Ethiopia’s Socialist Revolution in Global Context: Soviet Visions, African Realities

• In Event: Soviet Global Engagements: Alliances, Aid, and Strategy in the Cold War

Abstract

The Soviet Union and its allies tried to build socialism in many countries in the Global South. Why is the Ethiopian case after the 1974 Ethiopian revolution different from all other cases? And how did Soviet bloc allies and Ethiopians attempt to transform Ethiopia under the banner of socialism? Drawing on material both from the former Soviet bloc and Ethiopia, this study aims to trace impact, real possibilities and ultimate failure of this project and asks to what extent the Ethio-Soviet encounter prompted Africans and Soviet bloc allies alike to rethink development models, internationalism, and finally the entire Soviet project.

Author

• Nikolaus Graf Vitzthum, Yale U