Ethiopia was reunified in 1855 under 

Tewodros II, beginning its modern history and his

reign was followed by Yohannes IV who was killed in action in 1889. Under Menelik
II Ethiopia started its transformation to well organized technological advancement and the
structure that the country has now. Ethiopia also expanded to the south and east,
through the conquest of the western Oromo, Sidama, Gurage, Wolayta and other groups,
resulting in the borders of modern Ethiopia. Ethiopia defeated an Egyptian invasion in
1876 and an Italian invasion in 1896 which killed 17,000 Ethiopians,[4] and came to be
recognized as a legitimate state by European powers. A more rapid modernisation took
place under Menelik II and Haile Selassie. Italy launched a second invasion in 1935.
From 1935 to 1941, Ethiopia was under Italian occupation as part of Italian East Africa.
The Allies managed to drive the Italians out of the country in 1941, and Haile Selassie
was returned to the throne from his 5 years exiled in Britain. Ethiopia and Eritrea united in
a federation, but when Haile Selassie ended the federation in 1961 and made Eritrea
a province of Ethiopia, the 30-year Eritrean War of Independence broke out. Eritrea
regained its independence after a referendum in 1993. [citation needed]
Haile Selassie was overthrown in 1974 and the militaristic Derg regime came to power. In
1977 Somalia invaded, trying to annex the Ogaden region, but were pushed back by
Ethiopian, Soviet, and Cuban forces. In 1977 and 1978 the government tortured or killed
hundreds of thousands of suspected enemies in the Red Terror. Ethiopia
experienced famine in 1984 that killed one million people and civil war that resulted in the
fall of the Derg in 1991. This resulted in the establishment of the Federal Democratic
Republic under Meles Zenawi. Ethiopia remains highly impoverished, although its
economy has become one of the world's fastest-growing. [5] Civil conflict in the country,
including the Metekel conflict and the Tigray War, are still ongoing