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The Red Terror in Ethiopia

A Historical Aberration

Gebru Tareke is a Professor at the Department of History, Hobart and William Smith Colleges. [email: tareke{at}hws.edu]

This article was inspired by Arno Mayer's magisterial work on the French and Russian revolutions. It is Mayer's thesis that two social forces with irreconcilable political views and objectives fought to the finish in both revolutions. Violence and terror were inevitable. In Ethiopia, the deadly conflict that metamorphosed into the Red Terror was not between conservative and radical forces, but between two modern political organizations which shared the same ideology and strategic goals – but used different tactics. Terror, the article argues, was avoidable. The intent is not to test the validity of Mayer's theory, but to show the peculiarity of the Ethiopian experience.

Key Words: Arno Mayer • Ethiopia • French/Russian Revolution • Red Terror • violence

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