Ethiopia is the oldest independent country in Africa and one of the oldest in the world. What are believed to be the oldest remains of a human ancestor ever found, which have been dated as being some five million years old, were discovered
in the Awash Valley in Ethiopia. This beats the discovery of "Lucy", a
3.2 million year old skeleton, who was unearthed in the same area in
1974.
The
Greek historian Herodotus, of the fifth century BC, describes ancient
Ethiopia in his writings, while the Bible's Old Testament records the
Queen of Sheba's visit to Jerusalem where "she proved Solomon with hard
questions". Matters clearly went further than that because legend
asserts that King Menelik - the founder of the Ethiopian Empire - was
the son of the Queen and Solomon.
Remains
of the Queen of Sheba’s palace can still be seen today in Axum, in the
province of Tigray, northern Ethiopia. Axum is also home to many other
extensive historical sites, including the home of the Ark of the
Covenant, brought there from Jerusalem by Menelik.
Missionaries
from Egypt and Syria reached Ethiopia in the fourth century and
introduced Christianity. In the seventh century, the rise of Islam meant
Ethiopia was then isolated from European Christianity. The Portuguese
re-established contact with Ethiopia in the 1500s primarily to
strengthen their control over the Indian Ocean and to convert Ethiopia
to Roman Catholicism. A century of religious conflict followed resulting
in the expulsion of all foreign missionaries in the 1630s.
This
period of bitter conflict contributed to Ethiopian hostility towards
foreign Christians and Europeans which persisted until the twentieth
century and was a factor in Ethiopia's isolation until the middle of the
nineteenth century.
From
the 1700s, for roughly 100 years, there was no central power in
Ethiopia. This "Era of the Princes" was characterised by the turmoil
caused by local rulers competing against each other. In 1869, however,
Emperor Tewodros brought many of the princes together, and was a
significant unifying force. He was succeeded by Emperor Yohannes, who
built upon the efforts made by Tewodros, as well as beating off invasion
attempts by the Dervish and the Sudanese.
Emperor
Menelik II reigned from 1889 to 1913, fending off the encroachment of
European powers. Italy posed the greatest threat, having begun to
colonise part of what would become its future colony of Eritrea in the
mid 1880s. In 1896 Ethiopia defeated Italy at the Battle of Adwa, which
remains famous today as the first victory of an African nation over a
colonial power.
In
1916, the Christian nobility deposed the sitting king, Lij Iyassu
because of his Muslim sympathies and made his predecessor's, (King
Menelik 11 1889 - 1913), daughter, Zewditu, Empress. Her cousin, Ras
Tafari Makonnen (1892-1975) was appointed regent and successor to the
throne.
Zewditu
died in 1930, after which the regent - adopting the name Haileselassie -
became Emperor. His reign was interrupted in 1936 when Italian forces
briefly invaded and occupied Ethiopia. Haileselassie then appealed to
the League of Nations, but that appeal fell on deaf ears and he fled to
exile in the UK, where he spent five years until the Ethiopian patriotic
resistance forces with the help of the British defeated the Italians
and he returned to his throne.
Haileselassie
then reigned until 1974 when he was deposed and a provisional council
of soldiers (the Derg, meaning committee) seized power and installed a
government which was socialist in name and military in style. Fifty nine
members of the Royal Family and ministers and generals from the
Imperial Government were summarily executed. Haile Selassie himself was
strangled in the basement of his palace in August 1975.
Major
Mengistu Haile Mariam assumed power as head of state and Derg chairman
after having his two predecessors killed. His years in office were
marked by a totalitarian style government and the country's massive
militarisation financed and supplied by the Soviet Union and assisted by
Cuba.
The brutality of the regime over a period of 17 years - aided by droughts and famine - hastened the Derg's collapse.
Insurrections
occurred throughout Ethiopia, particularly in the northern regions of
Tigray and Eritrea. In 1989, the Tigrayan People's Liberation front
(TPLF) merged with the Amhara and Oromo liberation fronts (EPDM &
OPDO) to form the Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic Front
(EPRDF). In May 1991, the EPRDF forces advanced on Addis Ababa forcing
Mengistu to flee to Zimbabwe.
In
1991, the Transitional Government of Ethiopia (TGE) was set up from the
EPRDF and other political parties in the country with an 87 strong
Council of Representatives and a transitional constitution.
Meanwhile,
in May 1991, The Eritrean People's Liberation front (EPLF), led by
Isaias Afworki assumed control of Eritrea after 30 years of struggle and
established a provisional government. This ran Eritrea until April 1993
when Eritreans voted for independence in a UN monitored referendum.
