Flier used by Ethiopia announcing its refugee assistance.
Towards the later days of the North American War in December of 1971, the Ethiopian and Chinese governments launched two seperate airlift operations, on the east and west coasts of the United States respectively, in order to airlift refugees of the war. The two operations limited the refugees they flew out of the country using race as a requirement, with the Ethiopians only flying out African American citizens, and the Chinese only flying out Chinese-American citizens (though, other nationalities were accepted as well), though the Ethiopians also accepted Americans of other races who fled to the staging ground in Papal Cuba. The war ended shortly after this action, with the Ethiopian government claiming to have been the inspiration to the peace, though Ethiopian involvement was inacted primarily as a show of stability for the newly formed Pan-African iteration of the nation.
Causes[]
In a short period of time, North America suffered several wars, with the interval between the Floridian Border War and the Canadian Invasion almost negligible. The rest of the world, which at the time was relatively peaceful, watched on in horror as the continent descended into what the Chinese called "An Orgy of Madness." The Ethiopian Airlift was the first announced; planned as an attempt for the newly organized Pan-African state to show its legitimacy by organizing an attempt to save victims of the African diaspora from the chaos developing in North America. The Chinese Airlift was the next one organized, seen as an attempt to show China as a compassionate nature. Both were controversial in their own governments, with the Ethiopian government seeing refugees as potential problems should they suffer culture shock, and the Chinese government seeing those who had fled China as traitors to the revolution. None the same, both actions were planned.
Planning[]
With the blessings of the North American countries who were trying to avoid the negative image that they were developing world wide for the atrocities of the war, both Ethiopia and China planned their airlifts. The Ethiopian airlift used the recent Papal gains in Cuba as a staging ground, with C-130's belonging to Ethiopia being used to move people from the American East Coast to Papal Cuba, where they would be loaded on boats bound for Africa. The Chinese used Taiwan as their staging ground, airlifting too and from there.
Airlift[]
The Chinese Bǎolěi - or BA-63 - were highly active in the Chinese role in the airlift.
The Ethiopian Airlift covered the East Coast, from wartorn areas like Boston and New York City, to less conflicted places like Atlanta. The action was televised and accompanied by a speech from the Emperor Yohannes Iyasu. The refugees where taken to Papal Cuba, where some refugees fleeing North America also found ways to meet up with the Ethiopian boats in order to get passage to Africa. The Chinese airlift took place on the west coast, particularly in Los Angeles, San Fransisco, and Seattle.
Aftermath[]
The Ethiopian airlift was seen as a public relations success, and marked a high point in the career of Yohannes
Chinese fliers distrubted primarily being dropped over the affected areas. The Chinese government didn't operate nearly long enough in the effected zones for more organized distribution over concerns of possibly starting an international incident. They never got formal recognition by Canada, who occupied the noted zones.
Iyasu. It was the first time the nation had done something of international importance, and lay the path for future international actions that would come later, including the Treaty of Addis Ababa. Refugees found it hard fitting into African culture and found themselves stuck in refugee camps in major cities on the east coast of Ethiopia, including major communities in Djibouti and Mogadishu. Trouble between Ethiopian authorities and these American refugees led to such acts as the Ru de Bender law, which required American expatriates to enter the military if they were charged with a felony.
In China, the refugees were kept on Green Island off the coast of Taiwan, and were partitioned from the rest of Chinese society, eventually being sent home when the war ended. Some smaller groups opted to remain in China, to escape the likelihood of another outbreak of War, and to avoid the hardships at home.
Though the effects of the refugees in China would be less prevelant than the effects in Africa, American musical styles started to spread in mainland China after the arrival of the American refugees, with blues music being adapted into a unique blend of American blues and Chinese folk music.