The two Bonapartes and the whiff of the

grapeshot of the Ethiopian Revolution

By Aymro

Drawing historical parallels is a risky business. Especially if you are drawing parallels between a Northeast African country �s 20th and 21st Century history with that of 18th Century France.
 
But it is also tempting, as at least superficially there seem to be some similarities.
 
What caused me to write thus is that I have often in the last decade heard (read) from the leaders of the Weyane Rackets, references to Bonaparte.
 
The first time this happened was when Ato Meles got rid of his rivals, led by Ato Siye, accusing them of Bonapartism. The second reference to this was from an article from the same said Ato Siye, accusing the victor (Ato Meles) of Bonapartism of the second variety that of the nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte, Louis Napoleon.
 
To quote Karl Marx, a past time not popular in Ethiopia nowadays, �history repeats itself, first as tragedy then as farce�.
 
In short, Louis Napoleon repeated the tragedies of his greater uncle as farce. He was no Napoleon Bonaparte but comically postured as one. Thousands lost their lives in the process.  Of course he had none of the military brilliance of his illustrious uncle.  It all ended in disaster.
 
The young Napoleon Bonaparte got his start with an incident in which he shot �grapeshot� � (multiple cannon balls resembling grapes) at a protesting Royalist mob on 5 October 1795, saying� I cleared the streets ---gave them a whiff (taste) of the grapeshot�. This got him the attention of the regime and he was soon promoted to General.

This incident in which 1,400 royalists died marked the end of the many years of disturbances which followed the French Revolution, the success of the reaction (Thermidor) and the start of the authoritarian police estate.
 
Superficially, Mengistu�s bloodletting could be seen as the �whiff of the grapeshot� of the Ethiopian Revolution on his way to become the bloody dictator of a Police State.
 
Ato Meles, cuts a similar figure to Louis Napoleon, the same arrogant pride, deceitfulness, monarchic aspirations (overt in Louis & covert in Meles) and  bloody-mindedness. They both turned out quite costly to the countries they misruled; Louis Napoleon foolishly conquered Mexico with disastrous consequences and was then manipulated by Bismarck into declaring war on Germany and then soundly beaten. Ato Meles, has given away the seacoast, fought a foolish war with Eritrea and invaded Somalia a few times. All these wars have been disastrous to Ethiopia�s economy with no benefit to anyone.
 
However, the similarity is superficial, Mengistu who started as a Junior Officer much like Napoleon Bonaparte, had none of his military or administrative genius whilst Louis Napoleon was looking for foolish gloire (glory) for himself and France but was essentially patriotic unlike the decidedly unpatriotic Ato Meles.
 
In terms of the societies and classes they represented, Napoleon Bonaparte and Louis Napoleon were on the side of a substantial and rising, rapacious but progressive bourgeoisie that had just overthrown the pillars of the feudal order.
 
With Mengistu it is much more complex, he represents a layer of radical ex-peasant junior officers who used peasant grievances in a revolt against an evolving but small bourgeoisie within an ancient feudal order and ended up destroying both in the name of �communism�. He also made the state the sole proprietor of all land.
 
Ato Meles, represents a nascent tiny and rootless (without allegiance to the Ethiopian nation)  Comprador bourgeoisie who have grown on the ashes of what Mengistu destroyed. This layer is entirely self-seeking and can be compared to asset liquidators who are selling off everything including the land Mengistu nationalised. Unlike Louis Napoleon�s Gloire for moi et France, there is neither glory nor an Ethiopia for Ato Meles.
 
[From EthioLion.Com, December 13, 2009]