Asmara in the 1940s|alt= |400x400px Eritrea's capital of Asmara, 100 km inland from its coast, has occupied a space in the highlands of Eritrea for hundreds of years. During the last century alone, it has been a staging ground for Italian initiatives in East Africa, collateral of Britain’s colonial politics, and victim of the expansion of Ethiopia’s empire until 1993 when it finally became the new and sovereign state of Eritrea. Only the large cluster of buildings built in the style of the Avant-Garde betrays the multifaceted history of this strange city and its urban core almost entirely unchanged for over seventy years. Pre-Colonial Asmara alt=| 400x400px| Asmara village in the 1890s Asmara was the perfect place to build a settlement; it had fertile soil, a mild climate because of its location on the plateau, and regular precipitation. While remains of prehistoric peoples have been found near Asmara; the ancient Aksum Empire ruled closeby; Islam had made inroads in the Horn of Africa from the region; and ruins of small villages found around present-day Asmara indicate the existence of peoples who had settled in the area long before the development of a city in the region,Curtis and Schmidt describe archeological findings from the agro-pastoral settlements, which arose between the 8th and 4th centuries BC. It is possibly that Asmara was already an important trade center even before the Axum Empire. (Cf. Curtis, Schmidt: Urban Precursors in the Horn: Early 1st Millennium BC Communities in Eritrea, pg. 849.) it can be said that the history of Asmara began around four hundred years before the effects of European colonization began to take hold. According to oral traditions, there were once four villages on Asmara’s plains. Attacks by wild animals and raids by other indigenous groups prompted the women of the neighboring villages to come together to discuss solutions that would help to ensure the protection of their families, properties, and belongings. The women decided that they would not serve lunch to the men of their villages until they agreed to consolidate the four villages into one. The men fulfilled the women’s wishes and built one united village, which they named Arbate Asmara.Yosief, The Story of Asmära [sic] (Cited in: Melchers: Asmara – Afrikas heimliche Hauptstadt der Moderne, pg. 10) Eritreans today enjoy relaying this tale about the founding of their city, as it serves as an example of how Eritrean people have been able to come together and persevere even under the harshest conditions. alt=| 400x400px| Asmara's market in the 1890s From this point on, the new village of 150 inhabitants lay in the medieval Medri Bahri Kingdom, until, after a short period when it was ruled by the Ottomans and later the Egyptians, it fell into the hands of Ethiopian Emperor Yohannes IV in the middle of the 19th century, who chose his trusted General Ras Alula to be governor of the newly-occupied kingdom. Alula declared Asmara the capital of the province, and within just a few years had increased the population of the small village to more than 5,000 inhabitants. A buoyant weekly market drew traders and builders from all over the surrounding region. Political and military conflicts between the local warlords of the Hamasien Plateau compelled Alula to station 12,000 soldiers in Asmara, so that the small city soon took on the appearance of a military camp. During the 1870s, there were at least two battles between Alula and these warlords, both of which essentially destroyed the city. Asmara’s weekly market, however, continued to take place. Emperor Yohannes IV called Alula and his troops up to Addis Abeba in 1889 to support him in his fight against the Mahdi uprisings. Italian invasion On August 3, 1889, Italian troops took advantage of Alula’s absence, the power vacuum left as a result of Emperor Yohannes’ death, and the havoc wreaked by three years of famine and took over the small city.Tesfagiorgis: Eritrea – Africa in Focus, pg. 34 They built their fort on a hill in the village of Beit Mekae, forcing the inhabitants of this village to resettle elsewhere. At the time of General Baldisera’s arrival, the small town had 3000 inhabitants and consisted of traditional mud huts, Agdos and Hidmos. Above all, the military fort at Beit Mekae was a strategic point when it came to controlling the local population; it also served as a military strongpoint from which local uprisings, which were largely directed against the government’s power of eminent domain, could be suppressed.Gebremedhin: Asmara – Africa’s Secret Modernist City, pg. 5 Eritrea officially became an Italian colony in 1890 and Massawa – already the seat of the colonial administration since 1885 – was declared the capital. At this time, because of the danger of insurrection in the highlands, Asmara was not even in the running to become the capital of the new colony. Furthermore, Bizzon explains that Asmara was not developed enough to serve as the capital: “Politically, militarily, and even logistically, the distance between Massawa and Asmara is greater than the distance between Italy and Massawa.”Bizzoni: L’Eritrea – nel passato e nel presente (Quoted in: Denison et al.: Asmara – Africa’s Secret Modernist City, pg. 24) The lack of an infrastructural link to Massawa prevented Asmara from developing quickly.  alt=| 400x400px  That, despite all of this, Asmara rose to significance has to do with the goals of Italian colonization. The interest in the occupation of Eritrea lay, on the one hand, in the settlement of Italian citizens who were able to strengthen the economy of their motherland through development of the colony, and on the other hand, to use Eritrea as a military base from which the expansion of the colony could take place.Almedom: Re-reading the Short and Long-Rigged History of Eritrea 1941–1952: Back to the Future?, pg. 108 The Ethiopian Empire was one of the last uncolonized regions of Africa, and the vision of a strong, modern Italian nation after the successes of the Risorgimento, would require the acquisition of colonies if the country to become a European superpower, and to affirm the autonomy of the young kingdom.Fuller: Italy's Colonial Futures: Colonial Inertia and Postcolonial Capital in Asmara, pg. 2 Colonial politics brought about the government’s claim to eminent domain as well as the realization of many noteworthy infrastructure projects. As a result of the takeover of Asmara by foreign militaries and because of the employment opportunities within infrastructure projects throughout Eritrea, the population of Asmara itself shrunk from 5000 to 800 inhabitants during the first five years of the Italian occupation. However, it remained an important market town on the Hamasien Plateau. The construction of the Massawa-Asmara-Railroad as well as a funicular railroad built along the same stretch that could transport heavy loads, finally allowed the Italians to use Asmara as a new base in the highlands. The institutionalized racial separation central to Italian colonial politics was not designed to account for the indigenous population, who would be displaced as the expansion of the industrial zone reached the unplanned quarters to the north.Gebremedhin: Asmara – Africa’s Secret Modernist City, pg. 7 Eritreans who owned property in the city center, or the European quarter, were forced to move out and sell their land. In 1908, the Governor issued a decree that, in the interest of promoting and maintaining “public order”, declared that the first zone was meant only for Italians and citizens from other European countries, whereas the sudditi coloniali, or the “colonial subjects”, were only allowed in the indigenous quarter and the mixed Market zone.Chelati Dirar: From warriors to urban dwellers: Ascari and the military factor in the urban development of colonial Eritrea, pg. 533 Only the Askari, indigenous soldiers who served in colonial troops, were allowed to build their huts in areas near the Italian residences, where conditions were better than those endured by their compatriots.The campi-famiglia directive allowed each Askari to build their own house. Under the supervision of Italian engineers, the soldier was to build the house with local building materials. In: Chelati Dirar: From warriors to urban dwellers: Ascari and the military factor in the urban development of colonial Eritrea, pg. 533 The untypical proximity of the Askari to the Italians illustrates the deep trust of the Italian administration in the indigenous troops. In 1926, colonial minister, Luigi Federzoni, described the Eritrean regiments as “the most solid, effective and safe pillar of our military might in all our African colonies.”From a letter from Federzoni to Mussolini, dated November 24, 1926. Source: Palumbo: A Place in the Sun: Africa in Italian Colonial Culture, pg. 88 This relationship lasted throughout the Italian occupation of Eritrea, and is more than likely an important factor in determining the good-naturedness of Eritreans toward Italians today. alt=| 250x250px| Asmara Theatre in the 1920s The first plans led to a phase of intensive building, which ultimately resulted in an increase of Asmara’s population from between 800 and 1,900 peopleTesfagiorgis: Eritrea – Africa in Focus, pg. 39 to more than 8,500 people in 1905, of which around 1,500 were white. This dramatic population increase exacerbated both a growth in trade and a rise in employment opportunities, as well as an upsurge in the number of people moving from rural areas to cities. In 1910, the city’s population had grown to around 37,000 people.Tesfagiorgis: Eritrea – Africa in Focus, pg. 44 During this period of growth, many important buildings cropped up, including the Palast des Gouverneurs (today the residence of the president), the first Italian school, the cathedral, the theater, and the high court, all of which are located on the centralized Corso del Re, later known as the Viale Mussolini, and even later as Harnet Avenue. Asmara’s road system and the important connections between Asmara and the cities of Keren and Decamhare were also built during this time period, along with the Massawa-Asmara-Railroad Line, which was finally finished in 1911. Asmara under Mussolini (1922-1941) Development under Mussolini's fascism alt=| 400x400px| Asmara in 1928 With Mussolini’s rise to power in 1922, Asmara began a new chapter in its history. During the fascist occupation, the construction that took place in the city was by far the most formative. With Mussolini’s efforts put toward building an Italian empire, the Eritrean capital became increasingly important in the years that followed, and in the 1930s, it became one of the most important sites in Italian East Africa. Modern architecture, equally lauded by architecture aficionados and city historians, slowly found its way to Eritrea in the 1920s. At this time in Italy, architecture was relatively uninfluenced by European avant-garde modernism which had taken hold in Holland, Germany, and France in particular.Akbar, Gebremedhin: Ein Weltkulturerbe It wasn’t until 1927 that Gruppo 7,The members of Gruppo 7 were Luigi Figini, Ubaldo Castagnoli, Guido Frette, Sebastiano Lorco, Gino Pollini, Carlo Enrico Rava and Guiseppe Terragni. a coalition of young architects from Milan, developed the Italian variation of avant-garde modern architecture called Rationalismo. Until 1935, the majority of structures in Asmara were built in traditional styles from established architecture schools like Novecento and the Scuola Romana, both of which appropriated certain formal elements from the Italian Gothic, the Renaissance, the Baroque, the Romantic, and the Classical time periods. The architecture remained largely traditional and was based mostly on the models of the Italian motherland. In Asmara’s most representative buildings built before 1935, this historicism is especially apparent. Asmara’s theater exhibits stylistic elements from both the Romantic and Renaissance periods.Denison et al.: Asmara – Africa’s Secret Modernist City, pg. 107 The Bank of Eritrea’s building is built in the Neo-Gothic style, and the Governor’s Palace as well as the post office building were constructed using neoclassical elements. To position Mussolini’s rule within the time period when modern architecture found its way to the Eritrean highland is, at least for the first half of his reign, incorrect. In reality, nearly all of the avant-garde structures were conscripted and built between 1935 and 1941. Even if the building boom did not begin until the middle of the 1930s, Mussolini’s fascist ideology would have already influenced the urban development plans during the 1920s and the beginning of the 1930s. alt=| 400x400px| Former Mayor's Villa in Asmara. Today, it is a Bed & Breakfast. At the beginning of the 20th century, the citizens of Asmara were separated by race. Neighborhoods for indigenous and European populations were clearly delineated from each other, however a public area could be used by everyone. The preliminary plans to separate people from different ethnic groups were expanded and concretized under Mussolini. The improved plans from 1930 laid out how the city would be divided into four clear and separate zones: the residential quarter for the indigenous population in the north, where there were already high population densities and erratic structures; the diagonal blocks of the industry zone; the “Villa quarter” for the Europeans, located south of present-day Harnet Avenue; and, the mixed zone around the market. Located in the market zone were administrative and commercial entities that were of equal significance for both groups of people (i.e. the indigenous and the European). Additionally, this zone housed centralized cultural institutions, and was interspersed with additional housing.Melchers: Asmara – Afrikas heimliche Hauptstadt der Moderne, pg. 6 The categorization of inhabitants by race reached its peak under fascism, with the strict separation of indigenous folks and occupiers. Growth as an Italian Military Base alt=| 400x400px| Asmara in the 1930s With the plan to raid Abyssinia and to incorporate it into the African colony, Asmara’s cityscape began to change. More and more soldiers were being stationed in Eritrea, and the city had only a short time to manage a rapid increase in its population. Between 1932 and 1936 alone the number of inhabitants rose from 18,000 to 98,000 people.Bader: Faschistische Moderne in Afrika – Auto und Architektur in Asmara, pg. 353 Until 1935, administrative and commercial structures were expanded in order to build up Asmara as a military base for the upcoming war. The village became a bustling administrative city and a trading hub,Bodenschatz: Städtebau für Mussolini, pg. 371 that required its new inhabitants address its rising sanitation, building, transportation, and safety needs. And so, housing, businesses, recreation services, as well as churches appeared out of thin air in a matter of a few short years. Deepening Racial Segregation alt=| 300x300px| An avenue in Asmara. This avenue served to segregate two sides of the city. Without question, the conviction that the white man is the ruler and therefore has the right to all conceivable privileges; That, consequently, the law [j]is one thing for the whites, and another thing for the natives; That the houses and dwellings of whites are always the first priority when solving any architectonic problem; indigenous dwellings, on the other hand, are only of interest to the whites if solving a problem with them would improve the wellbeing of the white population; That there are to be no whites and coloreds living together in the same house; That the white man’s house must be outfitted with the best comforts available as it is preferable if he can enjoy his time in the colony, and because he should be able to enjoy the privileges that come with being white.”Santoinianni: Il Razionalismo nelle colonie italiene 1927-1943 – La „nuova architettura“ delle Terre d’Oltremare, pg. 120 (Quoted in Erbel: Die Architekturmoderne in Asmara vor dem Hintergrund von italienischem Faschismus und Kolonialismus)But it was not only Italian architects who sought council with Mussolini in hopes of having their ideas realized under the Duce’s rule. Le Corbusier wanted his own plans implemented on the East African “playground”, and from 1932 onwards, he continuously pursued the opportunity to meet privately with Mussolini. His attempts were made in vain, however, and so he wrote to the Italian ambassador in Brazil and recommended that the social structure of the residential city of Addis Abeba be abolished. He made concrete plans for a dominant central axis that would strictly separate the Europeans’ residential neighborhoods from the indigenous population. This abrasive plan based on segregation did not take any of the local traditions nor the existing city structure into account.Mattioli: Unterwegs zu einer imperialen Raumordnung in Italienisch-Ostafrika. In: Für den Faschismus bauen, pg. 332 alt=| 400x400px| Housing for the local population (Askari) Independent of Le Corbusier, the policies requiring the strict racial separation of the population were followed. Not only was the separation of races of the utmost importance when writing development policy for implementation in East Africa, the urge to perpetuate fascist ideology through urban planning without regard for existing structures and cultures was as well. Just as in Italy, architecture and urban construction policies were deployed in the colony in a dialectic of destruction and radical new design. The concepts of dominance, order, and racial segregation were to be inscribed in the cities of the Impero.Mattioli: Unterwegs zu einer imperialen Raumordnung in Italienisch-Ostafrika. In: Für den Faschismus bauen, pg. 339 “In the second half of the 1930s, Mussolini's urban planners designed projects that treated settlements in Italian East Africa not as historic cities but as tabula rasa.”Mattioli: Unterwegs zu einer imperialen Raumordnung in Italienisch-Ostafrika. In: Für den Faschismus bauen, pg. 342 They regarded the people of East Africa as “barbarians” who did not live in real cities, and who did not have the right kind of housing nor culture. In order to realize the plans of an imperial spatial order, planners under Mussolini did not hesitate to destroy entire historical districts. Formative Years and a Building Boom alt=| 400x400px| Viale Mussolini (today Harnet Avenue) in 1930s Asmara After 1936, the cities in East Africa experienced a genuine building boom. As stormy as the city can be because of its location 2,350 meters above sea level, urban development did not take off anywhere else during the Africa Orientale Italiana project like it did in Asmara.Mattioli: Unterwegs zu einer imperialen Raumordnung in Italienisch-Ostafrika. In: Für den Faschismus bauen, pg. 345 The victory over Abyssinia represents a turning point in the history of Asmara, and the years up to 1941 were to become the Eritrean capital’s most formative. Architectural Development under the Italian Regime alt=| 400x400px| Cinema Impero (1930s)  The Italian occupiers designed Asmara according to their ideas. So that they did not miss anything while in the East African colony, bars, restaurants, brothels and cinemas sprouted up all over the city. The high density of cinemas in Asmara is still as impressive today as it was back then. At the end of the 1930s, numerous cinemas had been built, all within the shortest possible timeframe, including Cinema Impero (1937), Cinema Capitol (1938), Cinema Roma (1937) and Cinema Odeon (1937). All of these cinemas were accessible exclusively to Europeans. However, locals were also to have their own cinema. In 1936, the architect Inginio Marabelli built Cinema Hamasien in the city’s northern zone.Denison et al.: Asmara – Africa’s Secret Modernist City, pg. 62 Over time, the number of leisure activities meant to entertain the colonial masters increased exponentially. There were golf courses, tennis clubs, soccer tournaments, bicycle racing clubs, and motorsport events. alt=|400x400px|Fiat Tagliero petrol station in Asmara Motorsport events were held in Asmara for a reason. At the end of the 1930s, the number of Italian-made automobiles exported to Eritrea had exploded. Within a few years, the traffic volume in Asmara was higher than it was in Rome.Denison et al.: Asmara – Africa’s Secret Modernist City, pg. 59 With approximately 50,000 cars in Asmara in 1938, there were officially enough for each Italian in the city to have one.Bodenschatz: Städtebau für Mussolini, pg. 376 In the years 1936-1938, 15,158 cars and 13,719 motorcycles from different manufacturers were delivered to East Africa. This constituted about a fifth of the auto industry’s total exports in 1938, and in 1937, about half.Bader: Faschistische Moderne in Afrika – Auto und Architektur in Asmara. In: Für den Faschismus bauen, pg. 365 The automotive industry flourished in Asmara. Not only did the number of domestic car imports grow steadily in Italy, automobile companies themselves built prestigious branches in the Eritrean highlands to improve their image and sales as well. In the 1930s, for example, these automobile companies commissioned architects to design their representative offices in Asmara. Oftentimes, unknown architects and engineers were planning and constructing state-of-the-art buildings for the most important automobile companies in the world. Among the clients were Agip, Pirelli, Alfa Romeo, Lancia, and, of course, Fiat. Even the leading automobile club in Italy, RACI, opened a branch in the Eritrean capital to attract new members from the growing group of citizens with cars. The use of avant-garde architecture was a convenient means through which to attract the attention of potential car buyers, and the colony in East Africa offered the most ideal conditions for creating such striking structures. In Italy, architects had to tolerate the limitations of old building structures. In Asmara, on the other hand, the designers had no specific restrictions. Far from the what the motherland was able to provide, Eritrea offered the best conditions for innovative and experimental architecture. In the years between 1935 and 1941, numerous buildings in the styles of Rationalismo and Novecento were erected within a area, and although many others were planned, they would never be realized. The buildings ranged from small, one-story apartments to giant high-rise office buildings.Denison et al.: Asmara – Africa’s Secret Modernist City, pg. 63 About 10 years after Gruppo 7 had outlined its basic principles for reforming Italian architecture in La Rassegna Italiana magazine, numerous buildings were built in Asmara according to these specifications. The group’s principles were based on the idea that architecture had to be rational and reduced to simple forms, and that all architectural ornamentation had to be renounced.Bader: Für den Faschismus bauen, pg. 366 alt=| 400x400px| Piazza Roma in Asmara (1930s) In addition to numerous buildings, the colonial administration also built roads and squares, which were also supposed to represent the fascist regime and its power over the Eritrean population. The Viale Mussolini (today Harnet Avenue), the Piazza Roma (today Post Square) and the Viale de Bono (today Semeatat Boulevard) were built to unite the masses and to display the power of the occupiers in the form of festivals, parades and marches.Denison et al.: Asmara – Africa’s Secret Modernist City, pg. 61 With its administrative buildings, the Cinema Impero, the theater, St. Joseph's Cathedral, high-rise apartment buildings, and numerous bars and shops, Viale Mussolini was the center of the city. As the day faded into the night, Viale Mussolini was used as a promenade – the so-called Passeggiata. Italians walked up and down the street without any particular aim.The “Passeggiata”, that is, “the strolling”, was a pastime passed on to the Asmarinos by the Italians, and is still celebrated in the evening hours on today's Harnet Avenue The indigenous population, however, had no access to the palm-lined boulevard during the day or at night. Annexation by Ethiopia and Emerging Resistance Movement alt=| 400x400px| View of Asmara Haile Selassie, in an open policy, did not hide the fact that Ethiopia "is interested in the country and not in the people of Eritrea",Abbay: Identity Jilted or Re-imagining Identity?, pg. 209 especially with regard to Muslim communities, whose villages were systematically burnt down by Ethiopian troops, and whose inhabitants were massacred throughout the 1950s, 1960s, and during the first half of the 1970s.Killion, Connell: Historical Dictionary of Eritrea, pg. 270 Haile Selassie dissolved Eritrea’s autonomy bit by bit, for example, through the demotion of the autonomous government to a mere administrative body in 1960. Two years later, with the United Nations' approval, Ethiopia decided to ultimately end the federation. Through the besiegement of Asmara, Ethiopia forced the Eritrean parliament to dissolve itself completely,Negash: Eritrea and Ethiopia - The Federal Experience, pg. 143 and subsequently annexed the whole of Eritrea. Soon after, Eritrean opposition leaders came to the conclusion that the only hope of resisting Ethiopian rule lay in armed struggle. End of Ethiopian Occupation  Towards the end of the 1980s, the Soviet Union decided against extending the cooperation agreement with Ethiopia. Without the resources of the Soviet Union, and due to a drought and simultaneous economic crisis in both countries, the morale of Ethiopian soldiers fell. Many of them served as mercenaries without real conviction for the fight against the Eritrean resistance, which allowed members of the sworn EPLF to edge their way into Ethiopian positions. In May 1991, under the pressure of the Ethiopian opposition the Derg regime finally fell. EPLF talks with the Ethiopian Transitional Government were successful, thereby allowing Eritrea to hold a referendum on its independence. The overwhelming majority, 99.83\% of Eritrean people, voted for their country’s independence,Tesfagiorgis: Eritrea – Africa in Focus, pg. 73 and on May 24, 1993 Eritrea was declared an independent country. A new parliament was established and then elected Isayas Afewerki, prominent head of the EPLF, as president. alt=|400x400px|Monument to independence fighters in Asmara The armed conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea lasted for almost 30 years. It is a remarkable history of human resistance on the one hand, and of terrible loss suffered by two of the world's poorest countries, on the other. The Eritrean people, themselves the product of a compulsory unification carried out by an outside power, fought, for the most part, alone against the statistically superior and better equipped Ethiopian army,Denison: Eritrea, pg. 33 while both Ethiopian regimes were ready to do their own as well as the Americans’ and the Soviets’ bidding in the most brutal ways, at least until the fall of Haile Selassie. More than 50 years had passed since the last time Italian planners were given free reign to explore their creative drives. Almost 10 years under British occupation and another 10 years in a repressive federation with Ethiopia followed 30 years of bloody fighting, at the end of which the country would be freed of foreign domination. Asmara remained standing, having seen little fighting within its city limits. Afterwards, however, the city was in a state of deterioration and chaos:“Scenes of boys and girls carrying barrels of water on improvised carts, military ramparts on top of apartment buildings, and bricked-up windows with broken glass and barbed wire fortifying residences facing the street are still vivid in the minds of residents of Asmara. The euphoria of victory did not remove the foul smell from clogged sewage, and the many beggar women and children indicated widespread poverty. Many colourless, decaying buildings attested to the neglect and destruction of the years of Ethiopian occupation. The basic infrastructure of Asmara was largely in need of a complete overhaul.”Denison et al.: Asmara – Africa’s Secret Modernist City, pg. 76It was a picture with scenes of joy about the country’s newly-acquired sovereignty and, at the same time, scenes of a city’s degeneration. The fact that no intensive fighting had taken place in Asmara, could not prevent the city’s utter breakdown. Moreover, the already ruinous state of the city could not be overcome during the course of the war after the dismantling policy of British and Ethiopian occupation.  alt=| 400x400px| Eritreans queuing at petrol station due to rationing Return as political capital The population increased due to a flood of refugees arriving from rural regions, as well as the return of many from the diaspora. Asmara, newly renamed the capital, became the political heart of Eritrea once again. During the years that followed, Eritrea experienced an economic upturn and countless investments that, together with its renewed function as the capital, led to the city’s dramatic growth. While the pattern in many other African cities saw a rise in poor and illegal settlements, Asmara’s development could be relatively controlled. Enormous challenges lay ahead; perhaps above all else, inhabitants of Asmara faced the problem of accessing clean drinking water, and of the lack of an adequate sewage system, as the infrastructure was still mostly in ruins following the long war. Since the border war of 1998-2000 with Ethiopia, Eritrea has been in an official state of emergency, its citizens effectively living under Martial Law. The political elites’ control of the nation has far-reaching consequences, such as the repudiation of freedom of speech, of assembly, and of the press. The Washington Post published an article saying, “While striving to be an egalitarian, self-reliant utopia, Eritrea has become the most unapologetically repressive country on earth.”McCrummen: As thousands flee regime, Eritrea would go it alone The population is faced with a steady political and cultural indoctrination, relying upon the rhetoric of nationalism and devoted to the idea of its superiority over Ethiopia.Ogbazghi: Personal Rule in Africa: The Case of Eritrea, pg. 5 A state-controlled economy that encompasses agriculture, industry and construction, is heavily dependent on the recruitment of conscripts who serve in national service, often for life.  alt=| 400x400px| Asmara Market (2013) Financial support for the urban historic core In addition, Afewerki has introduced a strict policy of self-sufficiency. Under the pretext that Eritrea has historically refused to fall victim to the strategic desires of other nations, which is an idea that is not totally unfounded, Afewerki rejects any kind of help from abroad. In 2007 alone, the President turned down 200 million dollars meant to aide in the country’s relief efforts.Sanders: Struggling Eritrea puts Self-Reliance Before Aid This has fatal consequences when it comes to caring for Asmara’s heritage, something one of the poorest nations in the world cannot do alone. As mentioned above, the CARP, with its $5 million budget allotted by the World Bank, was abandoned. Another project with the purpose of renewing Asmara’s city center, this time sponsored by the European Union, together with other EU aid programs were accounted for in 2011.Berhane: A Week in the Horn of Africa Other programs aimed at preserving Asmara’s city center are not on the table at the moment, and it is difficult to imagine that Afewerki will bypass his tendency toward isolationism and accept the necessary financial and technical assistance from abroad that could revive such programs. It is difficult to say whether Asmara had more hope for improvement under the rule of its oppressive archenemy, Ethiopia, or if anything can be said of hope at all under its current dictator.
Asmara in the 1940s|alt= Eritrea's capital of Asmara, 100 km inland from its coast, has occupied a space in the highlands of Eritrea for hundreds of years. During the last century alone, it has been a staging ground for Italian initiatives in East Africa, collateral of Britain’s colonial politics, and victim of the expansion of Ethiopia’s empire until 1993 when it finally became the new and sovereign state of Eritrea. Only the large cluster of buildings built in the style of the Avant-Garde betrays the multifaceted history of this strange city and its urban core almost entirely unchanged for over seventy years. Pre-Colonial Asmara alt=| Asmara village in the 1890s Asmara was the perfect place to build a settlement; it had fertile soil, a mild climate because of its location on the plateau, and regular precipitation. While remains of prehistoric peoples have been found near Asmara; the ancient Aksum Empire ruled closeby; Islam had made inroads in the Horn of Africa from the region; and ruins of small villages found around present-day Asmara indicate the existence of peoples who had settled in the area long before the development of a city in the region,Curtis and Schmidt describe archeological findings from the agro-pastoral settlements, which arose between the 8th and 4th centuries BC. It is possibly that Asmara was already an important trade center even before the Axum Empire. (Cf. Curtis, Schmidt: Urban Precursors in the Horn: Early 1st Millennium BC Communities in Eritrea, pg. 849.) it can be said that the history of Asmara began around four hundred years before the effects of European colonization began to take hold. According to oral traditions, there were once four villages on Asmara’s plains. Attacks by wild animals and raids by other indigenous groups prompted the women of the neighboring villages to come together to discuss solutions that would help to ensure the protection of their families, properties, and belongings. The women decided that they would not serve lunch to the men of their villages until they agreed to consolidate the four villages into one. The men fulfilled the women’s wishes and built one united village, which they named Arbate Asmara.Yosief, The Story of Asmära [sic] (Cited in: Melchers: Asmara – Afrikas heimliche Hauptstadt der Moderne, pg. 10) Eritreans today enjoy relaying this tale about the founding of their city, as it serves as an example of how Eritrean people have been able to come together and persevere even under the harshest conditions. alt=| Asmara's market in the 1890s From this point on, the new village of 150 inhabitants lay in the medieval Medri Bahri Kingdom, until, after a short period when it was ruled by the Ottomans and later the Egyptians, it fell into the hands of Ethiopian Emperor Yohannes IV in the middle of the 19th century, who chose his trusted General Ras Alula to be governor of the newly-occupied kingdom. Alula declared Asmara the capital of the province, and within just a few years had increased the population of the small village to more than 5,000 inhabitants. A buoyant weekly market drew traders and builders from all over the surrounding region. Political and military conflicts between the local warlords of the Hamasien Plateau compelled Alula to station 12,000 soldiers in Asmara, so that the small city soon took on the appearance of a military camp. During the 1870s, there were at least two battles between Alula and these warlords, both of which essentially destroyed the city. Asmara’s weekly market, however, continued to take place. Emperor Yohannes IV called Alula and his troops up to Addis Abeba in 1889 to support him in his fight against the Mahdi uprisings. Italian invasion On August 3, 1889, Italian troops took advantage of Alula’s absence, the power vacuum left as a result of Emperor Yohannes’ death, and the havoc wreaked by three years of famine and took over the small city.Tesfagiorgis: Eritrea – Africa in Focus, pg. 34 They built their fort on a hill in the village of Beit Mekae, forcing the inhabitants of this village to resettle elsewhere. At the time of General Baldisera’s arrival, the small town had 3000 inhabitants and consisted of traditional mud huts, Agdos and Hidmos. Above all, the military fort at Beit Mekae was a strategic point when it came to controlling the local population; it also served as a military strongpoint from which local uprisings, which were largely directed against the government’s power of eminent domain, could be suppressed.Gebremedhin: Asmara – Africa’s Secret Modernist City, pg. 5 Eritrea officially became an Italian colony in 1890 and Massawa – already the seat of the colonial administration since 1885 – was declared the capital. At this time, because of the danger of insurrection in the highlands, Asmara was not even in the running to become the capital of the new colony. Furthermore, Bizzon explains that Asmara was not developed enough to serve as the capital: “Politically, militarily, and even logistically, the distance between Massawa and Asmara is greater than the distance between Italy and Massawa.”Bizzoni: L’Eritrea – nel passato e nel presente (Quoted in: Denison et al.: Asmara – Africa’s Secret Modernist City, pg. 24) The lack of an infrastructural link to Massawa prevented Asmara from developing quickly. File:Fort_Baldisera_(Asmara)_overlooking_the_Hamasien_plateau.jpg| alt=| Fort Baldisera (Asmara) overlooking the Hamasien plateau . That, despite all of this, Asmara rose to significance has to do with the goals of Italian colonization. The interest in the occupation of Eritrea lay, on the one hand, in the settlement of Italian citizens who were able to strengthen the economy of their motherland through development of the colony, and on the other hand, to use Eritrea as a military base from which the expansion of the colony could take place.Almedom: Re-reading the Short and Long-Rigged History of Eritrea 1941–1952: Back to the Future?, pg. 108 The Ethiopian Empire was one of the last uncolonized regions of Africa, and the vision of a strong, modern Italian nation after the successes of the Risorgimento, would require the acquisition of colonies if the country to become a European superpower, and to affirm the autonomy of the young kingdom.Fuller: Italy's Colonial Futures: Colonial Inertia and Postcolonial Capital in Asmara, pg. 2 Colonial politics brought about the government’s claim to eminent domain as well as the realization of many noteworthy infrastructure projects. As a result of the takeover of Asmara by foreign militaries and because of the employment opportunities within infrastructure projects throughout Eritrea, the population of Asmara itself shrunk from 5000 to 800 inhabitants during the first five years of the Italian occupation. However, it remained an important market town on the Hamasien Plateau. The construction of the Massawa-Asmara-Railroad as well as a funicular railroad built along the same stretch that could transport heavy loads, finally allowed the Italians to use Asmara as a new base in the highlands. The institutionalized racial separation central to Italian colonial politics was not designed to account for the indigenous population, who would be displaced as the expansion of the industrial zone reached the unplanned quarters to the north.Gebremedhin: Asmara – Africa’s Secret Modernist City, pg. 7 Eritreans who owned property in the city center, or the European quarter, were forced to move out and sell their land. In 1908, the Governor issued a decree that, in the interest of promoting and maintaining “public order”, declared that the first zone was meant only for Italians and citizens from other European countries, whereas the sudditi coloniali, or the “colonial subjects”, were only allowed in the indigenous quarter and the mixed Market zone.Chelati Dirar: From warriors to urban dwellers: Ascari and the military factor in the urban development of colonial Eritrea, pg. 533 Only the Askari, indigenous soldiers who served in colonial troops, were allowed to build their huts in areas near the Italian residences, where conditions were better than those endured by their compatriots.The campi-famiglia directive allowed each Askari to build their own house. Under the supervision of Italian engineers, the soldier was to build the house with local building materials. In: Chelati Dirar: From warriors to urban dwellers: Ascari and the military factor in the urban development of colonial Eritrea, pg. 533 The untypical proximity of the Askari to the Italians illustrates the deep trust of the Italian administration in the indigenous troops. In 1926, colonial minister, Luigi Federzoni, described the Eritrean regiments as “the most solid, effective and safe pillar of our military might in all our African colonies.”From a letter from Federzoni to Mussolini, dated November 24, 1926. Source: Palumbo: A Place in the Sun: Africa in Italian Colonial Culture, pg. 88 This relationship lasted throughout the Italian occupation of Eritrea, and is more than likely an important factor in determining the good-naturedness of Eritreans toward Italians today. alt=| Asmara Theatre in the 1920s The first plans led to a phase of intensive building, which ultimately resulted in an increase of Asmara’s population from between 800 and 1,900 peopleTesfagiorgis: Eritrea – Africa in Focus, pg. 39 to more than 8,500 people in 1905, of which around 1,500 were white. This dramatic population increase exacerbated both a growth in trade and a rise in employment opportunities, as well as an upsurge in the number of people moving from rural areas to cities. In 1910, the city’s population had grown to around 37,000 people.Tesfagiorgis: Eritrea – Africa in Focus, pg. 44 During this period of growth, many important buildings cropped up, including the Palast des Gouverneurs (today the residence of the president), the first Italian school, the cathedral, the theater, and the high court, all of which are located on the centralized Corso del Re, later known as the Viale Mussolini, and even later as Harnet Avenue. Asmara’s road system and the important connections between Asmara and the cities of Keren and Decamhare were also built during this time period, along with the Massawa-Asmara-Railroad Line, which was finally finished in 1911. Asmara under Mussolini (1922-1941) Development under Mussolini's fascism alt=| Asmara in 1928 With Mussolini’s rise to power in 1922, Asmara began a new chapter in its history. During the fascist occupation, the construction that took place in the city was by far the most formative. With Mussolini’s efforts put toward building an Italian empire, the Eritrean capital became increasingly important in the years that followed, and in the 1930s, it became one of the most important sites in Italian East Africa. Modern architecture, equally lauded by architecture aficionados and city historians, slowly found its way to Eritrea in the 1920s. At this time in Italy, architecture was relatively uninfluenced by European avant-garde modernism which had taken hold in Holland, Germany, and France in particular.Akbar, Gebremedhin: Ein Weltkulturerbe It wasn’t until 1927 that Gruppo 7,The members of Gruppo 7 were Luigi Figini, Ubaldo Castagnoli, Guido Frette, Sebastiano Lorco, Gino Pollini, Carlo Enrico Rava and Guiseppe Terragni. a coalition of young architects from Milan, developed the Italian variation of avant-garde modern architecture called Rationalismo. Until 1935, the majority of structures in Asmara were built in traditional styles from established architecture schools like Novecento and the Scuola Romana, both of which appropriated certain formal elements from the Italian Gothic, the Renaissance, the Baroque, the Romantic, and the Classical time periods. The architecture remained largely traditional and was based mostly on the models of the Italian motherland. In Asmara’s most representative buildings built before 1935, this historicism is especially apparent. Asmara’s theater exhibits stylistic elements from both the Romantic and Renaissance periods.Denison et al.: Asmara – Africa’s Secret Modernist City, pg. 107 The Bank of Eritrea’s building is built in the Neo-Gothic style, and the Governor’s Palace as well as the post office building were constructed using neoclassical elements. To position Mussolini’s rule within the time period when modern architecture found its way to the Eritrean highland is, at least for the first half of his reign, incorrect. In reality, nearly all of the avant-garde structures were conscripted and built between 1935 and 1941. Even if the building boom did not begin until the middle of the 1930s, Mussolini’s fascist ideology would have already influenced the urban development plans during the 1920s and the beginning of the 1930s. alt=| Former Mayor's Villa in Asmara. Today, it is a Bed & Breakfast. At the beginning of the 20th century, the citizens of Asmara were separated by race. Neighborhoods for indigenous and European populations were clearly delineated from each other, however a public area could be used by everyone. The preliminary plans to separate people from different ethnic groups were expanded and concretized under Mussolini. The improved plans from 1930 laid out how the city would be divided into four clear and separate zones: the residential quarter for the indigenous population in the north, where there were already high population densities and erratic structures; the diagonal blocks of the industry zone; the “Villa quarter” for the Europeans, located south of present-day Harnet Avenue; and, the mixed zone around the market. Located in the market zone were administrative and commercial entities that were of equal significance for both groups of people (i.e. the indigenous and the European). Additionally, this zone housed centralized cultural institutions, and was interspersed with additional housing.Melchers: Asmara – Afrikas heimliche Hauptstadt der Moderne, pg. 6 The categorization of inhabitants by race reached its peak under fascism, with the strict separation of indigenous folks and occupiers. Growth as an Italian Military Base alt=| Asmara in the 1930s With the plan to raid Abyssinia and to incorporate it into the African colony, Asmara’s cityscape began to change. More and more soldiers were being stationed in Eritrea, and the city had only a short time to manage a rapid increase in its population. Between 1932 and 1936 alone the number of inhabitants rose from 18,000 to 98,000 people.Bader: Faschistische Moderne in Afrika – Auto und Architektur in Asmara, pg. 353 Until 1935, administrative and commercial structures were expanded in order to build up Asmara as a military base for the upcoming war. The village became a bustling administrative city and a trading hub,Bodenschatz: Städtebau für Mussolini, pg. 371 that required its new inhabitants address its rising sanitation, building, transportation, and safety needs. And so, housing, businesses, recreation services, as well as churches appeared out of thin air in a matter of a few short years. Deepening Racial Segregation alt=| An avenue in Asmara. This avenue served to segregate two sides of the city. Without question, the conviction that the white man is the ruler and therefore has the right to all conceivable privileges; That, consequently, the law [j]is one thing for the whites, and another thing for the natives; That the houses and dwellings of whites are always the first priority when solving any architectonic problem; indigenous dwellings, on the other hand, are only of interest to the whites if solving a problem with them would improve the wellbeing of the white population; That there are to be no whites and coloreds living together in the same house; That the white man’s house must be outfitted with the best comforts available as it is preferable if he can enjoy his time in the colony, and because he should be able to enjoy the privileges that come with being white.”Santoinianni: Il Razionalismo nelle colonie italiene 1927-1943 – La „nuova architettura“ delle Terre d’Oltremare, pg. 120 (Quoted in Erbel: Die Architekturmoderne in Asmara vor dem Hintergrund von italienischem Faschismus und Kolonialismus)But it was not only Italian architects who sought council with Mussolini in hopes of having their ideas realized under the Duce’s rule. Le Corbusier wanted his own plans implemented on the East African “playground”, and from 1932 onwards, he continuously pursued the opportunity to meet privately with Mussolini. His attempts were made in vain, however, and so he wrote to the Italian ambassador in Brazil and recommended that the social structure of the residential city of Addis Abeba be abolished. He made concrete plans for a dominant central axis that would strictly separate the Europeans’ residential neighborhoods from the indigenous population. This abrasive plan based on segregation did not take any of the local traditions nor the existing city structure into account.Mattioli: Unterwegs zu einer imperialen Raumordnung in Italienisch-Ostafrika. In: Für den Faschismus bauen, pg. 332 alt=| Housing for the local population (Askari) Independent of Le Corbusier, the policies requiring the strict racial separation of the population were followed. Not only was the separation of races of the utmost importance when writing development policy for implementation in East Africa, the urge to perpetuate fascist ideology through urban planning without regard for existing structures and cultures was as well. Just as in Italy, architecture and urban construction policies were deployed in the colony in a dialectic of destruction and radical new design. The concepts of dominance, order, and racial segregation were to be inscribed in the cities of the Impero.Mattioli: Unterwegs zu einer imperialen Raumordnung in Italienisch-Ostafrika. In: Für den Faschismus bauen, pg. 339 “In the second half of the 1930s, Mussolini's urban planners designed projects that treated settlements in Italian East Africa not as historic cities but as tabula rasa.”Mattioli: Unterwegs zu einer imperialen Raumordnung in Italienisch-Ostafrika. In: Für den Faschismus bauen, pg. 342 They regarded the people of East Africa as “barbarians” who did not live in real cities, and who did not have the right kind of housing nor culture. In order to realize the plans of an imperial spatial order, planners under Mussolini did not hesitate to destroy entire historical districts. Formative Years and a Building Boom alt=| Viale Mussolini (today Harnet Avenue) in 1930s Asmara After 1936, the cities in East Africa experienced a genuine building boom. As stormy as the city can be because of its location 2,350 meters above sea level, urban development did not take off anywhere else during the Africa Orientale Italiana project like it did in Asmara.Mattioli: Unterwegs zu einer imperialen Raumordnung in Italienisch-Ostafrika. In: Für den Faschismus bauen, pg. 345 The victory over Abyssinia represents a turning point in the history of Asmara, and the years up to 1941 were to become the Eritrean capital’s most formative. Architectural Development under the Italian Regime alt=| Cinema Impero (1930s) alt=|Fiat Tagliero petrol station in Asmara The Italian occupiers designed Asmara according to their ideas. So that they did not miss anything while in the East African colony, bars, restaurants, brothels and cinemas sprouted up all over the city. The high density of cinemas in Asmara is still as impressive today as it was back then. At the end of the 1930s, numerous cinemas had been built, all within the shortest possible timeframe, including Cinema Impero (1937), Cinema Capitol (1938), Cinema Roma (1937) and Cinema Odeon (1937). All of these cinemas were accessible exclusively to Europeans. However, locals were also to have their own cinema. In 1936, the architect Inginio Marabelli built Cinema Hamasien in the city’s northern zone.Denison et al.: Asmara – Africa’s Secret Modernist City, pg. 62 Over time, the number of leisure activities meant to entertain the colonial masters increased exponentially. There were golf courses, tennis clubs, soccer tournaments, bicycle racing clubs, and motorsport events. Motorsport events were held in Asmara for a reason. At the end of the 1930s, the number of Italian-made automobiles exported to Eritrea had exploded. Within a few years, the traffic volume in Asmara was higher than it was in Rome.Denison et al.: Asmara – Africa’s Secret Modernist City, pg. 59 With approximately 50,000 cars in Asmara in 1938, there were officially enough for each Italian in the city to have one.Bodenschatz: Städtebau für Mussolini, pg. 376 In the years 1936-1938, 15,158 cars and 13,719 motorcycles from different manufacturers were delivered to East Africa. This constituted about a fifth of the auto industry’s total exports in 1938, and in 1937, about half.Bader: Faschistische Moderne in Afrika – Auto und Architektur in Asmara. In: Für den Faschismus bauen, pg. 365 The automotive industry flourished in Asmara. Not only did the number of domestic car imports grow steadily in Italy, automobile companies themselves built prestigious branches in the Eritrean highlands to improve their image and sales as well. In the 1930s, for example, these automobile companies commissioned architects to design their representative offices in Asmara. Oftentimes, unknown architects and engineers were planning and constructing state-of-the-art buildings for the most important automobile companies in the world. Among the clients were Agip, Pirelli, Alfa Romeo, Lancia, and, of course, Fiat. Even the leading automobile club in Italy, RACI, opened a branch in the Eritrean capital to attract new members from the growing group of citizens with cars. The use of avant-garde architecture was a convenient means through which to attract the attention of potential car buyers, and the colony in East Africa offered the most ideal conditions for creating such striking structures. In Italy, architects had to tolerate the limitations of old building structures. In Asmara, on the other hand, the designers had no specific restrictions. Far from the what the motherland was able to provide, Eritrea offered the best conditions for innovative and experimental architecture. In the years between 1935 and 1941, numerous buildings in the styles of Rationalismo and Novecento were erected within a area, and although many others were planned, they would never be realized. The buildings ranged from small, one-story apartments to giant high-rise office buildings.Denison et al.: Asmara – Africa’s Secret Modernist City, pg. 63 About 10 years after Gruppo 7 had outlined its basic principles for reforming Italian architecture in La Rassegna Italiana magazine, numerous buildings were built in Asmara according to these specifications. The group’s principles were based on the idea that architecture had to be rational and reduced to simple forms, and that all architectural ornamentation had to be renounced.Bader: Für den Faschismus bauen, pg. 366 alt=| Piazza Roma in Asmara (1930s) In addition to numerous buildings, the colonial administration also built roads and squares, which were also supposed to represent the fascist regime and its power over the Eritrean population. The Viale Mussolini (today Harnet Avenue), the Piazza Roma (today Post Square) and the Viale de Bono (today Semeatat Boulevard) were built to unite the masses and to display the power of the occupiers in the form of festivals, parades and marches.Denison et al.: Asmara – Africa’s Secret Modernist City, pg. 61 With its administrative buildings, the Cinema Impero, the theater, St. Joseph's Cathedral, high-rise apartment buildings, and numerous bars and shops, Viale Mussolini was the center of the city. As the day faded into the night, Viale Mussolini was used as a promenade – the so-called Passeggiata. Italians walked up and down the street without any particular aim.The “Passeggiata”, that is, “the strolling”, was a pastime passed on to the Asmarinos by the Italians, and is still celebrated in the evening hours on today's Harnet Avenue The indigenous population, however, had no access to the palm-lined boulevard during the day or at night. Annexation by Ethiopia and Emerging Resistance Movement alt=| View of Asmara Haile Selassie, in an open policy, did not hide the fact that Ethiopia "is interested in the country and not in the people of Eritrea",Abbay: Identity Jilted or Re-imagining Identity?, pg. 209 especially with regard to Muslim communities, whose villages were systematically burnt down by Ethiopian troops, and whose inhabitants were massacred throughout the 1950s, 1960s, and during the first half of the 1970s.Killion, Connell: Historical Dictionary of Eritrea, pg. 270 Haile Selassie dissolved Eritrea’s autonomy bit by bit, for example, through the demotion of the autonomous government to a mere administrative body in 1960. Two years later, with the United Nations' approval, Ethiopia decided to ultimately end the federation. Through the besiegement of Asmara, Ethiopia forced the Eritrean parliament to dissolve itself completely,Negash: Eritrea and Ethiopia - The Federal Experience, pg. 143 and subsequently annexed the whole of Eritrea. Soon after, Eritrean opposition leaders came to the conclusion that the only hope of resisting Ethiopian rule lay in armed struggle. End of Ethiopian Occupation alt=|Monument to independence fighters in Asmara Towards the end of the 1980s, the Soviet Union decided against extending the cooperation agreement with Ethiopia. Without the resources of the Soviet Union, and due to a drought and simultaneous economic crisis in both countries, the morale of Ethiopian soldiers fell. Many of them served as mercenaries without real conviction for the fight against the Eritrean resistance, which allowed members of the sworn EPLF to edge their way into Ethiopian positions. In May 1991, under the pressure of the Ethiopian opposition the Derg regime finally fell. EPLF talks with the Ethiopian Transitional Government were successful, thereby allowing Eritrea to hold a referendum on its independence. The overwhelming majority, 99.83\% of Eritrean people, voted for their country’s independence,Tesfagiorgis: Eritrea – Africa in Focus, pg. 73 and on May 24, 1993 Eritrea was declared an independent country. A new parliament was established and then elected Isayas Afewerki, prominent head of the EPLF, as president. The armed conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea lasted for almost 30 years. It is a remarkable history of human resistance on the one hand, and of terrible loss suffered by two of the world's poorest countries, on the other. The Eritrean people, themselves the product of a compulsory unification carried out by an outside power, fought, for the most part, alone against the statistically superior and better equipped Ethiopian army,Denison: Eritrea, pg. 33 while both Ethiopian regimes were ready to do their own as well as the Americans’ and the Soviets’ bidding in the most brutal ways, at least until the fall of Haile Selassie. More than 50 years had passed since the last time Italian planners were given free reign to explore their creative drives. Almost 10 years under British occupation and another 10 years in a repressive federation with Ethiopia followed 30 years of bloody fighting, at the end of which the country would be freed of foreign domination. Asmara remained standing, having seen little fighting within its city limits. Afterwards, however, the city was in a state of deterioration and chaos:“Scenes of boys and girls carrying barrels of water on improvised carts, military ramparts on top of apartment buildings, and bricked-up windows with broken glass and barbed wire fortifying residences facing the street are still vivid in the minds of residents of Asmara. The euphoria of victory did not remove the foul smell from clogged sewage, and the many beggar women and children indicated widespread poverty. Many colourless, decaying buildings attested to the neglect and destruction of the years of Ethiopian occupation. The basic infrastructure of Asmara was largely in need of a complete overhaul.”Denison et al.: Asmara – Africa’s Secret Modernist City, pg. 76It was a picture with scenes of joy about the country’s newly-acquired sovereignty and, at the same time, scenes of a city’s degeneration. The fact that no intensive fighting had taken place in Asmara, could not prevent the city’s utter breakdown. Moreover, the already ruinous state of the city could not be overcome during the course of the war after the dismantling policy of British and Ethiopian occupation. Return as political capital alt=| Eritreans queuing at petrol station due to rationing The population increased due to a flood of refugees arriving from rural regions, as well as the return of many from the diaspora. Asmara, newly renamed the capital, became the political heart of Eritrea once again. During the years that followed, Eritrea experienced an economic upturn and countless investments that, together with its renewed function as the capital, led to the city’s dramatic growth. While the pattern in many other African cities saw a rise in poor and illegal settlements, Asmara’s development could be relatively controlled. Enormous challenges lay ahead; perhaps above all else, inhabitants of Asmara faced the problem of accessing clean drinking water, and of the lack of an adequate sewage system, as the infrastructure was still mostly in ruins following the long war. Since the border war of 1998-2000 with Ethiopia, Eritrea has been in an official state of emergency, its citizens effectively living under Martial Law. The political elites’ control of the nation has far-reaching consequences, such as the repudiation of freedom of speech, of assembly, and of the press. The Washington Post published an article saying, “While striving to be an egalitarian, self-reliant utopia, Eritrea has become the most unapologetically repressive country on earth.”McCrummen: As thousands flee regime, Eritrea would go it alone The population is faced with a steady political and cultural indoctrination, relying upon the rhetoric of nationalism and devoted to the idea of its superiority over Ethiopia.Ogbazghi: Personal Rule in Africa: The Case of Eritrea, pg. 5 A state-controlled economy that encompasses agriculture, industry and construction, is heavily dependent on the recruitment of conscripts who serve in national service, often for life. Financial support for the urban historic core alt=| Asmara Market (2013) In addition, Afewerki has introduced a strict policy of self-sufficiency. Under the pretext that Eritrea has historically refused to fall victim to the strategic desires of other nations, which is an idea that is not totally unfounded, Afewerki rejects any kind of help from abroad. In 2007 alone, the President turned down 200 million dollars meant to aide in the country’s relief efforts.Sanders: Struggling Eritrea puts Self-Reliance Before Aid This has fatal consequences when it comes to caring for Asmara’s heritage, something one of the poorest nations in the world cannot do alone. As mentioned above, the CARP, with its $5 million budget allotted by the World Bank, was abandoned. Another project with the purpose of renewing Asmara’s city center, this time sponsored by the European Union, together with other EU aid programs were accounted for in 2011.Berhane: A Week in the Horn of Africa Other programs aimed at preserving Asmara’s city center are not on the table at the moment, and it is difficult to imagine that Afewerki will bypass his tendency toward isolationism and accept the necessary financial and technical assistance from abroad that could revive such programs. It is difficult to say whether Asmara had more hope for improvement under the rule of its oppressive archenemy, Ethiopia, or if anything can be said of hope at all under its current dictator.
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