Federation of Ethiopia and Eritrea

The Federation of Ethiopia and Eritrea or Ethiopian–Eritrean Federation[3] was a federation of the Ethiopian Empire and the autonomous province of Eritrea, which was the former Italian Colony of Eritrea after it had been relinquished by Italy during a period of British military administration during and after World War II. It was created by the approval of the Federal Act in Ethiopia and the Eritrean Constitution on 15 September 1952. After the beginning of the Eritrean War of Independence in 1961, following pressure from Haile Selassie I on the Eritrean Assembly,[4][3] the federation was officially dissolved and the autonomy of Eritrea withdrawn. It was annexed by Ethiopia on 15 November 1962, becoming the integral Province of Eritrea.

Ethiopian–Eritrean Federation

1952–1962
Motto: "Ethiopia Stretches Her Hands unto God"
Anthem: Ityopp'ya Hoy[1]
Ethiopia, Be Happy
Location of Ethiopia with autonomous Eritrea
CapitalAddis Ababa
Common languagesAmharic
Tigrinya[2]
Arabic[2]
Italian
GovernmentAutonomous region
Emperor of Ethiopia 
 1952-1962
Haile Selassie I
Emperor's Representative 
 19521959
Andargachew Messai
 19591962
Abiye Abebe
Chief Executive of Eritrea 
 19521955
Tedla Bairu
 1955 (acting)
Araya Wassie
 19551962
Asfaha Woldemikael
LegislatureImperial Federal Council
Historical eraCold War
 Federation
15 September 1952
1 September 1961
15 November 1962
Area
1,221,900 km2 (471,800 sq mi)
CurrencyEthiopian dollar
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Ethiopian Empire
British Military Administration (Eritrea)
Province of Eritrea
Today part of Ethiopia
 Eritrea

As an autonomous province within Ethiopia, Eritrea had its own democratically elected regional parliament, its own constitution, its own regional government, and Tigrinya and Arabic as its official languages - as opposed to Amharic in the rest of Ethiopia. The capital of the province was Asmara.[5][6]

Prior to the withdrawal of autonomy in 1962, the Chief Justice of Eritrea was removed and the official Eritrean languages were eliminated in favor of Ethiopia's national language Amharic.[7] During the Federation, the encroachment of the Ethiopian Crown was felt on the Chief Executive of Eritrea. This was in direct contravention of the UN Resolution 390-A(V) which had established the Federation.[8]

References

  1. www.nationalanthems.info
  2. Official languages of the Federation alongside Amharic until 1956.
  3. Siegbert Uhlig, et al. (eds.) (2005). Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, Vol. 2: D-Ha. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag. pp.405–409
  4. Habteselassie, Bereket (1989). Eritrea and the United Nations and Other Essays. Red Sea Press. ISBN 0-932415-12-1.
  5. Habteselassie, Bereket (1989). Eritrea and the United Nations and Other Essays. Red Sea Press. ISBN 0932415121.
  6. Haile, Semere (1987). "The Origins and Demise of the Ethiopia-Eritrea Federation". Issue. Issue: A Journal of Opinion, Vol. 15. 15: 9–17. doi:10.2307/1166919. JSTOR 1166919.
  7. Killion, Tom (1998). Historical Dictionary of Eritrea. The Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-3437-5.
  8. Haile, Semere (1987). "The Origins and Demise of the Ethiopia-Eritrea Federation". Issue. Issue: A Journal of Opinion, Vol. 15. 15: 9. doi:10.2307/1166919. JSTOR 1166919.

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