World War II Main article: East African Campaign (World War II) Haile Selassies reign as emperor of Ethiopia is the best known and perhaps most influential in the nations history. In spring 1941 the Italians were defeated by British and Allied forces (including Ethiopian forces). On May 5, 1941, Emperor Haile Selassie re-entered Addis Ababa and returned to the throne. The Italians, after their final stand at Gondar in November 1941, conducted a guerrilla war in Ethiopia, that lasted until summer 1943. After the defeat of Italy, Ethiopia annexed the former Italian colony of Eritrea. Post–World War II period (1941-1974) Main articles: Modernization under Haile Selassie and Eritrean War of Independence Population in 1976 Ethiopia, when Eritrea was the fourteenth province. After World War II, Emperor Haile Selassie exerted numerous efforts to promote the modernization of his nation. The countrys first important school of higher education, University College of Addis Ababa, was founded in 1950. The Constitution of 1931 was replaced with the 1955 constitution which expanded the powers of the Parliament. While improving diplomatic ties with the United States, Haile Selassie also sought to improve the nations relationship with other African nations. To do this, in 1963, he helped to found the Organisation of African Unity. In 1961 the 30-year Eritrean Struggle for Independence began, following the Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie Is dissolution of the federation and shutting down the Eritrean parliament. The Emperor declared Eritrea the fourteenth province of Ethiopia in 1962.[55] The Negus suffered criticism due to the expenses involved in fighting the Nationalist forces. By the early 1970s Emperor Haile Selassies advanced age was becoming apparent. As Paul B. Henze explains: Most Ethiopians thought in terms of personalities, not ideology, and out of long habit still looked to Haile Selassie as the initiator of change, the source of status and privilege, and the arbiter of demands for resources and attention among competing groups.[56] The nature of the succession, and of the desirability of the Imperial monarchy in general, were in dispute amongst the Ethiopian people. Perceptions of this war as imperialist were among the primary causes of the growing Ethiopian Marxist movement. In the early 1970s, the Ethiopian Communists received the support of the Soviet Union under the leadership of Leonid Brezhnev. This help lead to the 1974 marxist coup of Mengistu. The governments failure to effect significant economic and political reforms over the previous fourteen years created a climate of unrest. Combined with rising inflation, corruption, a famine that affected several provinces (especially Welo and Tigray) but was concealed from the outside world, and the growing discontent of urban interest groups, the country was ripe for revolution. The unrest that began in January 1974 became an outburst of general discontent. The Ethiopian military, with assistance from the Comintern, began to both organize and incite a full-fledged revolution.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Mar 2014 12:01:40 +0000
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