The Economist - USA (2019-11-09)

76 Books & arts The EconomistNovember 9th 2019

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each to the country’s development. Mene-

lik’s successor, Lij Iyasu, is noted for his

role in establishing the first police force.

Mengistu Haile Mariam, the bloodstained

dictator of the 1970s and 1980s, is praised

for defending Ethiopia from the invading

Somalis—though an excellent exhibition

in the palace’s basement, dedicated to

those who were imprisoned there during

the revolution Mengistu led, helps balance

the picture of him.

The current prime minister, who took

office in 2018 and promises Ethiopia’s first

free election next May, presents all this as a

break with the past. “Previously, when a

government changed it would remove all

the marks of its predecessor,” comments

Abebaw, the curator. When Mengistu’s

communist junta, known as the Derg,

seized power in 1974, imperial statues were

torn down. Some were dumped in the gar-

den of the National Museum, where they

still lie; others were destroyed. Elias Won-

dimu, a publisher who has opened a shop

in Unity Park, remembers buying coffee

beans wrapped in pages torn from history

books. Shiferaw Bekele, a historian, recalls

bonfires of books that included Haile Se-

lassie’s autobiography. The revolutionary

fervour was so intense that even the royal

lions were killed.

The empire’s new clothes

When the Derg itself was overthrown in

1991, the incoming Ethiopian People’s Rev-

olutionary Democratic Front (eprdf) fol-

lowed suit. Unsurprisingly, a statue of Le-

nin was toppled. But imperial heritage was

also in the firing line. “There was a very or-

ganised, systematic attempt to destroy the

image of Menelik,” says Shiferaw. A contro-

versy about the fate of his statue in Addis

Ababa triggered large protests in its de-

fence. The monument survived, but re-

mains a source of tension.

The decision to turn Menelik’s palace

into a museum is even more contentious.

Several bigwigs from Abiy’s ethnic group,

the Oromo, snubbed the inauguration and

instead visited a memorial to Oromo vic-

tims of the emperor’s military campaigns.

His armies committed mass atrocities,

they say, so he should not be celebrated.

At the bottom of this heritage drive is a

highly charged question: is Ethiopia an old

nation or the product of a rapacious mod-

ern empire? It is a well-worn but neuralgic

dispute. In the past 18 months alone hun-

dreds of Ethiopians have been killed and

millions uprooted by ethnic conflicts that

often draw on historical grievances, real or

exaggerated. “The problem is, we don’t

have a consensus on the fundamentals of

our history,” notes Mulugeta Gebrehiwot,

author of a book on the eprdf.

Abiy tends to stress nationhood, with

its sense of gradual consolidation, rather

than the frictions of empire; according to

the museum, Ethiopia is a nation with an-

cient roots. But that, too, puts the prime

minister at odds with those in his party

who decry past imperial conquests. Some

think he has been precipitous in opening

Unity Park. “There needs to be a political

consensus,” says Mohammed Girma, a reli-

gious scholar. “It’s a good idea but he

should’ve consulted his Oromo constitu-

ency rather than rushing to build it.”

The museum’s overseers are unmoved

by the criticisms. “We have to respect what

happened in the past,” argues Abebaw. “We

cannot always be at odds with it.” Tamrat,

the director, is gathering exhibits for the

rooms that remain empty. Many Ethiopian

artefacts have been looted; others are still

in private hands. Though some individuals

have begun donating items, Tamrat says,

others are cautious. After all, family homes

can be safer than museums in a place

where history is a battlefield. 7

T

o most people shaped by the cold

war—andtoday’sicyrelations—Russia

andAmericamayseemalwaystohavebeen

swornenemies.When theSovietUnion

collapsedin1991 Americacelebratedvic-

tory.WhenVladimirPutinsetouttoavenge

historyand makeRussiagreatagain,he

whipped upanti-Americanhysteria and

scornedWashington’soverreach.Forhis

part,DonaldTrump—whothinksAmerica

hasinthepastbeena softtouch—ineffect

concurredwithMrPutin’scriticism,pledg-

ingtoputnarrowAmericaninterestsfirst.

In recounting America’s biggest ever

humanitarianeffort—to savemillionsof

livesinthenascentSovietstatea century

ago—“TheRussianJob”byDouglasSmith

repudiates the modern mythologies of

bothcountries,andtheirleaders’twisted

histories.Alreadyravagedbywarsandrev-

olution, in 1920-22 Russia was hit by

droughtsandfacedoneofEurope’sworst

everfamines.Itwaspartlyself-induced:

terrorisedbytheRedArmyandthreatened

withrequisitionsandexecutions,Russian

peasantsdrasticallyreducedthelandun-

dercultivation,sowingtheminimumre-

quiredfortheirownsurvival.

Acutelyawarethatfoodmeant power,

VladimirLeninabandonedWar Commu-

nisminfavourofa neweconomic policy

thatreplacedrequisitionwith taxes and

madesomeconcessiontocapitalism. But it

wastoolate.Bytheendof1921, the vast ter-

ritoryalongtheVolgasuccumbed to starva-

tionandcannibalism.

Havingcometopoweron the promise

toprovidebreadandendwar, the Bolshe-

viks confronted the prospect of being

sweptawaybyhunger.Unable to feed their

ownpeople,theleadersofthe proletarian

revolution turnedto theWest for help.

MaximGorky,a Bolshevikwriter who had

oncedemonisedAmericancapitalism, ap-

pealedto“allhonestEuropean and Ameri-

canpeople”to“givebreadand medicine”.

Theappealstrucka chord with Herbert

Forgotten histories

The kindness of strangers

TheRussianJob.ByDouglasSmith.

Farrar,StrausandGiroux; 320 pages; $28.

Picador;£25

From Russia with gratitude

A century ago America saved millions of Russians from starvation