From student activism to revolution: Ethiopia’s Left in 1966–79

By Harsh Thakor* 

In 1974, Ethiopia experienced a popular revolution that toppled Emperor Haile Selassie and ushered in a new political order. Ian Scott Horst’s book Like Ho Chi Minh – Like Che Guevara: The Revolutionary Left in Ethiopia, 1966–79 provides a detailed account of this turbulent period, situating it within the wider currents of global revolutionary movements of the 1960s and 1970s.

Horst traces how Ethiopian students and activists, influenced by global struggles such as the civil rights movement in the United States, the Vietnamese resistance to American intervention, and the writings of revolutionary figures including Lenin, Mao, Ho Chi Minh, and Che Guevara, sought to transform Africa’s oldest empire. Drawing on revolutionary publications, survivor testimonies, declassified Cold War documents, and original analysis, the book reconstructs the debates, aspirations, and eventual tragedies of this revolutionary generation.

While Ethiopia’s revolution is often remembered simply as a military coup that declared socialism but descended into authoritarianism, Horst highlights the competing underground revolutionary movements that had deep roots in 1960s student activism. He explores the rise of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Party (EPRP), its conflicts with the Provisional Office for Mass Organizational Affairs (POMOA) and Major Mengistu Haile Mariam’s military faction, as well as the broader ideological struggles influenced by the Soviet Union, China, and the global left.

The book situates Ethiopia within the context of Cold War rivalry, famine, and ethnic liberation struggles, while examining how Marxist and Maoist currents shaped the political strategies of the period. It also engages with earlier scholarship, contrasting works that were sympathetic to the Derg regime with those that were critical of its authoritarianism.

Importantly, Horst does not portray the Ethiopian revolution as a simple failure of socialism but rather as an example of a mass movement whose ideals were undermined by authoritarian appropriation. He shows how privileged youth, workers, peasants, and rank-and-file soldiers converged in a rapid politicization that, despite repression, revealed the revolutionary potential within Ethiopian society.

The book also reflects on Ethiopia’s continuing political challenges after the fall of the Derg, including persistent ethnic conflict, authoritarianism, and external influence. By revisiting this chapter of history, Horst underscores both the achievements and limitations of revolutionary movements in Africa, while questioning how socialism, democracy, and liberation have been interpreted in the Ethiopian context.

Like Ho Chi Minh – Like Che Guevara contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the Ethiopian revolution by restoring attention to the agency of those who participated in it, rather than reducing the period to Cold War geopolitics or ideological slogans. It stands as both a history of a neglected revolutionary episode and a reflection on the complexities of radical change in the modern world.

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 *Freelance journalist