Haile Selassie 1892–1975

views updated Jun 11 2018

Haile Selassie 18921975

Former Ethiopian emperor

At a Glance

Reform and Intrigue

International Recognition

Unrest at Home

The Legacy

Sources

On June 30, 1936, a short, seemingly frail man wrapped in a long, black coat addressed the League of Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. He was striking, with chiseled features, light brown skin, a curly black beard, and dark, deep-set, penetrating eyes. His rigid bearing and dignity, almost as much as his impassioned words, captured the attention of the assembled delegates.

Haile Selassie, exiled emperor of Ethiopia, denounced the then-recent invasion and conquest of his country by Italy, a precursor of the continued aggression that would lead to World War II. He demanded the League take concerted action against the Italians, warning, It is a question of collective security; of the very existence of the League; of the trust placed by states in international treaties. It is international morality that is at stake. He prophetically stated, It is us today. It will be you tomorrow.

Despite the failure of the League to act upon his appeal, Haile Selassies dramatic speech turned him into an international figure overnight. No longer was he just the obscure ruler of a little-known northeast African kingdom. Instead, he became recognized as a world leader and an acknowledged symbol of resistance to fascismthe dictatorial system of government that grew in various European nations during the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s.

With British help, Ethiopia was liberated from the Italians in 1941 and Haile Selassie returned to rule for more than 30 years with the absolute power of a medieval kingholding court, dispensing gifts from a golden cashbox, and throwing coins to peasants on trips throughout his empire. Abroad, he was worshipped as a divine figure; in Jamaica, he is still considered by Rastafarians to be the spiritual leader of blacks worldwide.

As many African nations gained independence from European domination in the turbulent 1950s and 1960s, Haile Selassie stood out as an international statesman. His leadership in the subsequent Pan-African movement was rewarded when the Organization of African Unity (OAU) established its headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopias capital. But growing social unrest, the continued poverty-stricken existence of most Ethiopians, and then a widespread famine led to his overthrow in 1974; he died the following year.

At a Glance

Born Tafari Makonnen, July 23, 1892, in Ejarsa Goro, Harer province, Abyssinian Empire (later Ethiopia); died August 27, 1975, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; son of Ras Makonnen (governor of Harer province and chief adviser to Emperor Menelik II) and Yishimabet Ali; married Wayzaro Menen (name some times spelled Waizero Menin; great-granddaughter of Menelik II) in 1911; children: seven (six with his wife, one before his marriage). Education: Private European tutors. Religion: Coptic Christianity.

Commander of local militia, 1905; provincial governor of two progressively larger provinces, 1906-10, culminating in governorship of Harer province, 1910-16; aided overthrow of Ethiopias emperor, 1916, becoming prince, regent, and heir to the throne; negotiated Ethiopias membership in the league of Nations, 1923; toured European nations, 1924; named king, 1928; crowned emperor, 1930; defeated by invading Italian army, went into exile, then addressed League of Nations, 1936; returned to power, 1941; helped establish Organization of African Unity (OAU), 1963; overthrown by coup, 1974. Author of autobiography My life and Ethiopias Progress, l892-1937.

Haile Selassie was born in a round mud-and-wood hut near the ancient walled city of Harer in 1892, when Ethiopia was still known as the Abyssinian Empire. Named Tafari Makonnen, he was the tenth child born to Ras Makonnen, a prince (or ras) and. governor of the Harer province, and his wife, Yishimabet Ali; he was the only one of their eleven children to survive through adulthood.

Abyssinia was little changed through the centuries: a poor, proud, fiercely independent African empire with several religious groupsChristians, Muslims, Jews, and ani-mistsruled by a constantly warring network of kings, princes, dukes, and lords. Tafari was an Amhara, the dominant ethnic group that had adopted Coptic Christianity in the year 325 AD. Coptics hold that Christ was solely divine, a belief later denounced as heretical by most of the Christian world except in Egypt and Ethiopia.

His father, Makonnen, was a cousin, confidant, and chief adviser to Emperor Menelik II, a shrewd and powerful ruler. After Italy invaded Abyssinia in 1895, Meneliks army soundly defeated their forces at the battle of Adowa the following year, preventing the country from being colonized. Over the next few years, Menelik enlarged his empire, establishing Addis Ababa in the center of the kingdom as his capital. He began to centralize power and modernize the country, ending centuries of constant warfare.

When Tafari was 18 months old, his mother died giving birth to one of his siblings. Young Tafari grew up with a sound education in Abyssinian and Coptic traditions, and he was tutored in European thought and ideas by Father Andre Jarosseau, a French missionary priest. Such exposure to foreign ways and thinking was extremely rare for an African son. Tafari proved to be a model student intelligent, hardworking, with an excellent memory and attention to the smallest detailcapacities that would serve him well throughout his life.

Recognizing his abilities, his father proclaimed him de-jazmatch (commander) of a local militia in 1905 at the age of 13, and established a separate household for him with his own servants and soldiers. Makonnen died the following year, entrusting Tafari to the care of Menelik II. The emperor summoned young Tafari to court and appointed him governor of a small province.

Reform and Intrigue

Tafari was a progressive administrator whose policies increased the power of the central government at the expense of the feudal nobility. He developed a salaried civil service, lowered taxes, and created a court system that extended legal rights to the peasantry. Promoted to a larger province in 1908, two years later he was made governor of Harer, just like his father. And in 1911, he married Wayzaro Menen, a great-granddaughter of Menelik. During the course of their marriage, they had six children, and they remained together until her death in 1961.

Menelik died in 1913 and his grandson, Lij Yasu, became emperor. But Yasu was seen as pro-Muslim, alienating Ethiopias Christian majority. Tafari became the rallying symbol for opposition noblemen and high church officials, who cunningly maneuvered Yasus overthrow in 1916. Zauditu, Meneliks daughter, became empress, the first female to rule the nation of Ethiopia since the Queen of Sheba, while Tafari was named a prince (ras) as. well as regent and heir to the throne. Ras Tafari was interested in modernizing Ethiopia; Zauditu was conservative and more concerned with religion than politics. The two maintained an uneasy alliance as various rival factions of nobles vied for power.

The young prince proved to be the master of intrigue and survival. Gradually, he replaced conservative members of the Council of Ministers with his own pro-reform supporters. By 1919 he felt secure enough to begin his program of modernization by creating a centralized bureaucracy. Two years later, he established the first regular courts of law in the country. Ethiopias first printing press began operating in 1922, soon followed by the introduction of a regularly published newspaper, as well as motorcars, electric generators, telephone service, and a reformed prison and justice system.

International Recognition

Greater success awaited. Ras Tafari turned his attention to foreign affairs, gaining Ethiopias admission to the League of Nations in 1923. The following year, he visited France, Italy, Sweden, Greece, and England, garnering favorable recognition from the international press.

His trip coincided with the growing interest among North American blacks in rediscovering their cultural heritage. Seeing a noble, dignified African leader of an independent nation dealing as an equal with European rulers made an indelible impression. Jamaicans, in particular, were in awe, identifying him as the future king of blacks everywhere in the world. These idolizers, called Rastafarians, started a new religion in his honor that continues today.

Back home, Ras Tafari profited financially from his modernization program and international contacts by enacting a tax on all imports. He used his new fortune wisely, financing the foreign education of a new generation of future Ethiopian government ministers and buying the loyalty of the army. In 1928 his growing supporters demanded that Zauditu name him king. With only limited followers of her own, the empress agreed, appointing Tafari negus (king). Two years later, rebels allied with her attacked the capital but were defeated by Ethiopias armed forces. Two days after the battle, Zauditu diedsome claimed from poison. Tafari was coronated as emperor, taking the name Haile Selassie ( Power of the Trinity), in a ceremony widely covered by the international press.

The new emperor enacted Ethiopias first constitution in 1931. It proclaimed all Ethiopians equal and united under one law and one emperor; it also created a two-chamber parliament with a popularly elected lower house, though the emperor retained the right to overthrow any parliamentary decision. Traditional church law was supplanted by the countrys first legal code, and all children born to slaves were eventually freed.

His continued efforts toward modernization and centralizing power were cut short in 1935. Mussolini, the Italian fascist leader, was eager to avenge his countrys 1895 defeat by Menelik and enhance his belligerent image. He dispatched a 250,000-man modern army equipped with superior weaponry, airplanes, and poison gas to invade and conquer Ethiopia. It was the first exhibition of the fascist aggression that would eventually lead to World War II. Defeated, Emperor Haile Selassie fled his country in 1936, appealing without success to the League of Nations for assistance before going into exile in England. Ethiopia had lost its independence for the first time in recorded history.

Once World War II began, a joint force of British soldiers and Ethiopian exiles recaptured Addis Ababa, restoring Haile Selassie to power in 1941. During the next decade he improved health care, enhanced transportation, increased foreign trade, expanded education, and created the countrys first college. But he made no attempt to reform the feudal agricultural system that maintained class distinctions and limited land ownership. Throughout the 1950s he extended his power in Ethiopias outlying provinces and maneuvered to annex its neighbor, the former Italian colony of Eritrea, to provide landlocked Ethiopia with a port on the Red Sea. Success finally came in 1962 when Eritrea became an Ethiopian province.

Haile Selassie celebrated his 25th year as emperor in 1955, using the occasion to present a revised constitution. Though it gave the appearance of liberalizing the political system and broadening the power of parliament, in reality all power still resided in the emperor and his one-party government. As proof, the countrys first general election in 1957 resulted in a parliament composed almost entirely of members of the landlord class. But the outward show of reform stimulated the desire of many for a taste of the real thing. When the emperor was visiting Brazil in 1960, dissidents backed by the Imperial Guard and students at the university seized control of Addis Ababa. They demanded a constitutional monarchy with genuine democracy, fundamental economic and agricultural reform, and a concerted effort to end the chronic poverty of most Ethiopians.

The coup failed and many of its leaders were publicly executed. But their demands pinpointed the growing dissatisfaction with Haile Selassies rule at home. The attempted overthrow also jolted his sense of security. From this point on, he began to side with Ethiopias conservative faction rather than its modernizers. No longer would he be a force for change within his own country.

Instead the emperor turned his attention to foreign affairs, partly to enhance his international status and partly to take his compatriots minds off the lack of domestic reforms. Instead of focusing on Europe as in the past, he concentrated on Africa, becoming a role model and elder statesman to many leaders of the newly independent African nations.

Haile Selassie became a leader in the Pan-African movement, stressing African unity to deal with common problems and concerns. He supported independence for former European colonies, condemned South Africas foreign and internal policy of racial segregation (apartheid), and sought to limit French nuclear tests in the Sahara. He also took a leading role in the formation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU). Having the organization establish its permanent headquarters in Addis Ababa further enhanced his international prestige.

More and more of Haile Selassie s time was spent traveling in foreign countries and away from Ethiopia. He successfully mediated the border dispute between Morocco and Algeria in 1963 and then intervened on the side of Nigeria during its bloody civil war, which began in the late 1960s when Christians in the South broke away and formed a separate nation called Biafra. (Biafra later surrendered to federal troops.)

Unrest at Home

While he was being honored abroad, trouble was brewing at home. Islamic Eritrean rebels had begun a civil war in 1962, seeking their independence from Christian Ethiopia. The struggle would last into the 1980s. Neighboring Somalia demanded the return of the Ogaden region. That conflict, too, would escalate to warfare in 1977. The United States and Israel, fearful of an Islamic Eritrea and Somalia, supported Ethiopia with advisers and military aid. Meanwhile, demands by dissidents and students continued to escalate. The educated elites mounting frustration with the lack of jobs and democratic reforms in Ethiopia was fueled by economic stagnation, rising unemployment, and growing urban poverty. In December of 1969 a student protest turned violent; guards opened fire, killing 23 and wounding 157.

In 1973 a drought and crop failure caused a widespread famine. Tens of thousands of Ethiopians starved while the emperor reportedly denied the existence of any problem. Angry students aided foreign journalists to surreptitiously observe and then report on the desperate conditions. Western governments began to distance themselves from the fading emperor. At the same time, the Arab oil embargo quadrupled the price of oil, depleting the Ethiopian treasury and sending prices skyrocketing. The government responded with austerity measures; the frustrated populace countered with major demonstrations.

The next year, many of the armys junior officers mutinied, forcing the emperors cabinet to resign. The successful mutineers formed a dergue (military junta or council) and began vying for total control of the government, accusing the emperor of embezzling millions and causing the famine. Finally, in September of 1974, 82-year-old Haile Selassie was arrested and taken away to prison. More than a half century of actual rule by the emperor had come to an end. He was never seen in public again and was reported to have died and been buried without ceremony the following year.

During the violent years after his overthrow, Ethiopia nearly disintegrated. Infighting among members of the dergue became deadly. Hundreds of former political leaders were executed. Major (later Colonel) Mengistu Haile Mariam took over and turned the country into a Marxist state. Thousands of internal political opponents were massacred. The wars with Eritrea and Somalia drained the budget and devastated the countryside. Combined with another drought and crop failure in 1983, millions of Ethiopians either starved or fled to refugee camps in the Sudan and Somalia.

Some of Mengistus internal opponents allied with Eritrean guerrillas in 1989 to topple his rule two years later. A semblance of peace descended on Ethiopia, though the ethnic and tribal conflicts unleashed during the 17-year military dictatorship still threatened to undo the kingdom that Haile Selassie had spent a lifetime creating.

The Legacy

When Haile Selassie took power as regent in 1916, Ethiopia had progressed little through the centuries. Though independent, it was dominated by feudal lords wielding nearly absolute power, ruling through archaic laws and traditions. He set about modernizing the country, abolishing ancient practices, promoting reform, and creating a powerful centralized government. Ethiopia was opened to the outside world and its emperor became recognized in international circles.

But Haile Selassie always ruled absolutely. As times changed and his citizens demanded more political freedom and democracy, he grew more conservative. At the same time, poverty and illiteracy were taking their toll on the Ethiopian people. Having lost touch with political reality, the emperor refused to surrender his power and was overthrown. However, despite his downfall, he continues to be remembered as Lion of Judah, King of Kings, Elect of Godand as a charismatic, near-mythic figure in Ethiopian politics for more than half a century.

Sources

Books

Haile Selassie, My Life and Ethiopias Progress, 1892-1937: The Autobiography of Emperor Haile Selassie I, translated and annotated by Edward Ullendorff, Oxford University Press, 1976.

Kapuscinski, Ryszard, The Emperor: Downfall of an Autocrat, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1978.

Lockot, Hans Wilhelm, The Mission: The Life, Reign, and Character of Haile Selassie, St. Martins Press, 1990.

Marcus, Harold G., Haile Selassie I: The Formative Years, 1892-1936, University of California Press, 1987. Mosley, Leonard, Haile Selassie: The Conquering Lion, Prentice Hall, 1965.

Negash, Askele, Haile Selassie, Chelsea House, 1989.

Schwab, Peter, Haile Selassie I: Ethiopias Lion of Judah, Nelson-Hall, 1979.

Ullendorff, Edward, The Ethiopians, Oxford University Press, 1965.

Periodicals

New Yorker, December 28, 1992, pp.106-28.

New York Times, August 28, 1975, p. 1.

Vanity Fair, November 1991, pp.108-10.

Washington Post, May 23, 1954, p. 1B.

James J. Podesta

Selassie, Haile

views updated Jun 08 2018

Haile Selassie

Born: July 23, 1892
Near Harar, Ethiopia
Died: August 27, 1975
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Ethiopian emperor

Haile Selassie was an emperor of Ethiopia whose influence as an African leader far surpassed the boundaries of his country. Although his popularity declined near the end of his sixty-year reign, Selassie remains a key figure in turning Ethiopia into a modern civilization.

Childhood

Haile Selassie was born Tafari Makonnen on July 23, 1892, the son of Ras Makonnen, a cousin and close friend of Emperor Menilek II. Baptized Lij Tafari, he is believed to be a direct descendant of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, two ancient rulers from the tenth century b.c.e. Raised as a Christian, Tafari was educated by private European tutors.

Haile Selassie spent his youth at the imperial court (court of the emperor) of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Surrounded by constant political plots, he learned much about the wielding of power. Menilek no doubt recognized Tafari's capacity for hard work, his excellent memory, and his mastery of detail. The emperor rewarded the youth's intellectual and personal capabilities by appointing him, at the age of fourteen, the governor of Gara Muleta in the province of Harar. When he was twenty, the emperor appointed him dejazmatch (commander) of the extensive province of Sidamo.

Regent and Emperor

Upon the death of Menilek in 1913, his grandson, Lij Yasu, succeeded to (gained) the throne. Yasu's apparent conversion to the religion of Islam alienated the national Christian church and gave its favor to the opposition movement led by Ras Tafari (as Haile Selassie was now named). The movement joined noblemen and high church officials in stripping Yasu of the throne in 1916. Zawditu, the daughter of Menilek, then became empress, with Ras Tafari appointed regent (acting ruler while the empress was away) and heir to the throne.

Throughout the regency the empress, conservative in nature and more concerned with religion than politics, served as opposition to Ras Tafari's rising interest in turning the country into a more modern nation. The result was an uneasy decade-long agreement between conservative and reforming forces (forces looking to make social improvements).

In 1926 Tafari took control of the army, an action that made him strong enough to assume the title of negus (king). Assuming this title was made possible, in part, by his success in international affairs, namely the admission of Ethiopia in 1923 to the League of Nations, a multinational organization aimed at world peace following World War I (19141918; a war fought mostly in Europe involving most countries on that continent and the United States). When Zawditu died in April 1930, Tafari demanded the title negasa negast (king of kings) and took complete control of the government with the throne name of Haile Selassie I ("Power of the Trinity").

Italian invasion

In 1931 the new emperor began to develop a written constitution (a system of basic laws of a country) to symbolize his interest in modernization and intention to increase the power of the government, which had been weakening since the death of Menilek. Haile Selassie's efforts were cut short, however, when Benito Mussolini's (18831945) Italy invaded the country in 1935. The Italian military used superior weaponry, airplanes, and poison gas to crush the ill-fated resistance led by the emperor. After the invasion, a fascist regime (a country under the control of an all-powerful ruler) occupied the country and marked the first loss of national independence in recorded Ethiopian history. In 1936 Haile Selassie went into exile, meaning he was forced out of the country. While in England he unsuccessfully went to the League of Nations for help.

In early 1941 British forces, aided by the heroic Ethiopian resistance, freed the country from Italian control, enabling Haile Selassie to triumphantly reenter his capital in May. The Italian colonial administration, backed by force and with a vastly improved road network, meant that the emperor returned to find a great deal of his government's independence had been destroyed, leaving him in certain ways stronger than before he left.

Throughout the next decade he rebuilt the administration; improved the army; passed legislation to regulate the government, church, and financial system; and further extended his control of the provinces (government territories) by crushing uprisings in Gojjam and Tigre. But in general the emperor had gradually grown more cautious, and he allowed few new leaders into his government.

In the 1950s Haile Selassie worked to absorb into Ethiopia the important Red Sea province of Eritrea (this was accomplished in 1962). Later he founded the University College of Addis Ababa, and welcomed home many Ethiopian college graduates from abroad. His Silver Jubilee (celebration of twenty-five years in power) in 1955 served as the occasion to present a revised constitution, followed in 1957 by the first general election. Haile Selassie's continued work to hold political balance between several major politicians as well as his efforts to shut out new politicians who still found few places in government, eventually led opposing elements to attempt a government coup (takeover) in December 1960. The coup failed, but it gave a short and violent message to the unchanging Ethiopian politics and hinted of future possibilities.

Pan-African leader

In the 1960s the emperor was clearly recognized as a major force in the pan-African movement (a movement dedicated to a united Africa), demonstrating his remarkable capacity for adapting to changing circumstances. It was a great personal triumph for him when, in 1963, the newly founded Organization of African Unity established its headquarters in Addis Ababa. Unlike other African leaders, Haile Selassie, of course, had not had to struggle once in office to prove his legitimate authority to his people. Rather, his control of government for more than forty years had given him enough time to demonstrate his strength.

By 1970 the emperor had slowly withdrawn from many day-to-day workings of the government and had become increasingly involved with foreign affairs. He probably made more state visits than any other head of state, enjoying such trips for their own sake even when they had little practical use. To him foreign relations brought admiration from around the world.

At home Haile Selassie showed more caution than ever in his approach to modernization. Though warm to Western advancements, throughout his long reign he never advanced faster than what was agreed upon among his peers. However, by his fortieth year in power he appeared to be more concerned with adjusting to change than with enacting change himself.

A famine, or devastating shortage of food, in Wello province in 1973 seriously hurt the reputation of Selassie's leadership. With a strain on the nation, Selassie was forced to abdicate (step down from power) on September 13, 1974. The eighty-year-old emperor Selassie spent his final year of life under house arrest (restricted to one's house by court order). His death was announced on August 27, 1975. The man who led Ethiopia for sixty yearsthrough some of the nation's darkest timesdid not even have a funeral service. The exact location of his grave has never been revealed.

For More Information

Selassie, Haile, Emperor of Ethiopia. My Life and Ethiopia's Progress, 18921937: The Autobiography of Emporer Haile Selassie I. Edited by Edward Ullendorff. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1976.

Marcus, Harold G. Haile Selassie I: The Formative Years, 18921936. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987.

Mosley, Leonard. Haile Selassie: The Conquering Lion. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall,1964.

Sandford, Christine. The Lion of Judah Hath Prevailed. London: J. M. Dent, 1955. Reprint, Chicago: Research Associates School Times Publications, 1998.

Haile Selassie

views updated Jun 11 2018

Haile Selassie

Haile Selassie (1892-1975) was an emperor of Ethiopia whose influence as an African leader far surpassed the confines of his country.

Haile Selassie was born on July 23, 1892, the son of Ras Makonnen, a cousin and confidant of Emperor Menilek II. Baptized Lij Tafari, Haile Selassie spent his youth at the imperial court of Addis Ababa, where, surrounded by constant intrigues, he learned much about the exercise of power. Menilek no doubt recognized Tafari's capacity for hard work, his excellent memory, and his mastery of detail when he rewarded the youth's intellectual and personal capabilities by appointing him, at the age of 20, dejazmatch (commander) of the extensive province of Sidamo.

Regent and Emperor

Upon the death of Menilek in 1913, his grandson, Lij Yasu, succeeded to the throne. Yasu's apparent conversion to Islam alienated the national, Christian church and gave impetus to the opposition movement led by Ras Tafari (as Haile Selassie was now designated), which joined noble-men and high church officials in deposing Yasu in 1916. Zawditu, the daughter of Menilek, then became empress, with Ras Tafari appointed regent and heir to the throne.

Throughout the regency the Empress, conservative by inclination and more concerned with religion than politics, served to counteract Ras Tafari's rising interest in national modernization; the result was an uneasy coalition of conservative and reforming forces which lasted for nearly a decade. In 1926 Tafari took control of the army, an action which, when coupled with his previous success in foreign affairs, including admission of Ethiopia to the League of Nations in 1923, made him strong enough to assume the title of negus (king). When Zawditu died in April 1930, he demanded the title negasa negast (king of kings) and took complete control of the government with the throne name of Haile Selassie I ("Power of the Trinity").

In 1931 the new emperor promulgated a written constitution to symbolize his interest in modernization and intention to increase the power of central authority, which had been waning since the death of Menilek. Haile Selassie's efforts were cut short, however, when Mussolini's Italy invaded the country in 1935. The Italian military deployed superior weaponry, airplanes, and poison gas to crush the ill-fated resistance led by the Emperor; the ensuing Fascist occupation marked the first loss of national independence in recorded Ethiopian history. In 1936 Haile Selassie went into exile in England, where he appealed in vain to the League of Nations for help.

In early 1941 British expeditionary forces, aided by the heroic Ethiopian resistance, liberated the country, enabling Haile Selassie to triumphantly reenter his capital in May. The centralized Italian colonial administration, backed by force and with a vastly improved road network, meant that the Emperor returned to find that a great deal of provincial autonomy had been destroyed, leaving him in certain ways stronger than before he left. Throughout the next decade he rebuilt the administration, improved the army, passed legislation to regulate the government, church, and financial system, and further extended his control of the provinces by crushing revolts in Gojjam and Tigre. But in general the Emperor had gradually grown more cautious, and in his reluctance to antagonize conservative elements by any "hasty" modernization he allowed pitifully little infusion of new blood into the government.

In the 1950s Haile Selassie worked for the absorption of the important Red Sea province of Eritrea (accomplished in 1962), founded the University College of Addis Ababa, and welcomed home many Ethiopian college graduates from abroad. His Silver Jubilee of 1955 served as the occasion to present a revised constitution, followed in 1957 by the first general election. Haile Selassie's continued efforts to hold political balance between several major politicians and the recurrent frustration of many newly returned graduates, who still found few places in government, eventually led dissident elements to attempt a government coup in December 1960. The coup failed, but it gave a short and violent jolt to the heretofore uneventfulness of Ethiopian politics and hinted of future possibilities.

Pan-African Leader

In the 1960s the Emperor was clearly recognized as a major force in the pan-African movement, demonstrating his remarkable capacity for adapting to changing circumstances. It was a great personal triumph for him when, in 1963, the newly founded Organization of African Unity established its headquarters in Addis Ababa. Unlike other African leaders, Haile Selassie, of course, had not had to struggle once in office to prove his legitimate authority to his people; his control of government for over 40 years had given him enough time to identify with it.

By 1970 the Emperor had slowly withdrawn from many day-to-day administrative concerns and had become increasingly involved with foreign affairs. He probably made more state visits than any other head of state, enjoying such jaunts for their own sake even when they had little practical use. To him diplomacy seemed inseparable from prestige.

At home Haile Selassie more than ever evinced a trait of caution in his approach to modernization. Though receptive to Western innovations, he never throughout his long reign advanced faster than the consensus would allow, although by his fortieth year in power he appeared somewhat more concerned with adjustment to, and authorization of, change rather than with the active initiation of changes themselves.

A famine in Wello province in 1973 seriously undermined the credibility and legitimacy of Selassie's regime. With a strain on the nation, Selassie was forced to abdicate on September 13, 1974. The new octogenarian emperor Selassie spent his final year of life on house arrest. His death was announced by the Dergue on August 27, 1975. The man who led Ethiopia for 60 years, did not even have a funeral service. The exact location of his grave has never been revealed.

Further Reading

Christine Sandford, The Lion of Judah Hath Prevailed (1955); and Leonard Mosley, Haile Selassie:The Conquering Lion (1964); Edward Ullendorff, The Ethiopians (1960; 2d ed. 1965), analyzes Ethiopian culture; Christopher Clapham, Haile-Selassie's Government (1969), treats the political bureaucracy; Richard Greenfield, Ethiopia:A New Political History (1965), scans Ethiopian history with a perceptive interpretation of 20th-century developments. □

Haile Selassie

views updated May 14 2018

Haile Selassie (1892–1975), emperor of Ethiopia 1930–74. In exile in Britain during the Italian occupation of Ethiopia (1936–41), he was restored to the throne by the Allies and ruled until deposed by a military coup. He is revered by the Rastafarian religious sect.

Selassie, Haile

views updated Jun 11 2018

Selassie, Haile See Haile Selassie