The Territorial Army () was the national ground force of the

Ethiopian Empire The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that historical ...

. It operated essentially as a loosely organized auxiliary force serving to aid in local police work. It was dominated by a group of officers known as "The Exiles" for their role in fleeing Ethiopia with

Haile Selassie Haile Selassie I ( gez, ቀዳማዊ ኀይለ ሥላሴ, Qädamawi Häylä Səllasé, ; born Tafari Makonnen; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as Regent Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia (' ...

in 1936 after the

Second Italo-Ethiopian War The Second Italo-Ethiopian War, also referred to as the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, was a war of aggression which was fought between Italy and Ethiopia from October 1935 to February 1937. In Ethiopia it is often referred to simply as the Itali ...

History

It was formed as part of Haile Selassie's transformation strategy, with the mission being to disarm the guerrillas that took part in the

Ethiopian Civil War The Ethiopian Civil War was a civil war in Ethiopia and present-day Eritrea, fought between the Ethiopian military junta known as the Derg and Ethiopian-Eritrean anti-government rebels from 12 September 1974 to 28 May 1991. The Derg overthre ...

. Emperor Selassie authorized the recruitment of many

shifta Shifta is a term used in East Africa meaning ''rebel'', ''outlaw'', or ''bandit''. The Swahili word was loaned from the Somali shufta during the Shifta War, which is in turn derived from Amharic ሽፍታ (šəfta). Historically, the shifta served ...

in the Territorial Army during its existence. Over time, it was gradually incorporated into the regular army. In late June 1974, officers of the Territorial Army formed the

Derg The Derg (also spelled Dergue; , ), officially the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC), was the military junta that ruled Ethiopia, then including present-day Eritrea, from 1974 to 1987, when the military leadership formally " c ...

Role

The Territorial Army's provincial units, commanded by the governor general, assisted the national police force in areas where police were scarce."Public Order and Internal Security: The National Police"
Library of Congress Country Studies: Ethiopia (data from 1991; accessed 26 April 2011) It also guarded magazines, communication lines and other important places.

References

{{Reflist Military units and formations of Ethiopia Reserve forces

History

Role

See also

References