Haile
Selassie was born in Ethiopia in 1892 and was known as Ras
Tafari Makonnen before assuming the name Haile Selassie. He
was the great-grandson of King Saheka Selassie of Shoa. He
married Wayzaro Menen in 1911, daughter of Emperor Menelik II.
By becoming prince (Ras), Tafari became the focus of the
Christian majority's approval over Menelik's grandson, Lij
Yasu, because of his progressive nature and the latter's
unreliable politics. Tafari was named regent and heir to the
throne in 1917, but assumed full kingship after the death of
Empress Zauditu. During the years of 1917-1928, Tafari
traveled to Rome, Paris, and London and became the first
Ethiopian ruler to ever go abroad. In November 1930, when
Zaubitu died,Tafari was crowned the 111th emperor in the
succession of King Solomon and was proclaimed Negusa Negast
(King of Kings). Upon this occasion he took the name Haile
Selassie, meaning "Might of the Trinity."
Well
before being crowned king, Haile Selassie had began work of modernizing Ethiopia to rival what he had seen in Europe during his time abroad. He took
steps to improve legislation, bureaucracy, government
schooling, and health and social services in preparation for
his new reign. More importantly in a diplomatic focus,
Selassie acted to promote Ethiopian power and sovereignty and
secure allies abroad. For example, in 1919 Ethiopia applied
for membership into the League of Nations but was banned
because of its strong practice of slavery. It was not until
1923 when Haile Selassie working with the Empress Zauditu, that slave trade was
abolished and Ethiopia unanimously accepted into the League of
Nations. Also before becoming King, Selassie promoted a twenty
year treaty of friendship with Italy in 1928 and established
legislation in 1930 to ban illegal sales of arms in Ethiopia,
and to establish the government's right to procure arms for
protection and internal unrest. (Marcus, 60-73)
One
year after he assumed power in 1931, Selassie established the
first Ethiopian constitution, which aimed at re-focusing
governmental power from many rases, solely to his blood line.
This move was effective in aiding Ethiopia's modernization
through bureaucracy and solidarity, and forced the many
regional rases to either oppose Selassie treasonably or to
support him. (Marcus, 98-100) By 1934, after several
suppressed revolts, all the major rases were either supporters
or outside the empires influence in the outer regions of
Ethiopia. Much of Selassie's loyalty was fostered by the
building of schools, universities, and newspapers, as well as
increased availability of electricity, telephone, and public
health services. The Bank of Ethiopia was also founded in 1931
and introduced Ethiopian currency.
Though
the changes in Ethiopia sponsored by Selassie and his new
progressive government seemed very promising, there lingered a
new threat to the growing country when Benito Mussolini came
to power in Italy in 1922. In October 1935, Italy invaded
Ethiopia without declaring war; the League of Nations
condemned Italy as the aggressor, but no actions were taken.
The fighting persisted for seven months, and Ethiopia was
pushed back quite forcefully. Selassie found his forces
unmatched militarily and was shocked at the use of chemical
weapons by Italy, and the lack of action taken by the League
of Nations.
Selassie
was forced to exile on May 2 of 1936, a move which raised
harsh criticism from many who were used to a warrior emperor
of Ethiopia. On June 30, 1936, Haile Selassie went to Geneva
to seek help from the League of Nations. He made a powerful
speech in which he addressed the lack of enforcement of the
Italian arms embargo, and quite effectively illustrated the
consequences of the League's stifled actions: either there
would exist collective security or international lawlessness.
(Selassie, Internet) His speech was taken quite emotionally by
audiences around the world, especially in America, where he
achieved much sympathy. Selassie succeeded in raising the
support of the United States and Russia, at least verbally,
but Britain and France still recognized the Italian possession
of Ethiopia by Italy.
While
Selassie in exile, the Italian forces established new
government and attempted to crush the continuing revolts by
massacres and segregation. In Britain for most of his exile,
he attempted to raise public support for the plight of his
country, but gained little attention until Italy entered the
war on the side of Germany in June 1940. After the entrance,
Britain and Selassie worked together to rally the remaining
revolutionary forces in Ethiopia. He proceeded to Khartoum in
1940 to be in closer contact with his troops and British
coordinators. With an army of British, South African, African,
and Ethiopian soldiers, Haile Selassie re-entered Addis Ababa
on May 5, 1941, but fighting continued in Ethiopia until
January 1942. During the years of war, Selassie controlled
internal affairs, but with required British approval. Upon his
return he, without consulting Britain, appointed a seven
member cabinet and a governor of Addis Ababa. The British
aided Ethiopia in training a new army with advisers, which
helped him substitute experienced administrators in place of
traditional nobility, but he rejected British help whenever
the reforms threatened his own personal control over his
country. He attempted to secure Eritrea as Ethiopian, but the
decades of Italian influence imparted an independent sense on
the part of the Eritreans, and the British denied his wishes.
When
Selassie returned to power, he realized the necessity of a
dependable tax base and issued a flat tax based on the
richness of the land. Unfortunately, the nobles of several
provinces opposed the tax and eventually the newly
re-established government. Although Selassie backed down from
his new tax brackets the nobility still resisted it and passed
the tax on to the tenants of the regions, who carried the
entire burden of taxation. Another huge reform made by
Selassie was the 1948 change in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
He removed the responsibility of appointment of the Church's
patriarch from Alexandria to himself, a move which
revolutionized the sixteen century old tradition.
After
World War II, Selassie saw himself as a humble, but emerging,
world leader. (Prouty, 93) Ethiopia was a founding member of
the United Nations and the Organization of African Unity.
Haile Selassie, after his aid from Britain wound down in 1953,
sought and developed an aid-based relationship with the United
States, and later sought and received aid from Italy, China,
West Germany, Taiwan, Yugoslavia, Sweden, and the Soviet
Union.
Within
his country, Selassie favored political realism, and attempted
to make peace with the many Ethiopian factions- ethnic,
religious, and economic- through appeasement and compromise.
Despite his growing international stature, he lacked major
internal support, which led to problems in his stability as a ruler. The
emperor attempted to further strengthen the national
government by placing newly educated ministers with more
specific powers, establishing a central judiciary and
self-appointing its judges. He also proclaimed a new national
constitution in 1955. The constitution was enforced by a new,
younger, foreign-educated staff, who sympathized with
Selassie's reforms and were intellectually supportive of his
claims. It was also heavily influenced by Selassie's concern
for international image, as many African countries were
thriving under colonial support and Ethiopia was still laying
its claim to Eritrea. (Prouty, 93) The new constitution
emphasized Selassie's religious right to power, and while it
promised several inherently American rights (freedom of
speech, assembly, and due process), the Ethiopian population
lacked the literacy and independence from local nobility to
really appreciate its declarations.
Selassie's
major changes in form of the Ethiopian government promised
huge reforms, and when these were slow to be realized, a coup d'état occurred in Addis Ababa
in December 1960, while Selassie was abroad on one of his
frequent diplomatic missions. (Prouty, 40). Although it was
initially successful, the coup led by the Imperial Bodyguard,
police chief, and intellectual radicals lacked the necessary public support and failed upon the return of the
emperor and his assertion of the loyalty of the army and air
force, as well as the church. The coup's failure led to the
division of the traditional and progressive factions, and to public awareness of the need to improve the economic,
social, and political status of the population.
After
the coup, Selassie tried to calm his opponents mostly through
land grants to officials, but with little social or political
reform. In 1966, a plan to reform the tax system with intent
to destroy the landowners hold on the economy was drafted, but
was vigorously opposed by the parliament, who were all
landowners. The years prior to 1974 were filled with rising
inflation, corruption, and famine, as well as growing
discontent by many of the organized urban groups and unions.
Selassie had organized his military so that each branch
opposed each other in class, benefits, or treatment, in order
to keep them from becoming so powerful as to threaten his
power. It was perceived that the droughts and famines within
the army and the public were intentional, and that civil
freedoms were increasingly disappearing.
Mutiny
in the military began on January 12, 1974, and was followed by
several provincial takeovers in February. In early June, a
group of about 120 military officers formed a group known as
the Derg (committee) who represented the military and worked
behind closed doors to gain power militarily. Although they
claimed allegiance to the emperor, they began arresting
aristocracy and parliament members who were associated with
the old order. Being in complete military control, this group
effectively removed Selassie's means of governing. In July
1974, the Derg demanded a new constitution and proceeded to
undermine the emperor's authority. The emperor's estate and
palace were nationalized and in August, Selassie was directly
accused of covering up famine of the early 1970's which killed
hundreds of thousands of people. On September 12th, he was
formally deposed and arrested and power was given to the Derg,
formally renamed the Provisional Military Administrative
Council.
In
August 1975, His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie died under
questionable circumstances under house arrest, and was
secretly buried. (Prouty, 93) His early legacy of Ethiopian
pride and sovereignty, had transformed itself to a major
struggle of the old versus the new orders. The old order was
effectively destroyed by 1977, and the Derg began its new
agenda of socialism in the Ethiopian government.
In
Africa, Selassie was hailed as the greatest of modern monarchs
and a symbol of the continent's vast potential. To the
Garveyites, Haile Selassie I was a hero without peer. To the
Rastafarians he was the Living God of Abraham and Isaac, He
Whose Name Should Not Be Spoken.