Eritrean Liberation Front

TheEritrean Liberation Front(ELF;Tigrinya:ተጋደሎ ሓርነት ኤርትራ;Arabic:جبهة التحرير الإريترية;Italian:Fronte di Liberazione Eritreo), colloquially known asJebha, was the mainindependence movementinEritreawhich sought Eritrea'sindependencefromEthiopiaduring the 1960s and the early 1970s.
After theEthiopian Empireviolated a 1952 UN resolution that guaranteed Eritrea the right to an autonomous government, the ELF was established in 1960 in order to waged an armed struggle for independence. Under EmperorHaile Selassie, the Ethiopian government banned Eritrean political parties,free pressandright to assembly. During 1961, the ELF began theEritrean War of Independence.Idris Muhammad Adamand other Eritrean intellectuals founded the ELF as a primaryPan Arabmovement inCairo, but the first act of armed resistance was led byHamid Idris Awate. Over the course of the 1960s, the ELF was able to obtain support from Arab countries such asEgyptandSudan. However, tensions between Muslims and Christians in the ELF along with the failure of the ELF to ward off Ethiopia's 1967–1968 counter offensive internally fractured the ELF, causing it to split.
By the mid 1970s, the ELF and theEritrean People's Liberation Front(EPLF), an ideologicallyMaoistliberation movement, were the key liberation movements in Eritrea. The EPLF ultimately overtook the ELF as the primary Eritrean independence movement by 1977, and the ELF was subsequently defeated in 1981.
AfterItalywas defeated inWorld War II, the fate ofEthiopiaandEritreawas left to theUnited Nations. A 1948 UN commission failed to agree on whether Eritrea would be independent.In 1952, Eritrea became officially part of Ethiopia under UN Resolution 390 A, which was passed on December 2, 1950. However, Eritrea would remain an autonomous government, meaning that the country could have their own government structures, flag, and official language. Ethiopia was also prohibited from forcibly intervening in Eritrea's domestic occurrences.
However, some Eritreans were not satisfied with the UN's decision to placeEritreaunder Ethiopian control. Early independence movements can be traced back to 1949, when some Muslims living in Eritrea formed a group that would grow into the Eritrean Liberation Front. Nonetheless, in the early 1950s, this group remained relatively inactive.
Discontent with the Ethiopian government ensured as EmperorHaile Selassietook actions to destabilize Eritrea's autonomous government. AsEthiopiawas moreauthoritarianthanEritrea, Selassie felt that increased freedom inEritreawould destabilizeEthiopia.Consequently, the same year that the UN resolution went into effect, Selassie disposed of Eritrea's constitution. In 1953, theEritrean Trade Unionwas outlawed. By 1955, Eritrea's president was removed and a year later, theEritrean National Assemblyceased to exist. The year 1956 also marked the year thatAmharicreplacedArabicandTigrinyaas the official language ofEritrea.The coming years also saw the suppression of insurgency movements againstEthiopia, the arrests of newspaper editors who spoke against the Ethiopian crown, the seizure of private Eritrean businesses, and the removal of the Eritrean flag.
TheUnited Statesremained inactive despite the UN Resolution being fragrantly violated. This was due to a 1953 agreement signed between the United States and Ethiopia, which guaranteed access to theKagnewRadiomarina inAsmara. ThisRed Seamilitary base was vital for the United States military since it enhanced overseas communication.Nonetheless, higher unemployment rates and taxes caused tens of thousands of Eritreans to emigrate toSaudi ArabiaandSudan.The Ethiopian army successfully suppressed protests that arose in Eritrea, including a 1958 trade union strike. The struggle for independence turned violent with this strike as many protesters were killed.
In 1958, theEritrean Liberation Movement(ELM) was founded.The ELM, which was composed primarily of students and laborers, focused on organizing demonstrations against Ethiopian occupation. ELM strongholds were located in the urban central highlands, where a large proportion ofChristianslived.It organized Eritreans clandestinely and played a significant role in awakening nationalists sentiments in urban areas until a major police crackdown. While the ELM had played a positive role in working towards self-determination, the organization proved incapable of escalating to armed struggle against the Ethiopian Empire.
After the Eritrean Liberation Movement demonstrated it wasn't ready to engage in war, a new liberation organization that could fight back against the Ethiopians was formed in order to fill the gap.In 1960,Egyptbegan to fund military training for Eritreans inAlexandria. Future revolutionary leaders such asIdris Muhammad Adamwere trained at the Alexandria military camp. The tactics that this camp used were influenced by those of thenational liberation frontinAlgeria. In addition to military training, Egypt also provided media resources for Eritreans to use to gain support for the independence movement. For instance,Woldeab Woldemariamused hisRadio Cairoradio program to publicize anti-Ethiopian propaganda and encourage Eritreans to join the uprising againstEthiopia.
In July 1960, the ELF was openly established inCairobyIdris Muhammad Adamand other Eritrean intellectuals and students. The founders of the ELF were primarilyMuslimand the movement thus adoptedPan-Arabicbeliefs.Some scholars argue that the Eritrean independence movement was religious in nature: by 1971, the majority of ELF army members wereMuslimand the Ethiopian ruling class wasChristian.
Egypt helped organizeArabsupport for the ELF. TheArab Leaguecountries such asSyria,Iraq,Libya,Kuwait, andYemenpledged their support for the ELF in April 1962.These countries saw the economic potential of Arab control of theRed Seaand theSuez Canal.They also felt compelled to help their fellowMuslimsattainindependencefrom the ChristianEthiopians. Additionally,SudanandEgyptworked together in attempt to prevent Ethiopian access to theNile River. As a consequence,Sudanallowed the ELF to use their land to shipweaponsto and organize military operations.However, despite the emergence of the ELF, theUnited Stateschose to remain loyal toEthiopiaas they signed a secret pact withEthiopiaaffirming their opposition to Eritrean insurgency movements.
Hamid Idris Awatewas a former soldier when theItalianscontrolledEritreaandEthiopiawho had not joined the ELM or ELF.The ELF had purchased rifles that were used during the colonial era, leading them to haveAwateinitiate the first battle in the Eritrean independence movement.In August 1961, Awate had been hiding from Ethiopian authorities on Mount Abal. On September 1, 1961, Awate came into confrontation with the Ethiopian government, which is when he usedguerillawar tactics to continue the ELF's struggle.The September 26, 1961 issue of the Ethiopian newspaper Zemen reported Awate's attacks for the first time, labeling him a bandit and giving the Eritrean liberation struggle public attention.In response, Awate motivated further military action by claiming that he was fighting "for the sake of the Eritrean flag and their homeland."Further 1961 attacks took place in Eritrea's western lowlands. These rural communities were composed ofMuslimswho had been oppressed by theEthiopian government, thus exhibiting the greatest antagonism for Ethiopia. Also, the western lowlands were close toSudan, the movement's safe haven.Awate's movement gained momentum when Eritrean members of theSudan Defense Forcejoined his movement. By March 1962, the Ethiopian police force were no longer able to suppress Awate's movement, leading Ethiopian authorities to publicly announce that anyone supporting Awate or withholding information regarding Awate would be imprisoned.In June 1962, Awate died, which led to the merger of his group with the ELF. That, with the combination of the Ethiopian government's discovery and subsequent suppression of the ELM, led to the ELF emerging as the main independence movement in Eritrea.On November 14, 1962, EmperorHaile SelassieannexedEritreaafter the Assembly was figuratively held "at gun point" to vote for annexation.Selassie remarked that "We thank our people of Eritrea who, guided by a deep sense of patriotism and unity, have labored without crease to bring about this advancement. We vow before God, that, as we have repeatedly stated, we shall spare no effort to secure the happiness and advancement of our people."Israellater revealed its support of Eritrea's annexation, providing funding to train the Ethiopian police force.
The ELF began to receive arms fromSaudi ArabiaandNorth Yemenin 1962.There were 250 members of the ELF in 1963. That was also the year whenmilitary aidin the form of weapons fromChina,Iraq, andSyriaintensified.The ELF then raided several Ethiopian bases and military establishments with this aid between 1961 and 1965.This era was also when women also began to play a role in the ELF: they sent messages, obtained weapons, and served as cooks and nurses to the soldiers. In 1965, the ELF army grew to 2,000 members organized in sevenplatoons.
This led the president of the ELF,Idris Mohamed Adem, to meet with the leaders of each platoon to restructure the ELF in May 1965. They agreed in dividingEritreainto four Zonal Commands with the Revolutionary Command located inKassala. Like the Egyptian-funded military training, the organization of the ELF was inspired by the organization of theAlgerian national liberation front. The first zone was located in western Eritrea and was populated by Muslims andBeni Amer. Their leader wasMahmoud Dinni.The second zone consisted of Eritrea's northern highlands, which was populated by Muslim nomads and led byOmer Hamed Ezaz.The third province included Eritrea's central plateau, which was populated byTigrinya-speaking farmers and MuslimSahopastoralists.Abdelkerim Ahmedwas the leader of zone three.The fourth zone was the central and southern coast, consisting of Muslim nomads and led byMohammed Ali Omero.As a consequence of this restructuring, the ELF was strong enough to preventEthiopiafrom entirely controllingEritrea.They also maintained control through their "belief that they had the sole mandate of representing the Eritrean people." Therefore, they suppressed any other liberation movement.
As the ELF grew in strength,Ethiopiaincreased military spending by 68.2%.Also, the relationship betweenEthiopiaandSudanfractured as each country supported the liberation movements in the other country. This weakened both countries militarily and politically. EmperorHaile SelassieofEthiopiaand PresidentNasserofEgyptalso worked with theOrganization of African Unity(OAU) in the early 1960s to ease hostility between the two nations. However,Egyptdid not terminate its support for the ELF; they just moved their operations toSyria.
In 1966, the ELF began to incorporateChristiansinto the movement. This resulted in an increasing amount of military confrontations in the highlands nearSudan.As a result, a fifth Zonal command that covered the Eritrean highlands was established byOsman Idris Galadewos.Concerned about the growing strength of the ELF,Ethiopiaprocured military support fromIsraeland theUnited Statesto launch acounter-offensivemovement against the ELF. The goal of thiscounter offensivewas to internally fracture the ELF betweenChristiansandMuslims, which proved effective by the summer of 1967.Ethiopiafirst decimated hundreds ofvillagesinEritreain early 1967, which caused theArab countriesto suspend their support for the ELF in June 1967.This resulted inWolde Kahsai'sChristianfighters betraying the ELF in the summer of 1967. AnotherChristiangroup underHaile Woldetensae'sleadership was executed by ELFMuslimsafter they surrendered to the Ethiopianconsulate. Hostility betweenChristiansandMuslimsensured even when theChristiansdid not deflect to the Ethiopian side of the conflict as proven by the September 1967 massacre of 50 Christians in zone four.
The internal political conflicts and recent military losses experienced by the ELF in the late 1960s convinced members that the ELF had to be restructured. The resulting movement became known as the Eslah movement. The Eslah movement first merged zones three and five together in September 1968, forming theTripartite Unity Forces.However, this unification did not resolve the ELF's internal division, which led to theAdobha conferencebetween ELF leadership in August 1969.This conference abolished the Zonal Command system and instead redividedEritreainto three regions.The ELF experienced significant military victories in the aftermath of the 1969 conference, the most prominent of those being the assassination of Ethiopian GeneralTshomi Ergetuin late 1970. Nonetheless, Ethiopia struck back with the bombing ofKerenon Christmas Eve, 1970. Hundreds of women and children died, leading French newspapermanAndre FontaineofLe Mondeto remark that the Ethiopians had successfully destabilized the Eritrean independence movement.
Moreover, internal divisions ensured within the ELF during this time period regarding the tension betweenMuslimsandChristiansand Eritrea's interactions withArab countries. The government of theArab countriesreleased propaganda since 1964 that stressed the homogeneousArabnature ofEritrea. Also, prominentChristianrevolutionary leaders likeWoldeab Woldemariamhad uneasy relations with theArab world. This even causedSaudi Arabiato cease its support for the ELF in 1967.Also, there was the 1969 and 1970 massacre ofChristianELF soldiers and the assassination of prominentChristianELF figures such asWolde GhidayandKidae Kiflu. Therefore, in 1971,Abraham TewoideandIsaias Afwerkifounded a faction that broke away from the ELF that would eventually combine with other breakaway factions to form theEritrean People's Liberation Front(EPLF). Additionally, women within the ELF established the Women's Union in 1967 to protest the inequalities they faced. Women were dissatisfied that they were unable to hold ranks within the ELF that were comparable to those held by men. Nonetheless, ELF leadership largely ignored these women until the 1971 first National Congress, which is when the ELF first recognized that women were vital to the operation of the ELF.
By 1970, the ELF was estimated to be 1,500 to 2,000 fighters strong.
Although theEritrean Liberation Forces - People's Liberation Forces(ELF - PLF) formally split from the ELF in 1971, the ELF was strictly divided since mid-1969. This division was a direct consequences of the defeats suffered by the ELF as a result of Ethiopia's 1967–1968 counter offensive.The PLF was frustrated that the ELF Revolutionary Command failed to maintain the support of manyChristianfighters during Ethiopia'scounter offensive. The PLF also felt that the Revolutionary Command was guilty of insubordination to ELF military leadership, leadingOthman Sabbeto call for the complete removal of the Revolutionary Command. The Revolutionary command, on the other hand, felt that PLF members had violated the ranks of the ELF.
After the formal split in 1971, the ELF held its first National Congress to determine the future of the movement.The ELF responded by instituting the ELF Revolutionary Council and structuring their troops into twelvebattalions.The ELF also demanded that the breakaway factions rejoin the ELF.War between the ELF and the ELF - PLF was initiated in February 1972 on the directive of the ELF Revolutionary Council.
Under the leadership ofOsman Saleh Sabbe,Romadan Mohamed Nur, andIsaias Afwerki, theEPLFwas formed in August 1973 from the ELF - PLF and other breakaway factions.Both men received theirguerrilla warfaretraining inChinaand implemented stringent policies to quash rebellion movements. Inspired byMaoistideology, theEPLFmanaged theEritrean People's Revolutionary Party(EPRP), which was a far left-wing political movement that Nur and Afwerki established in 1971.
In September 1974, a military coup known as theDergremoved Ethiopian EmperorHaile Selassiefrom power. This marked a shift in Ethiopia'sCold Waralignment from the west to the east. Meanwhile, the rise of PresidentAnwar El SadatinEgyptconverted the country to a westernCold Waralignment. This shift in leadership paved the way for Ethiopia's request forEgyptto cease their support for the Eritrean independence movements.
Also, by this time, theEPLFhad amassed the support of Eritreans living in the Christian highlands. Nonetheless, Selassie's fall from power enabled the ELF and theEPLFto put aside their differences and jointly invadeAsmarain January 1975. Thisoffensivewas largely successful; it liberated 95% ofEritrea.Additionally, in May 1975, Idris Mohammed Adem was replaced byAhmed Mohammed Nasseras the leader of the ELF.By the mid-1975,Ethiopiabegan to fight back against the Eritrean independence movements by usingpropagandato counter the Arab countries' notion of aholy war. This crumbled Ethiopia's relationship withEgyptandSudan. Consequently,Sudancontinued to support Eritrean independence movements and amassed Egypt's as a military ally ifEthiopiawere to invadeSudan. Furthermore, asEthiopiawas allied with theSoviets,Egyptprovided aid to Eritrean independence movements out of fear of theNile Riverbeing controlled by theUSSR.
By 1977, theEPLFwas the primary independence movement inEritrea.TheEPLFcapturedKerenin late 1976, establishing an efficient city administration and filling the markets with food. The liberation movements also forced an Ethiopian retreat after a week of fighting inAsmara, leaving many dead soldiers on the streets unburied. InMassawa, the EPLF managed to hold off the Ethiopians in early 1977, despiteSovietassistance. Nonetheless, as a result of the fighting, over 90,000 Eritreans were homeless in 1977, leading theEPLFto provide medical and food assistance.
TheEPLFalso allowed women to undergo military training in 1975. Between January 23 and 31, 1977, the EPLF convened in Sahel for the meeting of its first congress. There, theEPLFproposed a plan for Eritrea's independent government, which included steps to resolve gender inequality. Nonetheless, Eritrea's first liberation came to a close, as Ethiopia's army grew to 40,000 troops, following thefall of the Massawanaval base in December 1977 and thefall of Barentuin April 1978.
With the assistance of theUSSR,Ethiopiasuccessfully took back most ofEritreaby the middle of 1978. Consequently, theEPLFwithdrew toSahelandNakfa. There, they engaged in sporadic raids of Ethiopian strongholds. The ELF mustered support from theArab worldto attempt acounter offensiveon the Ethiopian army. However, the attack failed and the ELF placed theEPLFat fault for not aiding theircounter offensive.TheEPLFalso suspected the ELF of working with theArab countriesto reach a peace agreement withEthiopia. Therefore, in 1980, hostility between theEPLFand ELF reemerged after the ELF leftSahel. TheEPLFreclaimed the northernRed Seaarea ofEritreain 1980 whereas the ELF fled toSudanin the face of battle with Ethiopia and the EPLF. In Sudan, the ELF lost their weapons and consequently, dissolved. Therefore, in 1981, the EPLF was the only Eritrean independence movement still afloat.
TheEritrean War for Independencecontinued for another ten years, with theEPLFas the primary independence movement.Eritreaachieved fullindependenceon May 24, 1991.