Derg

Rare card · No. 22839

The Derg or Dergue (Amharic: ደርግ, romanized: Därg, lit. 'committee' or 'council'), officially the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC), and also often simply known as Socialist Ethiopia, was the military junta that ruled Ethiopia (which at that time included present-day Eritrea) from 1974 to 1987, when its members formally "civilianized" the administration, though they remained in power until 1991. The Derg was established on 21 June 1974 as the Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, Police and Territorial Army, by junior and mid-level officers of the Imperial Ethiopian Army and members of the police. The officers decided everything collectively at first, and selected Mengistu Haile Mariam to chair the proceedings. On 12 September 1974, the Derg overthrew the government of the Ethiopian Empire and Emperor Haile Selassie during nationwide mass protests, and three days later formally renamed itself the Provisional Military Administrative Council. In March 1975 the Derg...

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