Derg party badge, c1979.

The Derg or Dergue was a military junta that came to power in Ethiopia following the ousting of Haile Selassie. Derg, which means "committee" or "council" in Ge'ez, is the short name of the Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, Police, and Territorial Army, a committee of military officers which ruled the country from 1974 until 1987. Image File history File links Derg-badge. ... Image File history File links Derg-badge. ... A military dictatorship is a form of government wherein the political power resides with the military; it is similar but not identical to a stratocracy, a state ruled directly by the military. ... Emperor Haile Selassie I (Geez: , Power of the Trinity, full title His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, King of Kings and Elect of God, Geez girmāwī ḳadāmāwī aṣē ḫāyllē śillāsē, mōā anbassā zaimnaggada yīhūda... Geez (also transliterated Giiz, , and pronounced IPA: ; ISO 639-2 gez) is an ancient South Semitic language that had developed in the current region of Eritrea and northern Ethiopia in the Horn of Africa, as the language of the peasantry. ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Between 1975 and 1977, the Derg executed and imprisoned tens of thousands of its opponents without trial.

Formation and growth

The Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, Police, and Territorial Army, or the Derg (Committee), was formed in June 1974 by military officers following widespread mutiny in the armed forces of Ethiopia in early 1974. The number of committee members was originally about 120. No new members were ever admitted, and the number decreased, especially in the first few years, as some members were expelled or killed. The committee elected Major Mengistu Haile Mariam as its chairman and Major Atnafu Abate as its vice-chairman. The Derg was initially supposed to study the grievances of various military units, and investigate abuses by senior officers and staff, and to root out corruption in the military. Mutiny is the act of conspiring to disobey an order that a group of similarly-situated individuals (typically members of the military; or the crew of any ship, even if they are civilians) is legally obliged to obey. ... Mengistu Haile Mariam Mengistu Haile Mariam (born 1937[1] [2]) is a Communist politician who was the President of Ethiopia from 1977 to 1991. ...

In the months following its founding, the power of the Derg steadily increased. In July the Derg obtained key concessions from the Emperor, Haile Selassie. This included the power to arrest not only military officers, but government officials at every level. Soon both former Prime Ministers Tsehafi Taezaz 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 found themselves imprisoned. In August, after a proposed constitution creating a constitutional monarchy was presented to the Emperor, the Derg began a program of dismantling the imperial government in order to forestall any such development. The Derg deposed and imprisoned him on September 12, 1974. Haile Selassie Haile Selassie (Power of Trinity) (July 23, 1892 – August 27, 1975) was the last Emperor (1930–1936; 1941–1974) of Ethiopia, and is a religious symbol in the Rastafarian movement. ... Tsehafi Taezaz Aklilu Habte-Wold (1912 - 1974) was an Ethiopian politician under Emperor Haile Selassie. ... Endelkachew Makonnen (1927 - November 24, 1974) was an Ethiopian politician. ... Portal:Currentevents September 12 is the 255th day of the year (256th in leap years). ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ...

On September 15, the committee renamed itself the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC) and took control of the government. The Derg chose Lieutenant General Aman Andom to be its chairman, and acting head-of-state until the Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen could return from his medical treatment in Europe and assume the throne as a constitutional monarch. However, General Aman Andom quarelled with the radical elements in the Derg over the issue of a new military offensive in Eritrea and the proposal to execute the high officials of the Emperor's former government. The Derg removed General Aman from power and executed him along with some supporters and 60 officials of the previous Imperial government on November 23, 1974. Brigadier General Tafari Benti became the new Chairman of the Derg, and head of state, with Mengistu and Atnafu Abate as his two vice-Chairman with the new ranks of Lieutenant-Colonels. The monarchy was formally abolished in May, 1975, and Marxist-Leninism was proclaimed the ideology of the state. Emperor Haile Selassie died on August 22, 1975. The circumstances of his death continue to be the subject of much speculation.^{[citation needed]} September 15 is the 258th day of the year (259th in leap years). ... Aman Mikale Andom (1924–1974) was an important leader in the military coup which occurred in Ethiopia on September 12, 1974, in which a military committee deposed Emperor Haile Selassie. ... Emperor Amha Selassie of Ethiopia Emperor Amha Selassie of Ethiopia (1916 - February 17, 1997) was the exiled claimant of the Ethiopian Imperial Throne (also known as Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen). ... November 23 is the 327th day of the year (328th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 38 days remaining. ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... Tafari Benti 1921 1977 was the president of Ethiopia from November 28, 1974 until February 3, 1977. ... Mengistu Haile Mariam Mengistu Haile Mariam (born 1937[1] [2]) is a Communist politician who was the President of Ethiopia from 1977 to 1991. ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... Marxism-Leninism, strictly speaking, refers to the version of Marxist theory developed by Vladimir Lenin; see Leninism. ... August 22 is the 234th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (235th in leap years), with 131 days remaining. ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ...

Mengistu's leadership

After internal conflicts, that resulted in the deaths of General Tafari Benti and several of his supporters by November 1977, and the later elimination and execution of Colonel Atnafu Abate, Mengistu gained undisputed leadership of the Derg. In 1987 the Derg was formally dissolved and the country became the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia under a new constitution. Many of the Derg members remained in key government posts, and remained as the members of the Central Committee and the Politburo of the Workers' Party of Ethiopia (WPE), which became Ethiopia's civilian version of the Eastern bloc Communist parties. Mengistu became Secretary General of the WPE, and President of the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, as well as remaining Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. Tafari Benti 1921 1977 was the president of Ethiopia from November 28, 1974 until February 3, 1977. ... For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). ... Mengistu Haile Mariam Mengistu Haile Mariam (born 1937[1] [2]) is a Communist politician who was the President of Ethiopia from 1977 to 1991. ... The Workers Party of Ethiopias flag The Workers Party of Ethiopia (Amharic: Ye Ityopia Seratepnotch Parti) is a communist party in Ethiopia that was, from 1984 to 1990, the only legal political party in the country. ...

Ethiopian Civil War

The reign of the Derg in Ethiopia is remembered for the Ethiopian Red Terror in which the government eliminated its opponents between 1975 and 1977 as a response to the declaration and instigation of an "Ethiopian White terror" against the Derg by various opposition groups. Brutal tactics were used by both sides, including executions, assassinations, tortures and imprisonment of tens of thousands without trial (most of whom were innocent). The Ethiopian Red/White terror was the "urban guerilla" chapter of the brutal war the government fought with guerillas fighting for Eritrean independence for its entire period in power, as well as with Marxist Tigrean rebels, and with other rebel groups ranging from the conservative & pro-monarchy Ethiopian Democratic Union (EDU) to the far leftist Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party (EPRP). The Derg also successfully fought off an invasion from Somalia in 1977. Ethiopia under the Derg became the Socialist bloc's closest ally in Africa, and became among the best armed nations of the region as a result of massive military aid chiefly from the Soviet Union, GDR, Cuba and North Korea. Most industries and private urban real-estate holdings were nationalized by the Derg in 1975. Combatants Eritrean Peoples Liberation Front Tigray Peoples Liberation Front Peoples Democratic Republic of Ethiopia The Ethiopian Civil War was a 17 year long civil war in Ethiopia. ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). ... Disambiguation Page Global Depositary Receipt East Germany ...

During the same period, the Derg fulfilled its main slogan of "Land to the Tiller" by redistributing land once belonging to landlords to the peasant tilling the land. Mismanagement, corruption, and general hostility to the Derg's violent rule was coupled with the draining effects of constant warfare with the separatist guerilla movements in Eritrea and Tigray resulting in a drastic fall in general productivity of food and cash crops. Although Ethiopia is prone to chronic droughts, no one was prepared for the scale of drought and famine that struck the country in the mid-1980s, in which up to seven million may have died. Hundreds of thousands fled economic misery, conscription, and political repression, and went to live in neighboring counties and all over the Western world, creating an Ethiopian diaspora for the first time. Tigray may refer to a place in Ethiopia or a people in Ethiopia: Tigray Region Tigray Province Tigray-Tigrinya people Category: ... Traditionally the Economy of Ethiopia was based on subsistence agriculture, with an aristocracy that consumed the surplus. ... The 1980s refers to the years of 1980 to 1989. ... The term Western World or the West can have multiple meanings depending on its context. ... Look up Diaspora in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Aid and controversy

The famine in the mid 1980s brought the 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. Funds raised by Oxfam and Live Aid was distributed among NGOs in Ethiopia. A controversy arose when it transpired that some of these NGOs were under Derg control or influence, and that some Oxfam and Live Aid money had been used to fund the Derg's enforced resettlement programmes, under which millions of people were displaced and between 50,000 and 100,000 killed.[1] Oxfam International is a confederation of 13 independent, non-profit, secular, community-based aid and development organizations who work with local partners in over 100 countries worldwide to reduce poverty, suffering, and injustice. ... Ethiopia, as its borders were in 1985. ... 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... NGO is an abbreviation or code for: Non-governmental organization Nagoya Airport (IATA code) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

The prevailing political climate of the late 1980s marked a dramatic reduction in aid from Socialist bloc countries. This resulted in even more economic hardship, and more seriously, the collapse of the military in the face of determined onslaughts by the northern guerilla forces.

The Derg government was finally toppled by a coalition of rebel forces, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), in 1991 after their bid for a push on the capital Addis Ababa became successful. Mengistu was granted asylum in Zimbabwe, where he still resides to this day. The EPRDF immediately disbanded the WPE and arrested almost all of the prominent Derg officials shortly after. Most are still in prison awaiting trial, while some have died in incarceration. The Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front, or EPRDF, is the ruling political party of Ethiopia. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

See also

• History of Ethiopia
• Shengo

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External links

• ETHIOPIA - A Country Study (at the Library of Congress)
• The Ethiopian Revolution, The Dergue, Civil War and Famine

The Great Hall interior. ...

Bibliography

• Paul B. Henze. "Evolution, War, and 'Socialism': The First Decade of the Derg" and "The End of the Derg: The Victory of the Northern Guerrilla Movements" in Layers of Time: A History of Ethiopia. New York: Palgrave, 2000. ISBN 0-312-22719-1