. Although the Derg government came to an end on 22 February 1987, three weeks after a referendum approved the constitution for the PDRE , it was not until September that the new government was fully in place and the Derg formally abolished. The surviving members of the Derg, including Mengistu, remained in power as the leaders of the new civilian regime. The geopolitical situation became unfavourable for

8646-434: The country, then with a variety of groups jockeying for the role of vanguard party . Though human rights violations were committed by all sides, the great majority of abuses against civilians as well as actions leading to devastating famine were committed by the government. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church , which represents the Christian state church of Ethiopia for centuries, was disestablished in 1974. The Derg declared

8777-409: The deep divisions within the armed forces, particularly the officer corps. When the first social unrest and mutinies broke out across the country during 1974, the Ethiopian had the largest military in Sub-Saharan Africa . The Ethiopian Revolution is widely considered to have begun on 12 January 1974 when a group of Ethiopian soldiers rebelled in Negele Borana . In February 1974, the military rulers of

8908-410: The earliest cities in the world to embrace Islam , shortly after the hijra . Zeila 's two- mihrab Masjid al-Qiblatayn dates to the 7th century, and is the oldest mosque. In the late 9th century, Al-Yaqubi , an Arab Muslim scholar and traveler, wrote that the Kingdom of Adal was a small wealthy kingdom and that Zeila served as the headquarters for the kingdom, which dated back to the beginning of

9039-399: The early 1990s, tensions over government representation led to armed conflict between Djibouti's ruling People's Rally for Progress (PRP) party and the Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy (FRUD) opposition group. The impasse ended in a power-sharing agreement in 2000. In April 2021, Ismael Guelleh , the second President of Djibouti since independence from France in 1977,

9170-450: The eldest son of Sa'ad ad-Din II , would return to Adal from his exile in Arabia to restore his father's throne. He would proclaim himself "king of Adal" after his return from Yemen to the Harar plateau and established his new capital at Dakkar . Sabr ad-Din III and his brothers would defeat an army of 20,000 men led by an unnamed commander hoping to restore the "lost Amhara rule". The victorious king then returned to his capital, but gave

9301-425: The electorate supported disengagement from France, officially marking Djibouti's independence . Hassan Gouled Aptidon , an Issa (ethnic Somali) politician who had campaigned for a yes vote in the referendum of 1958, became the nation's first president (1977–1999). During its first year, Djibouti joined the Organization of African Unity (now the African Union ), the Arab League , and the United Nations. In 1986,

9432-527: The emperor's reputation, affecting the peasants. The government negligence in dealing with the famine was known by this point, and no relief effort report arrived via the Ministry of the Interior. As the regime of Emperor Haile Selassie declined, the army became increasingly politicized as Selassie increasingly relied on more oppressive measures of governance. As recruitment from educated Ethiopians grew over

9563-660: The execution of Colonel Atnafu Abate in November 1977, Mengistu gained undisputed leadership of the Derg. In 1987, he formally dissolved the Derg and established the country as the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (PDRE) under a new constitution . Many of the Derg members remained in key government posts and also served as the members of the Central Committee and the Politburo of the Workers' Party of Ethiopia (WPE). This became Ethiopia's civilian version of

9694-571: The far-leftist Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party , the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) guerrillas fighting for Eritrean independence, rebels based in Tigray (which included the nascent Tigray People's Liberation Front ) and other groups. For some time, the Western Somali Liberation Front (WSLF), had been conducting guerilla operations in the Ogaden. By June 1977, it had succeeded in forcing

9825-534: The formation of multiple rump states such as Aussa , Tadjourah and Rahayto. Mamluk Egypt being conquered by the Ottomans alarmed the Arabian merchants, who were afraid of these new Turkish conquerors hence they chose to travel towards Adal's shores. This was also followed by Indian merchants fleeing from the same enemy. The Ottomans noticing this sudden mass movement, hastidly occupied Zeyla and established

9956-551: The former is considered more likely. Both Derg and Haile Selassie government relocated numerous Amharas into southern Ethiopia, including present-day of the Oromia region, where they served in government administration, courts, church and school, where Oromo texts were eliminated and replaced by Amharic. After internal conflicts that resulted in the execution of General Tafari Benti and several of his supporters in February 1977, and

10087-546: The founders of the Ifat Sultanate. Ifat first emerged when Umar Ibn Dunyā-ḥawaz, later to be known as Sultan Umar Walasma , carved out his own kingdom and conquered the Sultanate of Shewa located in northern Hararghe . In 1288 Sultan Wali Asma successfully imposed his rule on Hubat , Zeila and other Muslim states in the region. Taddesse Tamrat explains Sultan Walashma's military acts as an effort to consolidate

10218-676: The frontier. During the 1960s, the struggle for independence was led by the Front for the Liberation of the Somali Coast (FLCS), who waged an armed struggle for independence with much of its violence aimed at French personnel. FLCS used to initiate few mounting cross-border operations into French Somaliland from Somalia and Ethiopia to attacks on French targets. On March 24, 1975, the Front de Libération de la Côte des Somalis kidnapped

10349-400: The government and all facilities within the government. The Derg chose Lieutenant General Aman Andom , a popular military leader and a Sandhurst graduate, to be its chairman and acting head-of-state. This was pending the return of Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen from medical treatment in Europe when he would assume the throne as a constitutional monarch. However, General Aman Andom quarreled with

10480-546: The government sent the commander of the Ethiopian Ground Forces , General Deresse Dubala , to negotiate with the rebels, they held him and forced him to eat their food and drink their water. Similar mutinies took place at the Ethiopian Air Force base at Bishoftu on 12 February, and at Second Division at Asmara on 25 February. It was these protests that gave rise to the general uprising among

10611-453: The island, revealing it as the "Land of the Gods, a region far to the east in the direction of the sunrise, blessed with products for religious purposes", where traders returned with gold, ivory, ebony , incense , aromatic resins, animal skins, live animals, eye-makeup cosmetics, fragrant woods, and cinnamon. During the reign of Queen Hatshepsut in the 15th century BC, ships regularly crossed

10742-511: The landlords, leaving them in a miserable life state. Haile Selassie had also promised to reform and modernize the country . The late 1960s in Ethiopia included student movements developing their knowledge of and debating the social sciences and social change . Their debates were influential in their opposition to Emperor Haile Selassie . In December 1960, a coup d'état attempt seeking liberal reforms, including land reforms and land redistribution, took place. The Wollo famine overshadowed

10873-498: The legal definition as outlined in the Genocide Convention by the United Nations and other definitions in that it defines genocide as intent to wipe out political and not just ethnic groups. In this respect, it closely resembles the definition of politicide outlined by Barbara Harff , who wrote in 1992 that no Communist country or governing body had been convicted of genocide. The Derg army had significant role in

11004-582: The lengthy process, and twenty-five, including Mengistu, were tried in absentia . The trial ended 26 May 2008, and many of the officials were sentenced to death. In December 2010, the Ethiopian government commuted the death sentence of 23 Derg officials. On 4 October 2011, 16 former Derg officials were freed after twenty years of incarceration. The Ethiopian government paroled almost all of the Derg officials who had been imprisoned for 20 years. Other Derg ex-officials managed to escape and organized rebel groups to overthrow Ethiopia's new government. One of these groups

11135-672: The medieval historian al-Makrizi , Emperor Dawit I in 1403 pursued the Sultan of Adal , Sa'ad ad-Din II , to Zeila, where he killed the Sultan and sacked the city of Zeila . However, another contemporary source dates the death of Sa'ad ad-Din II to 1410, and credits Emperor Yeshaq with the slaying. His children and the remainder of the Walashma dynasty would flee to Yemen where they would live in exile until 1415. In 1415, Sabr ad-Din III ,

11266-488: The military. In July, the Derg obtained key concessions from emperor, Haile Selassie , which included the power to arrest not only military officers but government officials at every level. Soon both former Prime Ministers Aklilu Habte-Wold and Endelkachew Makonnen , along with most of their cabinets, most regional governors, many senior military officers and officials of the Imperial court were imprisoned. In August, after

11397-551: The monarchy. Many of their ideals were similar to those of the Derg. After the Ethiopian Revolution in February 1974, the first signal of any mass uprisings was the actions of the soldiers of the 4th Brigade of the 4th Army Division in Nagelle in southern Ethiopia. They were mainly unhappy about the lack of food and water and then arrested their brigade commander and other officers and kept them incarcerated. When

11528-569: The mysterious land of Punt. In the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt , Hatshepsut built a Red Sea fleet to facilitate trade between the head of the Gulf of Aqaba and points south as far as Punt to bring mortuary goods to Karnak in exchange for Nubian gold. Hatshepsut personally made the most famous ancient Egyptian expedition that sailed to Punt. Her artists revealing much about the royals, inhabitants, habitation and variety of trees on

11659-549: The nascent republic was also among the founding members of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development regional development organization. During the Ogaden War , influential Issa politicians envisioned a Greater Djibouti or "Issa-land", where Djibouti's borders would extend from the Red Sea to Dire Dawa . That dream was dashed towards the end of the war as Somali forces were routed from Ethiopia. In

11790-704: The neighboring Italians during the East African Campaign . In 1941, the Italians were defeated and the Vichy forces in French Somaliland were isolated. The Vichy French administration continued to hold out in the colony for over a year after the Italian collapse. In response, the British blockaded the port of Djibouti City but it could not prevent local French from providing information on the passing ship convoys. In 1942, about 4,000 British troops occupied

11921-550: The new Chairman of the Derg and the head of state, with Mengistu and Atnafu Abate as his two vice-chairmen, both with promotions to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. The monarchy was formally abolished in March 1975, and socialism was proclaimed the new ideology of the state. Emperor Haile Selassie died under mysterious circumstances on 27 August 1975 while his personal physician was absent. It is commonly believed that Mengistu killed him, either by ordering it done or by his own hand although

12052-593: The north like Damot , Amhara , Angot , Inderta , Begemder , and Gojjam . He also threatened to plant khat at the capital, a stimulant used by Muslims but forbidden to Ethiopian Orthodox Christians . In 1376, Sultan Sa'ad ad-Din Abdul Muhammad , also called Sa'ad ad-Din II, succeeded his brother and came to power, who continued to attack the Abyssinian Christian army. He attacked regional chiefs such as at Zalan and Hadeya, who supported

12183-529: The north, and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the east. The country has an area of 23,200 km (8,958 sq mi). In antiquity, the territory, together with Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somaliland, was part of the Land of Punt . Nearby Zeila , now in Somaliland, was the seat of the medieval Adal and Ifat Sultanates. In the late 19th century, the colony of French Somaliland was established after

12314-599: The north. The Soviet Union stopped aiding the PDRE altogether in December 1990. Together with the fall of Communism in the Eastern Bloc in the Revolutions of 1989 , this itself dealt a serious blow to the PDRE. Towards the end of January 1991, a coalition of rebel forces, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) captured Gondar (the ancient capital city), Bahir Dar and Dessie . Meanwhile,

12445-606: The oldest evidence of herding in the region, and they provide a better understanding of the development of Neolithic societies in this region. Up to 4000 years BCE, the region benefited from a climate very different from the one it knows today and probably close to the Mediterranean climate . The water resources were numerous with lakes in Gobaad, lakes Assal and Abbé larger and resembling real bodies of water. The humans therefore lived by gathering, fishing and hunting. The region

12576-717: The order to his many followers to continue and extend the war against the Christians. The Emperor of Ethiopia Tewodros I was soon killed by the Adal Sultanate upon the return of Sa'ad ad-Din's heirs to the Horn of Africa. Sabr ad-Din III died a natural death and was succeeded by his brother Mansur ad-Din who invaded the capital and royal seat of the Solomonic Empire and drove Emperor Dawit I to Yedaya where according to al-Maqrizi , Sultan Mansur destroyed

12707-497: The population fell after the completion of the railwayline to Dire Dawa and the original company failed and required a government bail-out, the rail link allowed the territory to quickly supersede the caravan-based trade carried on at Zeila (then in the British area of Somaliland ) and become the premier port for coffee and other goods leaving southern Ethiopia and the Ogaden through Harar . The 6th Somali Marching Battalion

12838-508: The proceedings. On 12 September 1974, the Derg overthrew the government of the Ethiopian Empire and Emperor Haile Selassie during nationwide mass protests, and three days later formally renamed itself the Provisional Military Administrative Council. In March 1975 the Derg abolished the monarchy and established Ethiopia as a socialist state under a military-led provisional government . The abolition of feudalism , increased literacy , nationalization , and sweeping land reform including

12969-714: The radical elements in the Derg over the issue of a new military offensive in Eritrea and their proposal to execute the high officials of Selassie's former government. After eliminating units loyal to him—the Engineers, the Imperial Bodyguard and the Air Force—the Derg removed General Aman from power and executed him on 23 November 1974, along with some of his supporters and 60 officials of the previous Imperial government. Brigadier General Tafari Benti became

13100-469: The rank of major. According to Bahru Zewde, "Senior officers were deemed too compromised by close association to the regime." The Derg was reported to have consisted of 120 soldiers, a statement which has gained wide acceptance due to the habitual secretiveness of the Derg in its early years. But, Bahru Zewde notes that "in actual fact, their number was less than 110", and Aregawi Berhe mentions two different sources which record 109 persons as being members of

13231-591: The region during this period from the family's proposed urheimat ("original homeland") in the Nile Valley , or the Near East . Other scholars propose that the Afroasiatic family developed in situ in the Horn, with its speakers subsequently dispersing from there. Cut stones dated about 3 million years old have been collected in the area of Lake Abbe . In the Gobaad plain (between Dikhil and Lake Abbe),

13362-548: The remains of the extinct elephant Palaeoloxodon recki were also discovered, visibly butchered using basalt tools found nearby. These remains would date from 1.4 million years BCE. Subsequently, other similar sites were identified as probably the work of Homo ergaster . An Acheulean site (from 800,000 to 400,000 years BCE), where stone was cut, was excavated in the 1990s, in Gombourta, between Damerdjog and Loyada , 15 km south of Djibouti City . Finally, in Gobaad,

13493-666: The request of integration in a possible " Greater Somalia " influenced by the Somali government or the simple independence of the territory. In 1975 the African People's League for the Independence (LPAI) and FLCS met in Kampala , Uganda with several meeting later they finally opted for independence path, causing tensions with Somalia . In 1976, members of the Front de Libération de la Côte des Somalis which sought Djibouti's independence from France , also clashed with

13624-456: The revolution as a mask to perpetuate Amhara colonization that began during Emperor Menelik II . By 1978 the proportion of Amhara officials running the Ethiopian government was higher than it has ever been - even under Menelik and Selassie . By 1980, the original 120 members of the Derg had been whittled down to only 38. All members but three were ethnic Amhara and were predominantly from settler colonialist neftenya origins. Many member of

13755-554: The revolution, and in the later Fall of the Derg and events during the rule of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front . Derg The Derg (or Dergue ; Amharic : ደርግ , lit.   ' committee ' or ' council ' ), officially the Provisional Military Administrative Council ( PMAC ), was the military dictatorship that ruled Ethiopia , then including present-day Eritrea , from 1974 to 1987, when

13886-476: The ruling Dir Somali and Afar sultans signed treaties with the French, and its railroad to Dire Dawa (and later Addis Ababa ) allowed it to quickly supersede Zeila as the port for southern Ethiopia and the Ogaden . It was renamed the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas in 1967. A decade later, the Djiboutian people voted for independence . This officially marked the establishment of

14017-528: The ruling elite were deeply opposed to the idea of loosening control on the rebellious southern regions conquered under Menelik II . Famine scholar Alex de Waal observed that while the famine that struck the country in the mid-1980s is usually ascribed to drought, closer investigation shows that widespread drought occurred only some months after the famine was already underway. Hundreds of thousands fled economic misery, conscription and political repression and went to live in neighbouring countries and all over

14148-400: The smallest in mainland Africa). French and Arabic are its two official languages; Afar and Somali are national languages. About 94% of Djiboutians adhere to Islam , which is the official religion and has been predominant in the region for more than 1,000 years. The Somalis and Afar make up the two largest ethnic groups, with the former comprising the majority of the population. Both speak

14279-522: The span of fourteen years the Imam was able to conquer the heartland of the country, wreaking havoc on the Christian nation. The Bahri Negash joined Emperor Gelawdewos and the Portuguese in the decisive Battle of Wayna Daga , where tradition states that Imam Ahmad was shot in the chest by a Portuguese musketeer named João de Castilho, who had charged alone into the Muslim lines and died. The wounded Imam

14410-486: The sultan would received an annual stipend from the local governor. Abubakr Pasha explained to Vice-Admiral Alphonse Fleuriot de Langle that when the Imam of Sana'a still controlled the Yemeni coast, some soldiers sent to Tadjoura were one day massacred by the inhabitants of the city. The governor of Mocha then dispatched a new detachment to avenge them. Rather than suffer these reprisals, the city preferred to commit to paying

14541-458: The temple murals at Deir el-Bahari , the Land of Punt was ruled at that time by King Parahu and Queen Ati. The Adal (also Awdal , Adl , or Adel ) was centered around Zeila , its capital. It was established by the local Somali clans in the early 9th century. Zeila attracted merchants from around the world, contributing to the wealth of the city. Zeila is an ancient city and it was one of

14672-615: The territory formerly ruled by the Ifat Sultanate, as well as the land further east all the way from the Bab el Mandeb to Cape Guardafui, according to Leo Africanus. Adal is mentioned by name in the 14th century in the context of the battles between the Muslims of the Somali and Afar seaboard and the Abyssinian King Amda Seyon I 's Christian troops. Adal originally had its capital in the port city of Zeila, situated in

14803-758: The valley of the Dagadlé Wadi. Pottery predating the mid-2nd millennium has been found at Asa Koma , an inland lake area on the Gobaad Plain. The site's ware is characterized by punctate and incision geometric designs, which bear a similarity to the Sabir culture phase 1 ceramics from Ma'layba in Southern Arabia . Long-horned humpless cattle bones have likewise been discovered at Asa Koma, suggesting that domesticated cattle were present by around 3,500 years ago. Rock art of what appear to be antelopes and

14934-574: The water failed. Sa'd al Din was wounded in the forehead and fell to the ground, whereupon they pierced him with their swords. But he died happily, falling in God's cause. After Sa'ad ad-Din's death “the strength of the Muslims was abated”, as Maqrizi states, and then the Amhara settled in the country “and from the ravaged mosques and they made churches”. The followers of Islam were said to have been harassed for over twenty years. The sources disagree on which Ethiopian Emperor conducted this campaign. According to

15065-487: The western Awdal region. The polity at the time was an Emirate in the larger Ifat Sultanate ruled by the Walashma dynasty . According to I.M. Lewis, the polity was governed by local dynasties consisting of Somalized Arabs or Arabized Somalis, who also ruled over the similarly established Sultanate of Mogadishu in the Benadir region to the south. Adal's history from this founding period forth would be characterized by

15196-484: The whole scheme. Many students embraced Mengistu as a 'the hero of the reform'. In addition, the Derg in 1975 nationalized most industries and private and somewhat secured urban real-estate holdings. Mismanagement, corruption and general opposition to the Derg's dictatorial and violent communist rule, coupled with the draining effects of constant warfare with the separatist guerrilla movements in Eritrea and Tigray, led to

15327-537: Was re-elected for his fifth term. Djibouti is a unitary presidential republic , with executive power resting in the presidency, which is by turn dominant over the cabinet, and legislative power in both the government and the National Assembly . The president , Ismaïl Omar Guelleh , is the prominent figure in Djiboutian politics—the head of state and commander-in-chief . The president exercises their executive power assisted by their appointee,

15458-593: Was a military leader of the medieval Adal Sultanate in the northern Horn of Africa. Between 1529 and 1543, he embarked on a campaign referred to as the Futuh Al-Habash , bringing the three-quarters of Christian Abyssinia under the control of the Muslim empire. With an army composed of Afar, Harari (Harla), and Somalis, al-Ghazi's forces came close to extinguishing the ancient Ethiopian kingdom, slaughtering any Ethiopian who refused to convert to Islam. Within

15589-513: Was a treaty where the Afars sold lands surrounding in Obock . The French were interested in having a coaling station for steamships , which would become especially important upon the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. (Up to that time French ships had to buy coal at the British port of Aden across the gulf, an unwise dependency in case of war.) Later on, that treaty was used by the captain of

15720-474: Was also identified at the nearby site of Asa Koma . The faunal remains confirm the importance of fishing in Neolithic settlements close to Lake Abbé , but also the importance of bovine husbandry and, for the first time in this area, evidence for caprine herding practices. Radiocarbon dating places this occupation at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BCE, similar in range to Asa Koma. These two sites represent

15851-427: Was also met with demonstrations and rioting. In response to the protests, de Gaulle ordered another referendum. In 1967, a second plebiscite was held to determine the fate of the territory. Initial results supported a continued but looser relationship with France. Voting was also divided along ethnic lines, with the resident Somalis generally voting for independence, with the goal of eventual union with Somalia, and

15982-546: Was celebrated in popular literature in the Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor . In the reign of Mentuhotep III (11th dynasty, ca. 2000 BC), an officer named Hannu organized one or more voyages to Punt, but it is uncertain whether he personally traveled on these expeditions. Trading missions of the 12th dynasty pharaohs Senusret I , Amenemhat II and Amenemhat IV had also successfully navigated their way to and from

16113-413: Was estimated to have cost between 50 and 70 percent of the Ethiopian national budget since 1978. After the regimes fall in 1991, the army of the Derg were only 45,000 troops which disintegrated shortly afterwards. Djibouti Djibouti , officially the Republic of Djibouti , is a country in the Horn of Africa , bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in

16244-751: Was formed in Madagascar on May 11, 1916, with recruits from the French Somali Coast and renamed the 1st Battalion of Somali Tirailleurs upon arrival in France in June. Originally intended as a staging unit, the battalion’s officers responded to the Somalis' desire to fight, leading to their participation alongside the RICM in the October 1916 assault on Fort Douaumont. For their distinguished role,

16375-522: Was one of the founding regions of the Ifat Sultanate alongside Biqulzar , Shewa , Kwelgora , Shimi, Jamme and Laboo. It was used ambiguously in the medieval era to indicate the Muslim inhabitant low land portion east of the Ethiopian Empire . Including north of the Awash River towards Lake Abbe in modern Djibouti–Ethiopia border as well as the territory between Shewa and Zeila on

16506-716: Was organized by Pharaoh Sahure of the Fifth Dynasty (25th century BC), returning with cargoes of antyue and Puntites. However, gold from Punt is recorded as having been in Egypt as early as the time of Pharaoh Khufu of the Fourth Dynasty . Subsequently, there were more expeditions to Punt in the Sixth , Eleventh , Twelfth and Eighteenth dynasties of Egypt. In the Twelfth Dynasty, trade with Punt

16637-445: Was populated by a very rich fauna: felines , buffaloes , elephants , rhinos , etc., as evidenced, for example, by the bestiary of cave paintings at Balho . In the 3rd and 2nd millennia BCE, few nomads settled around the lakes and practiced fishing and cattle breeding. The burial of an 18-year-old woman, dating from this period, as well as the bones of hunted animals, bone tools and small jewels have been unearthed. By about 1500 BCE,

16768-408: Was quickly deleted as it proved so controversial and generally unpopular. It is thought that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed , who had at that time released thousands of political prisoners, had approved the visit possibly because some opposition groups had used Mengistu's image to voice their disapproval of Abiy's policies. In May 2022, Zimbabwe 's Foreign Affairs Minister Ambassador Frederick Shava gave

16899-544: Was sentenced to death in 2008 in absentia , charged with genocide, homicide, illegal imprisonment and property seizures. In 2009, Zimbabwe's late former Information Minister, Tichaona Jokonya , in an interview with Voice of America said Harare was not going to extradite Mengistu. In August 2018, Ethiopian former Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn while heading an African Union election observer mission in Harare met with Mengistu, and shared their photo on Facebook , which

17030-416: Was then beheaded by an Ethiopian cavalry commander, Azmach Calite. Once the Imam's soldiers learned of his death, they fled the battlefield. This conflict provided an opportunity for the Oromo people to conquer and migrate into the historically Gafat land of Welega south of the Blue Nile and eastward to the walls of Harar , establishing new territories. The collapse of the Adal Sultanate led to

17161-404: Was this the first military committee organized to support the administration of Prime Minister Endelkachew Makonnen . Alem Zewde Tessema had established the armed forces coordinated committee on 23 March. Over the following months, radicals in the Ethiopian military came to believe Makonnen was acting on behalf of the hated feudal aristocracy. When a group of notables petitioned for the release of

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