User:Turtlewong/sandbox

In early 1974, following a period of growing public disappointment with the imperial government’s failure to effect lasting economic and political change, the confrontation between traditional and modern political forces took a decisive turn. While rising inflation, famine and student protests contributed to a severe political crisis there were several factions within the military claiming to speak for and represent the armed forces. Besides the Imperial Bodyguard under the old high command, in late March, an informal inter-unit committee headed by Colonel Alem Zewd Tesemma, a commander of an airborne brigade based in Addis Ababa, was formed. Acting with the tacit approval of Prime Minister Endalkachew Mekonnen it came to be called the የጦር ኀሎች አስተባባሪ ኮሚቴ (yäṭor ḫayločč astäbabari komite, “Armed forces Coordinating Committee”, AFCC).

After the arrest of a large number of disappointed airforce officers in early June, a dozen junior officers wishing to press the regime into major reforms broke away from the AFCC. Having requested every military and police unit to send three representatives to Addis Ababa to organize further action, in late June, some 120 soldiers, none above the rank of major, organized themselves into a new body called the Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, the Imperial Bodyguard, the Police and Territorial Army (የጦር ኀሎች የክብር ዘበኛ የፖሊስ ሠራዊትኛና ብሕራዊ ጦር አስተባባሪ ኮሚቴ, yäṭor ḫayločč yäpolis ənna yäbəherawi ṭor astäbabari komite). With most of its members remaining anonymous and electing two outspoken proponents for far-reaching change, Major Mengiistu Haile Mariam as the chairman and Major Atnafu Abate as the vice chairman, it soon came to be commonly called the Derg (ደርግ, därg, “committee” or “council”; ደርገ ሙሴ, därgä muse, “sodality of 12-24 members”). After assuming power the organization omitted “Imperial Bodyguard” from its name.

On 12 September 1974 the Derg formally deposed atse Haile Selassie I. Three days later, on 15 September, the Armed Forces Coordinating Committee transformed itself into the PMAC (ጊዜያዊ ወታደራዊ አስተዳደር ደርግ, gizeyawi wätaderawi astädadär därg) as the country’s new ruling body (still called Derg). Lieutenant General Aman Mikael Fandom, although not a member of the Derg, became the de facto head of state, chairman of the Council of Ministers, minister of defect and chairman of the PMAC. Disagreeing with the majority of the Derg’s members on three major issues-the size and function of the PMAC, the Eritrean insurgency and the fate of political prisoners-man Mikael Anode was killed resisting agency on 23 November 1974. The same evening two Derg members, who had supported him, Colonel Yagezu Yemane and Captain Demise Shiferaw as well as 59 political prisoners were executed - among them former prime ministers Aklilu Habtewold and Endalkachew Mekonnen.

Following the “Bloody Saturday” Brigadier General Teferi Banti, a Shewan, became chairman of the PMAC and acting head of state on 28 November, while power was retained by Major Mengistu, who kept his post as first vice chairman, and Major Atnafu as second vice chairman. After preparations for a new offensive in Eritrea had been made, on 20 December 1974 plans for radical social and economic reform led to the proclamation of Ethiopian Socialism (ኀብራተ ሰባዊነት, ḫəbrätä säbawinnät) a sort of indigenous Ethiopian communalism.

On 21 December 1974 a mass literacy “campaign” (zämäča) was launched and some 60,000 students and their teachers prepared to be sent into the countryside. In January 1975 followed the nationalization of industry, banking, insurance, large scale-trade and extra dwellings till, in March, the “Public Ownership of Rural Lands Proclamation No. 31/1975” transferred all land to the state (Land tenure) and plans for the proposed constitutional monarchy wee officially abandoned. Newly founded Peasants and Urban Dwellers Associations completed the new political system. In August 1975, Haile Selassie was secretly buried after having died under questionable circumstances.

Finding itself under attack from various civilian groups demanding a “people’s government”, in April 1976 the Derg at last set forth its goals in greater detail in the Program for the National Democratic Revolution(PNDR). As announced by Mengistu, its objectives included progress towards socialism under the leadership of workers peasants, and the petite bourgeoisie. The Berg’s ultimate aim was the creation of a one-party system. To accomplish its goals, it established an intermediary organ called the Provisional Office for Mass Organization Affairs (POMOA). Designed to act as a civilian political bureau, POMOA was at first in the hands of the All Ethiopia Socialist Movement (Amharic acronym MEISON), headed by Haile Fida, the Berg’s chief political advisor. Haile Fida, as opposed to other leftists who had formed the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Party (EPRP), had resourcefully adopted the tactic of working with the military in the expectation of directing the revolution from within.

A further clash came in July 1976 when a number of PMAC members - the most prominent Major Sisay Habte and Major Kiros Alemayehu - were ousted after opposing a military solution to the Eritrean question and advocating a return to civilian government. Following their execution, for the first time, a formal structure was elaborated with a congress comprising all Derg members, a Central Committee of 40 and a standing Committee of 17.

By late 1976, the Derg had undergone an internal reconfiguration as Mengistu’s power came under growing opposition from Teferi Banti and Atnafu Abate struggling for supremacy. The instability of this arrangement was resolved in January and February 1977, when a major shoot-out at Menelik’s Palace in Addis Ababa took place between supporters of Teferi Banti and those of Mengistu Haile Mariam. With the death of Teferi Banti and his supporters in the fighting, most internal opposition within the Derg had been eliminated, and Mengistu Haile Mariam proceeded with its reorganization becoming the solve vice chairman, responsible for the People’s Militia, the urban defense squads, and the modernization of the armed forces. In November 1977 Atnafu Abate, Mengistu Haile Mariam’s last rival in the Derg was also eliminated, leaving Mengistu in undisputed command.

While making variable use of a cabinet of ministers outside the Derg, ultimate authority rested with senior members of the PMAC. While a minority of PMAC members still favored a rapid transition to civilian rule, the Derg’s officers were themselves split by serious divisions. The PMAC itself met in full on only a few occasions. From 1977 onwards it functioned more as a government body, via a system of committees and a hierarchial structure, and at the end of 1979 a new cabinet system was announced in which PMAC members took up some public ministerial positions for the first time.

Mengistu Haile Mariam’s rise to power was fully backed by the Soviet Union whose long-standing which for supremacy in the Horn of Africa was closely linked to the developments in Ethiopia. Thus the establishment and development of the PMAC must never be seen without connection to the geopolitical competitions of the major powers during the period of the Cold War.

On 12 September 1984, the government announce the formation of the Worker’s Party of Ethiopia. The new constitution was promulgated on 22 February 1987, and the People’s Democratic Republic of Ethiopia was proclaimed after the PMAC was formally abolished.