By the time the WPE came to power in the late-1980s, Ethiopia had been ravaged by droughts and the Derg's mismanagement of the country, and the world's communist movement was declining. By the turn of the 1990s, the WPE's power began to unravel amidst the end of Soviet support in 1990, a concurrent move towards multi-party politics across Africa, and increasing armed insurrection during the Ethiopian Civil War. In an attempt to retain power and reform the country, the WPE officially renounced Marxism and declared itself in favor of a mixed economy. However, this was not enough to save the regime and Mengistu fled the country, fleeing one week before rebels defeated the government and took power in Ethiopia in 1991. The WPE was dissolved on May 21, 1991, by the new Transitional Government of Ethiopia, and most of its leadership were imprisoned for alleged crimes they had committed in their positions during the party's rule.