Mengistu Haile Mariam

Mengistu Haile Mariam is an Ethiopian military officer and political leader who headed the Derg and ruled Ethiopia from 1977 to 1991, including as president.

Derg: The military committee that took power in Ethiopia after the 1974 revolution and ruled until 1991. Mengistu rose to power within this committee and became its dominant leader.
Haile Selassie: Ethiopia’s emperor from 1930 to 1974, whose overthrow ended the monarchy. Mengistu’s rule followed the deposition of the emperor and rejected imperial authority.
Fidel Castro: A Cuban revolutionary who led Cuba as head of government from 1959 to 2008. Cuba became a close ally of Mengistu’s government and provided military support.
Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front: A coalition of Ethiopian political and armed groups that took power in 1991. The EPRDF’s military victory ended Mengistu’s government.
Ethiopian Red Terror: A campaign of political violence by Ethiopia’s Derg government against perceived opponents, especially from 1976 to 1978. Mengistu’s government directed the campaign to suppress opposition and consolidate its rule.
Ethiopian Empire: A state in the Horn of Africa whose monarchy ended with the 1974 revolution. Mengistu inherited a state transformed by the collapse of its imperial institutions.
Mikhail Gorbachev: The Soviet leader whose reforms and foreign-policy shifts reshaped the USSR from 1985 to 1991. Soviet policy changes reduced the external support on which Mengistu’s government depended.
Mengistu Haile Mariam trial: The Ethiopian court proceedings that convicted Mengistu and other Derg officials of genocide and related crimes. The trial addressed state violence committed under Mengistu’s government while he remained in exile.
Ethiopian Revolution: The 1974 uprising that ended Ethiopia’s imperial government and brought the Derg to power. The revolution created the military government Mengistu later led.
Aman Andom: An Ethiopian general who briefly chaired the Derg in 1974 before being killed in a power struggle. His fate illustrates the violent leadership struggles that preceded Mengistu’s ascendancy.

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