History of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

All but one of these have resulted in government by members of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) political coalition, under three prime ministers (Meles Zenawi, Hailemariam Desalegn and Abiy Ahmed).

His successor Yohannes IV (1872–89) embarked on a series of brutal military campaigns between 1880–1889 to conquer and annex the southern and eastern regions, namely western Oromo, Sidama, Gurage, Wolayta and other groups, producing approximately the current national borders.

[5] The conquest involved mass killings, enslavement, land confiscation and forcible conversion to Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, motivated by a cultural contempt for what were considered inferior peoples.

It collapsed in May 1991 when the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) entered Addis Ababa, dissolving the PDRE and bringing about the Transitional Government of Ethiopia.

In this manner, an ethnoterritorial federal model of statehood was adopted for Ethiopia (as originally developed in the Central European empire of Austria-Hungary and in the interwar Soviet Union).

While most of the opposition representatives joined the parliament, some leaders of the CUD party who refused to take up their parliamentary seats were accused of inciting the post-election violence and were imprisoned.

The protesters demanded an end to human rights abuses, the release of political prisoners, a fairer redistribution of the wealth generated by over a decade of economic growth, and a return of Wolqayt District to the Amhara Region.

Full recovery from the drought's effects did not occur until 2012, with long-term strategies by the national government in conjunction with development agencies believed to offer the most sustainable results.

[43] As of 6 June 2019,[update] all the previously censored websites were made accessible again, over 13,000 political prisoners were released and hundreds of administrative staff were fired as part of the reforms.

[44][45][46][47] An alliance between Fano, an Amhara youth militia[48] and Qeerroo, its Oromo counterpart, played a crucial role in the bringing about the political and administrative changes associated with the premiership of Abiy Ahmed.

[51] Fano units have been accused of participating in ethnic massacres, including that of 58 Qemant people in Metemma during 10–11 January 2019,[52] and of armed actions in Humera in November 2020.

[76] After a number of peace and mediation proposals in the intervening years, Ethiopia and the Tigrayan rebel forces agreed to a cessation of hostilities on 2 November 2022; as Eritrea was not a party to the agreement, however, their status remained unclear.

The Constituent Assembly thus adopted the constitution on December 8, 1994, with elements of a charter recognizing self-determination, secession, democratic and human rights, and forming nine regions.

This provision of rights to self-determination and secession was welcomed by the federally-minded[81] but not by supporters of Ethiopian nationalism and its diaspora, especially the previously dominant Amhara, who feared both the decentralisation of government and the possible rise of ethnic tension.

After the 1995 general election, Meles Zenawi, chairman of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), was appointed prime minister by the ruling EPRDF coalition.

This socioeconomic and partial political liberalization within a federalist system, combined with a return of considerable foreign investment, led to significant economic growth.

[84] These economic outcomes were achieved in part through authoritarianism, The Economist opined in 2013 that the "country has a state-backed policy of boosting the economy and alleviating poverty, carried out by officials with near-dictatorial powers.

Negotiations were attempted in the first round in Nairobi on 6–7 September 2012, with the delegation of government's Defense Minister Siraj Fegessa and ONLF's Admiral Mohamed Omar Osman in that October.

On 26 January 2014, two negotiators from the splinter of ONLF, Painito Bera Ng'ang'ai and James Ngaparini, were kidnapped by Kenyan police before turning to the Ethiopian government.

[98] On 22 October 2018, Eritrea hosted the final peace treaty of the Ethiopian government and ONLF concerning leaders from Foreign Affairs Minister Workneh Gebeyehu and Admiral Mohammed Omar Osman.

[97] The Oromo Liberation Front insurgency traces back to its founding in 1973 in response to the perceived deficient rule of Haile Selassie and the Derg mass arrests in a particular area of Galamso, Badessa, Mechara, Bike, Balbaleti.

In June 1992, the OLF withdrew from the EPRDF coalition due to fear of Tigrayan hegemony, triggering an Oromo-led insurgency which left thousands deported to Kenya and Somalia.

[103] On 15 September 2006, veteran Ethiopian Army commanders Brigadier General Hailu Gonfa and Gemechu Ayana joined OLF after serving for TPLF.

Agence France-Presse amplified the government statement quoting, "These people were arrested because the police had found evidence that had linked them with clandestine activities carried out by the OLF".

Paris-based newspaper The Sudan Tribune released a statement that the Ethiopian Federal Higher Court convicted the two people for having links to the OLF by recruiting students to the organization and using the membership.

On 2 November 2020, 54 people (mostly Amhara women, children and older adults) were killed in the Gawa Qanqa by attackers declaring themselves under the OLA after the Ethiopian National Defense Force withdrew from the area without explanation.

[113][114] The Afar–Somali clashes began in 2014 when ethnic Somalis claimed regions, including the Awash River and highway and railway conjunctions between Addis Ababa and Djibouti, which provided significant resources to them.

This ethnic party dominated the erstwhile ruling EPRDF coalition during a nearly thirty-year period marked by rapid development alongside increasing interethnic tension and those loyal to significant allied groups, such as the Oromo Liberation Army, currently in loose alignment with TPLF.

[121] This conflict displaced up to 2 million people, continues unabated, and has spread into Amhara and Afar regions, as of September 2022, with repeated breakdowns of ceasefires, despite support for negotiations from the US and Kenyan governments.

Both sides have large, heavily armed troop emplacements nearby, and trade and food blockades persist, creating widespread hunger, estimated to affect 4.8 million people, mainly Tigrayan.