serviceyears monarch branch death_date allegiance birth_date term_end death_place imagesize footnotes term_start rank image name predecessor birth_place unit office appointed successor article_title
1949-1974 asfaw wossen 1 ethiopian army 23 november 1974 ethiopian empire ethiopia 1975-state socialist ethiopia 21 june 1924 17 november 1974 1974 addis abeba , ethiopia 200px 1 `` king-designate '' by the derg but made no move crown to acknowledge the title , instead recognizing his father , prince haile selassie i , as remaining the de jure emperor asfaw wossen tafari had been declared 12 september 1964 lieutenant general aman andom.png aman mikael andom haile selassie i '' -lrb- emperor -rrb- '' tsazega , italian eritrea third division chairman head of state -rrb- member of the ethiopian senate of the derg -lrb- '' de facto '' haile selassie i tafari benti aman andom

aman andom

aman mikael andom -lrb- 21 june 1924 -- 23 november 1974 -rrb- was the first post-imperial acting head of state of ethiopia .
he was an eritrean originally from the village of tsazega in hamassien province of eritrea .
he was appointed to this position following the coup d'état that deposed emperor haile selassie on 12 september 1974 , and served until his death in a shootout with his former supporters .
his official title was chairman of the provisional military administrative council -lrb- better known as the derg -rrb- , and he held the position of head of state in an acting capacity as the military regime had officially proclaimed crown prince asfaw wossen as `` king-designate '' -lrb- an act that would later be rescinded by the derg , and which was never accepted by the prince as legitimate -rrb- .
as commander of the third division , general aman had been beating back the encroachments of the somali army on the eastern border with a zeal and success that he was known as the `` desert lion . ''
however , in 1964 the emperor dismissed general aman andom when he began to attack into somalia in violation of an order from the emperor , and aman afterwards served in the ethiopian senate in a `` political exile '' .
there is some evidence that indicates he had contacts with the officers of the junta as early as february and march 1974 , but by july he was appointed chief of staff to the military junta .
three days after the junta removed the emperor from his palace to imprisonment at the headquarters of the fourth division , this group appointed him their chairman and president of ethiopia .
at the same time , this group of soldiers assumed the name `` provisional military administrative council '' , better known as the `` derg '' .
from the first day of his presidency , the ottaways note , `` the general found himself at odds with a majority of the `` derg '' 's members over most major issues , including whether he was ` chairman ' of the ruling military body or simply its ` spokesman . ' ''
aman fought the majority of the derg over three central issues : the size of the derg , which he felt was too large and unwieldy ; the policy to be taken towards the eritrean liberation front -lrb- elf -rrb- ; and over the punishment of the numerous aristocrats and former government officials in the derg 's custody .
his refusal to sanction the execution of former high officials , including two former prime ministers and several royal family members and relatives , put his relations with the majority of the derg on an especially bitter footing .
as an eritrean , general aman found himself fiercely at odds with the majority of the derg .
he wanted to negotiate a peaceful settlement ; his opponents hoped to crush the elf by military force .
aman went as far as making two personal visits to eritrea -- the first 25 august to 6 september , the second in november -- giving speeches stating that the end of the imperial regime was also the end of old practices towards eritrea , that a government dedicated to national unity and progress would restore peace and prosperity to eritrea , and lastly that he would begin investigations concerning crimes that the army had perpetrated on eritreans and punish the guilty .
however , at the same time the derg had begun the task of eliminating opponents within the military .
the three significant units were the imperial bodyguard , the air force , and the corp of engineers ; of the three , the most recalcitrant were the engineers .
so on 7 october soldiers loyal to the derg stormed the engineers ' camp , killing five , wounding several and detaining the rest .
as bahru zewde observes , `` with that , the illusion that the revolution would remain bloodless was exploded . ''
general aman responded with a personal campaign to seek support outside the derg , amongst the rest of the army and the country where he was popular .
on 15 november he sent a message to all military units that was highly critical of the derg .
during a general assembly of the derg two days later , mengistu haile mariam demanded that 5,000 men be dispatched to eritrea and six imprisoned imperial officials be executed ; aman andom refused , resigned his official posts and retired to his house where he secretly sent appeals to his supporters , especially those in the third division .
but mengistu managed to intercept these appeals .
general aman died in a battle with troops sent to his home to arrest him .
the actual cause of his death remains unclear , whether he was killed or committed suicide .
that same night , the political prisoners that the derg had marked for execution were taken from menelik prison , where they had been held , to the akaki central prison where they were executed and buried in a mass grave .
`` it appears that the general had outlived his usefulness , '' bahru zewde concludes , `` and was in fact becoming an obstacle to the derg 's exercise of power . ''
