THE ETHIOPIAN REVOLUTION (1974 to 198 SUBMITTED BY ANDARGACHEW TIRUNEH FOR THE DEGREE OF PH.D LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS JUNE 1990 UMI Number: U044491 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U044491 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 fH£S»S F 6 8 0 O X *=3 HI ABSTRACT The thesis is concerned with the Ethiopian revolution between 1974, when an urban popular uprising broke out, and 1984, when the new regime established the Workers Party of Ethiopia. Chapter 1 discusses the background to the revolution and introduces the factors that became important in the causes and outcomes of the revolution. Part one (Chapters 2 and 3) is concerned with the collapse of the old-s£ate in 1974. Chapter 2 deals with the urban popular uprising of early 1974 which followed in the wake of the structural crisis. Chapter 3 deals with the capture of power by a group of junior officers and privates (the Derg) claiming to represent the security forces. 1974 to 1977 discusses under part two (chapters 4 6) can be taken as the formative years of the post­ revolutionary order. Chapter 4 discusses the new regime's 1975 social and economic reforms; chapter 5 the emergence of the political organizations and the regime's 1976 conversion from "African socialism" to "scientific Socialism"; and, Chapter 6 the autocratization under Mengistu Haile-Mariam of what had until 1977 been a collective exercise of power by a group of junior officers, in the name of the Derg. Part three (Chapters 7 and 8) is concerned with the consolidation of power by the new autocracy. Chapter 7 describes its victories over urban dissension led by one of the leftist civilian organizations (EPRP) and over international and domestic counter-revolutionary forces as well as Ethiopia's shift of alliances from the west to the east. Chapter 8 deals with the elimination of all existing political organizations and with the establishment of the Workers Party of Ethiopia. Chapter 9 gives a summary of the whole work and attempts to examine the episode under consideration from the perspective of contemporary social science research. - 2 - TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.................................. 5 ABBREVIATIONS..................................... 7 INTRODUCTION...................................... 8 CHAPTER ONE THE EMERGENCE OF THE STRUCTURAL CRISIS.......... 18 (A) The Emergence of Ethiopia as a Sovereign State....................................... 18 (B) The Modernizing Autocracy..................... 26 (C) The External and Internal Factors in the Decline of the State......................... 39 PART ONE THE COLLAPSE OF THE OLD-STATE (JANUARY - NOVEMBER 1974) CHAPTER TWO THE URBAN UPRISING OF JANUARY TO JUNE, 1974.................................. 63 CHAPTER THREE THE TURNING OF AN URBAN MOVEMENT INTO A JUNTA DICTATORSHIP........................... 99 (A) The Emergence of the Derg.................... 99 (B) "The Creeping Coup” (June 28 - September 12 1974)....................................... 104 (C) The Derg's Assertion of Power over the Vanguards of the Popular Uprising............. 112 PART TWO THE FORMATIVE YEARS OF THE POST-REVOLUTIONARY ORDER (DECEMBER 1974 - FEBRUARY 1977) CHAPTER FOUR THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC REFORMS OF 1975............ 134 (A) The Nationalization of Business Organizations............................... 139 (B) Desaification of Rural Lands.................. 148 (C) The Nationalization of Urban Land and Extra Houses and the Establishment of Urban Dwellers' Associations....................... 167 CHAPTER FIVE THE TRANSITION FROM AN "AFRICAN SOCIALISM" TO A "SCIENTIFIC SOCIALISM"................... 187 (A) The Emergence of Political Organizations....... 188 (B) The Derg's Shift From "African Socialism" to "Scientific Socialism".................... 226 - 3 - CHAPTER SIX MENGISTU HAILE-MARIAM'S EMERGENCE AS THE ABSOLUTE HEAD OF STATE....................... 244 (A) Mengistu's Challenge to the Officers' Junta.............................. 244 (B) The Decline of Mengistu's Coalition............ 254 (C) Mengistu's Ascent to Absolute Power............ 264 PART THREE CONSOLIDATION OF POWER (FEBRUARY 1977 - SEPTEMBER 1984) CHAPTER SEVEN THE ELIMINATION OF INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL THREATS TO MENGISTU'S POWER................... 284 (A) "Revolutionary Ethiopia of Death11.............. 284 (B) The Elimination of EDU........................ 286 (C) The Red Terror(the Elimination of EPRP)........ 287 (D) The Repulsion of Somalia's Aggression.......... 296 CHAPTER 8 THE FORMATION OF THE WORKER'S PARTY OF ETHIOPIA........ 314 (A) The Establishment of the Joint Front of the Ethiopian Marxist-Leninist Organizations...... 317 (B) The Liquidation of AESM and EOPRS............. 321 (C) The Elimination of the Worker's League......... 330 (D) The Elimination of the Joint Front of Ethiopian Marxist-Leninist Organizations and Of EMLRO.................................... 336 (E) The Dissolution of Revolutionary Flame......... 341 (F) The Commission for Organizing the Party of the Working People of Ethiopia................ 348 CHAPTER NINE CONCLUSION.................................. 364 (A) SUMMARY...................................... 364 (B) THE EMERGENCE OF A REVOLUTIONARY CRISIS........ 370 (C) THE MOBILIZATION OF THE RURAL POPULATION....... 383 (D) THE CONTENDING AGENTS OF THE REVOLUTION........ 392 (E) TOWARDS AN EVALUATION OF THE REVOLUTIONARY CRISIS......................... 399 APPENDIX A: Chronology of Events................. 415 APPENDIX B: Maps.................................. 421 BIBLIOGRAPHY..................................... 423 - 4 - ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Research of this stature requires long hours of hard and lonesome work daily for several years. It would have been all the more difficult had it not been for the generous assistance of colleagues and the loving care of ones family. First and foremost, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my research supervisor (Mr. James Mayall) who, despite my procrastinations, was kind enough to allow me to take up the research and bring it to fruition. I am also grateful to him for his precious time and patience in guiding me through the rigours of the research. I am also greatly indebted to Professor John Dunn who very kindly arranged for me to participate in lectures and seminars at Cambridge University. The seminars on revolution that he conducted with the assistance of two of his colleagues were a source of great inspiration for my thoughts on the Ethiopian revolution. The fact that I cannot read print on account of my visual impairment has meant that I had to rely on countless others for going through the literature on the Ethiopian revolution and for editing the manuscript. It is, therefore, futile to try and mention the names of all those that helped out in these regards. Under the circumstances, I can only thank in general fellow students at LSE and Cambridge University and a number of residents of Cambridge who very kindly provided assistance in reading the required materials and editing the draft. However, it would be inexcusable not to mention the names of three individuals to whom I am particularly indebted for their outstanding contributions towards the completion of my work. Mr. Sean Wylie, a resident of Cambridge, stands out as having been the most helpful in reading and editing. Cathy Allen, my wife, not only shouldered the responsibility of looking after the - 5 - children and the house but also helped out in reading and editing. Last but not least, Mary Allen, my mother-in- law who, besides providing fruitful editorial work in the last stages of the research, was always available to support the family whenever needed. - 6 - ABBREVIATIONS ALF The Afar Liberation Front AELU The All Ethiopian Labour Movement AESM The All Ethiopian Socialist Movement CC The Central Committee COPWE The Commission for the Organization of the Workers Party of Ethiopia CELU The Confederation of the Ethiopian Labour Unions CCAFPTA The Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, the Police and Territorial Army ELF The Eritrean Liberation Front EPLF The Eritrean People's Liberation Front EDU The Ethiopian Democratic Union EMLRO The Ethiopian Marxist-Leninist Revolutionary Organization EOPRS The Ethiopian Oppressed People's Revolutionary Struggle EPRP Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party ESUE The Ethiopian Students' Union of Europe ESUNE The Ethiopian Students' Union of Europe JFEMLO The Joint Front of Ethiopian Marxist- Leninist Organizations NDRPE The National Democratic Revolutionary Programme of Ethiopia NCO Non-Commissioned Officer OLF The Oromo Liberation Front PA Peasants' Association PAE The Peasants' Association of Ethiopia PDRE The People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia PMAC The Provisional Military Administrative Council POMOA The Provisional Office for Mass Organizational Affairs TLF The Tigre Liberation Front TPLF The Tigre People Liberation Front REWA The Revolutionary Ethiopian Woman Association REYA The Revolutionary Ethiopian Youth Association