The Eritrean War of Independence was a thirty-year struggle by Eritreans against Ethiopian rule. Eritrea had been placed in a federation with Ethiopia after the Second World War, but Emperor Haile Selassie dissolved the federation and annexed it, prompting the Eritrean Liberation Front to take up arms. A rival movement, the Eritrean People's Liberation Front, became dominant, and after the fall of Haile Selassie it fought the Marxist Derg regime of Mengistu Haile Mariam. Large conventional battles in the 1980s, along with famine and displacement, marked the later years. As Mengistu's government collapsed, the EPLF took the capital, Asmara, and in 1993 a referendum showed overwhelming support for independence.
Before and after
- 2 July 1961Death of Ernest Hemingway
- 4 August 1961Birth of Barack Obama
- 6 August 1961Launch of Vostok 2
- from 13 August 1961 to 9 November 1989Construction of Berlin Wall
- from 1 September 1961 to 29 May 1991Eritrean War of Independence
- 11 September 1961The World Wildlife Fund is founded
- 18 September 1961Founding of CONCACAF
- 18 September 1961Birth of James Gandolfini
- 29 September 1961Birth of Julia Gillard
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The era
This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.