Ethiopia

The Empire of Ethiopia, commonly known as Ethiopia, is a constitutional monarchy in the Horn of Africa. It borders the Republic of Eritana to the North, the Sultumate of Egypt to the west, Somalia to the East, and Kenia to the south.

**History:**

Haile Selassie’s reign in Ethiopia would bring German investments and advisors, the establishment of a Police Force, and a constitution based on that of the German Empire’s. When Black Monday came, the entirety of The Horn fell into chaos as the Ethiopian government proved insolvent, and famine soon followed. Shifta, or bandits, arose from the growing political disunity within Ethiopia and Somalia. Frustrated with the bureaucratic processes of Ethiopia’s aging government, Haile Selassie would take total control and implement a series of reforms such as abolishing slavery and creating a welfare system. The reforms proved unpopular with the nobility, for which, Selassie promoted nationalism and military service in an attempt to secure their loyalty. Taxes were increased to equip and modernize the military, putting significant strain on the already impoverished population. The Ogaden War, named so for the region where most of the fighting took place, would originally start as Haile Selassie’s retaliatory expedition against the Somali bandits but would quickly become a total war between the Somali and Ethiopian peoples. Maxamuud Cali Shiire would call the five noble clans of Somalia to his side against the Ethiopian threat. The Somali clansmen proved to be skilled horsemen and tacticians, learning from lifetimes of desert raiding and warfare. The course of the war, of course, proved disastrous for the Ethiopian military. The small army proved to be so expensive to supply that they soon found themselves running out of basic supplies, like rifle ammunition. Haile Selassie would lead his slowly starving battalion of lost Ethiopians through an inhospitable land of hostile territories and ambushes from the Somalis.

The economic issues struck those in the country’s north the most, and, along with the absence of Selassie from Addis Ababa, the incompetence of the government left without its head, the increasing taxes, and ever looming inflation crisis, the situation quickly crescendoed into a separatist revolt. These rebellions would become known to the Ethiopians as the Northern or Eritrean Revolt and to others as the Eritrean War of Independence. Emerging first among impoverished peasantry, the revolts soon found a leader: Former Italian Askari Aviator, Woli Mondelli (known OTL as a Domenico Mondelli). Mondelli would organize a capable army composed of many former Askari & former members of the Emperor’s army against Ethiopia. All the while, Haile Selassie, unaware of the extent of the situation at home, continued to lead his armies in Somalia. However, at home, the Mesafint (Ethiopian nobility) grew discontented and overthrew the government, placed Haile’s elderly uncle Imru Selassie on the throne, reversed all the reforms of the previous years, and signed a peace with the Eritrean Rebels and Somalia. Ras Imru Selassie would be declared Emperor and would officially disband the army- announcing that soldiers returning from Somalia and Eritrea would receive no pay or pension. Left with few supporters at home and even fewer at his side, Haile Selassie would be forced away from his home, eventually settling in Brazil- Here, he would become the centerpiece of a new movement.

The unpaid veterans, ever bitter with the Mesafint for their betrayal, would spitefully begin to refer to themselves as Arbegnoch (patriots). The Arbegnoch would organize through literary clubs, drinking clubs, veterans’ associations, political parties, and even religious orders where they would meet and discuss. Soon several of these veterans would take to the streets and form gangs armed with weapons they’d kept from the Ogaden War. Motivated by a radical and militant hatred of the Mesafint establishment, the gangs of Arbegnoch would harass the police, assassinate nobles, and often would resort to organized crime in their attempts to resist the Mesafint government. Far from a unified movement, different Arbegnoch associations have different views, tactics, and ideologies. For instance, the Black Lions, one of the larger Arbegnoch associations, have Leninist, nationalist, and even Boseist chapters across Ethiopia. With the loss of their coastal provinces, Ethiopia has found itself thrown from the international stage, the whole of the country quickly degrading into a feudal and kleptocratic hermit kingdom ravaged by widespread famine.