Federation of Ethiopia and Eritrea

Eritrea, 1952–1962. Draft, not yet reviewed

The Federation of Ethiopia and Eritrea was a federation between the former Italian colony of Eritrea and the Ethiopian Empire between 1952 and 1962. Eritrea was to have its own administrative and judicial structure, its own new flag, and control over its domestic affairs, including police, local administration, and taxation. The federal government, which for all practical purposes was the existing imperial government, was to control foreign affairs (including commerce), defense, finance, and transportation. On 15 November 1962, the Eritrean Assembly voted unanimously to dissolve the federation and incorporate Eritrea into the Ethiopian Empire as a province.

Seat of power: Asmara

No rulers documented for this era yet.

Culture

• On 1 September 1961, the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF), under the leadership of Hamid Idris Awate, waged an armed struggle for independence. In 1962, Emperor Haile Selassie unilaterally dissolved the Eritrean parliament and annexed the territory.
• From its inception, the federation was undermined by the Eritrean government, which was controlled by the Unionist Party. By 1958 the constitution had effectively ceased to function.
• The Assembly debated the Commissioner's draft constitution beginning 12 May 1952, adopted Tigrinya and Arabic as official languages, and passed the final text unanimously on 10 July 1952.

Picture

Emperor Haile Selassie ratified the Federal Act and the Eritrean Constitution at the Menelik Palace in Addis Ababa on 11 September 1952.

Image: unknown; according to [1] and [2] an official portrait of which b/w copies were distributed by the Ethiopian government, Public domain, file

Sources

• Federation of Ethiopia and Eritrea (Wikipedia)
• Federation of Ethiopia and Eritrea (Wikidata)
• About the picture (Wikipedia)

Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.