Ethiopia and the Soviet Union: on the Occasion of the Eightieth Anniversary of the Restoration of Diplomatic Relations

Abstract

The article examines the causes and circumstances of the process of restoring diplomatic relations between the two countries, first established at the end of the 19th century and interrupted after the October Revolution. In the face of the impending threat to the independence of Ethiopia from Italy in the mid-1930s. Now the Ethiopian side itself has taken steps to strengthen relations with the USSR. The occupation of Ethiopia and the outbreak of World War II delayed the development of this process until 1943, when the prestige of the Soviet Union, bearing the main burden of the fight against fascism, increased significantly in the world. The successes and difficulties of relations between the two countries in subsequent years, caused, in particular, by the orientation of Ethiopia in foreign policy towards the United States, are also considered.