Eritrean Nationalism 
Eritrea; A Dream Deferred
Introduction
Eritrean nationalism is a very young emotion. It was conceived in the 1940’s following the Italian colonial era, founded on the peoplespeople’s shared anti-colonial sentiment. This unifying emotion manifested itself in 1941 to an Eritrean nationalist movement through an anti-colonial coalition. It began with the dream of “a country of one’s own”; one which looked to reverse its people’s history of entrapment, isolation, and suppression from succeeding colonial powers who encircled and occupied their land.
The Eritrean dream came tantalizingly close to fulfillment on three two separate occasions before it was finally realized. The first occurred during British colonial rule between 194415-195248, only to be replaced by an Ethiopian federation. When the dream was compromised, the aspirations of a “country of one’s own” were reduced to a “room of one’s own”. The Eritrea-Ethiopian federation was short lived (1952-1962), as it transitioned to annexation, eliminating what little remained of the façade of Eritrean autonomy (Tekle, 1994). Even the illusion of a “room of one’s own” was shattered by the annexation of the territory and its classification as Ethiopia’s fourteenth province. in 1965-1968. when Eritrean exiles were getting politically organized and establishing Eritrean Nationalist movements, only to be suppressed by Ethiopian arms. The secondthird time the dream almost came true was between 1974-1978, when Emperor Haile Selassie’s empire was replaced by a Marxist regime. The hope that the new Ethiopian revolutionary government might recognize Eritreans aspirations quickly proved to be a delusion. Three Two times denied their dream, the Eritreans now had no other recourse to take their destiny into their own hands. The Eritrean dream of having one’s own country was finally fulfilled in 1991, but not before a 530-year struggle that dominated Eritrean life and profoundly
Introduction
Eritrean nationalism is a very young emotion. It was conceived in the 1940’s following the Italian colonial era, founded on the peoplespeople’s shared anti-colonial sentiment. This unifying emotion manifested itself in 1941 to an Eritrean nationalist movement through an anti-colonial coalition. It began with the dream of “a country of one’s own”; one which looked to reverse its people’s history of entrapment, isolation, and suppression from succeeding colonial powers who encircled and occupied their land.
The Eritrean dream came tantalizingly close to fulfillment on three two separate occasions before it was finally realized. The first occurred during British colonial rule between 194415-195248, only to be replaced by an Ethiopian federation. When the dream was compromised, the aspirations of a “country of one’s own” were reduced to a “room of one’s own”. The Eritrea-Ethiopian federation was short lived (1952-1962), as it transitioned to annexation, eliminating what little remained of the façade of Eritrean autonomy (Tekle, 1994). Even the illusion of a “room of one’s own” was shattered by the annexation of the territory and its classification as Ethiopia’s fourteenth province. in 1965-1968. when Eritrean exiles were getting politically organized and establishing Eritrean Nationalist movements, only to be suppressed by Ethiopian arms. The secondthird time the dream almost came true was between 1974-1978, when Emperor Haile Selassie’s empire was replaced by a Marxist regime. The hope that the new Ethiopian revolutionary government might recognize Eritreans aspirations quickly proved to be a delusion. Three Two times denied their dream, the Eritreans now had no other recourse to take their destiny into their own hands. The Eritrean dream of having one’s own country was finally fulfilled in 1991, but not before a 530-year struggle that dominated Eritrean life and profoundly