Three Revolutions

Abstract This chapter delves into the three revolutions that changed Ethiopia. First, Haile Selassie was toppled in 1974 by young officers headed by Major Mangistu Haile Mariam. Second, the EPLF grew stronger as of 1975, and by 1981, led by Tigrayan speakers, gained dominance in the movement and led it to Eritrean independence in 1991. Third, a Tigrayan Peoples’ Liberation Front, TPLF, emerged in Tigray as of the mid-1970s. It did away with the traditional local aristocracy, which led Tigray for centuries. The TPLF would eventually capture Addis Ababa in the same year, 1991, and end the dictatorial regime of Mangistu Haile Mariam. Thus, Tigrayan speakers, for quite a while, dominated “greater Ethiopia.”