ETHIOPIA’S LOST PROVINCES STRATEGY OF EXPANSION
Ethiopian governments have repeatedly used “historic” arguments to justify territorial claims far beyond their recognized borders. From Haile Selassie’s insistence in the 1960s that Djibouti “indisputably is ours,” to successive governments invoking ethnic overlap to rationalize expansion, this has been a consistent political pattern and not a coincidence. The logic remains: portray neighboring lands as “lost provinces” and their people as “naturally Ethiopian.”
The same narrative is resurfacing today in the PP’s rhetoric toward Eritrea, where old imperial ambitions are poorly repackaged.
The following excerpts from a paper that quotes historical sources show how Ethiopia was making nearly identical arguments to those now recycled regarding Eritrea.
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‘Ethiopia’s ‘historic’ rights were used by Emperor Haile Selassie to claim Djibouti as part of it. The Emperor pointed out that “Djibouti indisputably is ours and its people know they belong to Ethiopia”. On a press conference on 16 September 1966, the Emperor put forward the strongest claim to Djibouti asserting that for historic, economic, strategic and demographic reasons Djibouti is part of Ethiopia and that Ethiopia would automatically fall heir to Djibouti if France renounced sovereignty over the Territory (Ministry of Information, 1967). He also affirmed that “We do not seek what belongs to others. However, we will continue impressing people that are concerned in this matter that the Djibouti Territory had always formed, prior to the last part of the 19th century, an integral part of Ethiopia.” Thus, the Emperor claimed unification with Djibouti and stressed that the boundary between the two countries was artificial and had been imposed against the will of the people.’
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‘On the press conference of September 16, 1966, the Emperor implied that Ethiopian government would resist by force any attempt by Somali Republic to take over the Djibouti Territory. He also asserted that there was no reason for Somalia to be involved in the matter of Djibouti; it was affirmed as it concerned only the Ethiopian government and the inhabitants of Djibouti territory. For Ethiopia the Territory had economic and strategic importance, but Somalia did not need Djibouti and her claims to it were purely political. In fact both Ethiopia and Somalia had already established stronghold in the politics of Djibouti through the political parties formed by their active supports. The pro-Somalia, Liberation Front of Somali Coast (LFSC) was operating from Mogadisho while the Ethiopian backed the Committee for Liberation of Djibouti (CLD) was formed in December 1964 at Dire Dawa. Later on the CLD had moved its headquarter from Dire Dawa to Addis Ababa where it took the name of the Mouvement de Liberation de Djibouti (MLD).
‘Indeed Ethiopia’s interest on Djibouti stemmed from two basic premises: the Afars and part of Issas spill over into her territory; and the economic interests. Fundamentally, Ethiopia’s interest in Djibouti was economic i.e. to secure access to port of Djibouti via the Franco-Ethiopian railway. Although Ethiopia had other ports at Assab and Massawa the port of Djibouti was preferred by accommodating about sixty percent of Ethiopia’s foreign trade due to the connection of the port with Addis Ababa-Djibouti railway—Ethiopia’s only rail link with the sea, the proximity of Djibouti port to many parts of Ethiopia and moreover Assab and Massawa ports were vulnerable because they lay in Eritrea where there was growing violent secessionist movement.’
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Footnote:
‘The Aksumites originally lived in the Ethiopian highlands but through growth and conquest eventually took over much of the surrounding region and even held territory across the Red Sea on the Arabian Peninsula.’
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Urgessa Gutu, 2014
Pages 34-35
researchgate.net/profile/Urg…