-
Period: to
The Eritrean War of Independence
-
The Start of the War
Following World War II, Eritrea was placed under British military administration and beginning in 1949, administered it as a trust territory of the United Nations. In 1950 the UN decided that Eritrea should become a part of a federated Ethiopia, who had long been trying to attain the territory with its vast Red Sea coast. In 1961 Eritrea decided to end the federation and completely unify with Ethiopia. -
ELF Formed
Not all Eritreans agreed on and those who opposed the union formed the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) who fought guerilla warfare against Ethiopia. The ELF started growing rapidly. Most of Eritrean's citizens joined. -
Hazemo Massacre
The Hazemo Massacre will go down in history as one of the largest killing sprees. 172 innocent people and Eritreans were slaughtered. Several villages wiped out and the throats of men slit in front of their wives and children. -
Basik Dera
Ethipoian forces proceeded on campaigns killing innocent people in villages. They hoped that it would stop the seperalist movement. The entire village was rounded up into the local mosque and the mosque's doors were locked, the building was then razed and survivors were shot. -
PLF Formed
In June 1970, Osman Salah Sabbe, former head of the Muslim League, broke away from the ELF. He formed the Popular Liberation Forces (PLF).This led directly to the founding of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) in early 1972. -
The EPLF is Formed
Initially, the ELF was more nationalist and Islamic and received aid from Iraq and Syria.Although as more Christians began to join the ELF, it became increasingly anti-capitalist. Internal divisions within the ELF led to the creation of the rival Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) in 1972, led by Osman Salah Sabbe, the former head of the Muslim League. -
Haile Selassie Overthrown
Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie was overthrown in a military coup in 1974. The ELF and EPLF conjoined. Both of the squads united and fought the Ethiopian government as one. -
Tigray
By the end of 1976, insurgencies existed in all of the country's fourteen administrative regions (the provinces were officially changed to regions in 1974 after the revolution). In addition to the Eritrean secessionists, rebels were highly active in Tigray, where the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), formed in 1975. They were demanding social justice and self-determination for all Ethiopians -
The Rebels Grow
Earlier in time, the EPLF had only scarce numbers in the field. Most had either deserted or died. In this year alone, they grew to numbers over 10,000. -
ELF-PLF
In 1976 Osman broke with the EPLF and formed the Eritrean Liberation Front-Popular Liberation Front (ELF-PLF). It is a division that reflected differences between combatants in Eritrea and representatives abroad. As well as personal rivalries and basic ideological differences, factors important in earlier splits within the Eritrean separatist movement. -
Ethipoian Forces Receding
Fighting greatly increased in 1976. The United Eritrean forces had pushed virtually all government forces out of Eritrea. Ehtipoian forces had taken a huge hit. -
Eritrean Forces Winning the Fight
Encouraged by the imperial regime's collapse and attendant confusion, the guerrillas extended their control over the whole region by 1977. Ethiopian forces were largely confined to urban centers. They controlled the major roads only by day. -
Eritreans Lose a Battle
Ethiopians however could benefit from the massive amounts of aid and troops given to them by the Soviet Union and Cuba, and with this help the Ehtiopians were able to defeat the Eritreans in 1978. It was not a total victory for the Ethiopian forces and there was a return to more limited guerrilla warfare where neither side was really able to take control. -
TPLF Joins the Fight
After initial government successes in retaking territory around the major towns and cities and along some of the principal roads in 1978 and 1979, the conflict ebbed and flowed on an almost yearly basis. Annual campaigns by the Ethiopian armed forces to dislodge the EPLF from positions around the northern town of Nakfa failed repeatedly and proved costly to the government. Eritrean and Tigrayan insurgents began to cooperate, the EPLF turned the TPLF into a fully fledged fighting force. -
Eritrea Controls Most of Land
Between 1982 and 1985, the EPLF and the Derg held a series of talks. They were to resolve the Eritrean conflict, but to no avail. By the end of 1987, the organization in Eritrea controlled at least 90 percent of both regions. -
Nakfa Battle
In March 1988, the EPLF initiated one of its most successful military campaigns. They striked at Ethiopian army positions on the Nakfa front north of the town of Afabet, where the Derg had established a base for a new attack against the insurgents. In two days of fighting, the Eritrean rebels annihilated three Ethiopian army divisions, killing or capturing at least 18,000 government troops and seizing large amounts of equipment, including armor and artillery. -
Ethipoia attacks Tigray
The Ethiopian army's defeat in Eritrea came after setbacks during the preceding week in Tigray. Using the same tactics employed by the EPLF, the TPLF preempted a pending Ethiopian offensive in Tigray with a series of attacks on government positions there in early March. A government attack against central Tigray failed disastrously, with four Ethiopian army divisions reportedly destroyed and most of their equipment captured. -
Battle of Afabet
In 1988, with the Battle of Afabet, the EPLF captured Afabet. They also captured its surroundings, then the headquarters of the Ethiopian Army in northeastern Eritrea, prompting the Ethiopian Army to withdraw from its garrisons in Eritrea's western lowlands. EPLF fighters then moved into position around Keren, Eritrea's second-largest city. -
Asmara
Nearing the end of the war, Asmara was the last of Ethipoian controlled cities. Asmara was one of the biggest cities they still had influence over. In 1991 the rebels captured the Eritrean capital of Asmara and the ports, which essentially gave them full control of Eritrea. -
Independence
On 29 May 1991, ISAIAS Afworki, secretary general of the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), which then served as the country's legislative body, announced the formation of the Provisional Government in Eritrea (PGE) in preparation for the 23-25 April 1993 referendum on independence from Ethiopia. The referendum resulted in a landslide vote for independence, which became effective on 24 May 1993, and the war was finally over.