Do you know the date and year:
- When some Eritrean land was declared state land - ‘demeniale’ – by an infamous Italian decree?
- When Hamid Idris Awated was martyred?
- When student protests against Ethiopia were started in Asmara?
- When the UN General Assembly voted by two-thirds majority to partition Eritrea but ‘game of nations’ changed the situation and another fortuitous vote of a small Caribbean country saved Eritrea from partition?
Nharnet.com is pleased to present to its readers a list of important dates with important events in Eritrean history that occurred during the month of May. We will also present to you a brief account on how the partition plan was deliberated at UN forums during May 1949.
· May 1957 – Asmara students start demonstrations (no specific date availed).
· 2 May 1889 - Keren taken by the Italians.
· 4 May 1952 - UN commissioner presented draft constitution for discussion and adoption by the Eritrean Assembly.
· 9 May 1949 – a 15-Nation sub-committee takes up debate on all proposals to resolve the questions of Eritrea, Libya and Somalia. The Bevin-Sforza plan prevails but was eventually reversed on 17 May 1949 (see details below).
· 11 May 1893 – Italians issue a decree to turn some land in Eritrea to state ownership (so called ‘demaniale’ land) for agricultural use.
· 12 May 1988 – Massacre in Sheeb.
· 15 May 1902 – Setit border demarcated with Ethiopia.
· 17 May 1866 – Turkish Massawa becomes Egyptian.
· 22 May 1975 - the Second National Congress of the ELF ended after three-week deliberations with 949 delegates attending. Herui Tedla’s failure in the election provokes a debilitating crisis within the ELF.
· 22- 29 May - the Eritrean Women’s General Union (EWGU) held its first Congress in the liberated areas.
· 24 May 1991 – Ethiopian army defeated, Eritrea liberated.
· 24 May 1993 – independence declared, Eritrea becomes member of the UN.
· 28 May 1962 – Hamid Idris Awate martyred.
The 17 May 1949 Vote on the Fate of Eritrea
Between the Potsdam, Germany, summit meeting of the World War II victors in August 1945 and the 2 December 1950 UN General Assembly vote to federate Eritrea with Ethiopia, countless proposals and recommendations drafted by various countries, sub-committees, committees and commissions were discussed about the future of our country. Each one of those proposals is an interesting reading in how ‘the game of nations’ is played in the international forums. The Bevin-Sforza Plan was only one of those proposals that did not work out. The plan, named after the foreign ministers of Britain and Italy, proposed , inter alia, the partition of Eritrea between Ethiopia and the Sudan. Ethiopia was for the partition plan with some initial ‘reluctance’. Eritrean delegations representing parties opposed to unity with Ethiopia were present at the UN corridors to foil the plan. But Eritrean opposition was not counting much. It was mainly due to other factors that the partition of Eritrea was averted. The paragraphs below will briefly recount what that project was and how it was not put to effect.
Starting on 6 April 1949, the already hot debate in the UN on the future of former Italian possessions in Africa intensified when the American delegate, John Foster Dulles, proposed on 9 May 1949 that a 15-Nation sub-committee should restart reviewing all the proposals tabled on the question of Eritrea and other Italian colonies. His proposal was accepted and the 15-Nation sub-committee started its deliberations to finally submit an acceptable project for further review by the First Committee of the General Assembly. The First Committee was a powerful body that included a representative from each member state.
The 15-Nation sub-committee reviewed all the proposals but preferred the Bevin-Sforza plan for the former Italian colonies. Vote on the Bevin-Sforza plan was 10 for, with 4 against and 1 abstention. Then the plan was submitted to the First Committee.
On 17 May, the First Committee introduced a few changes and presented the plan to the UN General Assembly as follows:
1. Eritrea, except the western province, to be incorporated to Ethiopia, with the cities of Asmara and Massawa to be granted a special status with municipal charters. The incorporation of the rest of Eritrea to the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan would be open for further discussion.
2. Somalia to be placed under Italian trusteeship for a period left to be defined by the General Assembly.
3. Libya to be granted independence after 10 years. But during those 10 years, the provinces, of Cyrenaica, Fezzan and Tripolitania would be under the trusteeship of Britain, France and Italy, respectively.
The UN General Assembly reviewed the plan and was highly expected to adopt without any problem the recommendation of the First Committee because every UN member state had a representative in that important committee and it seemed little would change. It went as follows:
1. The partition plan of Eritrea was passed in the General Assembly by 37 votes in favour of the Bevin-Sforza plan, 11 against and 10 abstentions. It thus seemed that the fate of the “former Italian colony of Eritrea” was sealed.
2. The Libyan issue had a number of sub-proposals. The General Assembly voted for reunited Libya’s independence after 10 years with 48 votes for, 8 against and 1 abstention. However, what was important was who should rule the three parts of Libya during the 10-year trusteeship period. It went as follows:
a) Britain’s trusteeship over Cyrenaica was adopted 36 in favour, 17 against and 6 abstentions;
b) b) French trusteeship over Fezzan was adopted by 36 in favour, 15 against and 7 abstentions;
c) but, the proposal of Italian trusteeship over Tripolitania was short of one vote to obtain the required two-thirds majority in the General Assembly. Haiti, which was NOT expected to vote against the Bevin –Sforza package on former Italian colonies voted AGAINST plan.
3. Again when the question of Italian trusteeship over Somalia was put to voting, the Haitian delegate to the United Nations, Senator St. Lot, voted
AGAINST. Senator St. Lot had direct instructions from the Haitian president of the day to vote for the Bevin-Sforza Plan, but the man opposed his head of state and voted as he saw it right. (He later justified his voting to had been based on his anti-colonialist feeling - against the return of Italy to Somalia and part of Libya. Others alleged that he was ‘bribed’ by Arab delegates who opposed the delay to grant independence to Libya.).
This was a big shock to USA, to UK and to Italy with its large Latin American bloc. Under this situation, many countries which until then supported the plan did not see it feasible and asked that it be put to new voting as one package – the Bevin-Sforza package. This meant that the General Assembly would not go ahead with its decision already reached regarding Eritrea and the two provinces of Libya (Cyrenaica and Fezzan) because the fate of Tripolitania was left pending. In a final vote on the package, the Bevin-Sforza plan was, ironically, rejected by 37 votes against, 14 in favour and 7 abstentions.
Thus, because of the decisive Haitian vote, the already reached decision of the General Assembly on the partition of Eritrea became null and void and the question of Eritrea was to be subjected to another review. Ethiopia was not happy that the partition ended that way but it was too late for her and her allies to save it. On the other hand, Sheikh Ibrahim Sultan Ali and his delegation rejoiced at the defeat of the partition plan, and started preparing themselves for the next round of ‘fact findings’ and ‘inquiries’ on the fate of this his country – i.e. this Eritrea of ours which is not yet in peace with itself and with its same old neighbours.
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