MYTH 2013

MAY 2013
MARKING YESTERDAY THROUGH HISTORY

UNCOVER THE TRUTH ERITREAN HISTORY MONTH Issue 3

THE BEGINNING OF THE ERITREAN ARMED STRUGGLE

When the Struggle began, we didn't have tanks, artillery, or any type of modern weaponry. All we had was simple ries captured from Ethiopian forces during the war. But with great determination and courage to liberate our people and nation we accomplished what the whole world thought was unthinkable.
Imagine at the age of 18 leaving your friends and family, equipped with only the mind of a soldier and the heart of an optimist to regain your identity and the identity of your people. Imagine transitioning from the comfort of your own home to the harshness of the cold trenches, from learning in schools to learning on the battleeld. With only the goal of independence in your sight, you watch every day as your comrades suer the most horrid injuries - some dying in front of your eyes - having to bury them, each time not knowing if you will be next. For some of us these things are unimaginable, but for the Eritrean soldiers and their families, these are scenes and memories that can never be erased. The history of Eritrea is remarkable not only because of the extraordinary odds that were stacked against it but also the broad base of participation and shared sacrice of Eritreans during the struggle for independence. After the U.N. backed federation to Ethiopia in 1952, popular protest increased along with economic hardship and censorship, particularly among the youth. By 1958, Eritrea's language and ag had been replaced by that of Ethiopia and popular resistance had reached a peak. In 1958, the Eritrean Liberation Movement (ELM) was established by ve young Eritrean exiles in their twenties. The movement, known as Mahber Shew'ate (Association of Seven), was organized in secret cells of seven and quickly spread through the lowlands and up to the highlands of Asmara. The inclusive and secular organization emphasized a common Eritrean identity and strengthened the foundation for a rich nationalist culture that would only deepen as the struggle continued. In 1960, a second movement called the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF), calling for armed struggle as the surest method to ght Ethiopian aggression, was founded and quickly superseded the ELM. On September 1, 1961, Hamid Idris Awate and his ELF unit red the rst shots of the armed struggle. In this same time frame, the ban of political parties led to more secretive and grass-root level activities. Informal areas of social activities such as sports, theaters, and schools became centers for mobilization where teachers, students, workers, artists and musicians met. Students by the hundreds demonstrated and went on strike under threat of imprisonment, torture and even death. The youth carried much of the burden on the front line but men and women alike of dierent ages, religions, and economic classes all came together to form the liberation front. All Eritreans from farmers in the rural areas to intellectuals in the cities were mobilized and active in the struggle. Beyond the troops in the trenches, average people contributed, even risking their lives, by providing food and shelter for troops, sharing and delivering information, and along with disabled ghters working in the underground network of manufacturing workshops and hospitals. Tens of thousands of Eritreans sacriced their lives during the 30 year struggle. There is no household in Eritrea that has not been touched by the war losing either a mother, father, sister, brother, son or daughter. Though it is a painful memory that will be forever ingrained in Eritrean history, it is that willingness to sacrice that guided Eritrea to independence.

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ERITREA COMMITMENT TO SELF-RELIANCE

These words of Civil Rights activist Marcus Garvey could not ring truer than in the case of the Eritrean struggle. Without the support of a single legitimate power, Eritrea had no choice but to adopt a policy of selfreliance for survival, which ultimately led to victory. As the armed struggle continued and the Dergue came to power, the strain of a lack of resources and access to social services including medical treatment and education became increasingly challenging. Additionally, drought conditions and shortages of food and medicine posed a further threat to both civilians and ghters alike. By the mid 1980s, the EPLF as a liberation front had taken on the role and responsibilities of a government to secure and provide good and services. The EPLF established intricate networks of underground hospitals, factories, schools and libraries for the benet of the people in liberated areas. The emphasis on a self-reliant economy was put into practice through innovative use of already limited resources and technology to ensure

"Action, self-reliance, the vision of self and the future have been the only means by which the oppressed have seen and realized the light of their own freedom."
survival. To secure the food supply, agricultural programs were redesigned to rely on local resources rather than those outside Eritrea. Extensive underground workshops manufactured small arms and parts for machinery and transportation. In the base area, factories manufactured everything from shoes and batteries, medicinal drugs and medical supplies to hand sewn gas masks used to protect ghters from chemical attack and even articial limbs for disabled ghters. Eritreans of all ages and backgrounds, even the disabled ghters, were trained to work in these workshops and factories to contribute their part to the struggle. This united spirit of self-reliance along with the indomitable spirit of the Eritrean people and the extensive underground infrastructure organized by the EPLF to serve the Eritrean population undoubtedly gave the liberation movement the edge it needed to succeed.

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