Like Ho Chi Minh! Like Che Guevara!: The Revolutionary Left in Ethiopia, 1969-1979

New Roads #6

by Ian Scott Horst

In 1974 a popular revolution rocked the nation of Ethiopia. Here is the true story of how a generation of young people, inspired by globe-shaking events like the African-American civil rights struggle and the fight against US imperialism in Vietnam—and influenced by the words and deeds of revolutionaries like Ho Chi Minh, Che Guevara, V. I. Lenin and Mao Zedong—confronted the power of Africa's oldest empire. It's also the story of tragedy and betrayal as a revolutionary generation saw its dream of people's power crushed by a left-talking military and the machinations of global superpowers.

Using extensive citations mined from the revolutionary publications of the moment, eyewitness survivor testimonies, unearthed secret Cold War documents, and original historical narrative, author Ian Scott Horst takes us to the center of the revolutionary process to reveal the political debates and life-and-death drama of a revolution made and unmade.

Genres: Africa, History, Ethiopia, Nonfiction, Politics

502 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2020

Reviews

[Nye Canham · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book.

At a historical level, Horst draws on a wide range of publications, interviews, and diplomatic cables to build his vision of Ethiopia's politics in the mid-1970s. Horst convincingly argues that the EPRP had the broadest base in Ethiopian society and was the only communist organization to understand immediately the threat the military dictatorship posed to the revolution. While I disagree with some of Horst's ideological assertions, it's hard to argue with his conclusions about the nature of the Dergue. Horst's most factually important contribution is to prove, more or less decisively, that the Dergue engaged in the repression of communists before the EPRP resorted to urban armed struggle.

Horst's discussion of the evolution of the Ethiopian trade union movement is another particular strong point. CELU began life as a tool of the CIA, it ended as a popular, revolutionary participant in a struggle against a regime armed by the United States.

This book should be a vital component of any study of revolutionary theory or strategy: after 1969 a number of major leftwing organizations adopted urban armed struggle as a central tactic in their struggles. This was a universal failure outside of maybe Northern Ireland. But the Ethiopian example is the most illustrative because Ethiopia experience an actual popular revolution during this period and because that revolution was coopted, defeated, and broken.

On an aesthetic level this is a strong work. It converts the impenetrable written style of Maoism into a dynamic, living prose. Horst ably evokes the horror and hope of a revolutionary moment. Despite a number of typos, the writing is succinct, clear and direct.

Horst spares no sympathy for those factions of the western left which fell prey to campism, or to a stodgy dogmatism that traded solidarity for sloganeering. But he is not a cynical or anti-revolutionary historian. This book, and the struggle of the Ethiopian peoples, is a reminder that history is left unfinished. Every historical moment is eventually wiped away: the collapse of the USSR carried with it the strategically conservative Leninist parties, and a wide swathe of the world's left. The long left low tide after 1991, and the present moment of contradiction and development, are opportunities to build towards something which might fulfill the promises for which countless millions gave their lives in heroic struggle: democracy and popular sovereignty.

The Ethiopian Revolution meant something to its participants and it should mean something to us today.

[Adel · Rating 5 out of 5]

what a sad story with lots to learn from for future socialists

[Adam G · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book provides a great overview of the revolutionary period in 1970s Ethiopia. The author boldly sets out his views in the Introduction that this period is under-studied, and that many existing histories have one of two flaws depending on when and where they were written: either uncritical left-wing accounts (often contemporary to the period in discussion) that treat the USSR-backed Mengistu regime as a victorious socialist revolution, or post-cold war narratives that tar the upheavals as yet another example of failed communism. The author draws on the latest English-language material including declassified or leaked (thanks, Wikileaks) government communications from both sides of the Iron Curtain, and memoirs from activist survivors of the period. This is the first obvious limitation of the book because there must be many more sources in the Ethiopian languages especially for things like contemporary reportage and legislation. However, this rarely feels like an impediment to the story told, which sheds much more light on the ‘underdog’ Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Party (EPRP) and the collaborator All-Ethiopian Socialist Movement (MEISON), both of which were rooted in the Anglophone radical student movement which did so much to precipitate the downfall of Selassie but were unable to win power on their own terms from the opportunistic ‘Derg’ military regime that took the emperor’s place.

Reading this book has deepened and complicated my understanding of the late Cold War period in Africa. The support from the USSR and Cuba for Mengistu has to be one of the clearest examples of how the Soviet leaders were preoccupied with ambitions of ‘great power’ status at the expense of actually coming to the aid of the working class and anti-imperialist liberation movements. Although the Derg did implement some economic and social reforms, it ultimately did not have radical aims for Ethiopian independence, instead courting whoever would sponsor it in terms of arms and foreign investment. Although the military could not have won power without the student movement, following the emperor’s deposal these two groups were travelling in opposite directions, with EPRP building a mass party and Meison attempting to reform the Derg from within, while history shows that Mengistu in particular had a bloodthirsty ambition for power at any cost.

The Derg’s top-down approach led to the creation of many institutions that carried out the slaughter of a generation of Ethiopian activists fighting for genuine democracy. Writing this in December time means I’m frequently reminded of the Ethiopian famine that triggered the “Band Aid” single 40 years ago. In Ethiopia, this was also the point at which Mengistu cemented his control, taking the chair of the new official state communist party in 1984. The book quotes the former head of the Ethiopian relief effort, who chillingly describes how towns were decked out in red flags and portraits of Mengistu, Marx and Lenin to celebrate the party’s foundation on the 10th anniversary of the regime, and huge construction works were underway in Addis Ababa, while “there was no mention of famine anywhere except in my office.” The first line of the Internationale in English calls “Arise, ye prisoners of starvation” - yet the regime had beheaded just such an uprising a few years earlier. This is to my mind the best illustration of how Mengistu embraced the trappings of official communism while being completely morally bankrupt and self-serving.

[Henok Waltenegus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite the inordinate amount of time it took me to finish reading this book, I quite enjoyed it. Ian Scott Horst’s citing of primary sources throughout the book provides a wealth of further readings to dive into. That being said, there are times where the citations are lengthy, and makes for a dense read. Regardless, I enjoyed being able to revisit this often overlooked epoch of Ethiopia’s history.

[maya]

only managed to read this because someone on twt had the link to the pdf scans in their bio… shoutout to them fr cause i likely woulda never been able to read this otherwise