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Eritrea became an Italian colony in 1889 with aspirations to
make it the heart of a Second Roman Empire in Africa, however
Italian defeat by British forces there in 1941 during the Second
World War, led it to become
under British rule until such time as the Allies could determine
its future with a British view that it should be ceded to Ethiopia as a
thank-you for support during the conflict. In 1949 the country was made a United
Nations trust territory under British administration until 1952
when the UN upheld the British view and decided to make Eritrea a federal component of
Ethiopia despite Eritrea's plea to be granted self-determination
and independence. Some degree of autonomy was guaranteed
under the federation with Ethiopia, however the elements of democracy introduced
before the plan was finalised where alien to an Ethiopia used to autocratic rule
by its emperor and Haile Selassie of Ethiopia quickly moved to introduce
censorship, forced Eritrea's elected chief executive to resign and began
dismantling all vestiges of Eritrea as a separate country including banning the
use if its flag.
Such actions horrified Eritreans, prompting the formation of
the Eritrean Liberation Movement (ELM); a communist leaning body largely
populated by Muslim nationalists residing in Sudan who sought to disrupt
Ethiopian activity in Eritrea albeit by peaceful means. Selassie was having none of it and moved quickly to destroy the organisation,
dissolving the Eritrean parliament and formally annexing Eritrea in 1962; an action that marked the
beginning of a thirty year struggle for independence led by the Eritrean
Liberation Front (ELF) a group who, unlike the ELM, saw Eritrea's future as only
being secured by armed struggle. Such was the level of conflict that Selassie declared martial law in Eritrea in
1971 and sent in nearly half of his army to quell the uprising. This led to
disputes about tactics within the ELF which soon fragmented along urban/rural,
socialist/nationalist and Christian/Muslim lines with the formation of other
liberation groups including the Popular Liberation Forces (PLF), The Eritrean
People's Liberation Front (EPLF) and the Eritrean Liberation Front-Popular
Liberation Front (ELF-PLF).
Salassie's overthrow in 1974 did nothing to help the situation but by 1977 the
Eritrean People's Liberation Front were on the verge of driving Ethiopian forces
out of Eritrea having seen Ethiopian forces largely confined to urban areas.
However that year the Soviet Union began to back Ethiopia and provided them with
military aid. Then, despite some initial successes, the war between Ethiopia and
Eritrea became one of attrition with gains and losses being made by both side
over the next few years.
Matters took an unexpected turn at the end of the 1980s when the Soviets, under
Mikhail Gorbachev, informed Ethiopia that it was withdrawing its support not
least because its own economy was in a nose dive and the Soviet Union itself was
falling apart. By 1990 the EPLF was in the ascendancy having captured the port
of Massawa and, the following year, Asmara itself setting up a provisional
government there. Matters came to a head in 1991 when Ethiopian troops faced
heavy losses by Eritrea rebels and its own government fell. The United Nations
stepped it and, with the backing of the new Ethiopian government, called for an
independence referendum in Eritrea which was held in 1993 resulting in an overwhelming voted in favour. Eritrea Independence was secured on 27th April 1993 with the EPLF remodelling
itself as a political party the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ).
During the war Eritrea lost 50,000 men, women and children whilst Ethiopia lost
75,000 lives.
Eritrea Independence: Volunteer in Eritrea
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Eritrea Independence: Eritrea History
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Eritrea Independence: Child Sponsor Eritrea
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Eritrea Independence: Eritrea Country Profile
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