Both EPRP and another party, the All-Ethiopia Socialist Movement (MEISON) were enthusiastic supporters of the student-led 1974 Ethiopian Revolution that eventually led to the toppling of Emperor Haile Selassie and abolished the monarchy that same year. However, following the rise of Mengistu Haile Mariam to power as leader of the ruling Derg, the military junta that had taken control of Ethiopia, ideological conflict developed between the various groups.