Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T08:21:28.207Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Genesis and Evolution of the Ethiopian Revolution and the Derg: A Note on Publications by Participants in Events1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 May 2014

Temesgen Gebeyehu
Temesgen Gebeyehu*
Affiliation:
Bahir Dar University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

In 1974 the Ethiopian government of Emperor Haile-Sellasie was overthrown and replaced by the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC). Also known as the Derg, the PMAC adopted socialism, embarked on radical social changes, and retained power for over two decades under its leader, Mengistu Hayle-Maryam, eventually was overthrown in 1991. The Ethiopian Revolution and the Derg are the topics of several authors, including those publishing close to the events, such as Raul Valdes Vivo, Fred Halliday and Maxine Molyneux, and John Markakis and Nega Ayele, and those writing later, such as Christopher Clapham, Edmond Keller, and Bahru Zewde, to name just a few publishing in English. But other publications, in Amharic and English, remain the focus of a lively academic and public debate in Ethiopia. Most of these writings were produced by participants in events, or, in one case, are transcripts of interviews with participants. Some of the raconteurs were revolutionaries, others were their opponents, and still others were members of the imperial regime. Taken together, these publications shed light on the genesis of the Ethiopian Revolution (the February 1974 movements), the consolidation of Derg (in November 1977), and its aftermath. This note examines some of these materials to bring them to the attention of readers of this journal.

Type
Historiographical Reviews
Information
History in Africa , Volume 37 , 2010 , pp. 321 - 327
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

1

I am grateful to David Henige for giving me the opportunity to publish in History in Africa. I thank the current editors for their advice in revising the final submission.

References

Abraham, Amanuel, Ye Hiywote Tizeta (My Memories) (Addis Ababa, 1992).Google Scholar
Ayele, Genet, Ye Letena Colonel Mengistu Haile-Maryam Tezetawech (Memories of Lt. Colonel Mengistu Haile-Maryam) (Addis Ababa, 1994).Google Scholar
Clapham, Christopher, Transformation and Continuity in Revolutionary Ethiopia (Cambridge, 1988).Google Scholar
Hayle-Selasse, Teferah, The Ethiopian Revolution (1974-1991) – From a Monarchical Autocracy to a Military Oligarchy (Addis Ababa, 1997).Google Scholar
Halliday, Fred, and Molyneux, Maxine, The Ethiopian Revolution (London, 1982).Google Scholar
Keller, Edmond J., Revolutionary Ethiopia: From Empire to People's Republic (Bloomington/Indianapolis, 1991).Google Scholar
Markakis, John, and Ayele, Nega, Class and Revolution in Ethiopia (Nottingham, 1978).Google Scholar
Tadesse, Kiflu, Ya Tewelled (The Generation) Part I (Silver Spring MD/Trenton NJ, 1993).Google Scholar
Tadesse, Kiflu, The Generation. Ethiopia: Transformation and Conflict. The History of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party. Part II (Silver Spring MD/Trenton NJ, 1998).Google Scholar
Tiruneh, Andargachew, The Ethiopian Revolution (1974-1987): Transformation from an Aristocratic to a Totalitarian Autocracy (Cambridge, 1993).Google Scholar
Valdes Vivo, Raul, Ethiopia: The Unknown Revolution (Havana, 1977).Google Scholar
Giorgis, Wolde, Dawit, Red Tears: War, Famine and Revolution in Ethiopia (Silver Spring MD/Trenton NJ, 1989).Google Scholar
Zewde, Bahru, A History of Modern Ethiopia, 1855-1991 (Addis Ababa, 2002).Google Scholar