WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.799 Welcome to the Deep Dive. We're really so glad 00:00:02.799 --> 00:00:04.679 you're here with us today. Absolutely. Because, 00:00:04.700 --> 00:00:07.280 you know, have you ever really stopped to think 00:00:07.280 --> 00:00:10.660 about how we as humans actually process the weight 00:00:10.660 --> 00:00:13.480 of history? That is a big question. Right? I 00:00:13.480 --> 00:00:16.019 mean, not just memorizing a list of dates for 00:00:16.019 --> 00:00:18.600 a history test or, you know, skimming a Wikipedia 00:00:18.600 --> 00:00:20.899 page until your eyes completely glaze over. We've 00:00:20.899 --> 00:00:23.140 all been there. Oh, for sure. I mean, really 00:00:23.140 --> 00:00:27.039 feeling the sheer undeniable reality of the past. 00:00:27.460 --> 00:00:30.339 It's rare. So today we're taking you on a journey 00:00:30.339 --> 00:00:34.520 to a very specific, deeply impactful destination. 00:00:35.299 --> 00:00:38.380 The Red Terror Martyrs Memorial Museum in Addis 00:00:38.380 --> 00:00:41.399 Ababa, Ethiopia. It is. It's a profoundly heavy 00:00:41.399 --> 00:00:44.500 place to explore. But an absolutely vital one 00:00:44.500 --> 00:00:47.219 because our focus today isn't just, you know, 00:00:47.240 --> 00:00:49.520 a walkthrough of a building. We are unpacking 00:00:49.520 --> 00:00:52.679 a highly concentrated period of history, specifically 00:00:52.679 --> 00:00:55.920 the incredibly complex Ethiopian Civil War and 00:00:55.920 --> 00:00:58.179 the devastating campaign known as the Red Terror. 00:00:58.399 --> 00:01:01.600 Which is just an intense topic. It is. Our mission 00:01:01.600 --> 00:01:03.859 for this deep dive is to look closely at how 00:01:03.859 --> 00:01:06.819 a nation physically memorializes a deeply painful 00:01:06.819 --> 00:01:09.780 era. We want to abstract the critical insights 00:01:09.780 --> 00:01:12.260 from our sources about how human beings process. 00:01:12.430 --> 00:01:16.090 massive historical trauma, how we demand accountability, 00:01:16.189 --> 00:01:19.590 and really how we preserve memory against seemingly 00:01:19.590 --> 00:01:21.989 impossible odds. And I think it's a history that 00:01:21.989 --> 00:01:24.049 isn't always front and center in global discussions, 00:01:24.230 --> 00:01:27.390 right? Especially for those of us who might be 00:01:27.390 --> 00:01:29.269 more familiar with Western historical narratives. 00:01:29.469 --> 00:01:31.790 Definitely. It often gets overlooked. But the 00:01:31.790 --> 00:01:34.810 way this specific history is remembered and the 00:01:34.810 --> 00:01:38.049 actual physical space dedicated to it holds universal 00:01:38.049 --> 00:01:41.180 lessons for all of us. lessons about resilience, 00:01:41.280 --> 00:01:44.060 and the true human cost of political upheaval. 00:01:44.099 --> 00:01:46.500 Okay, let's unpack this. To really understand 00:01:46.500 --> 00:01:48.719 the impact, we first need to ground ourselves 00:01:48.719 --> 00:01:51.819 in the physical space of the museum itself. Make 00:01:51.819 --> 00:01:54.680 us feel it. Exactly. This is a relatively modern 00:01:54.680 --> 00:01:57.040 effort. It was established in 2010. Oh, wow. 00:01:57.260 --> 00:01:59.760 Yeah, right in the heart of Addis Ababa. And 00:01:59.760 --> 00:02:02.939 its primary unyielding purpose is to serve as 00:02:02.939 --> 00:02:05.079 a memorial to those who died during the Red Terror. 00:02:05.280 --> 00:02:07.159 Which was orchestrated by the Dirk government. 00:02:07.299 --> 00:02:10.120 Correct. It was a brutal, brutal campaign. That 00:02:10.120 --> 00:02:12.620 year, though, 2010, that really stands out to 00:02:12.620 --> 00:02:15.360 me. We aren't talking about ancient history here 00:02:15.360 --> 00:02:18.199 or, you know, some dusty ruins from centuries 00:02:18.199 --> 00:02:20.520 ago. No, not at all. This is a modern structure. 00:02:21.039 --> 00:02:24.539 Built by a contemporary society to house an incredibly 00:02:24.539 --> 00:02:28.099 dark, heavy, and very recent past. And stepping 00:02:28.099 --> 00:02:30.400 inside is repping. Yeah, when you step inside 00:02:30.400 --> 00:02:34.060 those doors, it is not a sanitized, gently curated 00:02:34.060 --> 00:02:36.860 experience. Far from it. It is intensely physical. 00:02:37.639 --> 00:02:40.219 You are walking past displays of actual torture 00:02:40.219 --> 00:02:42.659 instruments. You see walls of skulls and bones. 00:02:42.780 --> 00:02:45.120 There are coffins just right there. The physical 00:02:45.120 --> 00:02:47.860 reality of it. Right. There are glass cases holding 00:02:47.860 --> 00:02:50.120 the bloody, dirt -stained clothes of the victims 00:02:50.120 --> 00:02:52.080 positioned right alongside their photographs. 00:02:52.419 --> 00:02:54.400 It's a lot to take in. It's a visceral experience 00:02:54.400 --> 00:02:56.780 that just refuses to let you look away. And that 00:02:56.780 --> 00:02:58.819 physicality is deeply intentional on the part 00:02:58.819 --> 00:03:00.939 of the curators. When you're looking at bloody 00:03:00.939 --> 00:03:03.560 clothes or the smiling, everyday photographs 00:03:03.560 --> 00:03:06.800 of victims. Just normal people. Exactly. Normal 00:03:06.800 --> 00:03:09.639 people. Position right next to their exhumed 00:03:09.639 --> 00:03:12.699 skulls. You are forced to confront the individual 00:03:12.699 --> 00:03:16.340 human cost. You know, it completely strips away 00:03:16.340 --> 00:03:18.939 the protective comfort of statistics. Yeah. You 00:03:18.939 --> 00:03:21.199 know, when we study large scale conflicts, it 00:03:21.199 --> 00:03:24.280 is so easy to let the numbers just wash over 00:03:24.280 --> 00:03:26.680 us. Just data points. Right. A thousand casualties 00:03:26.680 --> 00:03:29.740 here. Ten thousand over there. It becomes abstract. 00:03:30.020 --> 00:03:32.860 Totally abstract. But a photograph. Yeah. Or 00:03:32.860 --> 00:03:35.310 a shirt with a tear in it. That belonged to one 00:03:35.310 --> 00:03:37.750 specific person. Someone with a family. Someone 00:03:37.750 --> 00:03:41.050 with a family, a job, a favorite food, a future 00:03:41.050 --> 00:03:43.810 that was violently cut short. Yeah. The museum 00:03:43.810 --> 00:03:46.629 uses these tangible artifacts to bridge that 00:03:46.629 --> 00:03:49.689 massive gap between abstract historical data 00:03:49.689 --> 00:03:52.569 and the very real flesh and blood human tragedy. 00:03:53.099 --> 00:03:55.460 I really want you, the listener, to try and imagine 00:03:55.460 --> 00:03:57.960 standing in front of those exhibits. It's a powerful 00:03:57.960 --> 00:04:00.340 exercise. Because in our daily lives, we are 00:04:00.340 --> 00:04:02.479 constantly bombarded with digital information 00:04:02.479 --> 00:04:05.300 overload. Oh, constantly. We scroll past headlines 00:04:05.300 --> 00:04:08.139 about global crises. We swipe through news stories 00:04:08.139 --> 00:04:11.139 of conflict. We can easily just turn off our 00:04:11.139 --> 00:04:12.879 screens when it gets to be too much. We have 00:04:12.879 --> 00:04:14.960 a built -in buffer. Exactly. We have a buffer. 00:04:15.479 --> 00:04:18.300 But how does seeing the actual physical evidence 00:04:18.300 --> 00:04:21.920 of history in a room with you... change the way 00:04:21.920 --> 00:04:24.360 you absorb that information. You can't just swipe 00:04:24.360 --> 00:04:27.540 away a display of actual chains. No. You can't 00:04:27.540 --> 00:04:29.779 swipe away the torture instruments used on citizens. 00:04:30.100 --> 00:04:33.360 It demands your absolute attention. And more 00:04:33.360 --> 00:04:35.680 importantly, it demands your empathy. It removes 00:04:35.680 --> 00:04:38.920 the buffer entirely. It completely grounds you 00:04:38.920 --> 00:04:41.540 in the stark reality of the events. Right. And 00:04:41.540 --> 00:04:43.740 what is equally compelling to me from our sources 00:04:43.740 --> 00:04:46.959 is how the museum chooses to guide its visitors 00:04:46.959 --> 00:04:49.259 through this reality. The narrative they build. 00:04:49.600 --> 00:04:52.579 Exactly. The curation makes very specific narrative 00:04:52.579 --> 00:04:54.899 choices. Well, the museum offers free tours, 00:04:55.040 --> 00:04:57.199 right? Yeah. Which is an amazing detail because 00:04:57.199 --> 00:04:59.600 it completely removes any financial barrier to 00:04:59.600 --> 00:05:01.720 learning this history. It ensures the space belongs 00:05:01.720 --> 00:05:03.879 to everyone. But the really striking part of 00:05:03.879 --> 00:05:06.560 these tours is where the guides choose to begin 00:05:06.560 --> 00:05:09.060 the story. Yeah, this is unexpected. You would 00:05:09.060 --> 00:05:11.439 think a museum about the Red Terror would start 00:05:11.439 --> 00:05:13.920 with the first gunshot. Or the first arrest. 00:05:14.259 --> 00:05:17.459 The obvious starting point. But they don't. The 00:05:17.459 --> 00:05:20.000 guides begin the narrative from Emperor Hale 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:23.000 Selassie's 80th birthday celebration. Yes. Wait, 00:05:23.060 --> 00:05:25.680 how does an 80th birthday party actually trigger 00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:28.339 a massive revolution? Was it just a contrast 00:05:28.339 --> 00:05:31.360 of wealth? Or was there a specific breaking point 00:05:31.360 --> 00:05:33.740 that the guides are trying to highlight? What's 00:05:33.740 --> 00:05:36.300 fascinating here is how the museum guides use 00:05:36.300 --> 00:05:39.319 a moment of royal celebration as the narrative 00:05:39.319 --> 00:05:41.800 anchor for the horror that followed. An anchor 00:05:41.800 --> 00:05:45.139 of contrast. Precisely. An 80th birthday party 00:05:45.139 --> 00:05:48.079 for a long -reigning emperor implies immense 00:05:48.079 --> 00:05:51.980 grandiosity, right? Stability and untouchable 00:05:51.980 --> 00:05:54.519 wealth. Right. It looks great on paper. It projects 00:05:54.519 --> 00:05:57.000 an image of an empire completely at peace with 00:05:57.000 --> 00:05:59.879 itself. But that celebration was happening against 00:05:59.879 --> 00:06:03.060 a backdrop of severe cascading crises. Behind 00:06:03.060 --> 00:06:04.980 the scenes, everything was falling apart. Yes. 00:06:05.100 --> 00:06:07.680 The guides start there to show you the ultimate 00:06:07.680 --> 00:06:10.339 breaking point of a fractured society. So it's 00:06:10.339 --> 00:06:12.220 about the massive cognitive dissonance. Exactly. 00:06:12.220 --> 00:06:14.319 You have the emperor and the establishment, the 00:06:14.319 --> 00:06:17.060 nobility, known as the Mequanit, living in this 00:06:17.060 --> 00:06:19.259 bubble of absolute luxury while the rest of the 00:06:19.259 --> 00:06:21.199 country is collapsing around them. The period 00:06:21.199 --> 00:06:24.819 leading up to this was marked by intense, growing 00:06:24.819 --> 00:06:28.480 opposition to hail Selassie's rule. Who was leading 00:06:28.480 --> 00:06:30.540 that opposition? Well, you had the Ethiopian 00:06:30.540 --> 00:06:33.360 student movement gaining massive traction. They 00:06:33.360 --> 00:06:36.079 were demanding deep societal changes. Okay. You 00:06:36.079 --> 00:06:38.939 also had systemic issues with land reform. The 00:06:38.939 --> 00:06:41.660 wealthy Mequannan held tight control over the 00:06:41.660 --> 00:06:44.680 land, heavily exploiting the peasantry. So severe 00:06:44.680 --> 00:06:48.360 inequality. Very severe. Add to that deep -seated 00:06:48.360 --> 00:06:51.420 ethnic discrimination and the economic shockwaves 00:06:51.420 --> 00:06:54.740 of the 1973 global oil crisis. This is piling 00:06:54.740 --> 00:06:57.360 on. But the most devastating factor was the wallow 00:06:57.360 --> 00:07:01.199 famine from 1972 to 1975. I want to pause on 00:07:01.199 --> 00:07:03.240 that famine for a second because the juxtaposition 00:07:03.240 --> 00:07:06.420 is just staggering. It truly is. You have a massive. 00:07:06.910 --> 00:07:09.329 opulent royal birthday celebration happening 00:07:09.329 --> 00:07:12.089 in the capital while entire regions of the country 00:07:12.089 --> 00:07:15.230 like wallow are experiencing a catastrophic famine 00:07:15.230 --> 00:07:17.589 where countless people are starving to death 00:07:17.589 --> 00:07:20.029 and the government tried to hide it it's no wonder 00:07:20.029 --> 00:07:22.209 the tension snapped it sounds like a powder keg 00:07:22.209 --> 00:07:24.889 that was just waiting for a spark it was an unsustainable 00:07:24.889 --> 00:07:27.279 situation And that brings us directly to the 00:07:27.279 --> 00:07:30.879 1974 coup d 'etat. The breaking point. That coup 00:07:30.879 --> 00:07:33.600 is the true pivot point of this era. It marks 00:07:33.600 --> 00:07:35.920 the Ethiopian revolution. Right. The military 00:07:35.920 --> 00:07:39.079 steps in. It leads to the death of Hale Selassie. 00:07:39.220 --> 00:07:42.519 And it results in the complete shift in power 00:07:42.519 --> 00:07:46.560 to a Marxist -Leninist military junta. Known 00:07:46.560 --> 00:07:50.319 as the Derg. Yes. The Derg. The centuries -old 00:07:50.319 --> 00:07:53.879 empire falls, and the Derg takes absolute control. 00:07:54.160 --> 00:07:56.639 And then things get worse. Much worse. It is 00:07:56.639 --> 00:07:59.639 this new regime that initiates the violent campaign 00:07:59.639 --> 00:08:02.639 the museum is dedicated to memorializing. Because 00:08:02.639 --> 00:08:04.519 when we talk about the Red Terror, we are talking 00:08:04.519 --> 00:08:07.819 about a systematic, incredibly violent campaign 00:08:07.819 --> 00:08:11.699 directed at citizens. Citizens who oppose them. 00:08:11.759 --> 00:08:13.819 Or who were simply suspected of opposing the 00:08:13.819 --> 00:08:15.519 Derg. This wasn't just a battlefield conflict. 00:08:15.800 --> 00:08:17.860 No. This was a government turning its weapons 00:08:17.860 --> 00:08:20.220 and its secret police on its own neighborhood. 00:08:20.439 --> 00:08:22.620 Or an everyday people. The museum outlines how 00:08:22.620 --> 00:08:25.089 these political prisoners were treated. And those 00:08:25.089 --> 00:08:26.810 torture instruments we mentioned earlier make 00:08:26.810 --> 00:08:30.149 it incredibly clear that the treatment was unimaginably 00:08:30.149 --> 00:08:33.029 brutal. Designed to completely break them. Designed 00:08:33.029 --> 00:08:36.649 to strip away every ounce of human dignity. But 00:08:36.649 --> 00:08:39.149 amidst all of that intentional darkness, there's 00:08:39.149 --> 00:08:41.309 a detail from the tours that I keep coming back 00:08:41.309 --> 00:08:43.710 to. Which one? Here's where it gets really interesting. 00:08:44.450 --> 00:08:47.649 The museum guides specifically take the time 00:08:47.649 --> 00:08:50.690 to explain how the prisoners secretly communicated 00:08:50.690 --> 00:08:54.669 among each other in the cells. Uh, yes. It is 00:08:54.669 --> 00:08:58.470 a remarkable, crucial detail to include in a 00:08:58.470 --> 00:09:00.769 memorial of this nature. It really stuck out 00:09:00.769 --> 00:09:02.679 to me. Think about the environment. We are talking 00:09:02.679 --> 00:09:05.720 about extreme repression. The worst imaginable. 00:09:06.139 --> 00:09:09.240 Individuals are thrown into overcrowded, unsanitary 00:09:09.240 --> 00:09:11.659 cells. They are completely stripped of their 00:09:11.659 --> 00:09:14.740 legal rights. Yeah. Subjected to horrific physical 00:09:14.740 --> 00:09:18.000 and psychological torture and facing the constant 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:20.460 daily threat of execution. Just a nightmare. 00:09:20.700 --> 00:09:22.840 The entire system is designed to break them, 00:09:22.960 --> 00:09:24.899 to isolate them and to make them feel entirely 00:09:24.899 --> 00:09:28.100 alone. Right. And yet the human drive to connect, 00:09:28.299 --> 00:09:31.500 to share information, to maintain. some semblance 00:09:31.500 --> 00:09:34.679 of community. It survives even that absolute 00:09:34.679 --> 00:09:36.379 nightmare. Just the act of whispering through 00:09:36.379 --> 00:09:38.480 a crack in the wall. Or tapping a rhythm. Right, 00:09:38.539 --> 00:09:40.559 tapping a rhythm on a plumbing pipe. It makes 00:09:40.559 --> 00:09:42.700 you realize that communication itself can be 00:09:42.700 --> 00:09:44.779 the ultimate form of resistance. It absolutely 00:09:44.779 --> 00:09:48.139 is. But why highlight that? In a museum full 00:09:48.139 --> 00:09:51.159 of such large -scale tragedy, what does it change 00:09:51.159 --> 00:09:53.759 about how we view those victims? It restores 00:09:53.759 --> 00:09:56.799 their agency. Agency. Yes. In an environment 00:09:56.799 --> 00:09:58.820 designed to completely break the human spirit 00:09:58.820 --> 00:10:01.279 and reduce individuals to mere objects of the 00:10:01.279 --> 00:10:03.779 state's violence, the act of secret communication 00:10:03.779 --> 00:10:06.419 is a profound testament to human resilience. 00:10:06.840 --> 00:10:09.860 It's them fighting back. It shows that even when 00:10:09.860 --> 00:10:12.480 a regime tries its hardest to reduce people to 00:10:12.480 --> 00:10:15.440 helpless victims, the people fight back. They 00:10:15.440 --> 00:10:18.080 retain their deep enduring need for connection. 00:10:18.340 --> 00:10:21.200 They stay human. Exactly. By highlighting this, 00:10:21.240 --> 00:10:23.460 the museum ensures that visitors remember the 00:10:23.460 --> 00:10:26.250 strength the ingenuity and the humanity of the 00:10:26.250 --> 00:10:28.570 prisoners rather than just the cruelty of their 00:10:28.570 --> 00:10:30.889 captors. That completely shifts the narrative 00:10:30.889 --> 00:10:33.850 from pure victimhood to active daily resistance. 00:10:34.029 --> 00:10:36.909 It changes the whole tone. But to really understand 00:10:36.909 --> 00:10:39.450 the sheer scale of what these prisoners in the 00:10:39.450 --> 00:10:42.049 entire country were up against, we need to pull 00:10:42.049 --> 00:10:44.990 back a bit. The Red Terror was horrific, but 00:10:44.990 --> 00:10:47.830 it wasn't an isolated event, was it? No, it wasn't. 00:10:47.830 --> 00:10:51.019 If we connect this to the bigger picture. The 00:10:51.019 --> 00:10:53.740 Red Terror is actually situated within the massive, 00:10:53.840 --> 00:10:56.720 sprawling, and incredibly chaotic context of 00:10:56.720 --> 00:10:59.700 the Ethiopian Civil War. A very long war. A conflict 00:10:59.700 --> 00:11:03.480 that spanned nearly two decades, from 1974 all 00:11:03.480 --> 00:11:05.740 the way to 1991. I'm looking at the timeline. 00:11:06.330 --> 00:11:08.549 of major events from this period provided by 00:11:08.549 --> 00:11:10.789 our sources. And the scale of the conflict is 00:11:10.789 --> 00:11:13.409 dizzying. It's a lot to process. It is just one 00:11:13.409 --> 00:11:16.029 heavy, world -altering milestone after another. 00:11:16.190 --> 00:11:19.110 We already discussed the 1974 coup and the fall 00:11:19.110 --> 00:11:20.909 of the emperor. Right. But then you have the 00:11:20.909 --> 00:11:23.269 massacre of the 60. You have the Red Terror itself. 00:11:23.590 --> 00:11:27.230 You have the devastating 1983 to 1985 famine. 00:11:27.450 --> 00:11:29.889 Which was a massive global news event. And we 00:11:29.889 --> 00:11:31.649 should be clear, that is a completely separate 00:11:31.649 --> 00:11:34.769 later famine from the wallow famine that happened 00:11:34.769 --> 00:11:36.710 under the emperor. Yes. Two distinct tragedies. 00:11:36.750 --> 00:11:38.830 Then there is something called villagization, 00:11:39.090 --> 00:11:43.149 a massive peasant revolution and the Hazen Massacre. 00:11:43.610 --> 00:11:46.210 It is almost too much history to process at once. 00:11:46.330 --> 00:11:48.549 It's relentless. Can you break down some of these 00:11:48.549 --> 00:11:51.570 massive shifts? What exactly was villagization, 00:11:51.570 --> 00:11:54.820 for instance? Villagization was a disastrous 00:11:54.820 --> 00:11:58.200 policy implemented by the Derg. Okay. In an attempt 00:11:58.200 --> 00:12:00.679 to control the rural population and radically 00:12:00.679 --> 00:12:03.720 restructure agriculture, the government forcibly 00:12:03.720 --> 00:12:06.960 relocated millions of farmers. Millions. Yes. 00:12:07.000 --> 00:12:09.340 They took them from their ancestral lands and 00:12:09.340 --> 00:12:11.799 scattered homesteads and forced them into highly 00:12:11.799 --> 00:12:14.720 regulated state -controlled villages. That sounds 00:12:14.720 --> 00:12:17.360 like a recipe for disaster. It was. It disrupted 00:12:17.360 --> 00:12:19.820 traditional farming practices, destroyed rural 00:12:19.820 --> 00:12:22.840 economies, and significantly exacerbated the 00:12:22.840 --> 00:12:25.100 suffering and food shortages across the country. 00:12:25.259 --> 00:12:27.159 So it wasn't about farming at all. It was about 00:12:27.159 --> 00:12:30.740 control disguised as modernization. And the massacres 00:12:30.740 --> 00:12:32.899 listed here, the Massacre of the Sixty, the Hausen 00:12:32.899 --> 00:12:35.039 Massacre. The Massacre of the Sixty occurred 00:12:35.039 --> 00:12:38.500 very early on in November 1974. Right after the 00:12:38.500 --> 00:12:42.669 coup. Exactly. The Derg executed 60 prominent 00:12:42.669 --> 00:12:45.250 officials of the former imperial government without 00:12:45.250 --> 00:12:48.549 trial, cementing their ruthless grip on power. 00:12:48.789 --> 00:12:51.629 Sending a message. A very clear message. Later 00:12:51.629 --> 00:12:53.970 in the war, the Hasen Massacre stands out as 00:12:53.970 --> 00:12:56.509 an example of the sheer brutality inflicted on 00:12:56.509 --> 00:13:00.230 everyday people. When was that? In 1988, military 00:13:00.230 --> 00:13:03.330 aircraft bombarded a crowded public marketplace 00:13:03.330 --> 00:13:06.309 in the town of Hasen, resulting in massive civilian 00:13:06.309 --> 00:13:09.129 casualties. A marketplace. Yes. Yes, it is a 00:13:09.129 --> 00:13:11.789 relentless sequence of historical traumas. And 00:13:11.789 --> 00:13:13.710 what is crucial for you to understand is the 00:13:13.710 --> 00:13:16.389 sheer complexity of this civil war. It wasn't 00:13:16.389 --> 00:13:19.950 simple. It was not a simple, clean cut, two sided 00:13:19.950 --> 00:13:22.389 conflict with the Derg government on one side 00:13:22.389 --> 00:13:25.090 and a single unified rebel group on the other. 00:13:25.190 --> 00:13:28.129 Far from it. The list of factions and liberation 00:13:28.129 --> 00:13:30.710 fronts involved is practically its own textbook. 00:13:30.950 --> 00:13:33.450 There were so many. You have the Derg, which 00:13:33.450 --> 00:13:35.289 later reorganized into the People's Democratic 00:13:35.289 --> 00:13:38.100 Republic of Ethiopia. of the central government. 00:13:38.240 --> 00:13:40.600 Yes. But the resistance was incredibly fractured. 00:13:41.220 --> 00:13:44.840 You have the EPRDF, which was a coalition that 00:13:44.840 --> 00:13:47.039 included the Ethiopian People's Democratic Movement 00:13:47.039 --> 00:13:49.419 and the Tigray People's Liberation Front, or 00:13:49.419 --> 00:13:52.340 PPLF. That's right. Then there is the AFAR Liberation 00:13:52.340 --> 00:13:55.179 Front, the All Ethiopia Socialist Movement, the 00:13:55.179 --> 00:13:58.559 Ogaden National Liberation Front, the Oromo Liberation 00:13:58.559 --> 00:14:01.500 Front. It's a very long list. How did the conflict 00:14:01.500 --> 00:14:04.750 fracture so badly? It seems like every region 00:14:04.750 --> 00:14:07.149 and political ideology had its own armed wing. 00:14:07.289 --> 00:14:09.970 The fracturing happened because Ethiopia is a 00:14:09.970 --> 00:14:13.990 vast, incredibly diverse nation with complex 00:14:13.990 --> 00:14:16.690 regional, ethnic, and political histories. That 00:14:16.690 --> 00:14:18.990 makes sense. When the central authority of the 00:14:18.990 --> 00:14:21.350 emperor collapsed, all those long -suppressed 00:14:21.350 --> 00:14:23.889 regional grievances and ideological differences 00:14:23.889 --> 00:14:26.870 exploded into the open. A power vacuum. Exactly. 00:14:26.990 --> 00:14:29.169 Many of these groups weren't just fighting the 00:14:29.169 --> 00:14:31.409 derg. They were fighting for regional autonomy 00:14:31.409 --> 00:14:33.909 or specific political visions. And sometimes 00:14:33.909 --> 00:14:36.460 fighting each other. Yes. And we also have to 00:14:36.460 --> 00:14:38.860 factor in the Eritrean rebels, like the Eritrean 00:14:38.860 --> 00:14:41.139 Liberation Front and the Eritrean People's Liberation 00:14:41.139 --> 00:14:44.700 Front, who were fighting a parallel, grueling 00:14:44.700 --> 00:14:48.120 war for complete independence from Ethiopia during 00:14:48.120 --> 00:14:50.820 this exact same period. And if that wasn't complicated 00:14:50.820 --> 00:14:53.360 enough, you have the entire globe weighing in. 00:14:53.419 --> 00:14:56.299 This is all happening under the massive, overarching 00:14:56.299 --> 00:14:58.759 shadow of the Cold War. Precisely. This period 00:14:58.759 --> 00:15:00.740 is often referred to in the context of the Cold 00:15:00.740 --> 00:15:02.919 War in Africa. Because of the U .S. and Soviet 00:15:02.919 --> 00:15:06.379 involvement? Yes. You had the United States and 00:15:06.379 --> 00:15:09.279 the Soviet Union, massive global superpowers 00:15:09.279 --> 00:15:12.000 projecting their own geopolitical anxieties, 00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:15.539 influences and ideologies onto this already fractured 00:15:15.539 --> 00:15:18.149 nation. Using it as a chessboard. They were funneling 00:15:18.149 --> 00:15:20.830 weapons, military advisors, and financial support 00:15:20.830 --> 00:15:23.909 into the region, shifting allegiances to maintain 00:15:23.909 --> 00:15:26.929 their own strategic footholds. Which just made 00:15:26.929 --> 00:15:29.470 everything worse. This foreign interference poured 00:15:29.470 --> 00:15:31.889 gasoline on the fire. It dramatically prolonged 00:15:31.889 --> 00:15:33.870 the civil war and increased the lethality of 00:15:33.870 --> 00:15:36.250 the conflict. It is like a geopolitical earthquake 00:15:36.250 --> 00:15:38.789 that just kept violently shaking for nearly 20 00:15:38.789 --> 00:15:41.409 years. A good way to describe it. Multiple rebel 00:15:41.409 --> 00:15:44.450 coalitions, shifting borders, global superpower 00:15:44.450 --> 00:15:48.019 interference, forced relocation. multiple devastating 00:15:48.019 --> 00:15:51.360 famines. It's overwhelming. It is. When you zoom 00:15:51.360 --> 00:15:54.139 out and realize the sheer overwhelming magnitude 00:15:54.139 --> 00:15:56.779 of that history, it actually makes the existence 00:15:56.779 --> 00:15:59.779 of the Red Terror Martyrs Memorial Museum even 00:15:59.779 --> 00:16:02.779 more poignant to me. Oh, so? Because a civil 00:16:02.779 --> 00:16:05.240 war with a dozen factions, international proxy 00:16:05.240 --> 00:16:08.360 wars, and decades of shifting political alliances, 00:16:08.740 --> 00:16:11.320 it is incredibly difficult for the human brain 00:16:11.320 --> 00:16:13.480 to comprehend. It's too big. It's way too big. 00:16:13.559 --> 00:16:15.980 But walking into a silent room and seeing a pair 00:16:15.980 --> 00:16:19.779 of bloody clothes belonging to a single victim 00:16:19.779 --> 00:16:22.659 of the derg secret police that cuts through the 00:16:22.659 --> 00:16:24.980 noise that is immediate that is universally understandable 00:16:24.980 --> 00:16:28.139 the museum takes the overwhelming chaotic noise 00:16:28.139 --> 00:16:31.779 of the broader ethiopian civil war and distills 00:16:31.779 --> 00:16:34.600 it down to its most tragic undeniable human essence 00:16:34.600 --> 00:16:37.299 it gives you something tangible it provides a 00:16:37.299 --> 00:16:39.779 focal point for the grief That is a very astute 00:16:39.779 --> 00:16:42.620 observation. It focuses the lens. It anchors 00:16:42.620 --> 00:16:44.860 the sweeping geopolitical history back to the 00:16:44.860 --> 00:16:47.019 everyday people who paid the ultimate price. 00:16:47.539 --> 00:16:49.919 So what does this all mean? Why does a museum 00:16:49.919 --> 00:16:52.399 in Addis Ababa commemorating a campaign for the 00:16:52.399 --> 00:16:55.259 1970s matter to you? Listening to this deep dive 00:16:55.259 --> 00:16:57.659 right now. The big takeaway. I think it comes 00:16:57.659 --> 00:16:59.860 down to the core takeaways about how societies 00:16:59.860 --> 00:17:02.399 choose to handle their darkest chapters. Yes. 00:17:02.580 --> 00:17:04.700 The fact that this museum was established in 00:17:04.700 --> 00:17:07.799 2010 shows a very deliberate, conscious, and 00:17:07.799 --> 00:17:10.380 modern effort to confront what happened. They 00:17:10.380 --> 00:17:12.539 didn't just sweep it under the rug. Exactly. 00:17:12.980 --> 00:17:16.160 It was a powerful statement that the victims 00:17:16.160 --> 00:17:19.240 of the Derg, the people who were tortured in 00:17:19.240 --> 00:17:21.529 secret, and whose bones are now respectfully 00:17:21.529 --> 00:17:24.829 placed behind glass, will never be reduced to 00:17:24.829 --> 00:17:27.289 mere footnotes in a dusty history book. They 00:17:27.289 --> 00:17:29.710 are given a space. They are given a dedicated 00:17:29.710 --> 00:17:32.190 physical space, they are given dignity, and they 00:17:32.190 --> 00:17:34.210 are given a permanent voice that speaks to future 00:17:34.210 --> 00:17:36.829 generations. And this raises an important question. 00:17:37.529 --> 00:17:40.309 about the turbulent aftermath of a fallen regime. 00:17:40.529 --> 00:17:43.130 Which is always messy. Very messy. How does a 00:17:43.130 --> 00:17:45.809 society actually transition from that visceral 00:17:45.809 --> 00:17:48.470 horror to something resembling closure or justice? 00:17:48.789 --> 00:17:50.569 Right. If you look at the end of the timeline 00:17:50.569 --> 00:17:52.789 provided in our sources, it notes the eventual 00:17:52.789 --> 00:17:56.569 fall of the Derg regime in 1991 as the final 00:17:56.569 --> 00:17:58.990 major event of the war. But what follows in the 00:17:58.990 --> 00:18:02.190 aftermath is just as significant. The trials 00:18:02.190 --> 00:18:05.329 of the Derg members. That transition is incredible 00:18:05.329 --> 00:18:08.190 to think about. You go from the absolute lawlessness, 00:18:08.430 --> 00:18:10.930 paranoia and brutality of the Red Terror. Where 00:18:10.930 --> 00:18:13.190 there were no rules. Where citizens are dragged 00:18:13.190 --> 00:18:16.230 from their homes and murdered simply for suspected 00:18:16.230 --> 00:18:19.890 opposition to the highly organized legal and 00:18:19.890 --> 00:18:22.470 structured pursuit of justice through formal 00:18:22.470 --> 00:18:25.349 trials. It's a complete 180. That is a massive 00:18:25.349 --> 00:18:28.750 structural societal shift. It is the rebuilding 00:18:28.750 --> 00:18:32.089 of the rule of law. It shows that true memorialization 00:18:32.089 --> 00:18:34.509 isn't just about constructing a museum building. 00:18:34.730 --> 00:18:36.990 It is also fundamentally about accountability. 00:18:37.450 --> 00:18:40.470 They mean both. Exactly. The trials and the museum 00:18:40.470 --> 00:18:43.470 work hand in hand to process the drama. The trials 00:18:43.470 --> 00:18:45.950 seek legal, structured justice for the crimes 00:18:45.950 --> 00:18:48.089 of the past, while the physical museum ensures 00:18:48.089 --> 00:18:50.509 the emotional truth of that past is never forgotten 00:18:50.509 --> 00:18:53.589 or rewritten by the future. It is a two -pronged 00:18:53.589 --> 00:18:55.730 approach to healing. And the timeline itself 00:18:55.730 --> 00:18:58.349 is telling. How so? The war effectively ends 00:18:58.349 --> 00:19:01.650 in 1991 when the dirt falls. But the museum isn't 00:19:01.650 --> 00:19:04.450 established until 2010, nearly two decades later. 00:19:04.650 --> 00:19:07.529 Which tells us that processing this magnitude 00:19:07.529 --> 00:19:10.769 of historical trauma takes time. It can't happen 00:19:10.769 --> 00:19:13.509 overnight. It cannot be rushed. It requires a 00:19:13.509 --> 00:19:15.670 certain amount of historical distance, deep reflection, 00:19:15.849 --> 00:19:18.769 and ultimately a conscious collective choice 00:19:18.769 --> 00:19:22.269 by a society to look backward. To face it, they 00:19:22.269 --> 00:19:24.930 have to choose to stare directly at the most 00:19:24.930 --> 00:19:27.250 painful parts of their own history, even when 00:19:27.250 --> 00:19:29.890 it hurts, to ensure those mechanisms of terror 00:19:29.890 --> 00:19:32.309 are never allowed to take read again. It has 00:19:32.309 --> 00:19:35.069 been a heavy, intense journey today. but a deeply 00:19:35.069 --> 00:19:37.589 necessary one. I agree completely. We want to 00:19:37.589 --> 00:19:39.190 thank you for joining us on this exploration 00:19:39.190 --> 00:19:41.789 of the Red Terror Martyrs Memorial Museum and 00:19:41.789 --> 00:19:44.329 for diving into the incredibly dense, complex 00:19:44.329 --> 00:19:47.589 history of the Ethiopian Civil War that it preserves. 00:19:47.849 --> 00:19:50.269 It's not an easy history to sit with. It's not, 00:19:50.369 --> 00:19:53.289 but it is a powerful reminder that history isn't 00:19:53.289 --> 00:19:55.950 just a collection of dates and geopolitical shifts. 00:19:56.309 --> 00:19:58.789 It is made of people, it is carried in memory, 00:19:58.970 --> 00:20:01.470 and it is cemented in the physical spaces we 00:20:01.470 --> 00:20:03.750 intentionally build to remember them. To leave 00:20:03.750 --> 00:20:05.950 you with a final provocative thought to mull 00:20:05.950 --> 00:20:08.309 over, think back to the very beginning of our 00:20:08.309 --> 00:20:11.089 conversation and how the museum guides intentionally 00:20:11.089 --> 00:20:13.890 start their narrative. The birthday party. Right. 00:20:14.089 --> 00:20:17.410 They trace the origins of a horrific, nation 00:20:17.410 --> 00:20:20.470 -shattering tragedy, not to a battlefield, not 00:20:20.470 --> 00:20:23.809 to a political rally, but to a seemingly grand 00:20:23.809 --> 00:20:26.950 celebratory event, an emperor's 80th birthday 00:20:26.950 --> 00:20:30.089 party. Yeah. It begs a deeply unsettling question 00:20:30.089 --> 00:20:34.029 for all of us. How many ordinary public celebrations 00:20:34.029 --> 00:20:36.410 happening in our world right now, events that 00:20:36.410 --> 00:20:38.750 project an image of perfect stability, wealth, 00:20:38.910 --> 00:20:41.289 and success, might actually be viewed by future 00:20:41.289 --> 00:20:44.369 historians as the quiet, unrecognized catalyst 00:20:44.369 --> 00:20:47.289 for massive, unimaginable historical shifts? 00:20:47.490 --> 00:20:49.230 That's certainly something to keep you thinking 00:20:49.230 --> 00:20:51.650 long after you take your headphones off. Until 00:20:51.650 --> 00:20:53.910 next time, keep digging into the past, keep questioning 00:20:53.910 --> 00:20:55.650 the narratives around you, and keep exploring 00:20:55.650 --> 00:20:57.130 the history that shapes our world.