The People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (PDRE; ) was a unitary communist state that existed in Ethiopia and present-day Eritrea from 1987 to 1991.
The PDRE was established in February 1987 as a communist state upon the adoption of the 1987 Constitution, three weeks after its approval in the national referendum. The Derg, the military junta that had ruled Ethiopia as a provisional government since 1974, planned for transition to civilian rule and proclaimed a people's democratic state in 1984 after five years of preparation. The Workers' Party of Ethiopia (WPE) was founded that same year as a vanguard party led by Derg chairman Mengistu Haile Mariam. The Derg was dissolved with the proclamation of the PDRE, but continued to rule de facto until September when the new government took office, three months after the June general election. It was dominated by surviving Derg members, with Mengistu as both President of Ethiopia and General Secretary of the WPE.
The PDRE's government was highly centralized with a de facto power structure similar to other communist states. The legislature, the National Shengo, was nominally the supreme state organ of power. A president served as head of state and head of government, with sweeping executive and legislative powers. The president served as chairman of the Council of State, which acted for the Shengo between sessions. In practice, the principles of democratic centralism meant that the Shengo did little more than rubber-stamp decisions already made by the WPE and its Politburo. As both president and party leader, Mengistu was a virtual dictator. He and the surviving members of the Derg dominated the WPE's Politburo. The constitution guaranteed all manner of personal freedoms, but the government paid almost no attention to them in practice, since the constitution gave citizens no recourse against abuse.
The PDRE inherited issues that ravaged Ethiopia during the Derg era including the 1983–1985 famine, reliance on foreign aid, and the decline of the world communist movement. The Soviet Union ended support of the PDRE in 1990, and internal conflict brought on by the Ethiopian Civil War and Eritrean War of Independence saw the WPE's authority increasingly challenged by ethnic militias and anti-government groups. In May 1991, Mengistu fled into exile. The regime only lasted another week before the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front entered Addis Ababa, dissolving the PDRE and replacing it with the Transitional Government of Ethiopia.
Advances
242x242px|thumb|PDRE administrative divisions
left|thumb|268x268px|Addis Ababa during Derg rule
Following the demise of imperial rule, the feudal socioeconomic structure was dismantled through a series of reforms which also affected educational development. By early 1975, the government had closed Haile Selassie I University and all senior secondary schools, then deployed the approximately 60,000 students and teachers to rural areas to promote the government's "Development Through Cooperation Campaign". The campaign's purposes were to promote land reform and improve agricultural production, health, and local administration and to teach peasants about the new political and social order.
Primary school enrollment increased from about 957,300 in 1974/75 to nearly 2,450,000 in 1985/86. There were still variations among regions in the number of students enrolled and a disparity in the enrollment of boys and girls. Nevertheless, while the enrollment of boys more than doubled, that of girls more than tripled. However, with most of the rebel controlled northern Ethiopia regions as well as parts of Somali and Oromo regions out of the government's control, most of its claims were not perceived to be comprehensive.
There has been an approximately decade long cycle of recurrent droughts in this part of east Africa since earlier in the 20th century and by the late 1970s signs of intensifying drought began to appear. By the early 1980s, large numbers of people in central Eritrea, Tigray, Welo, and parts of Begemder and Shewa were beginning to feel the effects of renewed famine. the counter-insurgency strategy of the PDRE caused the famine to strike one year earlier than would otherwise have been the case, and forced people to migrate to relief shelters and refugee camps. The economic war against the peasants caused the famine to spread to other areas of the country. If the famine had struck only in 1984/5, and only affected the "core" areas of Tigray and North Wollo (3.1 million affected people), and caused only one quarter of the number to migrate to camps, the death toll would have been 175,000 (on the optimistic assumptions) and 273,000 (on the pessimistic assumptions). Thus between 225,000 and 317,000 deaths—rather more than half of those caused by the famine—can be blamed on the government's human rights violations.
He was succeeded on an interim basis by Vice President Tesfaye Gebre Kidan. However, with the rebels closing in on Addis Ababa from all sides, the PDRE only survived another week. In late May, while peace talks were underway, Tesfaye notified American officials that he had lost the ability to maintain order, and could no longer command what remained of the army. Washington then cleared the way for the rebels to take over the capital on May 28.
Politics
Security
- Ethiopian Revolutionary Armed Forces - Military
- Ethiopian Army
- Ethiopian Air Force
- Ethiopian Navy
- People's Militia
- People's Protection Brigades - Law enforcement
- Central Revolutionary Investigation Department - Secret police
Leaders
Presidents
- Mengistu Haile Mariam (September 10, 1987 – May 21, 1991)
- Tesfaye Gebre Kidan (acting; May 21, 1991 – May 28, 1991)
Prime Ministers
- Fikre Selassie Wogderess (September 10, 1987 – November 8, 1989)
- Hailu Yimenu (acting; November 8, 1989 – April 26, 1991)
- Tesfaye Dinka (acting; April 26, 1991 – June 6, 1991)
See also
- 1987 Constitution of Ethiopia
- Ethiopian general election, 1987