On May 27 to 28, 1991 the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front captured Addis Ababa, toppling the brief acting government of Tesfaye Gebre Kidan and formally ending the Derg regime and 17 years of Marxist rule. After Mengistu fled on May 21, Vice President Tesfaye Gebre Kidan became acting president of a collapsing government. As US-brokered peace talks convened in London, the acting president reported that he had lost control of the remaining army units and that Addis Ababa faced a breakdown of law and order.
On that basis the US mediator concurred with the EPRDF leader Meles Zenawi's proposal to move rebel forces into the capital without delay. The EPRDF entered and took control of Addis Ababa on May 28, 1991, ending the civil war, disbanding the ruling party, and beginning a transitional government. Tesfaye Gebre Kidan was displaced without being harmed.
The dataset dates this May 27, 1991 and codes his fate as fled the country.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Target identified in Coup Atlas research: Acting President Tesfaye Gebre Kidan, whose one-week government was displaced when the EPRDF took Addis Ababa on May 28, 1991; he lost power and sought refuge.
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Tesfaye Gebre Kidan (acting president displaced)
Meles Zenawi (EPRDF leader who took power)
Sources
The fall of the Derg was a military campaign that resulted in the defeat of the ruling Marxist-Leninist junta by the rebel coalition EPRDF on 28 May 1991 in Addis Ababa, ending the Ethiopian Civil War, and on 28 May the EPRDF took control of Addis Ababa and called a summit to begin forming the Transitional Government of Ethiopia while Mengistu and some other Derg officials fled the country and more were arrested.
SOURCE REVIEWEDWikipedia, Fall of the Derg regimeopen source ↗
The acting President General Tesfaye Gebre Kidan telephoned the American charge d'affaires on May 26 and told him he could no longer control his troops or even his own bodyguards, and in response Assistant Secretary Herman Cohen in London concurred in Meles Zenawi's proposal to bring EPRDF forces into the capital without further delay.
SOURCE REVIEWEDEthiopian Review, Ethiopia in 1991open source ↗
Upon assuming power General Tesfaye Gebre Kidan found his government falling apart as the EPRDF marched into Addis Ababa and seized power on 28 May, and according to one account he had first sought sanctuary at the US embassy but the ambassador turned him away.
The abortive London peace conference of 27 May 1991 was overtaken by events, and when Cohen received a message that acting President Tesfaye Gebre Kidan had lost control of the government's remaining armed units and Addis Ababa was threatened with a complete breakdown of law and order, Cohen recommended that EPRDF forces immediately move into Addis Ababa to prevent uncontrolled destruction and looting.
Coding note: the dataset labels this a rebel coup with a fled-the-country fate; it was the EPRDF's capture of Addis Ababa on May 28, 1991, which displaced the one-week acting government of Tesfaye Gebre Kidan and formally ended the Derg regime. Who is coded deposed: the acting president Tesfaye Gebre Kidan, whose collapsing authority ended when the rebels took the capital; he lost power and sought refuge (accounts say he tried the US embassy and was turned away), and he was not physically harmed in the takeover, consistent with the fled coding. Date nuance flagged: the dataset dates this May 27, 1991; the EPRDF entered and took control of Addis Ababa on May 28, 1991, coinciding with the collapse of the abortive London talks of May 27, and both dates are recorded. Arc link: this is the second of two linked Ethiopia 1991 records, following Mengistu's May 21 flight (enriched in the same batch); together they end the 17-year Derg era. Context recorded and handled neutrally: the US mediator concurred in moving EPRDF forces into the capital after the acting president reported a total breakdown of control, a step credited with averting a bloodbath; the EPRDF then disbanded the ruling party and formed a transitional government under Meles Zenawi. Neutrality maintained on a contested subject.
Cross-Reference
Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.
Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Acting President Tesfaye Gebre Kidan, whose one-week government was displaced when the EPRDF took Addis Ababa on May 28, 1991; he lost power and sought refuge..
Baseline coding: Incumbent executive removed from power. Recorded leader fate: deposed; fled the country. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.
Baseline Dataset Citation
Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
“Ethiopian Rebels Storm the Capital and Seize Control,” by Clifford Krauss, May 28, 1991
Edmonton Journal
“Gunfire Puts Down Protests; Two Killed in Second Day of Demonstrations Against Rebel Leaders,” May 31, 1991
Globe and Mail
“Ethiopian Rebels Fire On Protesters Residents Of Add Is Ababa See Change As Au.S.sell out of mengistu’s regime,” May 31, 1991
This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →