Peasant Revolution in Ethiopia The Tigray People's Liberation Front, 1975–1991

Almost unnoticed, in the wake of the overthrow of Emperor Haile-Selassie, the coming to power of the military, and the ongoing independence struggle in Eritrea, a band of students launched an insurrection from the northern Ethiopian province of Tigray. Calling themselves the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), they built close relations with Tigray's poverty-stricken peasants and on this basis liberated the province in 1989, and formed an ethnic-based coalition of opposition forces that assumed state power in 1991. This book chronicles that history and focuses in particular on the relationship of the revolutionaries with Ethiopia's peasants.

In the wake of the overthrow of the Haile-Selassie regime in Ethiopia in 1974 and the coming to power of the military, a number of opposition forces launched insurrections. But only one movement, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) triumphed, liberating Tigray in 1989, and in an ethnic-based coalition which it dominated, assuming state power in 1991. This is the first chronicle of the history of that struggle, and it is based largely on interviews with peasants who formed the core of the Tigrayan revolution and the TPLF leadership. It provides the necessary background to understanding post-1991 political developments in Ethiopia. It also offers an explanation of peasant-based revolution that contrasts with contemporary approaches by Marxists, Skocpol, and in particular the works of Wolf, Paige and Scott, all of whom largely ignore the political considerations and the role of the revolutionary party, which Dr Young identifies as a critical element in his study.

Acknowledgements; 1. Peasants and revolutions: theoretical directions; 2. Historical and social background; 3. Tigray on the eve of insurrection; 4. Struggle for opposition ascendancy: 1975–8; 5. Challenges and advances: 1978–85; 6. Triumph: 1985–91; 7. TPLF and the peasants; 8. Conclusion; Notes; Bibliography; Index.

This book chronicles the rise to power of the student-controlled Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) in the northern Ethiopian province of Tigray, who liberated the province from military control in 1989, and in an alliance with local peasants formed an ethnically based coalition, assumed state power in 1991.