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Quoted By: >>5661216
In 1991, the East African country of Eritrea seceded from Ethiopian rule at the conclusion of a thirty-year-long conflict known as the Eritrean War of Independence. The victorious faction, the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front, took control of the country and reorganised into the People’s Front for Democracy and Justice, or PFDJ, in 1994. Treaties were signed and guns were lowered, and it seemed like the people of Eritrea might finally get to know some measure of peace.
However, what hope for respite had bloomed in the hearts of so many newly independent Eritreans was soon quashed. The PFDJ, once a symbol of freedom and liberation, grew steadily more totalitarian until its leadership outlawed all other political parties. This caused a schism in the Eritrean government, with many members taking umbrage at the fact that the new government seemed to be a replica of the old Ethiopian authority. As a result, many people moved away from the concept of Eritrean nationalism in favour of an entirely new nation and formed a splinter group, taking much of the military power with them.
The splinter group took the name Red Sea Revolutionary Faction, known as the RSRF, and consisted of those dissatisfied with the main PFDJ. Many of the disenfranchised flocked to their banner, including dedicated communists who found themselves excluded by the new regime, those who sought further vengeance against the Ethiopians via total annexation and those who had grown so used to war that they couldn’t function without it, among others. With the element of surprise on their side and a goodly amount of weapons and vehicles stockpiled over the course of the thirty-year war, the RSRF wasted no time in annexing a large swathe of Eritrean soil, now known as North Eritrea or New Eritrea, and establishing a heavy military presence. At the head of this effort was one Samuel Yonas, a military leader of the Eritrean rebels during the Eritrean War of Independence and the new president of North Eritrea, supported by several trusted underlings. All attempts by the United Nations to negotiate a peaceful resolution have ended in failure.
However, what hope for respite had bloomed in the hearts of so many newly independent Eritreans was soon quashed. The PFDJ, once a symbol of freedom and liberation, grew steadily more totalitarian until its leadership outlawed all other political parties. This caused a schism in the Eritrean government, with many members taking umbrage at the fact that the new government seemed to be a replica of the old Ethiopian authority. As a result, many people moved away from the concept of Eritrean nationalism in favour of an entirely new nation and formed a splinter group, taking much of the military power with them.
The splinter group took the name Red Sea Revolutionary Faction, known as the RSRF, and consisted of those dissatisfied with the main PFDJ. Many of the disenfranchised flocked to their banner, including dedicated communists who found themselves excluded by the new regime, those who sought further vengeance against the Ethiopians via total annexation and those who had grown so used to war that they couldn’t function without it, among others. With the element of surprise on their side and a goodly amount of weapons and vehicles stockpiled over the course of the thirty-year war, the RSRF wasted no time in annexing a large swathe of Eritrean soil, now known as North Eritrea or New Eritrea, and establishing a heavy military presence. At the head of this effort was one Samuel Yonas, a military leader of the Eritrean rebels during the Eritrean War of Independence and the new president of North Eritrea, supported by several trusted underlings. All attempts by the United Nations to negotiate a peaceful resolution have ended in failure.
