September 1, 1961 – Eritrean War of Independence – Eritrean insurgents attack Ethiopian police posts in western Eritrean
On September 1, 1961, insurgents of the Eritrean LiberationFront (ELF) stormed a number of police posts in western Eritrean, sparking theEritrean War of Independence, a protracted conflict that would last threedecades. The insurgents subsequently carried out more attacks against securityforces. In the period that followed, theELF gained local support in its areas of operations in the ruralMuslim-populated rural northern and western regions of Eritrea and increased its numberswith the inflow of many new recruits. The rebels also increased their frequency of attacks against policetargets, primarily to capture much-needed weapons. By June 1962, the ELF had some 500 fighters,which included some police defectors who took along their weapons andammunitions. At this time, Muslimsformed the vast majority of the ELF, which also advocated a pro-Muslim,pro-Arab ideological and religious struggle against the predominantly ChristianEthiopia. Also for this reason, the ELF gained somemilitary and financial support from a number of Muslim countries, including Syria, Iraq,Libya, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan.
On May 24, 1991, Eritreagained its independence from Ethiopiafollowing a 30-year armed revolution. Ethiopiahad annexed Eritreaas a province in November 1962, inciting Eritrean nationalists to launch arebellion. Following the war, as Eritrea was still legally bound as part ofEthiopia, in early July 1991, at a conference held in Addis Ababa, an interimEthiopian government was formed, which stated that Eritreans had the right todetermine their own political future, i.e. to remain with or secede fromEthiopia.
Then in a UN-monitored referendum held in April 23 and 25,1993, Eritreans voted overwhelmingly (99.8%) for independence; two days later(April 27), Eritreadeclared its independence. In May 1993, the new country was admitted as amember of the UN.
(Taken from Eritrean War of Independence – Wars of the 20th Century – Volume 4)
Background InSeptember 1948, a special body called the Inquiry Commission, which was set upby the Allied Powers (Britain,France, Soviet Union, and United States),failed to establish a future course for Eritrea and referred the matter tothe United Nations (UN). The main obstacle to granting Eritrea its independence was that for much ofits history, Eritreawas not a single political sovereign entity but had been a part of andsubordinate to a greater colonial power, and as such, was deemed incapable ofsurviving on its own as a fully independent state. Furthermore, variouscountries put forth competing claims to Eritrea. Italywanted Eritrea returned, tobe governed for a pre-set period until the territory’s independence, anarrangement that was similar to that of Italian Somaliland.The Arab countries of the Middle East pressed for self-determination of Eritrea’s large Muslim population, and as such,called for Eritreato be granted its independence. Britain,as the current administrative power, wanted to partition Eritrea, with the Christian-population regionsto be incorporated into Ethiopiaand the Muslim regions to be assimilated into Sudan. Emperor Haile Selassie, theEthiopian monarch, also claimed ownership of Eritrea, citing historical andcultural ties, as well as the need for Ethiopia to have access to the seathrough the Red Sea (Ethiopia had been landlocked after Italy established Eritrea).
Ultimately, the United Statesinfluenced the future course for Eritrea. The U.S. government saw Eritreain the regional balance of power in Cold War politics: an independent but weak Eritrea could potentially fall to communist(Soviet) domination, which would destabilize the vital oil-rich Middle East. Unbeknown to the general public at the time,a U.S. diplomatic cable fromEthiopia to the U.S. StateDepartment in August 1949 stated that British officials in Eritrea believed that as much as75% of the local population desired independence.
In February 1950, a UN commission sent to Eritrea to determine the localpeople’s political aspirations submitted its findings to the United NationsGeneral Assembly (UNGA). In December 1950, the UNGA, which was stronglyinfluenced by U.S. wishes,released Resolution 390A (V) that called for establishing a loose federationbetween Ethiopia and Eritrea to be facilitated by Britain and to be realized no laterthan September 15, 1952. The UN plan, which subsequently was implemented,allowed Eritreabroad autonomy in controlling its internal affairs, including localadministrative, police, and fiscal and taxation functions. TheEthiopian-Eritrean Federation would affirm the sovereignty of the Ethiopianmonarch whose government would exert jurisdiction over Eritrea’s foreign affairs,including military defense, national finance, and transportation.
In March 1952, under British initiative, Eritrea elected a 68-seatRepresentative Assembly, a legislature composed equally of Christians andMuslim members, which subsequently adopted a constitution proposed by the UN.Just days before the September 1952 deadline for federation, the Ethiopiangovernment ratified the Eritrean constitution and upheld Eritrea’s Representative Assemblyas the renamed Eritrean Assembly. On September 15, 1952, the Ethiopian-EritreanFederation was established, and Britainturned over administration to the new authorities, and withdrew from Eritrea.
However, Emperor Haile Selassie was determined to bring Eritrea under Ethiopia’s full authority. Eritrea’shead of government (called Chief Executive who was elected by the EritreanAssembly) was forced to resign, and successors to the post were appointed bythe Ethiopian emperor. Ethiopians were appointed to many high-level Eritreangovernment posts. Many Eritrean political parties were banned and presscensorship was imposed. Amharic, Ethiopia’s official language, was imposed, whileArabic and Tigrayan, Eritrea’smain languages, were replaced with Amharic as the medium for education. Manylocal businesses were moved to Ethiopia,while local tax revenues were sent to Ethiopia. By the early 1960s, Eritrea’sautonomy status virtually had ceased to exist. In November 1962, the EritreanAssembly, under strong pressure from Emperor Haile Selassie, dissolved theEthiopian-Eritrean Federation and voted to incorporate Eritrea as Ethiopia’s14th province.
Eritreans were outraged by these developments. Civiliandissent in the form of rallies and demonstrations broke out, and was dealt withharshly by Ethiopia,causing scores of deaths and injuries among protesters in confrontations withsecurity forces. Opposition leaders, particularly those calling forindependence, were suppressed, forcing many to flee into exile abroad; scoresof their supporters also were jailed. In April 1958, the first organizedresistance to Ethiopian rule emerged with the formation of the clandestineEritrean Liberation Movement (ELM), consisting originally of Eritrean exiles inSudan.At its peak in Eritrea, the ELM had some 40,000 members who organized in cellsof 7 people and carried out a campaign of destabilization, including engagingin some militant actions such as assassinating government officials, aimed atforcing the Ethiopian government to reverse some of its centralizing policiesthat were undercutting Eritrea’s autonomous status under the federatedarrangement with Ethiopia. By 1962, the government’s anti-dissident campaignshad weakened the ELM, although the militant group continued to exist, albeitwith limited success. Also by 1962, another Eritrean nationalist organization,the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF), had emerged, having been organized in July1960 by Eritrean exiles in Cairo, Egypt which in contrast to the ELM, had as itsobjective the use of armed force to achieve Eritrean’s independence.
In its early years, the ELF leadership, called the “SupremeCouncil”, operated out of Cairoto more effectively spread its political goals to the international communityand to lobby and secure military support from foreign donors.
