Ethiopia+History


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 Ethiopia is one of the oldest independent countries in the world as well and the oldest independent country in Africa.In the fourth century AD missionaries from Egypt and Syria arrived to bring the Ethiopians Christianity.The next group of people to reach Ethiopia were the Portuguese in the 1500's. Their main purpose was to take control of the Indian Ocean as well as to convert the Ethiopians to Roman Catholicism. The results were religious conflict for the next century throughout Ethiopia. the 1700's was the "Era of the Princes." This was not a peaceful time but a time of disunity. The princes were in conflict with each other until the Emperor Tewodros unified them in the 1800's. During the late 1800's and early 1900's Emperor Menelik II came to reign. During this time Emperor Menelik II was responsible for keeping invading forces out of the country. Then, in 1930 Emperor Haile Selassie came to reign but was invaded by Italy in 1936 and he had to flee into exile until the Italians were defeated where he again took the throne. In 1974 a socialist military group took over the country killing 59 members of the Royal Family and Imperial Government including Emperor Haile Selassie. At this time Major Mengistu Haile Mariam came to power. He set up an almost totalitarian government. His reign lasted for 17 years but in 1991 he was forced into Zimbabwe by the Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). After the 17 years President Meles Zenawi and other helped set up a multi-party democracy and adopted a constitution in 1994. In 1995 Ehtiopia became the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. [|Ethiopian History]
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