Marxist-Leninist League of Tigray
Encyclopedia
The Marxist-Leninist League of Tigray (MLLT) was a semi-clandestine Hoxhaist Communist party
that held a leading role in the Tigrayan Peoples' Liberation Front (TPLF) in the 1980s. The majority of the TPLF leadership held dual membership in the MLLT, including the current Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi
.
According to a 1986 article in the League’s publication, The People’s Voice, the MLLT was first established in 1983 as "pre-party organization" called the Organization of the Vanguard Elements. This grouping would become the MLLT in 1985 to serve as a "vanguard party
for the TPLF". According to Aregawi Berhe, the MLLT held its founding congress 25 July 1985 in the gorge of the Wari River
.
Posing as orthodox defenders of Marxism-Leninism
and allying itself with the communist current associated with the hard-line Enver Hoxha
regime in Albania, the MLLT saw its goals as spreading Marxism-Leninism throughout the world and "engaging in a bitter struggle against all brands of revisionism," which they defined using the parlance of the Albanian ruling Communist Party of Labor, as including “Khrushchevism
, Titoism
, Trotskyism
, Euro-Communism
and Maoism
.”
The emergence of the MLLT created some rifts with the Eritrean People's Liberation Front
with which the TPLF was allied against the ruling Soviet-backed Ethiopian Derg
. The MLLT took a much harder line on the role of the Soviet Union
in the world, which they along with Albania viewed as social-imperialist and an enemy of the oppressed of the world. The EPLF held a more flexible line viewing the Soviet support for the Derg as a tactical mistake on their part and avoided any public denunciations of the Soviet Union.
With the coming to power of the TPLF in 1991 and the collapse of communist regime in Albania, the TPLF dropped all references to Marxism-Leninism. The leadership of the TPLF claims that the MLLT dissolved when the TPLF-backed Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front
took power after the collapse of the Derg in 1991.
While many current TPLF leaders downplay or minimize the influence of MLLT on the TPLF, it is clear that it played a major leadership role in the TPLF for most of its existence. Some scholars (such as Kahsay Berhe) believe the MLLT played a role in the removal of TPLF founders Giday Zera Tsion and Aregawi Berhe in late July 1985.
Communist party
A political party described as a Communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of communism through a communist form of government...
that held a leading role in the Tigrayan Peoples' Liberation Front (TPLF) in the 1980s. The majority of the TPLF leadership held dual membership in the MLLT, including the current Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi
Meles Zenawi
Meles Zenawi Asres is the Prime Minister of Ethiopia. Since 1985, he has been chairman of the Tigrayan Peoples' Liberation Front , and is currently head of the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front .Meles was born in Adwa, Tigray in Northern Ethiopia, to an Ethiopian father from...
.
According to a 1986 article in the League’s publication, The People’s Voice, the MLLT was first established in 1983 as "pre-party organization" called the Organization of the Vanguard Elements. This grouping would become the MLLT in 1985 to serve as a "vanguard party
Vanguard party
A vanguard party is a political party at the forefront of a mass action, movement, or revolution. The idea of a vanguard party has its origins in the Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels...
for the TPLF". According to Aregawi Berhe, the MLLT held its founding congress 25 July 1985 in the gorge of the Wari River
Wari River
Wari River is a river of northern Ethiopia and a tributary of the Tekezé River. It rises in the Gar'alta and flows to the southwest into the Tekezé at . Tributaries of the Wari include the Assam, Chemit, Meseuma, and Tsedia rivers...
.
Posing as orthodox defenders of Marxism-Leninism
Marxism-Leninism
Marxism–Leninism is a communist ideology, officially based upon the theories of Marxism and Vladimir Lenin, that promotes the development and creation of a international communist society through the leadership of a vanguard party over a revolutionary socialist state that represents a dictatorship...
and allying itself with the communist current associated with the hard-line Enver Hoxha
Enver Hoxha
Enver Halil Hoxha was a Marxist–Leninist revolutionary andthe leader of Albania from the end of World War II until his death in 1985, as the First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania...
regime in Albania, the MLLT saw its goals as spreading Marxism-Leninism throughout the world and "engaging in a bitter struggle against all brands of revisionism," which they defined using the parlance of the Albanian ruling Communist Party of Labor, as including “Khrushchevism
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
, Titoism
Titoism
Titoism is a variant of Marxism–Leninism named after Josip Broz Tito, leader of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, primarily used to describe the specific socialist system built in Yugoslavia after its refusal of the 1948 Resolution of the Cominform, when the Communist Party of...
, Trotskyism
Trotskyism
Trotskyism is the theory of Marxism as advocated by Leon Trotsky. Trotsky considered himself an orthodox Marxist and Bolshevik-Leninist, arguing for the establishment of a vanguard party of the working-class...
, Euro-Communism
Eurocommunism
Eurocommunism was a trend in the 1970s and 1980s within various Western European communist parties to develop a theory and practice of social transformation that was more relevant in a Western European democracy and less aligned to the influence or control of the Communist Party of the Soviet...
and Maoism
Maoism
Maoism, also known as the Mao Zedong Thought , is claimed by Maoists as an anti-Revisionist form of Marxist communist theory, derived from the teachings of the Chinese political leader Mao Zedong . Developed during the 1950s and 1960s, it was widely applied as the political and military guiding...
.”
The emergence of the MLLT created some rifts with the Eritrean People's Liberation Front
Eritrean People's Liberation Front
The Eritrean People's Liberation Front was an armed organization that fought for the independence of Eritrea from Ethiopia. It emerged in 1970 as an intellectual left-wing group that split from the Eritrean Liberation Front .-Background:...
with which the TPLF was allied against the ruling Soviet-backed Ethiopian 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...
. The MLLT took a much harder line on the role of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
in the world, which they along with Albania viewed as social-imperialist and an enemy of the oppressed of the world. The EPLF held a more flexible line viewing the Soviet support for the Derg as a tactical mistake on their part and avoided any public denunciations of the Soviet Union.
With the coming to power of the TPLF in 1991 and the collapse of communist regime in Albania, the TPLF dropped all references to Marxism-Leninism. The leadership of the TPLF claims that the MLLT dissolved when the TPLF-backed Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front
Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front
The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front is the ruling political coalition in Ethiopia. It is an alliance of four other groups: the Oromo Peoples' Democratic Organization , the Amhara National Democratic Movement , the South Ethiopian Peoples' Democratic Front The Ethiopian People's...
took power after the collapse of the Derg in 1991.
While many current TPLF leaders downplay or minimize the influence of MLLT on the TPLF, it is clear that it played a major leadership role in the TPLF for most of its existence. Some scholars (such as Kahsay Berhe) believe the MLLT played a role in the removal of TPLF founders Giday Zera Tsion and Aregawi Berhe in late July 1985.