Indepenedence day

24 May

On May 24, 1991, the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front forces moved into the capital city of Asmara and reinstated independence after a war against the Ethiopian military regime. This war went on for 30 years. It is one of the most important public holidays in the country, along with Martyrs’ Day and Revolution Day.

This day came at the end of a long and tumultuous freedom struggle that can be traced back to the 1800s. Italian General, Oreste Batratieri, took control of the highlands along Eritrea’s coast and declared it to be a colony of Italy called “Italian Eritrea.” The colonial government invested significantly in the infrastructure and agriculture of the region and opened new factories that made pasta, cooking oil, packaging of meat, and tobacco, among other things. The Italian influence can still be seen in Eritrea’s capital city of Asmara today.

The Italians were defeated by the British, who then took over the administration of the country in the 1941 Battle of Keren. The British administration continued until around 1950 when they proposed partitioning the nation into two parts — a Britain-controlled Sudan and the rest to Ethiopia. In December 1950, Eritrea was federated into Ethiopia on prompts made by the United States — thus ignoring Eritrea’s calls for independence.

After years of war and several liberation attempts by Eritrean organizations, the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front finally defeated Ethiopian forces and established a one-party state. There was another war between the two nations from 1998 to 2000, which involved a major border conflict around Badme and Zalambessa. The conflict was resolved in 2018.