﻿THE INCREDIBLE STORIES OF HAILE SELASSIE, ETHIOPIA’S LAST EMPEROR
Regarded as a mysterious icon of the 20th century, Haile Selassie reigned absolutely more than any
ruler of his time. Fragile in body but iron willed, Selassie at a young age swam in a sea
of palace intrigues in Addis Ababa and sought to outdo his father’s legacy of number two in
the Kingdom. Before we proceed, it is necessary that we note this; with distinguished history,
most archeologists agree that Ethiopia is the birthplace place of humanity based on fossil
records of our most ancient ancestors. As a major world power of ancient days, Ethiopia,
headed by an emperor was home to a number of the most powerful states in the world, which formed
roughly continuous Ethiopian empires that spanned generations. As a roughly unified political state,
Ethiopia has ancient lineage and so the founding of its empire is shrouded in myth and controversy.
As traditional claimed by Ethiopians, their first emperor was a semi-mythical figure named Menelik
I. with a long political history as one of the world’s oldest and most continuous empires,
Ethiopia’s first major empire was Axum which grew in size and wealth, becoming a mighty empire,
ranked as one of the world’s most powerful. From emperor to emperor, the Ethiopian empire
has seen different shades of experience until the time of the last emperor, Haile Selassie.
NAME Born and named Tafari Makonnen, following his
father and grandfather on the 23rd of July 1892, he was named Haile Selassie at his infant baptism.
At the age of 13, he was appointed Dejazmatch which means “keeper of the door “of Gara Mulatta
by his father. He was later pronounced crown prince, heir apparent to the throne,
and Regent Plenipotentiary. He was crowned Le’ul-Ras on the 11th of February 1917 and
became known as Ras Tafari Makonnen. Tafari was crowned emperor on the 2nd of
November 1930 after the death of Empress Zewditu. Upon his coronation, he took as his regnal name
Haile Selassie which according to Ge’ez means “power of Trinity”. His office gained him several
titles like Lion of the tribe of Judah, his imperial majesty, Haile Selassie 1, king of Kings,
Lord of Lords and Elect of God among others, which reflects Ethiopian dynastic traditions.
In his empire, he has also been called other names like Janhoy, Talaqu Meri and SAbba Tekei,
while special for the rastafari movement; he was referred to as Jah, Jah, Jah and Jah Rastafari.
BIOGRAPHY Born in the village of Ejersa
Goro in the Harar province of Ethiopia, Selassie’s mom is paternally of Oromo descent and paternally
of Amhara. His paternal grandfather belonged to the noble family of Shewa and was the governor of
the districts of Menz and Doba. His mother, named Woizero Yeshimebet Ali Abba Jifar was a daughter
of a chief, while his dad, Ras Makonnen Wolde Mikael was the grandson of king Sahle Selassie
who was once the ruler of Shewa. Having served as a general in the first Italo-Ethiopian war,
he played a key role at the battle of Adwa and thus had the potential to ascend the imperial
throne through his paternal grandmother who was an aunt of Emperor Menelik II. At the age of 13,
he was titled Dejazmach which means “commander of the gate” and shortly after, his father died.
Selassie took up the titular governorship of Selale in 1906, which was a real of marginal
importance and one that enabled him to continue his studies. In 1907, he was made governor over
part of the Province of sidamo and following the dead of his brother Yelma in the same year,
Menelik’s illness and the brief reign of Empress Taitu Bitul, he was elected governor of Hara in
1910. He married Menen Asfaw Ambassel , niece of Lij Iyasu, heir to the throne.
TRAVEL In 1924, Ras Selassie travelled the world,
visiting Jerusalem, Amsterdam, Alexandria, Paris, Luxembourg, Brussels, Stockholm,
London, Geneva and Athens. His tour group included Ras Seyum Mangasha of western Tigray province,
Ras Hailu Tekle Haymanot of Gojjam province, Ras Mulugeta Yeggazu of Illubabor province,
Ras Makonnen Endelkachew and Blattengeta Heruy Welde Sellase. They travelled with a primary
objective of gaining access for Ethiopia to the sea. They also inspected schools, hospitals,
factories and churches and brought back many European reforms to Ethiopia. Wary of European
pressure to guard against economic imperialism, Selassi commanded that all enterprises have at
least partial, local partnership and so, in his modernization campaign, he said “we need European
progress only because we are surrounded by it. That is at once a benefit and a misfortune.
Throughout his lavent, Europe and Egypt tour, he and his entourage were treated with enthusiasm
and fascination. Their classy picturesque court dress and the oriental dignity of Ethiopians were
amplified in the media and among his cortege, he included a pride of lions, which he shared among
as gift to president Alexandre Mikerand and prime minister Raymond Poincare of France. His tour was
indeed awe inspiring to many anecdotes. CORONATION AS KING AND EMPEROR
In 1928, his authority was challenged when Dejazmach Balcha Safo went to Addis Ababa
with an arm force. Many of Menelik’s appointees refused to abide by the new regulations when
Tafari amalgamated his hold over the provinces. However, he got popular support and so, he was
ultimately crowned as King on the 7th of October 1928. His coronation was controversial because he
administered the same land as the empress, rather than moving to a regional kingdom of the empire,
for two monarchs had never occupied the same location as the seat in Ethiopian history.
It caused conservatives like Gugsa Welle to agitate as they perceived it as an
insult to the crowns dignity. Selassie rose to emperor and was
regarded as “king of kings” on the 2nd of November 1930 when empress Zewditu died.
Taking place at the Addis Ababa cathedral of St George, the coronation was by all accounts a most
splendid affair attended by royals and dignitaries from all over the world. Among which were the Duke
of Gloucester, Marshal Louis Franchet d’Esperey of France and the Prince of Udine representing
king Victor Emmanuel iii of Italy. The only known film footage of the event was shot by
Burton Holmes, an American travel lecturer. A newspaper report suggested that the event
had incurred a cost of $3 million and majority of those who attended received lavish gifts.
Providing for a bicameral legislature, Emperor Haile Selassie introduced Ethiopia’s first
written constitution on the 16th of July 1931, which established democratic standards among the
nobility, indicating a change to democratic rule. Power was kept in the hands of the
nobility and was to prevail until the people were in the position to elect themselves.
Succession to the throne was limited to the descendants of Haile Selassie and so resulted
to the disapprobation of other dynastic prices including those of Tigrai and the emperor’s loyal
cousin Ras Kassa Haile Darge. CONFLICT WITH ITALY
Keen to avenge the military defeat Italy had suffered to Ethiopia in the first Italo-Abyssinian
War, and to efface the failed attempt by liberal Italy to capture the nation as epitomized by
the defeat of Adwa, Benito Mussolini targeted Ethiopia for Italy’s renewed imperialist designs.
Following the 5th December Italian invasion of Ethiopia at Welwqel, Ogaden Province,
Haile Selassie, together with his northern armies set up headquarters at Desse in Wollo province
and issued a mobilization order. After putting the Italians back with the “Christmas Offensive”, the
northern Ethiopian armies who were commanded by Haile Selassie was defeated and destroyed. He then
took it upon himself on the 31st of March 1936 to launch a counter back against the Italians, taking
to the field with the last Ethiopian northern army but was defeated and retreated in disarray.
EXILE DEBATE Following the Ethiopian defeat,
a session was held by the council of state in which it was agreed that the government should
move to the southern part of Gore, while in the interest of preserving the imperial house, the
emperor’s wife alongside his entire family should leave for French Somaliland and then to Jerusalem.
Further debate as to whether the emperor should move to Gore or join his family into exile,
resulted to a conclusion that, alongside his family, he will move to Geneva and present the
case to the League of Nations. After appointing his cousin as Prince Regent in his absence,
he departed with his family for French Somaliland on the 1st of May 1936 and on the 5th of May,
Italian troops were led by Pietro Badoglio into Addis Ababa which was then declared
an Italian province by Mussolini. While the exiled royal family left
French Somaliland for Jerusalem, Victor Emmanuel III was proclaimed new emperor
of Ethiopia. In an opportunity from the League of Nations to address the assembly,
Haile Selassie after all the offensive reactions from journalist and other audience, calmly and
majestically responded to his introduction as “his imperial majesty the emperor of Ethiopia”,
made by the president of the assembly. His speech, which he chose to deliver in his native Amharic,
was widely considered as one of the most stirring in the 20th century. In his speech, he noted that
his armless small army of about 12 million could never have defeated a large power such as Italy
with 42 million people and unlimited quantities of the most death-dealing arms and in his conclusion,
he admonished the league of Nations that “God and history will remember your judgment.
Even though he failed to get what he most needed as the League of Nations only partially agreed to
ineffective sanctions on Italy, his speech made him an icon for anti-fascists and he was named by
time as “man of the year”. EXILE
In Bath England, he bought the Fairfield house in which he spent his exile years,
laboriously writing s 90,000 word story of his life in Amharic. His activity this
period was basically aimed at rebutting Italian hype as to the state of Ethiopian
resistance and the legality of the occupation. Emperor Haile Selassie, on a Christmas day radio
broadcast in 1937, delivered an 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”.
During his exile period, he suffered many personal tragedies which included the dead and capture of
his loved ones. He later returned to Ethiopia and donated his Fairfield house to the aged.
Between 1940 and 1950, his standard as the Lion of Judah was raised as he, alongside
his Ethiopian patriots joined the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth of Nations, Free France and Free
Belgium to defeat Italy, abolished slavery which had been enacted by Italy throughout the empire
and reformed Ethiopia socially and economically. Haile Selassie established the autocephaly of the
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and suppressed the Harari movement. He never failed to keep the
principle of collective security as he retained effective power and revised his constitution
While pursuing a firm policy of decolonization in Africa, the emperor continued to be a staunch ally
of the West. After Eritrea’s elected parliament voted to become the fourteenth province of
Ethiopia in 1962, Emperor Haile Selassie presided over the formation of the Organization of African
Unity, the precursor of the continent-wide African Union and was made the first official Chairperson.
After addressing the general assembly of the United Nations on the 43th of October 1963, where
he referred to his earlier speech, he was the only African head of state who attended the funeral
of assassinated President John F. Kennedy. He endeavored to put back the historical tax
system with a single progressive income tax and in 1967, he visited Montreal, Canada to open the
Ethiopian Pavilion at the Expo 67 World’s fair where he received accolades among other world
leaders. As the longest serving head of state in power, Haile Selassie continued to enjoy enormous
prestige and respect in and outside Ethiopia. In the last years of Selassie’s rule,
human rights in Ethiopia were poor. He was known for pardoning hundreds of prisoners
at a time and there were no more than ten political prisoners during his entire reign.
His imperial army carried out several atrocities during their fight with Eritrean separatists and
there were a number of mass killings of hundreds of people, during the war in the early 1970s. the
outbreak of the Wollo famine and its image in the media undermined the government’s
popular support leading to a fall in Haile Selassie’s unassailable personal popularity.
REVOLUTION, IMPRISONMENT, DEATH AND INTERMENT In 1974, there was a sudden economic inflation
which led to a four days serious riot which Haile Selassie responded to by announcing a
drop in petrol prices and a freeze on the cost of basic commodities on national TV. His response
calmed the public but the non-substantial 33% military wage hike resulted in a mutiny throughout
the empire, leading to the resignation of Prime Minister Aklilu Habte-Wold. Again on television,
the emperor agreed to the army’s’ demands and named Endelkachew Makonnen his new
Prime Minister. However, the prime minister’s many concessions couldn’t
stop the discontent match and the four-day general strike that paralyzed the nation.
With the advantage of the government’s disarray, 82-year-old Haile Selassie was deposed on the 12th
of September by the Derg and placed under a brief house arrest at the 4th Army Division in Addis
Ababa while majority of his family were detained at the late Duke of Harar’s residence in the north
of the capital and later imprisoned in the Addis Ababa prison Kerchele. 60 former officials of the
imperial government, including Haile Selassie’ grandson Iskinder Desta were executed by firing
squad without trial on the 23rd of November which became “black Saturday” in Ethiopia.
With a mental condition in which he believed he was still emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie
spent the last months of his life imprisoned in the Grand Palace. On the 28th of August, reports
from the stae media indicated that he died on the 2th of August from respiratory failure following
complications from a prostrate examination followed up by a prostrate operation. In denial
to the acclaimed reason for the emperor’s dead, Dr Asrat Woldeyes said the emperor had enjoyed
strong health in his last days. It was later discovered by an Ethiopian court that the Emperor
was strangled in bed by several former military officials. For nearly a decade, his coffin rested
in Bhata Church beside that of his great uncle Menelik II and on the 5th of November 2000, he was
given a funeral by the Ethiopian Orthodox church. RASTAFARI MESSIAH
Haile Selassie is currently worshipped as God incarnate among followers of the Rastafarian
movement which started in Jamaica during the 1930s under the influence of Leonard Howell.
As a power-hungry ruler, he recognized centralization of his control,
as a way to guarantee independence in facing foreign ambitions, mainly Italian.
Haile Selassie reigned absolutely more than any ruler of his time and was the last emperor of
Ethiopia, whom history can never forget. . If you enjoyed watching this video, please do not forget
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