Events

• 12 January - Rank-and-file soldiers of the Negele Boran
  Negele Boran
  Negele Borana is a town in southern Ethiopia. Located in the Guji Zone of the Oromia Region on the road connecting Addis Ababa to Dolo Odo, it has a latitude and longitude of with an altitude of about 1,475 meters above sea level. It is the administrative center of Liben woreda...
  
   garrison mutiny over bad food and lack of drinking water. They seize the Emperor's personal envoy, Lt. Gen. Deresse Dubale, and force him to eat and drink as they did.
• 10 February - Technicians and NCOs at the Debre Zeyit
  Debre Zeyit
  Debre Zeyit is a town of Ethiopia, lying south east of Addis Ababa. Since the late 1990s it has been officially known by the Oromo name, Bishoftu, which was its name until 1955...
  
   Air Force base mutiny, holding their officers hostage for three days in a mess tent.
• 14 February - Students at Haile Selassie University in the capital go on strike against a proposed reform in the educational system. High school teachers and college professors support the student strike.
• 18 February - School teachers strike for better pay. On the same day, taxi drivers in Addis Ababa
  Addis Ababa
  Addis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia...
  
   strike over a proposed 50% increase in gas prices.
• 23 February - Emperor Haile Selassie concedes to some of the strikers' demands.
• 25 February - Enlisted men and NCOs of the Second Division in Asmara
  Asmara
  Asmara is the capital city and largest settlement in Eritrea, home to a population of around 579,000 people...
  
   mutiny.
• 28 February - Prime minister Aklilu Habte-Wold
  Aklilu Habte-Wold
  Tsehafi Taezaz Aklilu Habte-Wold was an Ethiopian politician under Emperor Haile Selassie. He was foreign minister of Ethiopia from 1947 to 1958 and Prime Minister from 1961 until shortly before his death....
  
   resigns. His resignation was not demanded by any of the rebellious groups, and is seen as a sign of panic and weakness by the palace which is later exploited by civilians and soldiers. He is replaced by Endelkachew Makonnen
  Endelkachew Makonnen
  Lij Endalkachew Makonnen was an Ethiopian politician. Born in Addis Ababa, his father, Ras Betwoded Makonnen Endelkachew served as Prime Minister of Ethiopia in the 1950s. Endalkachew Makonnen was a member of the aristocratic Addisge clan that were very influential in the later part of the...
  
  .
• 5 March - Emperor Haile Selassie announces that the 1955 Constitution
  1955 Constitution of Ethiopia
  Emperor Haile Selassie proclaimed a revised constitution in November 1955 of the Empire of Ethiopia. This constitution was prompted, like its 1931 predecessor, by a concern with international opinion...
  
   would be revised to make the Prime Minister responsible to parliament.
• 7 - 9 March - The Confederation of Ethiopian Labor Unions
  Confederation of Ethiopian Labor Unions
  The Confederation of Ethiopian Labor Unions was an umbrella organization that represented a number of labor unions and employee self-help associations in Ethiopia...
  
   calls a general labor strike.
• 31 March - General Abiye Abebe
  Abiye Abebe
  Abiye Abebe was an Ethiopian politician and son-in-law of Emperor Haile Selassie. During the 1940s and 1950s he was Minister of War, and later served as Minister of Justice and Minister of the Interior...
  
  , the new chief of staff and Minister of Defense, announces a plot against the government by Air Force
  Ethiopian Air Force
  The Ethiopian Air Force is the air arm of the Ethiopian National Defense Forces and is tasked with protecting the air space, providing support to the ground forces as well as assisting during national emergencies.- Early years :...
  
   officers had been uncovered and foiled.
• 20 April - Moslems
  Islam in Ethiopia
  According to the latest 2007 national census, Islam is the second most widely practised religion in Ethiopia after Christianity, with over 25 million of Ethiopians adhering to Islam according to the 2007 national census, having arrived in Ethiopia in 615...
  
   stage a demonstration in Addis Ababa demanding religious equality and separation of church and state.
• 26 April - After weeks of agitation and intermittent strikes, the government shuts down Haile Selassie University.
• 27 April - The Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces (under the command of Colonel Alem Zewde Tessema
  Alem Zewde Tessema
  Alem Zewde Tessema was an Ethiopian military figure. He was a colonel of the Airborne Corps, Fourth Division. He was active at the beginning of the Ethiopian Revolution, helping to create the "Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces", which originally was intended to support Prime Minister...
  
   of the Airborne Corps) issues their first statement, announcing that 19 ministers and former officials of the imperial regime have been arrested.
• 30 April - Prime Minister Endelkachew Makonnen announces the creation of a joint military-civilian National Security Commission under General Abiye Abebe to deal with growing lawlessness and the numerous wildcat strikes crippling the country. (This National Security Commission replaces the first Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces.)
• 25 June - The wives and relations of the arrested officials of the imperial regime (now 25 in number) petition that the prisoners be released pending an investigation. It is rejected by parliament, who see this as an attempt to restore the status quo.
• 28 June - In response to the unsuccessful petition, a new Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces (which becomes the Derg
  Derg
  The Derg or Dergue was a Communist military junta that came to power in Ethiopia following the ousting of Haile Selassie I. Derg, which means "committee" or "council" in Ge'ez, is the short name of the Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, Police, and Territorial Army, a committee of...
  
  ) seizes the radio station in Addis Ababa, and begin to arrest other aristocrats, high officials, and generals suspected of being behind the reactionary movement.
• 9 July - The Derg issues its first political statement, in an announcement in 13 points.
• 22 July - Prime Minister Endelkachew Makonnen resigns. He is replaced by Mikael Imru
  Mikael Imru
  Lij Mikael Imru was Prime Minister of Ethiopia from 3 August to 12 September 1974.Born in Addis Ababa, Mikael Imru was the only son of Leul Ras Imru Haile Selassie and Princess Tsige Mariam Beshah; he had seven sisters...
  
  , a progressive aristocrat.
• 1 August - Endelkachew Makonnen is arrested by the Derg.
• 12 September - Emperor Haile Selassie is deposed.
• 15 September - The Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces renames itself as the Provisional Military Administrative Council, and announces General Aman Mikael Andom as the new chairman.
• 20 November (approximate date) - General Aman resigns in protest.
• 23 November - General Aman dies in a shootout with troops sent to arrest him. That same night 57 important political prisoners held by the Derg are executed.
• 20 December - The Derg proclaims the establishment of "Ethiopian socialism", based on the declaration of Etiopia Tikdem.

Deaths

• 23 November -
  • Aklilu Habte-Wold
    Aklilu Habte-Wold
    Tsehafi Taezaz Aklilu Habte-Wold was an Ethiopian politician under Emperor Haile Selassie. He was foreign minister of Ethiopia from 1947 to 1958 and Prime Minister from 1961 until shortly before his death....
    
    
  • Akale Work Hapte-Wold
  • Aman Mikael Andom
  • Endelkachew Makonnen
    Endelkachew Makonnen
    Lij Endalkachew Makonnen was an Ethiopian politician. Born in Addis Ababa, his father, Ras Betwoded Makonnen Endelkachew served as Prime Minister of Ethiopia in the 1950s. Endalkachew Makonnen was a member of the aristocratic Addisge clan that were very influential in the later part of the...