The Eritrean coast is was subject to the Emperor of Ethiopia until the 16th century, when it comes under Ottoman control (from 1865 as part of the province of Egypt). In 1882 Italy takes over the port of Assab and extended its control over the area. In 1890 the Colony of Eritrea is a fact. When Italy conquers Ethiopia in 1936, Eritrea is federated with it and Italian Somalia into Italian East Africa. In 1941 Eritrea is placed under British military administration after the Italian surrender in World War II.

In 1952, a UN resolution federating Eritrea with Ethiopia comes into effect. Though the resolution ignores Eritrean pleas for independence it guarantees Eritreans some democratic rights and a measure of autonomy. But almost immediately after the federation goes into effect, however, these rights begin to be abridged or violated. The Eritrean parliament is unilaterally dissolved by Ethiopia in 1962 and the region is annexed. From that moment the Eritrean fight for independence is spraked. During the 1960s, the Eritrean independence struggle is performed by the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF). Dissidents form in 1970 Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF). This becomes the dominant liberation organization in the late 1970s under Issayas Aferworki. After 1988 the EPLF starts to control large parts of Eritrea.

When the marxist dictatorship in Ethiopia falls in 1991, a peace conference leads to an agreement in which Ethiopia recognizes the right of the Eritreans to hold a referendum on independence. The EPLF establishes a provisional government of Eritrea and after the referendum in 1993 Eritrea becomes independent. Aferworki becomes the first president and the EPLF establishes itself as a political party, the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ). Eritrea becomes a single-party state.