History
It has long been an intersection between the civilizations of North Africa, the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa. Ethiopia was never colonized, maintaining it’s independence during the “scramble for Africa” until the Italian military occupation which was achieved through the use of mustard gas, Italian and colonial manpower, and superior firepower.
During this period, the Italians merged the country with Eritrea and Italian Somali-land to form Italian East Africa and despite continued guerrilla attacks, Abyssinia (as Ethiopia was called then) was not able to relinquish itself of Italian control until the allies pushed them out with the help of colonial troops.
Ethiopia has long been a member of international organizations: it became a member of the League of Nations, signed the Declaration by United Nations in 1942, founded the UN headquarters in Africa, was one of the 51 original members of the UN, and is the headquarters for and one of the founding members of the former OAU and current AU. In 1974, its monarchist government was deposed, and replaced with a pro-Soviet military junta, which ruled Ethiopia for 17 years until the end of the Cold War.
