On September 7th, 2015, Eritrea accused its neighbor, Ethiopia, of "rachet[ing] up" threats
of invasion.
For a large part of their history, the two nations have been in constant conflict with
each other.
So, why do Eritrea and Ethiopia hate each other?
Well, originally, Eritrea emerged as an Italian colony during the 1800s western scramble for
Africa.
In exchange for support, Ethiopia granted some of their territories to Italy, leading
to what was then known as Italian Eritrea.
The colony flourished over several decades, and Eritrea became culturally distinct from
neighboring Ethiopia.
But in the 1930s, Italy began expanding its reach throughout Africa, and invaded Ethiopia,
fairly easily seizing control.
However, World War Two proved disastrous for Italy.
Because Ethiopia had supported the Allies during the war, they were granted independence
by the British, with Eritrea operating under the federal authority of Ethiopia, but with
some level of autonomy.
But Ethiopia’s ruler imposed a number of restrictions on Eritrea in an attempt to isolate
and remove the power of their government.
Finally, in 1962, Eritrea’s parliament was dissolved, and the country was invaded by
Ethiopia.
This officially initiated the Eritrean War of Independence, though some had already been
fighting since a year earlier.
This war lasted for thirty years, and effectively destroyed any positive relationship between
the two countries.
Their economies collapsed, and 100,000 people were killed.
During the war, Ethiopia’s government was replaced by a military junta, which authorized
the massacre and destruction of numerous Eritrean villages.
An Eritrean holiday known as “Martyr’s Day” on June 20th, pays homage to the war
dead every year.
After decades of fighting, Ethiopia’s government was again overthrown, this time by internal
Ethiopian rebels.
This effectively ended the war, and Eritrea finally voted for its independence.
However, thirty years of violence left thousands of displaced people and high tensions between
both nations.
Barely 7 years after the end of the war, Eritrea’s new ruler felt his power waning, and attempted
to annex an important Ethiopian border village on the basis of reestablishing official borders.
Although international powers like the United Nations helped both sides agree to a tense
but compromised peace, some 80,000 people died during the two year border war.
In 2005 during peacetime, a UN commission ruled that Eritrea had violated international
law in their earlier border annexation attempts, sparking immediate re-militarization of the
border by both countries.
Today they continue to stand off, and have had multiple border skirmishes in the last
decade.
The years of violence have left these countries among the poorest in the world, with highly
restrictive governments, and severe human rights abuses.
Both governments have used this as an opportunity to crack down on dissent, jail journalists,
and severely restrict civil liberties.
After so much death and destruction, and a currently ongoing border dispute, it is exceedingly
unlikely that the region will see true peace in the coming years.
Besides threatening to invade Eritrea, Ethiopia also has a high degree of corruption and has
come under accusations from many human rights organizations.
To find out more, watch
this video.
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