History History

The first hominids appeared in the Rift Valley along the Awash River. In 1974, in the Afar region, paleontologists Donald Johanson and Maurice Taïeb unearthed the fossilized skeleton of Lucy, a member of the Australopithecus afarensis family.

FiftyHomo erectus sites have been excavated along the Awash River. These were hunting tribes who mastered bifacial flint knapping and the use of fire.Homo sapiens spread from the lowlands to the high plateaus, making contact with the cultures of the Nile Valley.

Gradually, hunter-gatherer societies developed, becoming sedentary and evolving into societies of farmers and stockbreeders. Wheat and barley came from Egypt via the Nile valley, while tef, enset, sorghum and coffee were indigenous.

People from Yemen crossed the Red Sea and settled on the Eritrean coast and in Tigray. A trading base for Persians, Greeks and Sabeans, who came here to buy frankincense, myrrh, ivory and spices, this region saw the development of a Sabean and South Arabian-influenced civilization, whose capital was Yeha (Tigray): the kingdom of Damat extended its domination over eastern Tigray.

First mentioned in the ^1st century, the name Aksum reappeared a century later in Ptolemy's Geography. However, it seems that Adoulis, the port on the Eritrean coast of the Red Sea, was already active in the ^3rd century BC, benefiting from Greek trading posts.

For seven centuries, the city prospered, profiting from ivory and its location at the crossroads of trade routes between Egypt, Sudan and the Red Sea. In the ^3rd century, the Persian writer Mari described the Axumite kingdom as one of the four most powerful in the world. A civilization symbolized by stelae and obelisks. Three languages coexist here: ancient Greek, the idiom of commerce, Sabean and Geze, a local Semitic language. The legend of the Queen of Sheba was born here.

It is likely that the Christian religion penetrated the kingdom from Nubia via the Nile valley, but was also spread by the many Christianized Roman traders present in the Red Sea.

In the ^4th century, King Ezana multiplied his conquests and extended his domination over the kingdom of Meroe (Sudan) and southwestern Arabia. He attributed his successes to the support of the "invincible Marhem" and the "Lord of Heaven and Earth". Soon, the cross replaced pagan symbols on coins, the sovereign referred to the Son of God, and Christianity was finally proclaimed the state religion.

Probably from different provinces of the Roman Empire, these nine Syrian saints settled in Ethiopia, translated religious texts into Guèze and founded several monasteries, including the highly influential Dabra Damo. In the ^6th century, King Kaleb intervened in Yemen to put an end to the persecution of Christians orchestrated by a Jewish ruler. He established an Ethiopian administration and built Sanaa Cathedral. However, Aksum was unable to oppose Persian expansion in Yemen, from which the Ethiopians were finally expelled in 578.

In the ^7th century, the first followers of Mohammed, driven out of Mecca, found a benevolent refuge in Aksum. Byzantine Egypt was soon conquered by the Arabs, who asserted their control over the Red Sea and founded the port of Zeila. The Muslims penetrate the Horn of Africa. Faced with the loss of its monopoly on Red Sea trade, new Persian and Arab routes and the Islamization of the region, the port of Adoulis withered away, dragging Aksum, isolated and suffocated, into its decline. Oral tradition has it that, in the ^10th century, the armies of a mysterious queen from the south or Lasta wreaked havoc and dealt a fatal blow to the Aksumite kingdom.

The decline of Aksum shifted the center of Christian Ethiopia further south, to the province of Lasta. In this region, populated by the Cushitic-speaking Agaw, the new Zagoue dynasty established itself. These kings encouraged intense religious activity. The most illustrious sovereign, Lalibela (1190-1225), built the "New Jerusalem" in his capital of Adefa (Roha), which today bears his name, excavating a group of eleven monolithic churches that would become one of the greatest achievements of Christian architecture.

Yekouno Amlak (1270-1293) established a new dynasty of Solomon kings. It gradually took root in mythology, claiming descent from Menelik, son of Queen Makeda (or Queen of Sheba) and King Solomon of Judea. This genealogical "authentication" was widely disseminated in the ^14th-century Kebra Negast ( Book of the Glory of Kings), the ideological foundation of the Solomon dynasty for seven centuries.after internal struggles, the kingdom returned to stability under Amda Syon (1314-1344). He took control of the Muslim sultanates threatening his power in the south and west of the country. The period was marked by intense political and spiritual vitality. King Zara Yaqob (1434-1468) attempted to build the unity of the Ethiopian Church on the basis of strict, dogmatic orthodoxy and an almost exalted Marian cult. He continued his victorious struggle against the surrounding emirates and endeavored to centralize the kingdom's government. Communicating with Western sovereigns and Pope Eugene IV, King Zara Yaqob sent the first Ethiopian monks to the Holy Land in Jerusalem.

The first decades of the ^16th century remain among the bloodiest in Abyssinian history. As relations between the Muslim emirates of Ifat and Adal and the Abyssinian rulers continued to deteriorate, Emir Mahfuz declared jihad (holy war) against the Christians, before finally being defeated in 1516 by King Lebna Dengel (1508-1540).

Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al Gazi, nicknamed the Gragn (the left-handed), launched his armies against the Orthodox kingdom to avenge his father-in-law. Eighteen years of desolation followed, during which massacres and the destruction of churches and monasteries, as well as Ethiopia's religious and literary heritage, brought the Christian empire to the brink of collapse. Pushed to the limit, Lebna Dengel appealed to the King of Portugal for help. In the end, his son and successor Galawados welcomed the detachment of 400 Portuguese harquebusiers led by Christophe de Gama (son of the famous navigator).

After losing their first battle, the Portuguese troops rallied and inflicted a severe defeat on the Muslims in 1543 around Lake Tana. The death of the Gragn during the confrontation led to the rout of his army, which retreated to Harar. But the weakened kingdom remained under threat from the Turks, the insurrection of the Falasha Jews in the Simien and the expansion of the Muslim Oromo to the south. Zarsa Dengel (1563-1597) reassembled an army and succeeded in re-establishing imperial authority over Abyssinia, encompassing Eritrea, Tigray, Welo, Gojam and Choa.

Having rid themselves of the Islamic threat, the Ethiopians had to contend throughout the ^17th century with the insidious plans of the Catholic missionaries who landed with the Portuguese soldiers. Father Pero Pais succeeded in converting emperor Za Dengel (1603-1604) to Catholicism. He was assassinated shortly afterwards. King Suseynos (1607-1632) reiterated his submission to the Pope and attempted to convert his subjects to Catholicism. This provoked a popular insurrection, supported by the Orthodox clergy, which forced the sovereign to abdicate in favor of his son Fasilidas.

Fasilidas (1632-1667), having renounced his Catholic baptism, re-established the orthodox faith and expelled the Jesuits from the country. Previously, monarchs had moved their courts according to conflicts, but he decided to establish his capital in Gondar. This sedentary lifestyle attracted craftsmen and artists. Sheltered by its imposing castles and rich libraries, the city became a center of learning, art and music. The assassination of King Iyassou in 1706 heralded Gondar's decline. For a century and a half, fratricidal struggles and the expansion of the Oromo weakened the kingdom, which fragmented into different local powers. This "era of judges" lasted until 1855.

These troubled years saw the rise to power of Kassa Haylu, son of a governor of Quarra province. Educated in a monastery, Kassa perfected his vocation as a military strategist by fighting in the wars that plagued the country, before becoming an outlaw(shifta). Having gathered a large number of supporters around him, he defeated the local dynasties one by one, right up to the most powerful, the Choa dynasty. Menelik, the future sovereign, became his prisoner. Declared king in 1855 under the name Theodoros II (1855-1869), Kassa set about reforming and modernizing the country, despite much resistance from the population and the Church, from which he demanded substantial financial contributions.

With no response from Queen Victoria, whom he had asked to fight the Muslims, Theodoros II took some British hostages. As a result, an army of 32,000 Englishmen descended on the country. Holed up in the fortress of Maqdala, Theodoros, knowing he was lost, preferred to commit suicide. After further quarrels over succession, the Ras of Tigray finally seized the throne under the name of Yohannes IV (1872-1889). A skilful diplomat, he won the allegiance of his most dangerous adversaries, including Menelik, King of Choa. He set about repelling Egyptian incursions and containing the colonial ambitions of the Italians, English and French. But the Sudanese Mahdists (or Dervishes) threatened Gondar. It was while fighting this Muslim sect that Yohannes was mortally wounded.

On the death of Yohannes, the King of Choa, who had long aspired to the supreme title, proclaimed himself emperor under the name of Menelik II (1889-1913). In 1892, he founded Addis Ababa and made it his capital. In good terms, the sovereign signed the Treaty of Wichalé with the Italians, who already had a strong presence in Eritrea. But a divergent interpretation of the text led Menelik to revoke it in 1893, which was enough to awaken the expansionist ambitions of Italy, which claimed Tigray and demanded a protectorate over Harar.

Undaunted by the invaders, the emperor raised an army of 120,000 men and took the fight to the Italians in 1896. Against all odds, Adoua was the scene of the first victory of an African army over a Western army. Ethiopia's sovereignty and independence were officially recognized. Menelik II extended his possessions southwards, giving the country its current borders and modernizing it. As the railroad opened from Djibouti, the road network expanded. Schools, hospitals and banks multiplied, and electricity and telephones were introduced. On the death of Menelik II, his grandson Iyassou (1913-1916) came to power. Considered too close to the Muslims and unpopular with the Church and nobility for the reforms he undertook, Iyassou was accused of denying his Christian faith. He was excommunicated, then deposed. Zewditou, daughter of Menelik, was named Empress. But it was Ras Tafari, son of Ras Makonen, governor of Harar and cousin of the late emperor, who assumed the regency.

Eager to place Ethiopia on the international stage, Ras Tafari abolished slavery and obtained his country's entry into the League of Nations, which in theory protected it from European colonial designs.

On the death of Empress Zewditou in 1930, Tafari was proclaimed negus (emperor) and crowned the two hundred and fifty-sixth king of the Solomonic dynasty. He took the name Haile Selassie, or "Power of the Trinity". He instituted a Parliament, whose members were chosen by him or elected by the nobility, but his reforms mainly benefited the elite.

Mussolini's agents were widespread throughout the country, fomenting plots to exacerbate ethnic tensions and destabilize the government before the Italian intervention which, based on a minor incident between the two armies, began on October 3, 1935. The timidity of the sanctions imposed by the League of Nations and the neutrality of France and Great Britain encouraged this aggression.

Italian troops from Eritrea and Somalia seized Addis Ababa on May 5, 1936. Mussolini declared the annexation of Ethiopia to Italy. Faced with a situation he knew he'd lost, Haile Selassie went into exile in London. Appointed viceroy, the Italian marshal Graziani began a bloody crackdown on the arbagna (patriots) who were waging a courageous guerrilla war in Choa, Gojam and Gondar. In 1939, an attempted assassination attempt against Graziani triggered a veritable pogrom against the population of the capital. In just a few days, the Blackshirts (Italian fascist militias) left 10,000 dead behind them. This barbaric act strengthened Ethiopian resistance, even as the British and French ratified a treaty of "good neighborliness" with Italy, recognizing its sovereignty over Ethiopia.

Mussolini's entry into the war on the side of Nazi Germany in 1940 radically changed the situation. The British, anxious to secure the Suez Canal and the Red Sea, finally responded favorably to the negus' requests. It was from Sudan that British troops, the "Gideon Force", led by Major Wingate and the emperor himself, rallied the Ethiopian partisans. Isolated from their European bases, the Italians surrendered on May 5, 1941, putting an end to five years of occupation. Two treaties signed with Great Britain in 1942 and 1944 restored Ethiopia's full sovereignty.

A United Nations resolution proclaims Eritrea's autonomy, which is linked to Ethiopia by a federal bond. A vast campaign of national reconstruction began, supported in particular by American aid. A new currency was introduced, and in 1955 a new constitution was proclaimed. Addis Ababa became the headquarters of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa in 1958 and of the Organization of African Unity in 1962. Despite modernization, discontent continued to grow over a largely autocratic and feudal system of government.

The outright annexation of Eritrea by Ethiopia and the replacement of the local language, Tigrinya, by Amharic in the education system increased secessionist temptations. The Marxist-led Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) began fighting for the country's independence, and received support from Sudan, South Yemen and Syria, which considered Ethiopia's policies to be anti-Arab and subservient to America. In 1963, unrest broke out in the Ogaden region, which had been demanding independence from Somalia since 1960. Ethiopia massed its troops on the border, threatening Mogadishu, which, failing to obtain strong support from its Soviet protector, negotiated a ceasefire in March 1964. At the same time, the government carried out a bloody crackdown on the Oromo and Somali peasant rebellion in the Bale and Sidamo regions.

The struggle became more radical with the creation of the Marxist-based Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF). After several years of independence aspirations, a state of emergency is declared in the province.

In Addis Ababa, anger rumbles against rising prices and corruption, the absence of an education policy in non-Amhara regions and the concentration of land in the hands of an oligarchy. Amhara soldiers create the Armed Forces Coordination Committee (Derg) and order the arrest of certain leaders. The famines that ravaged the north of the country, in Shewa, Welo and Tigray, between 1972 and 1974, driving thousands of farmers to the cities, were largely played down by the administration. In 1973, soaring oil prices precipitated events. Addis Ababa was rocked by strikes, protests and mutinies in the army.

The Derg arrested ministers, notables and advisors to Emperor Haile Selassie, who was finally deposed. Placed under house arrest, he died in mysterious circumstances. The Derg dissolved Parliament, suspended the Constitution and instituted socialism. In 1975, the Tigray Liberation Front (TLF) was formed to oppose the new government. After liquidating his main competitors within the Derg, Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam was proclaimed Head of State in 1977. This marked the start of a period of terror and purges against all the regime's declared enemies.

Supported by Cuban and socialist South Yemeni soldiers, Ethiopian forces assailed the Somalis, who withdrew from the country in March 1978. The policy of collectivization, the forced displacement of populations and the "red terror" only served to exacerbate opposition to the regime and the emergence of secessionist movements among the Afar, Somali, Oromo and, above all, Tigrayans.

This famine was cynically maintained by the government in the rebel zones, causing the death of hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians despite international aid. Operation Moses resulted in the departure of thousands of Ethiopian Jews to Israel.

Under the aegis of Gorbachev, the USSR refused any further military assistance to Ethiopia, and in 1989 an abortive coup d'état profoundly disrupted the army. Nothing could stop the opposition forces united in the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) from marching on the capital.

Failed by his traditional allies, his military authority challenged, the "red negus" went into exile in Zimbabwe on May 21, 1991. Seven days later, the EPRDF entered Addis Ababa and, together with the EPLF, set up a transitional government chaired by Meles Zenawi, which undertook far-reaching economic reforms. Operation Solomon continued the emigration of Jews to the Holy Land.

The independence of Eritrea, which became Africa's fifty-second state, was overwhelmingly endorsed by the population, putting a definitive end to a nearly thirty-year conflict between neighbors.

Ethiopians go to the polls to elect 547 deputies to the Federal Constituent Assembly. Each ethnic region had the right to self-determination and even secession. After new elections in 1995, Meles Zenawi was confirmed in office and continued to liberalize the country's economy. He attempted to dismantle the secessionist groups, the FLO in Oromo country and the FLNO in Ogaden. Ethiopia denounces the support given by Eritrea and other countries in the region to these groups in order to destabilize its power.

Relations became strained when the Eritreans introduced a new currency whose rate put Ethiopian trade at a disadvantage. Following border disputes around the town of Badmé, fighting resumed. The Eritreans pushed into Ethiopian territory, only to be driven back by a counter-offensive in 1999. Eritrea refused the plan proposed by the United Nations and the Organization of African Unity, and Ethiopia in turn occupied southern Eritrea.

This peace agreement establishes a demilitarized zone between the two countries, controlled by UN peacekeepers. The EPRDF's landslide victory in the national and regional elections does not erase the 120,000 victims and tens of thousands of displaced persons. Ethiopia emerged weakened and discredited in the eyes of international donors and investors. In 2002, an international commission demarcated the border, awarding Badmé to Eritrea. This decision was rejected by Ethiopia.

The war in Sudan over the past twenty years has led to a massive influx of refugees into Gambela, causing tensions with the local population. Despite an increase in agricultural production, the spectre of food shortages has not gone away in the deprived regions. The government is accused of perpetrating massacres. In 2005, general elections resulted in a de facto renewal of Tigrayan rule, despite a partial victory for opposition parties. This was followed by two years of imprisonment, life sentences and finally the release of the main opposition leaders in 2007.

The EPRDF's sweeping victory in the parliamentary elections - over 90% of the vote - was contested by the opposition, which called for new elections. The return to power of the Tigrayan party and Meles Zenawi, who had been in power since 1991, took place under stormy conditions.

Between 2006 and 2009, tensions with Somalia escalated. After withdrawing from the conflict in 2007, Ethiopia sent a military contingent back in 2011 to fight the Islamist extremists of al-Shebab. After pacifying the south of the country, Ethiopia gradually withdrew in 2013 to allow Amison, the United Nations troops, to take up their positions.

The death of the Tigrayan president raised the spectre of a serious succession crisis. But for the first time since Emperor Haile Selassie's accession to the throne in 1930, an orderly transition is taking place at the head of the country, with the arrival in power of Vice-President Hailemariam Desalegn.

Launch of the Renaissance dam project on the Nile, the largest in Africa. Diplomatic crisis with Egypt over sharing of Nile waters.

Rivalries within the ruling coalition have stabilized with the election of this former ambassador. The opposition, on the other hand, is plagued by internal strife. In 2015, the coalition won a landslide victory in the legislative elections. The country's economic take-off focuses attention on urban development, the opening up of the country to tourism and the boom in the textile industry, boosted by the relocation of factories from Asia to Ethiopia, or the cut flower trade, of which Ethiopia is now the world's second-largest producer. In 2015, Barack Obama, then President of the United States, made a historic visit to Ethiopia.

At a time when the country's stability was remarkable, Oromo uprisings were put down in bloodshed. Nearly 50 students were massacred in Ambo. Similarly, the Amhara rebelled against the Tigrayan-led coalition. Amnesty International recorded almost 500 deaths in one year, both Oromo and Amhara, and thousands of political prisoners.

Tensions fell again in 2018, following the election of Abiy Ahmed as Prime Minister, replacing Haile Mariam Dessalegn. "Doctor Abiy", 42, chose himself to be a Protestant Christian, but is of Oromo and Muslim origin through his father, Orthodox Christian and Amhara through his mother. He's the man for the job. A specialist in cybersecurity, he founded the National Agency for Information Network Security in 2009. Appointed Minister of Science and Technology from 2015 to 2016, he was elected head of the Oromo People's Democratic Organization (OPDO) in 2018, establishing a political consensus in Oromo country. In October, President Sahle-Work Zewde was unanimously elected by federal parliamentarians. This outstanding diplomat, Ethiopia's ambassador to Senegal, Djibouti and France, was appointed Director General of the United Nations in 2011, before holding various positions within the institution.

Abortive coup against the Amhara government in Bahar Dar.

The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to Abiy Ahmed. The Swedish institution highlights, among other things, his work on reconciliation and the signing of an armistice with Eritrea, as well as his role as a national reconciler.

The aura of President Abiy Ahmed is shaken by a new war in Tigray, in which government forces supported by the Eritrean army and the Amhara Fano militia are fighting Tigrayan forces. Civilians are the first victims of this war, with many deaths and displaced persons reported by local NGOs.

Signing of new peace agreements between Tigrayan rebels and the Ethiopian state exactly two years after the start of the war. Amnesty International estimates that 600,000 people were massacred, over 120,000 women were raped and thousands of people became refugees.

Following Abiy Ahmed's desire to dismantle and disarm the country's regional ethnic militias, the Amhara Fano militia rebelled and took up arms throughout the region. Clashes broke out in Gondar and Bahar Dar, and civilians were killed in the fighting. However, the situation calmed down in the following months.