THE NEGUS: BIOGRAPHY OF HAILE SELASSIE

INTRODUCTION

Haile Selassie was known as a child as Lij Tafari Makonnen (Amharic

; lij tefer meknnin). Lij translates to "child", and serves to indicate that a youth
is of noble blood. His given name, Tafari means "one who is respected or feared". Like
most Ethiopians, his personal name Tafari is followed by that of his father Makonnen
and rarely that of his grandfather Woldemikael. His Ge'ez name, Haile Selassie was
given to him at his infant baptism and adopted again as part of his regnal name in 1930.
As Governor of Harer, he became known as Ras Tafari Makonnen listen (helpinfo).
Ras translates to "head"[14] and is a rank of nobility equivalent to Duke;[15] though it is
often rendered in translation as "prince". In 1916, Empress Zewditu I appointed him to
the position of Balemulu Silt'an Enderase (Regent Plenipotentiary). In 1928, she
granted him the throne of Shoa elevating his title to Negus or "King".[16][17]
On 2 November 1930, after the death of Empress Zewditu, Ras Tafari was crowned
King of Kings, often rendered imprecisely in English as "Emperor".[18] Upon his
ascension, he took as his regnal name Haile Selassie I. Haile means in Ge'ez "Power of"
and Selassie means trinitytherefore Haile Selassie roughly translates to "Power of the
Trinity".[19] Haile Selassie's full title in office was "His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie
I, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, King of Kings of Ethiopia, Elect of God".[nb 3]
[citation needed]
This title reflects Ethiopian dynastic traditions, which hold that all monarchs
must trace their lineage back to Menelik I, who in the Ethiopian tradition was the
offspring of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.[20]
To Ethiopians Haile Selassie has been known by many names, including Janhoy,
Talaqu Meri, and Abba Tekel.[citation needed] The Rastafari movement employ many of
these appellations, also referring to him as Jah, Jah Rastafari, and HIM (the
abbreviation of "His Imperial Majesty"),[citation needed].

Early life
Haile Selassie I's royal line (through his father's mother) originated from the Amhara
people,[21] but he also had Oromo, and Gurage[22] roots. He was born on 23 July 1892, in
the village of Ejersa Goro, in the Harar province of Ethiopia. His mother was Woizero
("Lady") Yeshimebet Ali Abajifar, daughter of the renowned Oromo ruler of Wollo
province Dejazmach Ali Abajifar.[23] His maternal grandmother was of Gurage heritage.
[24]
Tafari's father was Ras Makonnen Woldemikael Gudessa, the governor of Harar. Ras
Makonnen served as a general in the First ItaloEthiopian War, playing a key role at the
Battle of Adwa;[23] he too was paternally Oromo but maternally Amhara.[24] Haile
Selassie was thus able to ascend to the imperial throne through his paternal
grandmother, Woizero Tenagnework Sahle Selassie, who was an aunt of Emperor
Menelik II and daughter of Negus Sahle Selassie of Shewa. As such, Haile Selassie
claimed direct descent from Makeda, the Queen of Sheba, and King Solomon of ancient
Israel.[25]
Ras Makonnen arranged for Tafari as well as his first cousin, Imru Haile Selassie to
receive instruction in Harar from Abba Samuel Wolde Kahin, an Ethiopian capuchin

monk, and from Dr. Vitalien, a surgeon from Guadeloupe. Tafari was named Dejazmach
(literally "commander of the gate", roughly equivalent to "count")[26] at the age of 13, on
1 November 1905.[27] Shortly thereafter, his father Ras Makonnen died at Kulibi, in
1906.[28]

Governorship
Tafari assumed the titular governorship of Selale in 1906, a realm of marginal
importance[29] but one that enabled him to continue his studies.[27] In 1907, he was
appointed governor over part of the province of Sidamo. It is alleged that during his late
teens, Haile Selassie was married to Woizero Altayech, and that from this union, his
daughter Princess Romanework was born.[30]
Following the death of his brother Yelma in 1907, the governorate of Harar was left
vacant,[29] and its administration was left to Menelik's loyal general, Dejazmach Balcha
Safo. Balcha Safo's administration of Harar was ineffective, and so during the last
illness of Menelik II, and the brief reign of Empress Taitu Bitul, Tafari was made
governor of Harar in 1910[28] or 1911.[22]
On 3 August he married Menen Asfaw of Ambassel, niece of heir to the throne Lij
Iyasu.

Regency
The extent to which Tafari Makonnen contributed to the movement that would come to
depose Iyasu V has been discussed extensively, particularly in Haile Selassie's own
detailed account of the matter. Iyasu V, or Lij Iyasu, was the designated but uncrowned
Emperor of Ethiopia from 1913 to 1916. Iyasu's reputation for scandalous behavior and
a disrespectful attitude towards the nobles at the court of his grandfather, Menelik II,[31]
damaged his reputation. Iyasu's flirtation with Islam was considered treasonous among
the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian leadership of the empire. On 27 September 1916,
Iyasu was deposed.[32]
Contributing to the movement that deposed Iyasu were conservatives such as Fitawrari
Habte Giyorgis, Menelik II's longtime Minister of War. The movement to depose Iyasu
preferred Tafari, as he attracted support from both progressive and conservative
factions. Ultimately, Iyasu was deposed on the grounds of conversion to Islam.[14][32] In
his place, the daughter of Menelik II (the aunt of Iyasu) was named Empress Zewditu,
while Tafari was elevated to the rank of Ras and was made heir apparent and Crown
Prince. In the power arrangement that followed, Tafari accepted the role of Regent
Plenipotentiary (Balemulu 'Inderase) and became the de facto ruler of the Ethiopian
Empire (Mangista Ityop'p'ya). Zewditu would govern while Tafari would administer.[33]
While Iyasu had been deposed on 27 September 1916, on 8 October he managed to
escape into the Ogaden Desert and his father, Negus Mikael of Wollo, had time to come
to his aid.[34] On 27 October, Negus Mikael and his army met an army under Fitawrari
Habte Giyorgis loyal to Zewditu and Tafari. During the Battle of Segale, Negus Mikael
was defeated and captured. Any chance that Iyasu would regain the throne was ended
and he went into hiding. On 11 January 1921, after avoiding capture for about five
years, Iyasu was taken into custody by Gugsa Araya Selassie.

On 11 February 1917, the coronation for Zewditu took place. She pledged to rule justly
through her Regent, Tafari. While Tafari was the more visible of the two, Zewditu was
far from an honorary ruler. Her position required that she arbitrate the claims of
competing factions. In other words, she had the last word. Tafari carried the burden of
daily administration but, because his position was relatively weak, this was often an
exercise in futility for him. Initially his personal army was poorly equipped, his finances
were limited, and he had little leverage to withstand the combined influence of the
Empress, the Minister of War, or the provincial governors.[34]
During his Regency, the new Crown Prince developed the policy of cautious
modernization initiated by Menelik II. Also during this time, he survived the 1918 flu
pandemic.[35] He secured Ethiopia's admission to the League of Nations in 1923 by
promising to eradicate slavery; each emperor since Tewodros II had issued
proclamations to halt slavery,[36] but without effect: the internationally scorned practice
persisted well into Haile Selassie's reign with an estimated 2 million slaves in Ethiopia
the early 1930s.[37][38]
Travel abroad
In 1924, Ras Tafari toured Europe and the Middle East visiting Jerusalem, Cairo,
Alexandria, Brussels, Amsterdam, Stockholm, London, Geneva, and Athens. With him
on his tour was a group that included Ras Seyum Mangasha of western Tigre Province,
Ras Hailu Tekle Haymanot of Gojjam Province, Ras Mulugeta Yeggazu of Illubabor
Province, Ras Makonnen Endelkachew, and Blattengeta Heruy Welde Sellase. The
primary goal of the trip to Europe was for Ethiopia to gain access to the sea. In Paris,
Tafari was to find out from the French Foreign Ministry (Quai d'Orsay) that this goal
would not be realized.[39] However, failing this, he and his retinue inspected schools,
hospitals, factories, and churches. Although patterning many reforms after European
models, Tafari remained wary of European pressure. To guard against economic
imperialism, Tafari required that all enterprises have at least partial local ownership.[40]
Of his modernization campaign, he remarked, "We need European progress only
because we are surrounded by it. That is at once a benefit and a misfortune."[41]
Throughout Ras Tafari's travels in Europe, the Levant, and Egypt, he and his entourage
were greeted with enthusiasm and fascination. He was accompanied by Seyum
Mangasha and Hailu Tekle Haymanot who, like Tafari, were sons of generals who
contributed to the victorious war against Italy a quarter century earlier at the Battle of
Adwa.[42] Another member of his entourage, Mulugeta Yeggazu, actually fought at Adwa
as a young man. The "Oriental Dignity" of the Ethiopians[43] and their "rich, picturesque
court dress"[44] were sensationalized in the media; among his entourage he even included
a pride of lions, which he distributed as gifts to President Alexandre Millerand and
Prime Minister Raymond Poincar of France, to King George V of the United Kingdom,
and to the Zoological Garden (Jardin Zoologique) of Paris.[42] As one historian noted,
"Rarely can a tour have inspired so many anecdotes".[42] In return for two lions, the
United Kingdom presented Ras Tafari with the imperial crown of Emperor Tewodros II
for its safe return to Empress Zewditu. The crown had been taken by Robert Napier
during the 1868 Expedition to Abyssinia.[45]
In this period, the Crown Prince visited the Armenian monastery of Jerusalem. There, he
adopted 40 Armenian orphans ( Arba Lijoch, "forty children"), who had lost

their parents in Ottoman massacres. Ras Tafari arranged for the musical education of the
youths, and they came to form the imperial brass band.[46]

King and emperor

In 1928, the authority of Ras Tafari Makonnen was challenged when Dejazmatch
Balcha Safo went to Addis Ababa with a sizeable armed force. When Tafari
consolidated his hold over the provinces, many of Menelik's appointees refused to abide
by the new regulations. Balcha Safo, the governor (Shum) of coffee-rich Sidamo
Province, was particularly troublesome. The revenues he remitted to the central
government did not reflect the accrued profits and Tafari recalled him to Addis Ababa.
The old man came in high dudgeon and, insultingly, with a large army.[nb 4] The
Dejazmatch paid homage to Empress Zewditu, but snubbed Ras Tafari.[48][49] On 18
February, while Balcha Safo and his personal bodyguard[nb 5] were in Addis Ababa, Ras
Tafari had Ras Kassa Haile Darge bought off his army and arranged to have him
displaced as the Shum of Sidamo Province[50] by Birru Wolde Gabriel who himself was
replaced by Desta Damtew.[47]
Even so, the gesture of Balcha Safo empowered Empress Zewditu politically and she
attempted to have Tafari tried for treason. He was tried for his benevolent dealings with
Italy including a 20-year peace accord which was signed on 2 August.[27] In September,
a group of palace reactionaries including some of the courtiers of the Empress, made a
final bid to get rid of Tafari. The attempted coup d'tat was tragic in its origins and
comic in its end. When confronted by Tafari and a company of his troops, the
ringleaders of the coup took refuge on the palace grounds in Menelik's mausoleum.
Tafari and his men surrounded them only to be surrounded themselves by the personal
guard of Zewditu. More of Tafari's khaki clad soldiers arrived and, with superiority of
arms, decided the outcome in his favor.[51] Popular support, as well as the support of the
police,[48] remained with Tafari. Ultimately, the Empress relented and, on 7 October
1928, she crowned Tafari as Negus (Amharic: "King").
The crowning of Tafari as King was controversial. He occupied the same territory as the
Empress rather than going off to a regional kingdom of the empire. Two monarchs, even
with one being the vassal and the other the emperor (in this case empress), had never
occupied the same location as their seat in Ethiopian history. Conservatives agitated to
redress this perceived insult to the dignity of the crown, leading to the rebellion of Ras
Gugsa Welle. Gugsa Welle was the husband of the Empress and the Shum of Begemder
Province. In early 1930, he raised an army and marched it from his governorate at
Gondar towards Addis Ababa. On 31 March 1930, Gugsa Welle was met by forces loyal
to Negus Tafari and was defeated at the Battle of Anchem. Gugsa Welle was killed in
action.[52] News of Gugsa Welle's defeat and death had hardly spread through Addis
Ababa when the Empress died suddenly on 2 April 1930. Although it was long rumored
that the Empress was poisoned upon the defeat of her husband,[53] or alternately that she
died from shock upon hearing of the death of her estranged yet beloved husband,[54] it
has since been documented that the Empress succumbed to a flu-like fever and
complications from diabetes.[55]
With the passing of Zewditu, Tafari himself rose to emperor and was proclaimed
Neguse Negest ze-'Ityopp'ya, "King of Kings of Ethiopia". He was crowned on 2
November 1930, at Addis Ababa's Cathedral of St. George. The coronation was by all

accounts "a most splendid affair",[56] and it was attended by royals and dignitaries from
all over the world. Among those in attendance were George V's son Prince Henry,
Marshal Franchet d'Esperey of France, and the Prince of Udine representing Italy.
Emissaries from the United States,[57] Egypt, Turkey, Sweden, Belgium, and Japan were
also present.[56] British author Evelyn Waugh was also present, penning a contemporary
report on the event, and American travel lecturer Burton Holmes shot the only known
film footage of the event.[58] One newspaper report suggested that the celebration may
have incurred a cost in excess of $3,000,000.[59] Many of those in attendance received
lavish gifts;[60] in one instance, the Christian emperor even sent a gold-encased Bible to
an American bishop who had not attended the coronation, but who had dedicated a
prayer to the emperor on the day of the coronation.[61]
Haile Selassie introduced Ethiopia's first written constitution on 16 July 1931,[62]
providing for a bicameral legislature.[63] The constitution kept power in the hands of the
nobility, but it did establish democratic standards among the nobility, envisaging a
transition to democratic rule: it would prevail "until the people are in a position to elect
themselves."[63] The constitution limited the succession to the throne to the descendants
of Haile Selassie, a point that met with the disapprobation of other dynastic princes,
including the princes of Tigrai and even the emperor's loyal cousin, Ras Kassa Haile
Darge.
In 1932, the Kingdom of Jimma was formally absorbed into Ethiopia following the
death of King Abba Jifar II of Jimma.

Conflict with Italy

See also: Abyssinia Crisis and Second Italo-Abyssinian War
Ethiopia became the target of renewed Italian imperialist designs in the 1930s. Benito
Mussolini's Fascist regime was keen to avenge the military defeats Italy had suffered to
Ethiopia in the First Italo-Abyssinian War, and to efface the failed attempt by "liberal"
Italy to conquer the country, as epitomised by the defeat at Adowa.[64][65][66] A conquest
of Ethiopia could also empower the cause of fascism and embolden its rhetoric of
empire.[66] Ethiopia would also provide a bridge between Italy's Eritrean and Italian
Somaliland possessions. Ethiopia's position in the League of Nations did not dissuade
the Italians from invading in 1935; the "collective security" envisaged by the League
proved useless, and a scandal erupted when the Hoare-Laval Pact revealed that
Ethiopia's League allies were scheming to appease Italy.[67]
Mobilization
Following 5 December 1934 Italian invasion of Ethiopia at Walwal, Ogeden Province,
Haile Selassie joined his northern armies and set up headquarters at Desse in Wollo
province. He issued his mobilization order on 3 October 1935:

If you withhold from your country Ethiopia the death from cough or headcold of which you would otherwise die, refusing to resist (in your district, in
your patrimony, and in your home) our enemy who is coming from a distant
country to attack us, and if you persist in not shedding your blood, you will

be rebuked for it by your Creator and will be cursed by your offspring.

Hence, without cooling your heart of accustomed valour, there emerges your
decision to fight fiercely, mindful of your history that will last far into the
future... If on your march you touch any property inside houses or cattle and
crops outside, not even grass, straw, and dung excluded, it is like killing
your brother who is dying with you... You, countryman, living at the various
access routes, set up a market for the army at the places where it is camping
and on the day your district-governor will indicate to you, lest the soldiers
campaigning for Ethiopia's liberty should experience difficulty. You will not
be charged excise duty, until the end of the campaign, for anything you are
marketing at the military camps: I have granted you remission... After you
have been ordered to go to war, but are then idly missing from the
campaign, and when you are seized by the local chief or by an accuser, you
will have punishment inflicted upon your inherited land, your property, and
your body; to the accuser I shall grant a third of your property...
On 19 October 1935, Haile Selassie gave more precise orders for his army to his
Commander-in-Chief, Ras Kassa:
1. When you set up tents, it is to be in caves and by trees and in a wood, if the
place happens to be adjoining to theseand separated in the various platoons.
Tents are to be set up at a distance of 30 cubits from each other.
2. When an aeroplane is sighted, one should leave large open roads and wide
meadows and march in valleys and trenches and by zigzag routes, along places
which have trees and woods.
3. When an aeroplane comes to drop bombs, it will not suit it to do so unless it
comes down to about 100 metres; hence when it flies low for such action, one
should fire a volley with a good and very long gun and then quickly disperse.
When three or four bullets have hit it, the aeroplane is bound to fall down. But
let only those fire who have been ordered to shoot with a weapon that has been
selected for such firing, for if everyone shoots who possesses a gun, there is no
advantage in this except to waste bullets and to disclose the men's whereabouts.
4. Lest the aeroplane, when rising again, should detect the whereabouts of those
who are dispersed, it is well to remain cautiously scattered as long as it is still
fairly close. In time of war it suits the enemy to aim his guns at adorned shields,
ornaments, silver and gold cloaks, silk shirts and all similar things. Whether one
possesses a jacket or not, it is best to wear a narrow-sleeved shirt with faded
colours. When we return, with God's help, you can wear your gold and silver
decorations then. Now it is time to go and fight. We offer you all these words of
advice in the hope that no great harm should befall you through lack of caution.
At the same time, We are glad to assure you that in time of war We are ready to
shed Our blood in your midst for the sake of Ethiopia's freedom..."[68]
Compared to the Ethiopians, the Italians had an advanced, modern military which
included a large air force. The Italians would also come to employ chemical weapons
extensively throughout the conflict, even targeting Red Cross field hospitals in violation
of the Geneva Convention.[69]
Progress of the war

Starting in early October 1935, the Italians invaded Ethiopia. But, by November, the
pace of invasion had slowed appreciably and Haile Selassie's northern armies were able
to launch what was known as the "Christmas Offensive". During this offensive, the
Italians were forced back in places and put on the defensive. However, in early 1936,
the First Battle of Tembien stopped the progress of the Ethiopian offensive and the
Italians were ready to continue their offensive. Following the defeat and destruction of
the northern Ethiopian armies at the Battle of Amba Aradam, the Second Battle of
Tembien, and the Battle of Shire, Haile Selassie took the field with the last Ethiopian
army on the northern front. On 31 March 1936, he launched a counterattack against the
Italians himself at the Battle of Maychew in southern Tigray. The emperor's army was
defeated and retreated in disarray. As Haile Selassie's army withdrew, the Italians
attacked from the air along with rebellious Raya and Azebo tribesmen on the ground,
who were armed and paid by the Italians.[70]

Haile Selassie made a solitary pilgrimage to the churches at Lalibela, at considerable

risk of capture, before returning to his capital.[72] After a stormy session of the council of
state, it was agreed that because Addis Ababa could not be defended, the government
would relocate to the southern town of Gore, and that in the interest of preserving the
Imperial house, the emperor's wife Menen Asfaw and the rest of the imperial family
should immediately depart for Djibouti, and from there continue on to Jerusalem.
Exile debate
After further debate as to whether Haile Selassie should go to Gore or accompany his
family into exile, it was agreed that Haile Selassie should leave Ethiopia with his family
and present the case of Ethiopia to the League of Nations at Geneva. The decision was
not unanimous and several participants, including the nobleman Page (Blatta) Tekle
Wolde Hawariat, objected to the idea of an Ethiopian monarch fleeing before an
invading force.[73] Haile Selassie appointed his cousin Ras Imru Haile Selassie as Prince
Regent in his absence, departing with his family for Djibouti on 2 May 1936.
On 5 May, Marshal Pietro Badoglio led Italian troops into Addis Ababa, and Mussolini
declared Ethiopia an Italian province. Victor Emanuel III was proclaimed as the new
Emperor of Ethiopia. However, on the previous day, the Ethiopian exiles had left
Djibouti aboard the British cruiser HMS Enterprise. They were bound for Jerusalem in
the British Mandate of Palestine, where the Ethiopian royal family maintained a
residence. The Imperial family disembarked at Haifa and then went on to Jerusalem.
Once there, Haile Selassie and his retinue prepared to make their case at Geneva. The
choice of Jerusalem was highly symbolic, since the Solomonic Dynasty claimed descent
from the House of David. Leaving the Holy Land, Haile Selassie and his entourage
sailed for Gibraltar aboard the British cruiser HMS Capetown. From Gibraltar, the
exiles were transferred to an ordinary liner. By doing this, the government of the United
Kingdom was spared the expense of a state reception.[74]
Collective security and the League of Nations, 1936
Mussolini, upon invading Ethiopia, had promptly declared his own "Italian Empire";
because the League of Nations afforded Haile Selassie the opportunity to address the

assembly, Italy even withdrew its League delegation, on 12 May 1936.[75] It was in this
context that Haile Selassie walked into the hall of the League of Nations, introduced by
the President of the Assembly as "His Imperial Majesty, the Emperor of Ethiopia" (Sa
Majest Imperiale, l'Empereur d'Ethiopie). The introduction caused a great many Italian
journalists in the galleries to erupt into jeering, heckling, and whistling. As it turned out,
they had earlier been issued whistles by Mussolini's son-in-law, Count Galeazzo Ciano.
[76]
Haile Selassie waited calmly for the hall to be cleared, and responded
"majestically"[77] with a speech sometimes considered among the most stirring of the
20th century.[7]
Although fluent in French, the working language of the League, Haile Selassie chose to
deliver his historic speech in his native Amharic. He asserted that, because his
"confidence in the League was absolute", his people were now being slaughtered. He
pointed out that the same European states that found in Ethiopia's favor at the League of
Nations were refusing Ethiopia credit and matriel while aiding Italy, which was
employing chemical weapons on military and civilian targets alike.
It was at the time when the operations for the encircling of Makale were taking place
that the Italian command, fearing a rout, followed the procedure which it is now my
duty to denounce to the world. Special sprayers were installed on board aircraft so that
they could vaporize, over vast areas of territory, a fine, death-dealing rain. Groups of
nine, fifteen, eighteen aircraft followed one another so that the fog issuing from them
formed a continuous sheet. It was thus that, as from the end of January 1936, soldiers,
women, children, cattle, rivers, lakes, and pastures were drenched continually with this
deadly rain. In order to kill off systematically all living creatures, in order to more
surely poison waters and pastures, the Italian command made its aircraft pass over and
over again. That was its chief method of warfare.[78]
Noting that his own "small people of 12 million inhabitants, without arms, without
resources" could never withstand an attack by a large power such as Italy, with its
42 million people and "unlimited quantities of the most death-dealing weapons", he
contended that all small states were threatened by the aggression, and that all small
states were in effect reduced to vassal states in the absence of collective action. He
admonished the League that "God and history will remember your judgment."[79]
It is collective security: it is the very existence of the League of Nations. It is the
confidence that each State is to place in international treaties... In a word, it is
international morality that is at stake. Have the signatures appended to a Treaty value
only in so far as the signatory Powers have a personal, direct and immediate interest
involved?
The speech made the emperor an icon for anti-fascists around the world, and Time
named him "Man of the Year".[80] He failed, however, to get what he most needed: the
League agreed to only partial and ineffective sanctions on Italy, and several members
even recognized the Italian conquest.[65]

Exile
Haile Selassie spent his exile years (19361941) in Bath, England, in Fairfield House,
which he bought. The emperor and Kassa Haile Darge took morning walks
together behind the high walls of the 14-room Georgian house. Haile Selassie's
favorite reading was "diplomatic history." But most of his serious hours were
occupied with the 90,000-word story of his life which he was laboriously
writing in Amharic.[81]
Prior to Fairfield House, he briefly stayed at Warne's Hotel in Worthing[82] and in
Parkside, Wimbledon[83] A bust of Haile Selassie is in nearby Cannizaro Park to
commemorate this time and is a popular place of pilgrimage for London's Rastafarian
community.
Haile Selassie stayed at the Abbey Hotel in Malvern in the 1930s and his
granddaughters and daughters of court officials were educated at Clarendon School in
North Malvern. During his time in Malvern he attended services at Holy Trinity Church,
in Link Top. A blue plaque, commemorating his stay in Malvern, was unveiled on
Saturday, 25 June 2011. As part of the ceremony, a delegation from the Rastafari
movement gave a short address and a drum recital.[84][85][86][87][88]
Haile Selassie's activity in this period was focused on countering Italian propaganda as
to the state of Ethiopian resistance and the legality of the occupation.[89] He spoke out
against the desecration of houses of worship and historical artifacts (including the theft
of a 1,600-year old imperial obelisk), and condemned the atrocities suffered by the
Ethiopian civilian population.[90] He continued to plead for League intervention and to
voice his certainty that "God's judgment will eventually visit the weak and the mighty
alike",[91] though his attempts to gain support for the struggle against Italy were largely
unsuccessful until Italy entered World War II on the German side in June 1940.[92]
The emperor's pleas for international support did take root in the United States,
particularly among African-American organizations sympathetic to the Ethiopian cause.
[93]
In 1937, Haile Selassie was to give a Christmas Day radio address to the American
people to thank his supporters when his taxi was involved in a traffic accident, leaving
him with a fractured knee.[94] Rather than canceling the radio appearance, he proceeded
in much pain to complete the address, in which he linked Christianity and goodwill with
the Covenant of the League of Nations, and asserted that "War is not the only means to
stop war":[94]
With the birth of the Son of God, an unprecedented, an unrepeatable, and a longanticipated phenomenon occurred. He was born in a stable instead of a palace, in a
manger instead of a crib. The hearts of the Wise men were struck by fear and wonder
due to His Majestic Humbleness. The kings prostrated themselves before Him and
worshipped Him. 'Peace be to those who have good will'. This became the first message.
[...] Although the toils of wise people may earn them respect, it is a fact of life that the
spirit of the wicked continues to cast its shadow on this world. The arrogant are seen
visibly leading their people into crime and destruction. The laws of the League of
Nations are constantly violated and wars and acts of aggression repeatedly take place...
So that the spirit of the cursed will not gain predominance over the human race whom

Christ redeemed with his blood, all peace-loving people should cooperate to stand firm
in order to preserve and promote lawfulness and peace.[94]
During this period, Haile Selassie suffered several personal tragedies. His two sons-inlaw, Ras Desta Damtew and Dejazmach Beyene Merid, were both executed by the
Italians.[91] The emperor's daughter, Princess Romanework, wife of Dejazmach Beyene
Merid, was herself taken into captivity with her children, and she died in Italy in 1941.
[95]
His daughter Tsehai died during childbirth shortly after the restoration in 1942.[96]
After his return to Ethiopia, he donated Fairfield House to the city of Bath as a
residence for the aged, until modified in the 1990s where it is now used as a residential
meeting centre.[97]

1940s and 1950s

British forces, which consisted primarily of Ethiopian-backed African and South
African colonial troops under the "Gideon Force" of Colonel Orde Wingate, coordinated
the military effort to liberate Ethiopia. The emperor himself issued several imperial
proclamations in this period, demonstrating that, while authority was not divided up in
any formal way, British military might and the emperor's populist appeal could be
joined in the concerted effort to liberate Ethiopia.[92]
On 18 January 1941, during the East African Campaign, Haile Selassie crossed the
border between Sudan and Ethiopia near the village of Um Iddla. The standard of the
Lion of Judah was raised again. Two days later, he and a force of Ethiopian patriots
joined Gideon Force which was already in Ethiopia and preparing the way.[98] Italy was
defeated by a force of the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth of Nations, Free
France, Free Belgium, and Ethiopian patriots. On 5 May 1941, Haile Selassie entered
Addis Ababa and personally addressed the Ethiopian people, five years to the day since
his 1936 exile:
Today is the day on which we defeated our enemy. Therefore, when we say let us
rejoice with our hearts, let not our rejoicing be in any other way but in the spirit of
Christ. Do not return evil for evil. Do not indulge in the atrocities which the enemy has
been practicing in his usual way, even to the last.
Take care not to spoil the good name of Ethiopia by acts which are worthy of the enemy.
We shall see that our enemies are disarmed and sent out the same way they came. As
Saint George who killed the dragon is the Patron Saint of our army as well as of our
allies, let us unite with our allies in everlasting friendship and amity in order to be able
to stand against the godless and cruel dragon which has newly risen and which is
oppressing mankind.[99]
On 27 August 1942, Haile Selassie abolished the legal basis of slavery throughout the
empire and imposed severe penalties, including death, for slave trading.[100] After World
War II, Ethiopia became a charter member of the United Nations. In 1948, the Ogaden,
a region disputed with Somalia, was granted to Ethiopia.[101] On 2 December 1950, the
UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 390 (V), establishing the federation of
Eritrea (the former Italian colony) into Ethiopia.[102] Eritrea was to have its own

constitution, which would provide for ethnic, linguistic, and cultural balance, while
Ethiopia was to manage its finances, defense, and foreign policy.[102]
Despite his centralization policies that had been made before World War II, Haile
Selassie still found himself unable to push for all the programs he wanted. In 1942, he
attempted to institute a progressive tax scheme, but this failed due to opposition from
the nobility, and only a flat tax was passed; in 1951, he agreed to reduce this as well.[103]
Ethiopia was still "semi-feudal",[104] and the emperor's attempts to alter its social and
economic form by reforming its modes of taxation met with resistance from the nobility
and clergy, which were eager to resume their privileges in the postwar era.[103] Where
Haile Selassie actually did succeed in effecting new land taxes, the burdens were often
passed by the landowners to the peasants.[103] Despite his wishes, the tax burden
remained primarily on the peasants.
Between 1941 and 1959, Haile Selassie worked to establish the autocephaly of the
Ethiopian Orthodox Church.[105] The Ethiopian Orthodox Church had been headed by
the abuna, a bishop who answered to the Partriarchate in Egypt. Haile Selassie applied
to Egypt's Holy Synod in 1942 and 1945 to establish the independence of Ethiopian
bishops, and when his appeals were denied he threatened to sever relations with the See
of St. Mark.[105] Finally, in 1959, Pope Kyrillos VI elevated the Abuna to PatriarchCatholicos.[105] The Ethiopian Church remained affiliated with the Alexandrian Church.
[103]
In addition to these efforts, Haile Selassie changed the Ethiopian church-state
relationship by introducing taxation of church lands, and by restricting the legal
privileges of the clergy, who had formerly been tried in their own courts for civil
offenses.[103]
In keeping with the principle of collective security, for which he was an outspoken
proponent, he sent a contingent under General Mulugueta Bulli, known as the Kagnew
Battalion, to take part in the Korean War by supporting the United Nations Command. It
was attached to the American 7th Infantry Division, and fought in a number of
engagements including the Battle of Pork Chop Hill.[106] In a 1954 speech, the emperor
spoke of Ethiopian participation in the Korean War as a redemption of the principles of
collective security:
Nearly two decades ago, I personally assumed before history the responsibility of
placing the fate of my beloved people on the issue of collective security, for surely, at
that time and for the first time in world history, that issue was posed in all its clarity. My
searching of conscience convinced me of the rightness of my course and if, after untold
sufferings and, indeed, unaided resistance at the time of aggression, we now see the
final vindication of that principle in our joint action in Korea, I can only be thankful that
God gave me strength to persist in our faith until the moment of its recent glorious
vindication.[107]
During the celebrations of his Silver Jubilee in November 1955, Haile Selassie
introduced a revised constitution,[108] whereby he retained effective power, while
extending political participation to the people by allowing the lower house of parliament
to become an elected body. Party politics were not provided for. Modern educational
methods were more widely spread throughout the Empire, and the country embarked on
a development scheme and plans for modernization, tempered by Ethiopian traditions,
and within the framework of the ancient monarchical structure of the state.

Haile Selassie compromised when practical with the traditionalists in the nobility and
church. He also tried to improve relations between the state and ethnic groups, and
granted autonomy to Afar lands that were difficult to control. Still, his reforms to end
feudalism were slow and weakened by the compromises he made with the entrenched
aristocracy. The Revised Constitution of 1955 has been criticized for reasserting "the
indisputable power of the monarch" and maintaining the relative powerlessness of the
peasants.[109]

Charitable gesture
He sent aid to the British government in 1947 when Britain was affected by heavy
flooding. His letter to Lord Meork, National Distress Fund, London said, "even though
We are busy of helping our people who didn't recover from the crises of the war, We
heard that your fertile and beautiful country is devastated by the unusually heavy rain,
and your request for aid. "Therefore, We are sending small amount of money, about one
thousand pounds through our embassy to show our sympathy and cooperation."[110]

1960s
Haile Selassie contributed Ethiopian troops to the United Nations Operation in the
Congo peacekeeping force during the 1960 Congo Crisis, to consolidate Congolese
integrity and independence from Belgian troops, per United Nations Security Council
Resolution 143. On 13 December 1960, while Haile Selassie was on a state visit to
Brazil, his Imperial Guard forces staged an unsuccessful coup, briefly proclaiming Haile
Selassie's eldest son Asfa Wossen as emperor. The coup d'tat was crushed by the
regular army and police forces. The coup attempt lacked broad popular support, was
denounced by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and was unpopular with the army, air
force and police. Nonetheless, the effort to depose the emperor had support among
students and the educated classes.[111] The coup attempt has been characterized as a
pivotal moment in Ethiopian history, the point at which Ethiopians "for the first time
questioned the power of the king to rule without the people's consent".[112] Student
populations began to empathize with the peasantry and poor, and to advocate on their
behalf.[112] The coup spurred Haile Selassie to accelerate reform, which was manifested
in the form of land grants to military and police officials.
The emperor continued to be a staunch ally of the West, while pursuing a firm policy of
decolonization in Africa, which was still largely under European colonial rule. The
United Nations conducted a lengthy inquiry regarding the status of Eritrea, with the
superpowers each vying for a stake in the state's future. Britain, the administrator at the
time, suggested the partition of Eritrea between Sudan and Ethiopia, separating
Christians and Muslims. The idea was instantly rejected by Eritrean political parties, as
well as the UN.
A UN plebiscite voted 46 to 10 to have Eritrea be federated with Ethiopia, which was
later stipulated on 2 December 1950 in resolution 390 (V). Eritrea would have its own
parliament and administration and would be represented in what had been the Ethiopian
parliament and would become the federal parliament.[113] However, Haile Selassie would
have none of European attempts to draft a separate Constitution under which Eritrea
would be governed, and wanted his own 1955 Constitution protecting families to apply
in both Ethiopia and Eritrea. In 1961 the 30-year Eritrean Struggle for Independence

began, followed by Haile Selassie's dissolution of the federation and shutting down of
Eritrea's parliament.
In Seprember 1961, Selassie attended the Conference of Heads of State of Government
of Non-Aligned Countries in Belgrade, FPR Yugoslavia. This is considered to be the
founding conference of the Non-Aligned Movement.
In 1961, tensions between independence-minded Eritreans and Ethiopian forces
culminated in the Eritrean War of Independence. The emperor declared Eritrea the
fourteenth province of Ethiopia in 1962.[114] The war would continue for 30 years, as
first Haile Selassie, then the Soviet-backed junta that succeeded him, attempted to retain
Eritrea by force.
In 1963, Haile Selassie presided over the formation of the Organisation of African Unity
(OAU), the precursor of the continent-wide African Union (AU). The new organization
would establish its headquarters in Addis Ababa. In May of that year, Haile Selassie was
elected as the OAU's first official chairperson, a rotating seat. Along with Modibo Keta
of Mali, the Ethiopian leader would later help successfully negotiate the Bamako
Accords, which brought an end to the border conflict between Morocco and Algeria. In
1964, Haile Selassie would initiate the concept of the United States of Africa, a
proposition later taken up by Muammar Gaddafi.[115]
On 6 October 1963, Haile Selassie addressed the General Assembly of the United
Nations, referring in his address to his earlier speech to the League of Nations:
Twenty-seven years ago, as Emperor of Ethiopia, I mounted the rostrum in Geneva,
Switzerland, to address the League of Nations and to appeal for relief from the
destruction which had been unleashed against my defenceless nation, by the fascist
invader. I spoke then both to and for the conscience of the world. My words went
unheeded, but history testifies to the accuracy of the warning that I gave in 1936. Today,
I stand before the world organization which has succeeded to the mantle discarded by its
discredited predecessor. In this body is enshrined the principle of collective security
which I unsuccessfully invoked at Geneva. Here, in this Assembly, reposes the best
perhaps the last hope for the peaceful survival of mankind.[116]
On 25 November 1963, the emperor was among other heads of state, including France's
President Charles de Gaulle, who traveled to Washington D.C. and attended the funeral
of assassinated President John F. Kennedy.
In 1966, Haile Selassie attempted to create a modern, progressive tax[citation needed] that
included registration of land, which would significantly weaken the nobility. Even with
alterations, this law led to a revolt in Gojjam, which was repressed although
enforcement of the tax was abandoned. The revolt, having achieved its design in
undermining the tax, encouraged other landowners to defy Haile Selassie.

While he had fully approved of, and assured Ethiopia's participation in, UN-approved
collective security operations, including in Korea and Congo, he drew a distinction with
the non-UN approved foreign intervention in Indochina, and consistently deplored it as

needless suffering, calling for the Vietnam War to end on several occasions. At the same
time he remained open toward the United States and commended it for making progress
with African Americans' Civil Rights legislation in the 1950s and 1960s, while visiting
the US several times during these years.
Student unrest became a regular feature of Ethiopian life in the 1960s and 1970s.
Marxism took root in large segments of the Ethiopian intelligentsia, particularly among
those who had studied abroad and had thus been exposed to radical and left-wing
sentiments that were becoming popular in other parts of the globe.[111] Resistance by
conservative elements at the Imperial Court and Parliament, and by the Ethiopian
Orthodox Church, made Haile Selassie's land reform proposals difficult to implement,
and also damaged the standing of the government, costing Haile Selassie much of the
goodwill he had once enjoyed. This bred resentment among the peasant population.
Efforts to weaken unions also hurt his image. As these issues began to pile up, Haile
Selassie left much of domestic governance to his Prime Minister, Aklilu Habte Wold,
and concentrated more on foreign affairs.

1970s
Outside of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie continued to enjoy enormous prestige and respect.
As the longest-serving head of state in power, Haile Selassie was often given
precedence over other leaders at state events, such as the state funerals of John F.
Kennedy and Charles de Gaulle, the summits of the Non-Aligned Movement, and the
1971 celebration of the 2,500 years of the Persian Empire. In 1970 he visited Italy as a
guest of President Giuseppe Saragat, and in Milan he met Giordano Dell'Amore,
President of Italian Savings Banks Association. He visited China in October 1971, and
was the first foreign head of state to meet Mao Zedong following the death of Mao's
designated successor Lin Biao in a plane crash in Mongolia.
Wollo famine
Faminemostly in Wollo, north-eastern Ethiopia, as well as in some parts of Tigrayis
estimated to have killed 40,000 to 80,000 Ethiopians[10][117] between 1972 and 1974. A
BBC News report[118] has cited a 1973 estimate that 200,000 deaths occurred, based on a
contemporaneous estimate from the Ethiopian Nutrition Institute. While this figure is
still repeated in some texts and media sources, it was an estimate that was later found to
be "over-pessimistic".[119] Although the region is infamous for recurrent crop failures and
continuous food shortage and starvation risk, this episode was remarkably severe. A
1973 production of the ITV programme The Unknown Famine by Jonathan Dimbleby.
[120][121]
relied on the unverified estimate of 200,000 dead,[118][122] stimulating a massive
influx of aid while at the same time destabilizing Haile Selassie's regime.[117]

The 1973 Oil Crisis, the severity of which is demonstrated by this graph, hit Ethiopia
amidst a devastating famine, compounding its effect and undermining support for the
emperor.[109]
Some reports suggest that the emperor was unaware of the extent of the famine,[123]
while others assert that he was well aware of it.[124][125] In addition to the exposure of
attempts by corrupt local officials to cover up the famine from the imperial government,
the Kremlin's depiction of Haile Selassie's Ethiopia as backwards and inept (relative to
the purported utopia of Marxism-Leninism) contributed to the popular uprising that led
to its downfall and the rise of Mengistu Haile Mariam.[126] The famine and its image in
the media undermined popular support of the government, and Haile Selassie's once
unassailable personal popularity fell.
The crisis was exacerbated by military mutinies and high oil prices, the latter a result of
the 1973 oil crisis. The international economic crisis triggered by the oil crisis caused
the costs of imported goods, gasoline, and food to skyrocket, while unemployment
spiked.[109]
Revolution
In February 1974, four days of serious riots in Addis against a sudden economic
inflation left five dead. The emperor responded by announcing on national television a
rollback of gasoline prices and a freeze on the cost of basic commodities. This calmed
the public, but the promised 33% military wage hike was not substantial enough to
pacify the army, which then mutinied, beginning in Asmara and spreading throughout
the empire. This mutiny led to the resignation of Prime Minister Aklilu Habte Wold on
27 February 1974.[127] Haile Selassie again went on television to agree to the army's
demands for still greater pay, and named Endelkachew Makonnen as his new Prime
Minister. However, despite Endalkatchew's many concessions, discontent continued in
March with a four-day general strike that paralyzed the nation.

Imprisonment
The Derg, a committee of low-ranking military officers and enlisted men, set up in June
to investigate the military's demands, took advantage of the government's disarray to
depose Haile Selassie on 12 September 1974. General Aman Mikael Andom, a
Protestant of Eritrean origin,[127] served briefly as provisional head of state pending the
return of Crown Prince Asfa Wossen, who was then receiving medical treatment abroad.
Haile Selassie was placed under house arrest briefly at the 4th Army Division in Addis
Ababa,[127] while most of his family was detained at the late Duke of Harar's residence in
the north of the capital. The last months of the emperor's life were spent in
imprisonment, in the Grand Palace.[128]
Later, most of the imperial family was imprisoned in the Addis Ababa prison Kerchele,
also known as "Alem Bekagne", or "Goodbye, cruel world". On 23 November 1974,
sixty former high officials of the imperial government were executed without trial.[129]
The executed included Haile Selassie's grandson and two former Prime Ministers.[128]
These killings, known to Ethiopians as "Bloody Saturday", were condemned by Crown
Prince Asfa Wossen; the Derg responded to his rebuke by revoking its acknowledgment
of his imperial legitimacy, and announcing the end of the Solomonic dynasty.[129]

Death and interment

On 28 August 1975, the state media reported that the "ex-monarch" Haile Selassie had
died on 27 August of "respiratory failure" following complications from a prostate
operation.[130] His doctor, Asrat Woldeyes, denied that complications had occurred and
rejected the government version of his death. Some imperial loyalists believed that the
emperor had in fact been assassinated, and this belief remains widely held to this day.
[131]
One western correspondent in Ethiopia at the time commented, "While it is not
known what actually happened, there are strong indications that no efforts were made to
save him. It is unlikely that he was actually killed. Such rumors were bound to arise no
matter what happened, given the atmosphere of suspicion and distrust prevailing in
Addis Ababa at the time."[132] Court testimony given by the emperor's servants, however,
indicates that they were ordered to leave his rooms for the night, and that they returned
in the morning to find him dead in his bed, with a strong chemical smell in the room.
[citation needed]
They further testified that the emperor had been in perfect health the night
before when they had left him. Professor Asrat Woldeyes also testified that his patient
had completely recovered from the effects of the surgery and that there had been no
complications.[citation needed]
The Soviet-backed Derg fell in 1991. In 1992, the emperor's bones were found under a
concrete slab on the palace grounds;[131] some reports suggest that his remains were
discovered beneath a latrine.[133] For almost a decade thereafter, as Ethiopian courts
attempted to sort out the circumstances of his death, his coffin rested in Bhata Church,
near his great uncle Menelik II's imperial resting place.[134] On 5 November 2000, Haile
Selassie was given an imperial-style funeral by the Ethiopian Orthodox church. The
post-communist government refused calls to declare the ceremony an official imperial
funeral.[134]
Although such prominent Rastafarian figures as Rita Marley and others participated in
the grand funeral, most Rastafari rejected the event and refused to accept that the bones
were the remains of Haile Selassie. There remains some debate within the Rastafari
movement as to whether Haile Selassie actually died in 1975.[135]

Children
There is some controversy as to Haile Selassie's eldest daughter, Princess Romanework.
While the living members of the royal family state that Romanework is the eldest
daughter of Empress Menen,[136] it has been asserted that Princess Romanework is
actually the daughter of a previous union of the emperor with Woizero Altayech.[137] The
emperor's own autobiography makes no mention of a previous marriage or having
fathered children with anyone other than Empress Menen.
Prince Asfaw Wossen was first married to Princess Wolete Israel Seyoum and then
following their divorce to Princess Medferiashwork Abebe. Prince Makonnen was
married to Princess Sara Gizaw. Prince Sahle Selassie was married to Princess
Mahisente Habte Mariam. Princess Romanework married Dejazmatch Beyene Merid.
Princess Tenagnework first married Ras Desta Damtew, and after she was widowed
later married Ras Andargachew Messai. Princess Zenebework married Dejazmatch
Haile Selassie Gugsa. Princess Tsehai married Lt. General Abiye Abebe.

Footnotes
^ Translates to "The First, Power of the Trinity" [1]
^ Pronounced in English as /hali slsi/ or /slsi/[2][3]
^ (Ge'ez
; girmw edmw 'a ayle ills, m'
'anbess ze'imneggede yihud niguse negest ze'tyy, siyume
'igz'a'bihr)[citation needed]
4.
^ Balcha Safo brought an army of ten thousand with him from Sidamo. [47]
5.
^ Balcha Safo's personal bodyguard numbered about five hundred. [47]
1.
2.
3.

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