Derg: Difference between revisions
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|goals = Maintain communist rule over Ethiopia (failed) | |goals = Maintain communist rule over Ethiopia (failed) | ||
|crimes = Human rights violations<br>[[War crimes]]<br>[[Crimes against humanity]]<br>[[Genocide]]<br>Mass [[murder]]<br>Mass starvation<br>[[Torture]]<br>[[Ethnic cleansing]] | |crimes = Human rights violations<br>[[War crimes]]<br>[[Crimes against humanity]]<br>[[Genocide]]<br>Mass [[murder]]<br>Mass starvation<br>[[Torture]]<br>[[Ethnic cleansing]] | ||
|type of villains = Military Junta}}The '''Derg''' (officially known as the '''Provisional Military Government of Socialist Ethiopia''') was the military junta that governed Ethiopia for much of the [[Cold War]]. They were in power from 1974 to 1987. | |type of villains = Military Junta}}The '''Derg''' (officially known as the '''Provisional Military Government of Socialist Ethiopia''') was the military junta that governed Ethiopia for much of the [[Cold War]]. They were in power from 1974 to 1987. | ||
==Biography== | ==Biography== | ||
The Derg was established in June 1974 as the '''Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, Police and Territorial Army''' by low-ranking officers of the Ethiopian Army and police led by Chairman Aman Andom. | The Derg was established in June 1974 as the '''Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, Police and Territorial Army''' by low-ranking officers of the Ethiopian Army and police led by Chairman Aman Andom. | ||
The Derg was formally renamed the '''Provisional Military Administrative Council''' and in September 1974 overthrew the government of the Ethiopian Empire and Emperor Haile Selassie I during mass protests. | The Derg was formally renamed the '''Provisional Military Administrative Council''' and in September 1974 overthrew the government of the Ethiopian Empire and Emperor Haile Selassie I during mass protests. | ||
The Derg abolished the monarchy and embraced | The Derg abolished the monarchy and embraced communism as an ideology, establishing Ethiopia as a Marxist-Leninist one-party state with itself as the vanguard party in a provisional government. The abolition of feudalism, increased literacy, nationalization, and sweeping land reform including the resettlement and villagization from the Ethiopian Highlands became priorities. [[Mengistu Haile Mariam]] became Chairman in 1977, launching the [[Qey Shibir]] to eliminate political opponents, with tens of thousands imprisoned and executed without trial. | ||
By the mid-1980s, Ethiopia was ravaged by various issues such as droughts, economic decline, the 1983–1985 famine, increasing reliance on foreign aid, mismanagement, corruption, the after-effects of failed Derg policies, the Eritrean War of Independence, and the Ethiopian Civil War between the Derg and United States-backed ethnic militias. In 1987, Mengistu abolished the Derg and formed the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia led by the Workers' Party of Ethiopia, with a new government dominated by surviving members of the Derg. | By the mid-1980s, Ethiopia was ravaged by various issues such as droughts, economic decline, the 1983–1985 famine, increasing reliance on foreign aid, mismanagement, corruption, the after-effects of failed Derg policies, the Eritrean War of Independence, and the Ethiopian Civil War between the Derg and United States-backed ethnic militias. In 1987, Mengistu abolished the Derg and formed the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia led by the Workers' Party of Ethiopia, with a new government dominated by surviving members of the Derg. |