Unique among African countries, the ancient Ethiopian
monarchy maintained its freedom from colonial rule, one exception
being the Italian occupation of 1936-41. In 1974 a military junta, the
Derg, deposed Emperor Haile SALASSIE (who had ruled since 1930) and
established a socialist state. Torn by bloody coups, uprisings,
wide-scale drought, and massive refugee problems, the regime was
finally toppled by a coalition of rebel forces, the Ethiopian People's
Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), in 1991. A constitution was
adopted in 1994 and Ethiopia's first multiparty elections were held in
1995. A border war with Eritrea that erupted in May 1998 has
strengthened the ruling coalition, but has hurt the nation's economy.