March

Important Dates in Eritrean History

By Nharnet Team (March 9, 2005)

Important Dates Between 1867-1896

• March 1867: First Italian agricultural concession established at Shietel, south of Keren, by Padre Stella under the authority of Degiat Hailu of Hamassien.

• 15 March 1888: The railway line reached from Massawa to Sahati in Samhar.

• 22 March 1889: Italian forces occupied Agametta near the Eritrean coast.

• 1 March 1896: 2,000 Eritreans died at the Battle of Adua from among 8 battalions made Eritrean fighters. Of those who were captured, 500 were subjected to painful amputation of their right arms and left legs before they were sent back to Eritrea.

Important Dates Between 1907-1937

• 25 March 1907: First batch of Eritrean youth sent to Somalia to fight Italy’s war for expanding its colonial empire.

• 7 March 1932: The Agordat-Biscia line of the railway completed.

• 18 March 1937: Inauguration of the Asmara-Massawa cable line (Teleferica).

Important Dates Between 1949-1958

• 18 March 1949: Abdelkadir Kabire assassinated in Asmara by paid killers.

• 14 March 1952:  Dehai Eritra issue 22 of that date charged. Editor Saleh Mohamoud and Elias teklu detained. Re published as of 5 March 1954.

• 10-13 March 1958: General strike of Eritrean workers in Asmara and other Eritrean towns.

Important Dates Between 1964-1999

• 15 March 1964: The Battle of Togoruba in which the ELA confronted in battle for the first time the regular Ethiopian army in Eritrea after the defeat of the police and special forces deployed by the occupying power, Ethiopia.

• 9 March 1975: The Black Sunday in Agordat in which nearly 200 innocent civilians were massacred by the Ethiopian army.

• 15 March 1994:  The dictatorial regime in Asmara named 50-person commission for drafting a constitution after banning and excluding all the other Eritrean political organizations.

• March 1999: Eritrean opposition organizations held lengthy discussions and reached an agreement with a minimum programme to form an umbrella organization called the Alliance of Eritrean National Forces (AENF). The same alliance in October 2002 included two controversial clauses in its charter and was renamed the ENA, which, since 22 January 2005 has started to be called the Eritrean Democratic Alliance (EDA).