Customer Reviews

The Ethiopian Revolution: War in the Horn of Africa (Yale Library of Military History)

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The title of Gebru Tareke's book is slightly misleading: it is not about the Ethiopian Revolution -- how an ancient empire was violently transformed into an arguably modern political and social entity. His book instead covers how the 14 years the Ethiopian military spent 14 years waging war against its military opponents: Somalia, the Eritrean freedom fighters, and the Tigray Peoples' Liberation Front (TPLF) -- the last opponent being the current ruling group in Ethiopia.

Gebru does not provide a narrative of the fluctuating fortunes of the Ethiopian military; he provides details on only five of the numerous armed conflicts which occupy this period. One chapter narrates Ethiopia's successful Ogaden War. Another section retells the military activities of the decisive Battle of Shire, in which the TPLF decisively defeated a better-equipped yet demoralized and incompetent Ethiopian army. The remaining three chapters are snapshots at different moments of the final years of the Eritrean War of Independence.

Far more attention is spent discussing the dynamics of the Ethiopian military establishment. For most associated with the Ethiopian Revolutionary Army, Communist ideology was little more than a few required lectures and proper catch-phrases; according to Gebru, the majority were far more concerned with personal concerns like climbing up the hierarchy of power, lining their pockets or getting their children into foreign schools. Units were impotent due to chronic squabbling between military commanders and political commissars -- often for reasons unrelated to tactics or the well-being of their troops.

Although well-written & detailed, Gebru Tareke's approach may deter many readers who are more interested in reading a story with a beginning, a narrative arc, and a conclusion. But for discussing the more important issues of why one group of participants succeeded while others failed -- despite the heroism and sacrifice of thousands of participants -- Gebru's approach is the proper way to do help find the answers.