People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
Ethiopia, 1987–1991. Draft, not yet reviewed
The People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia was a unitary communist state that existed in Ethiopia and present-day Eritrea from 1987 to 1991. The PDRE was established in February 1987 as a communist state upon the adoption of the 1987 Constitution, three weeks after its approval in the national referendum. The new government was dominated by surviving Derg members, with Mengistu as both President of Ethiopia and General Secretary of the WPE. In May 1991, Mengistu fled into exile, and a week later the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front entered Addis Ababa, dissolving the PDRE.
Seat of power: Addis Ababa
Rulers
Mengistu Haile Mariam
President of Ethiopia, 1977–1991
He was president of the PDRE from 1987 to 1991. Internal rebellion, government repression, and economic mismanagement characterized Mengistu's presidency.
Portrait of Mengistu Haile Mariam: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file
Culture
- Among the PDRE's successes was the national literacy campaign. The literacy rate, under 10 percent during the imperial regime, increased to about 63 percent by 1984.
- Primary school enrollment increased from about 957,300 in 1974/75 to nearly 2,450,000 in 1985/86.
- The Soviet Union ended support of the PDRE in 1990, and internal conflict brought on by the Ethiopian Civil War and Eritrean War of Independence saw the WPE's authority increasingly challenged by ethnic militias and anti-government groups.
Picture
Mengistu Haile Mariam served as the head of state of Ethiopia from 1977 to 1991.
Image: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file
Sources
- People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (Wikipedia)
- People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (Wikidata)
- About the picture (Wikipedia)
Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.