I watched a video about the Cold War and there was a war between Ethiopia and Somalia. The two Superpowers (Sovietunion and the USA) helped the countries in this war and switched the countries they were helping as theyre regime changed. So the Sovietunion helped Ethiopia, my question is now: Was Ethiopia communist? (Correct me if there are some mistakes in my comment)
Ethiopia had a revolution in 1974 to oust the imperial regime of Haile Selassie. Prior to the revolution, Ethiopia had received a good deal of support from the US, including a large supply of arms (including F-5 fighter jets) and training by US forces. One of the major benefits the US got in return was the use of the listening post at Kagnew Station in what is now Eritrea.
Following the revolution, a Marxist regime led by a committee of officers - the Derg - took power. They very rapidly alienated the US both thanks to ideology and the Red Terror that followed their rise. As the US pulled support, however, the Soviets stepped in (with help from the Cubans) with hopes of solidifying their position in the Horn of Africa. Initial efforts worked to foster cooperation between Ethiopia and neighboring Soviet-backed Somalia, and Castro went as far as trying to push the two towards an Ethiopian-Somali federation. Unfortunately, this all fell through when Somalia invaded in 1977. Somalia dropped the Soviets and tried to buddy up with the US when they showed reluctance to back Somalia, and the Soviets responded by throwing their full weight behind the Ethiopians.
Following the end of the Ogaden War, the Soviets and Cubans kept up a significant presence and provided a huge amount of aid for the Derg, as the Ethiopian Red Terrors had revived the nearly-dead insurgency in Eritrea and brought to life several other rebel groups throughout the country. Ideologically, these groups were often all over the place, with some being pure independence movements (ELF, ONLF, and OLF being prominent), while the more successful ones took on differing flavors of Communist ideology (EPLF, TPLF). Although the Derg regime was fighting communist insurgents, they themselves espoused Soviet-style Communism, abolishing the old feudal system and pushing for land reform. Even a lot of the counterinsurgency tactics the Derg used were backed by Communist ideology - the villagization Ethiopia relied upon as part of its campaign was justified under the auspices of Communist land reform.