2. Revolution and Red Terror, 1974–1978

This chapter provides a historical overview of the Red Terror (1976–1978) within the context of the Ethiopian Revolution (1974). It draws on Hiwot Teffera’s 2012 memoir, Tower in the Sky, to analyse the emotional content of activism and ideology that fueled social–political change during the Revolution, and which later transformed into the bedrock of memorialization efforts. Drawing on historical studies of the period, the major “characters” of the Revolution are introduced: Emperor Haile Selassie; the peasants; the activists; and the military, which ended up taking control of the Revolution under the helm of Col. Mengistu Hailemariam. These actors are then placed into the historical timeline of events. The turmoil of multiple actors’ resort to violence is documented, against the backdrop of a steady concentration of means for inflicting violence within the hands of the military government, including extrajudicial executions, large-scale imprisonment, and torture. The chapter concludes with reflections from interviews with survivors of prison and torture, on when and how they personally experienced the end of the Red Terror.