establishing the Tigray Liberation Front (TLF) in 1974. A Marxist trend emerged in the TUSA favoring national self-determination for Tigray within a revolutionary transformed democratic Ethiopia. Whereas the multinational left movements prioritized class struggle over the national self-determination of the Ethiopian nationalities, the Marxists of TUSA argued for self-determination as the launching pad for the ultimate socialist revolution, due to the existing inequalities among Ethiopian nationalities. 1974–1977 In February 1974, the Marxists within TUSA welcomed the Ethiopian Revolution but opposed the Derg (the military junta that ruled Ethiopia from 1974 to 1991) as they were convinced that it would neither lead a genuine socialist revolution nor correctly resolve the Ethiopian nationality question. Three days after the Derg took power, on 14 September 1974, seven leaders of this trend established the Association of Progressives of the Tigray Nation (, Maḥbär Gäsgästi Bəḥer Təgray), also known as Tigrayan National Organization (TNO): Alemseged Mengesha (nom de guerre: Haylu), Ammaha Tsehay (Abbay), Aregawi Berhe (Berhu), Embay Mesfin (Seyoum), Fentahun Zere'atsion (Gidey), Mulugeta Hagos (Asfeha) and Zeru Gesese (Agazi). The TNO was to prepare the ground for the future armed movement of Tigray. It secretly approached both the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) and the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) for support but the ELF already had relations with the TLF. In November 1974, the EPLF agreed to train TNO members and allowed EPLF fighters from the Tigrayan community in Eritrea, among them Mehari Tekle (Mussie), to join the TPLF. The first batch of trainees was sent to the EPLF in January 1975. On the night of 18 February 1975, eleven men including Gesese Ayyele (Sehul), Gidey, Asfeha, Seyoum, Agazi, and Berhu left Enda Selassie for Sehul's home area of Dedebit, where they established the TPLF (original name , Tägadlo Ḥarənnät Ḥəzbi Təgray, "The Popular Struggle for the Freedom of Tigray"). Welde Selassie Nega (Sebhat), Legese Zenawi (Meles) and others soon joined the original group and, after the arrival of the trainees from Eritrea in June 1975, the TPLF had about 50 fighters. It then chose a formal leadership composed of Sehul (Chairman), Muse (Military Commander) and the seven TNO-founders. Berhu was appointed as political commissioner. Sehul played a crucial role in helping the nascent TPLF to establish itself among the local peasantry. Although some successful raids established its military credibility, the TPLF grew to only about 120 fighters in early 1976, but a rapidly expanding