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On 14 September 1974 a group of seven Tigrayan university students in Addis Ababa formed the Tigrayan National Organization "Association of Progressives from Tigray Nation"). TNO formed clandestine cells and carried out propaganda work amongst the people. During the 1974 popular uprising, TNO played an important role in mobilizing the people of Tigray. After the takeover by the Derg junta, TNO claimed that armed struggle was necessarily to remove the new regime. In February 1975, the TNO was transformed into the TPLF by establishing their first military base at Dedebit in Tigray, after having conducted political and military preparations.
The TPLF was able to establish their credibility with a raid on the jail in Shire on the morning of 5 August 1975, in which they freed their captured comrade Mehari Tekle ("Mussie") and 60 other prisoners, then a month later on the afternoon of 4 September when they held up the bank in Axum, 175,000 Birr (equivalent to US$ 84,000), and substantial arms and ammunition were captured at the cost of one fighter wounded.
Throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s, TPLF waged guerrilla warfare against the Derg in the Tigray province, fighting a regime that was extremely oppressive all over Ethiopia, and which killed and tortured a large number of real and alleged dissents in the Tigray Region. TPLF was a very disciplined organization, where the soldiers ( normally known as “fighters” ) would be well-educated politically, and cooperate with the civilian population in friendly terms. TPLF-fighters also had to abide strict rules in terms of social relations and alcohol. There was a large number of women fighters, who fought alongside their male comrades on equal terms.
In the late 1980s, TPLF managed to counter a large offensive launched by the Derg in Tigray, and liberate most parts of the region. The organization had then joined forces with a number of other liberation groups representing various other parts and nationalities of Ethiopia, forming Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). On May 28th 1991, they entered Addis Abeba, and overthrew the Derg-junta.
Related articles: http://www.norway.org.et/News_and_events/press_releases/33rd_anniversary_of_TPLF/
Books and movies on TPLF:
English author Jenny Hammond has written two interesting books about the TPLF struggle, namely Fire from the Ashes: A Chronicle of the Revolution in Tigray, Ethiopia, 1975-1991 (http://www.allbookstores.com/book/9781569020876/Fire_from_the_Ashes_A_Chronicle_of_the_Revolution_in_Tigray_Ethiopia_1975-1991.html) as well as Sweeter Than Honey: Ethiopian Women and Revolution Testimonies of Tigrayan Women (http://www.allbookstores.com/book/9780932415554/Sweeter_Than_Honey_Ethiopian_Women_and_Revolution_Testimonies_of_Tigrayan_Women.html)
Another book worth reading about TPLF is “Peasant Revolution in Ethiopia. The Tigrayian People’s Liberation Front 1975-1991. Find it on Google books here: http://books.google.no/books?id=5JmuUH1lHsIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Peasant+Revolution+in+Tigray&source=bl&ots=IihUMOeDxA&sig=59DLaBzDdGlsyyowLzSwfoHBBvY&hl=no&ei=3Vh5S-aECI_L-Qbg3NSuCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CA8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=&f=false