I. The Effects of Colonial Legacy
The root causes of the war could be traced back in history to the imperialist policy of great powers of Europe, an international phenomenon during the 19th century. Eritrea as a new independent entity was created by Italian colonization. Italian colonization did not only create a new independent state of Eritrea but also a separate Eritrean identity. As a result of the socio-economic improvements created by the Italian colonial legacy, Eritreans developed a distinct Eritrean identity and a sense being “civilized” and regarded Ethiopians as “backward”. (Tekeste: 2000, p.54-157). In one interview, Eritrean President Issayas once said, “We have lived with Europeans; we have seen much of the civilized world. There are many things we have learned from them. The Ethiopians, on the contrary, have just come out of the forest. They are not civilized. They feel inferior because they have come out of the bush” (Solomon: 1998, p.15).
Although Ethiopia and Italy signed three treaties regarding the common border, none of these treaties were demarcated. Having the intention of further expansion; Italians did not seem interested in effecting the demarcation of the border. Indeed, Italians interpreted the border treaties unilaterally and drew a new borderline of their own (Tekeste and Tronvoll: 2000, p.8).Italian colonization of Ethiopia and the creation of the Great Eritrea; combining the Tigrayan speaking provinces of both Eritrea and Ethiopia made the demarcation of the border unimportant (Tekeste and Tronvoll: 2000, p.8).
II. The Nature Leaders of Both Countries
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and Eritrean President Issayas Afeworki each played a crucial role in the eruption of the conflict. Both ...
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...l partner. After victory and taking over of political power, EPLF maintained its old psychological perception of seniority and attempted to assert itself in the region. The new Eritrea under EPLF‟s leadership wanted to play the leading role in the development of the horn of Africa. Eritrea’s clashes with Sudan, Djibouti and Yemen are cases in point to illustrate Eritrea’s hegemonic ambition in the region (Tronvoll: 2004, p.51). However, depending on its wide resources, Ethiopia appeared much more hegemonic than Eritrea imagined. As a senior front, EPLF was not ready to accept the new dominant role of Ethiopia under TPLF. Such historically rooted competition for regional hegemony was possibly the most important reason that turned the two friends into enemies in 1998 (Tronvoll: 2004, p.51).
IV. State Building Tasks of Eritrea
C. Consequences of the Conflict
Being an Eritrean-American, I have had to learn and balance out both cultures. This came with obstacles that I had to tackle and has allowed me to grow as a person. From learning two different languages, history, and cultures, my experiences have definitely impacted how I want to live my life in this world.
Europe, in the late 1800’s, was starting for a land grab in the African continent. Around 1878, most of Africa was unexplored, but by 1914, most of Africa, with the lucky exception of Liberia and Ethiopia, was carved up between European powers. There were countless motivations that spurred the European powers to carve Africa, like economical, political, and socio–cultural, and there were countless attitudes towards this expansion into Africa, some of approval and some of condemnation.
The purpose of this document is to discuss the horrible acts one may recognize as the genocide in Somalia. One may deliberate regularly on the reasons or circumstances that lead to the mistreatment and killings of a whole country; how could this happen? Why are no other countries willing to step in and give aid to the Somali people whom are suffering on a daily basis? In reality, many concerns have been addressed, whether by discussions or actions. There may be different philosophies or viewpoints as to why the genocide was conducted and not stopped. Genocide is a cruel and inhumane event and is a world problem.
Italy and Britain, France and Russia have more common interests, manifested in: Italy could not afford to offend the United Kingdom, because its long coastline could not afford to attack the British strong navy, so the beginning that does not participate in any action against Britain. The "impoverished imperialism" of Italy was financially dependent on the "usury imperialism" of France, in particular the failure of both Ethiopia in 1887 and 1895, and was compelled to unconditionally recognize its independence and reparations 10 million lire, which makes the financial and economic difficulties in Italy, when the opportunity to take advantage of loans in France, and to display flexible diplomatic means to make Italy and France signed a treaty, the two sides of their respective expansion in Africa and the benefits achieved To reach an agreement. Italy in order to successfully expand in Africa, also reached an agreement with Russia, the two sides signed that the common resistance to the expansion of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the Balkans, intended to Russia in the Black Sea Strait expansion of the "goodwill", the expansion of North Africa understanding. Before the outbreak of World War I, because of advantages and dis advantages, in fact, Italy separated from the Three Kingdoms the parties from the
Since Germany had now violated the Treaty of Versailles, Britain, France, and Italy gathered at Strea in Italy to discuss a course of action. Britain and France’s main concern was to keep Italy in opposition to the Germans. When Italy decided to attack Ethiopia, Britain was torn between avoiding war or endorsing the unprovoked attack. They left it up to the League of Nations to make the decision. In this deci...
Growing up as a first generation Eritrean-American, I did not have anyone to lead the way for me. I am breaking barriers for the Eritrean community. Most Eritreans, like my parents, left their country, family, and belongings during the war to come to America as refugees. My parents had to start over and because of that, I was able to understand their struggle and sacrifices. It was hard for me to assimilate to American culture while living at home with a culture very different while I was young. As the years went by, I learned balance and found a culture of my own between the two cultures. I was disparate from many of the children at school because my parents were not born here. People assumed I was an immigrant and did not speak English because
For the purpose of this article, the neighbouring countries of Rwanda and Uganda in East Africa have been chosen as case-studies. Both countries experienced different European imperialist influences as well as different decolonisation processes. Moreover, in post-independence both countries developed a saliency of indelible conflict. Conflict in both Rwanda and Uganda was not only an outcome of colonial legacies, but was also a consequence of historical circumstances and opportunistic power struggles. For this reason, this article will briefly examine the pre-colonial history of both Rwanda and Uganda, respectively. Subsequently, the dynamics of imperialism will be explored in Rwanda under Belgian ...
A. Adu Boahen's African Perspectives on Colonialism neatly classifies African responses to European colonialism during both phases of invasion and occupation during the 19th century with precise labels according to their nature or time period. However, the reactions can also be loosely grouped into two diametric characterizations: peaceful and violent. Although creating this dichotomy seems a gross generalization and oversimplification of the colonial African experience, it more importantly allows for a different perspective- one that exposes the overwhelming success of the typically peaceful or pacifist reaction in contrast to the little gain and large losses of the violent response.
Africa has been an interesting location of conflicts. From the conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea to the revolutionary conflict in Libya and Egypt, one of the greatest conflicts is the Rwandan Genocide. The Rwandan Genocide included two tribes in Rwanda: Tutsis and Hutus. Upon revenge, the Hutus massacred many Tutsis and other Hutus that supported the Tutsis. This gruesome war lasted for a 100 days. Up to this date, there have been many devastating effects on Rwanda and the global community. In addition, many people have not had many acknowledgements for the genocide but from this genocide many lessons have been learned around the world.
Last year, Eritreans formed the second largest group of migrants to Europe, after Syrians. These meager migrants feared their harsh dictatorship, which imprisoned anyone who breathed a word of dissent or tried to migrate. Bayin Keflemeka, an Eritrean nurse, explains the penalty many Eritreans will face if they are deported back to their country. “Eritrea is a total dictatorship. They can put us in prison for unlimited years. If we go back, we will die” (Kingsley). Europe has always been in the eyes of many Eritreans, where a wide variety of parliamentary governments represent and dedicate their attention to the will of the people. Although torture, execution, forced labor, or imprisonment may be frightening, Eritreans are willing to risk migration with the hopes of eluding a tyrannical
There are almost as many languages as there are peoples in Ethiopia, about 80 in all. The languages come from a variety of families - Semitic, Hamitic, Nilotic and Omotic. Amharic, spoken in the country's heartland, is Ethiopia's official language, but Tigrinya, spoken in the north, and Orominya, spoken in the south, have semi-official status. The Oromos are the largest ethnic group in the country, and are made up of a muddle of Christians, Muslims and traditional animists. Amharic and Tigrinya use the Ge'ez script, with an understated 231 letters - keep an eye out for fabulously complex Amharic typewriters. Kids are taught English from junior high onward, and many people can speak a smattering or more.
As the Europeans started to invade Africa and split up the land, they paid no attention to the already existing natural boundaries. Over time, villages with different cultures had set these boundaries. The Europeans ignored these invisible borders as they invaded. This caused soci...
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