History

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Browsing History by Author "Balcha, Paulos"

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    A History of Damot Gale Wa'ra'da, 1941-2006
    (Addis Ababa University, 2016-09) Balcha, Paulos; Chapple, David (PhD)
    The thesis is a reconstruction of the history of Damot Gale Wdrdda in the period between 1941 and 2006 based on archival sources and informants with use also of secondary sources. Damot Gale was conquered by Menelik's forces in 1894, which ended the old conditions and introduced the harsh ndfteiiiia-gdbbar exploitation system. The Italian occupation of Damot Gale in 1937 resulted in abolition of ndftenna exploitation and slavery. This improvement was only limited because the Italians came to exploit not to give fi·eedom. As result the local people were happy at the end of Italian rule. In the Imperial period Damot Gale was neglected by the government, little development took place and the peasants who were the majority of the population, were oppressed by landlords and heavy taxation. In the period Orthodox Christianity dominated and restricted Protestantism, CatholiCism, and Islam. But the Protestants nevertheless increased. The downfall of the Imperial regime in 1974 was greeted with great joy by the oppressed majority in Damot Gale. Land reform highly delighted the peasants of Damot Gale, but the introduction of villagization, the resettlement program, various types of cooperatives, the persecution of Protestants, and forced conscription of the youth for national military service extinguished the early feeling. Thus the people of Damot Gale turned to opposition and hoped for the downfall of military government. The downfall of the military Ddrg Regime in 1991 created some chaos and disorder in Damot Gall The Transitional Government restored peace and stability immediately. The establishment of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) in 1995 introduced democracy in self-administration, freedom of religion, the right to use one's own language and others and Wolaitta people demanded and obtained se(f-administration under "Wolaitta Zone " rather than "North Omo " and after protest and disturbances, to use Wolaittatto language as the medium of instruction in school rather than the imposed WoGaGoDa. The main thrust of my thesis is to show how a poor and neglected, largely agricultural and peasant area, has experienced changes, some positive others negative, under different regimes from 1941-2006.