Consequences of the struggle for independence
1.
It led Eritrea to independence in 1993. After three decades of civil
strife, the government of Ethiopia was overthrown in 1991. A referendum
was conducted early in 1993 and Eritrea formally declared independence
from Ethiopia on May 24, 1993, with Isiahs Afewerki as the first
president.
2. It led to great loss of life and destruction of property. It was
estimated that about 500,000 people lost life on both sides of the
struggle. The high death toll was a product Ethiopia's scorched earth
policy and indiscriminate bombardment of Eritrean villages and urban
centres. A lot of property such as schools, houses, industries, farms,
roads and bridges, etc was systematically destroyed.
3. The war created a refugee crisis in the Horn of Africa. People from
both Eritrea and Ethiopia fled to safety in neighbouring nations such
as Somalia, Sudan, Kenya, the Middle East, etc. The refugees lived in
the most remote parts of the host countries and suffered for many years
because of poor shelter, inadequate medical facilities and food.
Additionally, the refugees suffered unemployment, discrimination and
insecurity. It was not until war ended in 1993, that the refugees began
to resettle back to their homes. There were also internally displaced
persons in both Eritrea and Ethiopia because of the war.
4. The war caused economic stagnation and retardation in both Eritrea
and Ethiopia. The 30 years of fighting devastated the economies of
Eritrea and Ethiopia, as their national budgets were dominated by
military spending. Agriculture, the main economic activity for both
nations came to a standstill. Infrastructure such as industries, roads,
bridges, etc, was destroyed. Foreign companies left both Eritrea and
Ethiopia in the wake of the war. This was to the deterioration of the
standards of living for the people of Eritrea and Ethiopia and led to
widespread poverty. Indeed, Eritrea and Ethiopia became part of the
poorest nations in the world. However, after the war, the two nations
launched programmes to rebuild their economies and recover from the
devastation of war.
5. The war caused immense suffering to the people of Eritrea. The
scorched earth policy and constant war destroyed food crops and caused
constant famine in Eritrea. Ethiopian forces destroyed crops,
granaries, and even livestock in order to break the Eritrean
resistance. Entire villages were displaced and bundled into new refugee
camps so as to cut off support to the ELF and EPLF The Eritrean people
suffered political instability and many fled their country for safety.
Additionally, they suffered from disease, malnutrition and
discrimination. Almost all socipr;economic infrastructure such as
schools, social centres and hospitals were destroyed, leaving the
people of Eritrea with no social services.
6. It also led to the 1974 coup in Ethiopia. The Eritrean struggle for
independence resulted in the loss of many Ethiopian soldiers and
civilians. The war also drained the resource of Ethiopia and yet the
trigger-happy Emperor bjocked a negotiated settlement of the conflict.
Consequently, many Ethiopian army officers became discontented with the
Emperor's handling of the war and strongly believed that the problem
could only be solved through a negotiated settlement. A group of army
officers led by Amman Andom and Colonel Mariam Mengistu conducted a
successful coup against the Emperor in 1974. A new government of the
military committee,{Dergue), headed by Mengistu, was put in place.
Selassie was arrested and died in prison.
7. The conflict marked the beginning of a border conflict between
Eritrea and Ethiopia. The two nations declared war against each other
over the control of a small border territory of Zalambesa. However,
this problem was referred to the International Court of Justice, which
ruled in favour of Eritrea, In principle, Ethiopia agreed to hand over
Zalambesa to Eritrea.
8. The war also led to the downfall of the government of Mariam
Mengistu in 1991, Mengistu, who came to power in 1974, promised to use
a political approach to resolve the Eritrean problem. But he
backtracked on his promise when he employed a military approach.
Continued fighting dug deep into Ethiopia's treasury and made Mengistu
unpopular. He was toppled in 1991 and replaced by Melesi Zenawi. .
9. It exposed the weakness of the UNO, when it comes to dealing with
African problems. The UNO had the responsibility to promote and monitor
world peace and security and to defend the territorial integrity of
member states. But when it came to Eritrea, the UNO chose to hand her
over to Ethiopia in 1952, instead of preparing her for independence.
The UNO too, failed to compel Ethiopia to grant Eritrea independence as
it did with other colonial masters. Additionally, the UNO looked on
when Emperor Haile Selassie rigged the referendum results of 1960 in
favour of taking over Eritrea. Later in the struggle for independence,
when it became clear that Eritrea was destined for independence, the
UNO began working with the EPLF to bring independence. This exposed the
double standards of the UNO and clearly showed that the organisation
was reluctant to help when it comes to African problems.
10. It also exposed the weaknesses of the OAU. Using its charter and
basing in Ethiopia's interpretation of the history of Eritrea, the OAU
condemned the Eritrean struggle for independence as a separatist
struggle. The OAU liberation committee refused to recognise the ELF and
denied the people of Eritrea support to liberate themselves. Further
still, OAU member nations took sides in the conflict. Libya and Sudan
supported Eritrea while Ghana and other nations supported Ethiopia.
This exposed the double standards and political indecision of the OAU.
11. It escalated the Arab-Israeli conflict in the Middle East. In order
to defeat Zionist presence in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa, the Arab
nations of Libya, Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon supported the ELF to
fight the Israelis out of Assab and Massawa, This accelerated the
conflict between Israel and her Arab neighbours.
12. It accelerated and invited the cold war in the region. The USA and
USSR got involved in a struggle to influence the affairs of the Horn of
Africa. Initially, the USA supported Ethiopia and the USSR Eritrea. But
after the 1974 coup in Ethiopia, they switched sides. Therefore, the
conflict provided the super powers an opportunity to struggle for
spheres of influence. The cold war tension between the two super powers
increased and it brought political instability in the Horn of Africa.
13. The war bred terrorism and hostage taking in the Horn of Africa.
The ELF and EPLF rebels conducted terrorist attacks in Ethiopian
establishments both in Ethiopia and Eritrea. This led to death of
thousands of innocent lives. The rebels too, hijacked and blew up
Ethiopian planes in order to force Ethiopia to grant independence to
Eritrea. Muslim terrorist groups found bases in the Horn of Africa to
fight Israel and American interests.
14. It also triggered off a chain of political instability in the
entire Horn of Africa. Selassie was toppled in 1974, while Mengistu
fell from power in 1991. Somalia and Ethiopia fought for the disputed
frontier in the Ogaden. Because of the conflict, Ethiopia experienced
civil instability. Even afterEritrea broke away, border disputes with
Ethiopia broke out.
15. It led to women emancipation in Eritrea. The new regime in Eritrea promoted equality and banned child marriage. ,
16. It led to the rise of Isiahs Afewerki. He abandoned a lucrative
career in medicine to liberate Eritrea. He successfully commanded an
armed struggle that brought independence to Eritrea. He was elected to
become the first president of Eritrea in 1993. He then embarked on the
reconstruction of the country after 30 years of war. His popularity
increased both at home and abroad. He was regarded as one of Africa's
new generation leaders.
17. It led to military interference with the politics of the Horn of
Africa. Because of the conflict, leaders in Ethiopia and Eritrea had to
have military credentials. In Ethiopia for example, all the leaders
that came after the Emperor were soldiers that is Mengistu and Zenawi.
In Eritrea also, Afewerki also has military experience.
National Movements and New States in Africa