The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party (EPRP) (), informally known as Ihapa, is the first modern political party in Ethiopia, established in April 1972 (the founding congress was held from 2–9 April). Its first political program called for the overthrow of the Ethiopian monarchy, the removal of the feudal system, and the creation of a socialist democratic republic. The party was forced underground because the monarchy, headed by Emperor Haile Selassie, did not allow political parties or legal dissent. Both the EPRP and another party, the All-Ethiopia Socialist Movement (MEISON) were enthusiastic supporters of the student-led 1974 Ethiopian Revolution that eventually led to the toppling of Emperor Haile Selassie and abolishing the monarchy the following year. However, following the rise of Mengistu Haile Mariam to power as leader of the ruling Derg, the military junta that had taken control of Ethiopia, ideological conflict developed between the various groups. The EPRP declared open war against the revolutionary government in 1976, and the government resolved to smash them as an act of self-defense in the urban areas. In the rural areas, Tigray and Gondar provinces, the guerrilla force of the party, known as the EPRA (Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Army), was also becoming active. The spiraling violence in the urban areas also led to the declaration of the infamous Red Terror campaign by the military regime against the EPRP and later MEISON. This bloody campaign caused the deaths of some 250,000 Ethiopians until it ended in 1978. The urban armed defense was pursued to an extent and dimension which harmed the party by forcing it to work in circumstances of unfavorable balance of forces. History The EPRP was founded under the name Ethiopian People's Liberation Organization (EPLO) in April 1972 in West Berlin, West Germany, by exiled Ethiopian students and with the assistance of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine. At this first congress, a Central Committee was elected and included Desta Tadesse, Kiflu Teferra, Kiflu Tadesse, Tesfaye Debessay, Berhane Meskel Reda, Iyasu Alemayehu, and Zeru Kehishen, with the latter four elected to the EPLO Politburo and Berhane Meskel Reda elected the organization's Secretary General. For the first few years of its existence, the EPRP was of little importance until the arrival of the Revolution, after which it played a larger role. Over the year following the deposition of Haile Selassie, political and ideological conflict began to emerge between the EPRP and