The G

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Flag of Ethiopia during the rule of the Derg

The Derg ( Ethiopian : ደርግ; German  officially Provisional Military Administrative Council ) was a military junta that came to power in Ethiopia after the fall of Emperor Haile Selassie in 1974 and held it until the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia was proclaimed in 1987.

Derg ( Amharic for “council” or “committee”) was the short form of the full name Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, Police and Territorial Army . The chairman of the Derg was Mengistu Haile Mariam , who redesigned the country real socialist , maintained a cooperation with the Soviet Union and received massive financial support from there during his entire rule.

Foundation and takeover

The Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, Police and Territorial Army, or Derg (Committee) for short, was founded by army officers in June 1974 to prevent corruption in the military and the resulting unrest among soldiers. At the beginning, the Derg had about 120 members (although this number decreased over time, as members resigned or were killed, especially in the first few years). The Major Mengistu Haile Mariam was chosen by the committee as its chairman.

Gradually the Derg acquired more and more power - including the power to imprison government members - so that several ministers, governors, etc. soon found themselves in prison. On September 12, 1974, the Emperor was Haile Selassie deposed and imprisoned, and on September 15, the committee appointed Provisional Military Administrative Board (abbreviation PMVR, English PMAC ) around and took control of the government.

In 1975 the Derg officially declared the abolition of the monarchy and Marxism-Leninism the state ideology. The goal was the classless society . Between 1975 and 1977, the Derg arrested, tortured and executed tens of thousands of class enemies , opposition members and opponents of the socialist transformation.

Political activity

The political program included the nationalization of most industries and all of the land and the establishment of collective farms. However, this did not solve the economic, social and ecological problems of Ethiopia, but instead, according to an increasing number of observers and commentators, made them worse. During the reign of the Derg, the famine in Ethiopia fell from 1984 to 1985 , whereby the Derg and Mengistu Haile Mariam are accused of having done too little to counteract it, or rather have made the situation worse through their nationalization and resettlement policies.

From 1976 to 1978 the Derg fought in the Ogaden War against neighboring Somalia . During the entire reign he also fought against rebels in the provinces of Eritrea ( Eritrean People's Liberation Front ) and Tigray ( People's Liberation Front of Tigray ). There were also internal conflicts between the Derg members. During the Derg's reign, hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians fled economic hardship and political repression abroad.

Disempowerment

A tank in Addis Ababa after rebels took the city, 1991.

In 1991, soon after the Soviet Union suspended financial aid to Mengistu, rebels and opposition prevailed and the Derg was ousted by the Revolutionary Democratic Front of the Ethiopian Peoples . Mengistu and the Derg leadership fled to Zimbabwe . Zimbabwe has so far denied Ethiopia's extradition requests.

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