Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party
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Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝባዊ አብዮታዊ ፓርቲ | |
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Founded | 9 April 1972 |
Headquarters | Washington DC, United States |
Radio | Voice of EPRP |
Armed wing | Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Army (EPRA)[1] |
Ideology | Non-ethnic federalism Social democracy Democratic socialism Historical: Marxism–Leninism (1972–84) Maoism[2] |
Political position | Left-wing (1984–present) Historical: Far-left (1972–1984) |
National affiliation | United Ethiopian Democratic Forces |
Colors | Red and yellow |
Website | |
www | |
The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party (EPRP) (
Both the EPRP and another party, the All-Ethiopia Socialist Movement (MEISON) were enthusiastic supporters of the student-led 1974 Ethiopian Revolution that eventually led to the toppling of Emperor Haile Selassie and abolishing the monarchy the following year. However, following the rise of Mengistu Haile Mariam to power as leader of the ruling Derg, the military junta that had taken control of Ethiopia, ideological conflict developed between the various groups.
History
The EPRP was founded under the name Ethiopian People's Liberation Organization (EPLO) in April 1972 in
For the first few years of its existence, the EPRP was of little importance until the arrival of the Revolution, after which it played a larger role. Over the year following the deposition of Haile Selassie, political and ideological conflict began to emerge between the EPRP and its major Marxist rival, MEISON. Part of their rivalry was based on the fact that, originally, the Derg had no political ideology, beyond the vague patriotic slogan of Itiopiya Tikdem "Ethiopia First" and turned to the leftist Student Movement, with its strong ideological grounding, for guidance; EPRP and MEISON were only two of a large number of groups which competed to be the Derg's political educators.[5] Part of their rivalry was based on Marxist theory: for the Ethiopian Revolution to be an "authentic" one, there needed to be a vanguard party, and both groups wanted that role. Eventually, MEISON came to support the Derg and Mengistu, while the EPRP claimed that the Derg had betrayed the Revolution and stood in the way of a genuine "people's democracy". The political conflict ultimately escalated into violent conflict, with increasing fighting between the two groups. The violence reached its peak in 1976 when the EPRP began to launch attacks on public buildings and assassinate high-ranking Derg officials.
In response, Mengistu condemned the EPRP, claiming it had engaged in a campaign of "White Terror", and initiated a systematic and brutal campaign to exterminate supporters of the EPRP, initially with assistance from MEISON and officials of the local
References
- ^ "UNHCR Web Archive".
- ^ https://www.marxists.org/history/erol/ethiopia/afro-marxism.pdf p. 10
- ^ a b Gebru Tareke, The Ethiopian Revolution: War in the Horn of Africa (New Haven: Yale University, 2009), p. 87
- ^ Kiflu Tadesse, The Generation (Red Sea Press, 1993), pp. 101–102
- ^ As explained, for example, in "Ethiopia: Ethnic Federalism and its Discontents; Africa Report No. 153 – 4 September 2009" Archived 19 July 2013 at the Wayback Machine, International Crisis Group, p. 3 (accessed 16 November 2009)
- ^ Gebru, The Ethiopian Revolution, p. 88
Further reading
- Tola, Babile (1989). To Kill a Generation: The Red Terror in Ethiopia. Free Ethiopia Press. OCLC 138132232.