Consolidation of Derg rule
At a Derg meeting he vowed of the aristocrats who called dark-skinned, kinky-haired people slave "Barias": "I shall soon make these ignoramuses stoop and grind corn!"
A leader of Ethiopia’s Derg, the military committee emerging from the 1974 revolution. He consolidated predominance after the 1977 power struggle and led military and party-state institutions. Land reform and state-led development proceeded amid political repression and prolonged war.
Activities and affiliations
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1977–1991
Ethiopia state institutionsChairman of the Derg, President
Government and administration -
1984–1991
Ethiopia state institutionsMain
Political and party leadership -
1984–1991
Workers' Party of EthiopiaGeneral Secretary
Political and party leadership
Career Timeline
- 1957Graduated Holetta Military Academy, commissioned second lieutenant
- 1974Derg member (Third Division representative)
- 1974–1977Deputy chairman of the Derg
- 1977–1987Chairman of the Derg, head of the military regime
- 1984–1991General Secretary, Workers' Party of Ethiopia
- 1987–1991President, People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
- 1991Fled into exile in Zimbabwe
Related historical events
- 1969–1976Somali military rule and the socialist declarationChairman of the Ethiopian DergThe Ethiopian military leader who withstood Somalia's invasion. The Soviet decision to back his 'genuine Marxist-Leninist state' reversed the alliance and settled the war's outcome.
- 1974–1977Ethiopian revolution and the Derg power struggleCentral figure in the Derg power struggle
State and economic-policy context
A leader of Ethiopia’s Derg, the military committee emerging from the 1974 revolution. He consolidated predominance after the 1977 power struggle and led military and party-state institutions. Land reform and state-led development proceeded amid political repression and prolonged war.
Nationalization did not immediately turn every farmer into a state-farm employee. Household farming, peasant associations, cooperatives and state farms were distinct. Different tenure systems meant that southern tenants and northern holders of customary rights experienced reform differently.