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 [[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.
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.