People's Democracy?

  “Like Ho Chi Minh! Like Che Guevara! – The Revolutionary Left in Ethiopia,” 1969-1979, Ian Scott Horst

This is a detailed book on the development and divisions within the former student left in Ethiopia before, during and after the overthrow of the feudal regime of King Haile Selassie in 1974.  It concentrates on the main Maoist / Marxist currents, one centered in Europe, one in Algeria, involving students in the U.S.  This led to some later supporting the military Derg and the Soviet Union (the organization Meison was the first); others opposing the military or engaging in guerilla war for independence from the Amhara-dominant government in Addis Ababa. (the EPLO/EPRP)  Through a profusion of names and organizations, this book tracks the debates over the right of self-determination, guerilla warfare and focoism, the real nature of socialism and democracy, the land question, the role of intellectuals, peasants and the military which roiled Ethiopia – questions which still occur today.

The February-September 1974 revolution in Ethiopia involved strikes by bus drivers, teachers, soldiers and students; a takeover of a city, Jimma, by its citizens; women and Muslims taking to the streets demanding equal rights; the conservative labor federation finally declaring a general strike. The urban movement predated any peasant mobilizations or rural guerilla warfare, which the Maoist students were assuming would come first.  Eventually junior officers in the military, led by Haile Miriam Mengistu of the Derg, deposed Selassie on September 12th and took power.

In November the Derg executed former allies of Selassie, as well as their own political opponents, including some leftists.  Under influence of the “Marxist-Leninist” whisperers like Senay Likke and Haile Fida, they declared ‘Ethiopian Socialism,’ nationalizing the banks and large industry and concerns.  They sent students into the countryside for a year in a move similar to the Chinese Cultural Revolution and announced opposition to the Eritrean independence struggle. Later they nationalized land and authorized peasant kebelles (councils), many of which were first initiated by the students in the countryside. 

The forces that would become the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Party (EPRP) in 1975, which had come out of the Algerian student center, questioned ‘what kind of socialism’ was it that was run by one military Committee? The EPRP quoted Lenin in 1916 when he wrote “Socialism is impossible without democracy…” They stated of the Derg that:  “a group that does not practice internal democracy of its own, cannot fulfill the wishes of the people.”  The EPRP was trying not to talk about bourgeois democracy, where capitalist parties trade time in power, or where propaganda networks and laws are owned or written by capitalists – but installing workers and peasants in power instead.  Their actual demand was for a ‘peoples’ provisional government,’ which is itself a vague formulation, borrowed from the popular front concept of ‘new democracy.’  They also saw it as a demand for representative elections, freedom of speech and the press, the right to organize political parties – not a council democracy but an enlightened bourgeois democracy.   

What is notable about the events is the usages of 'Marxist-Leninist' and Maoist rhetoric by all sides - the Derg; their 'left' supporters in Meison and the EPRP.  All three sides actually supported a 'people's government' of some kind, at least verbally.

The Heroes of the Past ...

Horst is clearly supportive of the EPRP and he’s somewhat aware of the pitfalls of traditional ‘Marxist-Leninist’ clichés, but not of all Maoist ones.  He quotes members of the EPLO/EPRP in a women’s organization calling the Derg ‘fascist,’ and worse than feudalism or Selassie.  But then he has a discussion about whether this was the proper use of the term.  The pro-Derg Meison grouping accused the EPRP of counter-revolution, fascism, anarchism, Trotskyism, being in the pay of the CIA and the like. The EPRP was able to expel the AFL-CIA from the Ethiopian labor federation and make it a progressive force, which was an advance.  

Horst tracks how the EPRP descended into sectarian fights within the organization as repression grew.  One of the triggers was the EPRP's flawed decision to start 'urban guerilla warfare.' Ultimately the war of words turned bloody.  The EPRP formed urban and rural guerilla defense / offense teams in response.  

Finally the Derg under Mengistu carried out a massive, violent slaughter of the EPRP, killing and jailing tens of thousands starting in February-March 1977 after a coup within the Derg that eliminated his opponents.  Massacres of thousands took place around May Day of that year. The author asks, "What kind of socialist regime kills tens of thousands of civilian leftists?" This, of course, was not the first time this has happened. The EPRP claimed that East German and Cuban intelligence aided the Derg.  The EPRP continued their political assassinations, but lost hundreds of members.  They eventually turned to their small guerilla army in the mountains of Tigray, the EPRA.  And eventually the Derg even turned on their allies in Meison after gaining Soviet support.

This book provides a fascinating and detailed read on the struggles within the Ethiopian revolution during this time period.  It provides a good background to the present neo-liberal government in Addis Ababa and its war on Tigray, as well as the bloody flaws of the endless national and tribal rifts in Ethiopia.

You might ask, what happened to this marvelous anti-royalist revolution? Certainly, in 1974 the Ethiopian proletariat was not strong enough, the peasantry disorganized, the left weak.  It was not able to achieve proletarian political and economic power in spite of all the significant reforms, the left rhetoric and guerillaism. In hind-sight, the Ethiopian revolution became another African state-led attempt at capitalist 'modernization.'  This book might help you see why it happened that way.  It might also hint at the prospect for a different result in the future. 

Link to podcast on this book: https://soundcloud.com/explodingappendixpodcast/podcast-29-like-ho-chi-minh-like-che-guevara-revolutionary-left-in-ethiopia-w-ian-scott-horst 

Prior blog reviews on this subject, use blog search box upper left, to investigate our 14 year archive of reviews:  “Ethiopia in Theory (2 reviews); “History and Class Consciousness,” (Lukacs) “The Law of World-Wide Value” (Amin); “Amiable With Big Teeth,”(McKay) “Land Grabbing,” “Slave States,” “Female Genital Mutilation,” “Comrade Harry McAllister,” “Dirty Wars” (Scahill).

And I got it at May Day Books!

Red Frog

October 16, 2021