ABSTRACT
Eritrea is an independent state bordering the southern end of the Red Sea. With Sudan and Ethiopia, Eritrea has one of the lowest figures for GDP per capita in the world. From 1936 until 1941 Ethiopia and Eritrea were governed together as part of the Italian East African Empire. In 1941, Eritrea was placed under British military administration which lasted for nine years. Meanwhile, a Four Powers Commission failed to agree on the future for Eritrea, but finally passed Resolution 390A in December 1950, which favoured close association with Ethiopia. In September 1951, Eritrea became an autonomous territory federated with Ethiopia. In 1974, as a result of the Ethiopian revolution, the emperor Haile Selassie was overthrown and a neo-Marxist government, the Dergue, installed. In December 1976, this government signed a military assistance pact with the Soviet Union and Ethiopia became one of the few states to change sides during the Cold War.
