1974
nián 9
yuè，
yóu yú yī pī shàozhuàng jūn guān zǔ chéng ” jūn duì、
jǐng chá hé dì fāng jūn xié diào wěi yuán huì "(
jí DERGUE,
yīng wén SHADOW
zhī yì，
hòu fàn zhǐ jūn zhèng fǔ hé mén gé sī tú zhèng quán )
fā dòng jūn shì zhèng biàn，
tuī fān hǎi '
ěr ·
sài lā xī zhèng fǔ，
xuān bù jié shù dì zhì，
chéng lì”
lín shí jūn zhèng fǔ”。 11
yuè，”
lín shí jūn zhèng fǔ”
yòu gǎi wéi "
lín shí jūn shì xíng zhèng wěi yuán huì "。 12
yuè， "
lín shí jūn shì xíng zhèng wěi yuán huì "
xuān bù '
āi sài '
é bǐ yà wéi "
shè huì zhù yì guó jiā ",
shí xíng tǔ dì、
jīn róng cái zhèng jī gòu hé gōng yè guó yòu huà。
Lt. Col. Mengistu Haile Mariam assumed power as head of state and Derg chairman, after having his two predecessors killed, as well as tens of thousands of other suspected opponents. The new Marxist government undertook socialist reforms, including nationalisation of landlords' and church's property. Before the coup, Ethiopian peasants' way of life was thoroughly influenced by the church teachings; 280 days a year are religious feasts or days of rest. Mengistu's years in office were marked by a totalitarian-style government and the country's massive militarization, financed by the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc, and assisted by Cuba. In December 1976, an Ethiopian delegation in Moscow signed a military assistance agreement with the Soviet Union. The following April, Ethiopia abrogated its military assistance agreement with the United States and expelled the American military missions.