SATTA MASSANGANA
Haile Selassie
Haile Selassie was born
Lij Tafari Makonnen in Ethiopia in 1892. 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. He was named regent and heir to the throne in 1917, but had to wait
until the death of the Empress Zauditu to assume full kingship. During the years
of 1917-1928, Tafari traveled to such cities as Rome, Paris, and London to
become the first Ethiopian ruler to ever go abroad. In November of 1930, Zaubitu
died and Tafari was crowned emperor, the 111th emperor in the succession of King
Solomon. Upon this occasion he took the name Haile Selassie, meaning "Might of
the Trinity." This paper will focus on Selassie's progressive politics and
attempts to modernize Ethiopia through technological advances and membership in
the world community. Relevant to these topics is Ethiopia's struggle with Italy
in World War II, Selassie's embracing of the League of Nations, and his
popularity and attention worldwide because of his efforts towards
humanitarianism and Ethiopian sovereignty.
Ethiopia was a culturally and resourcefully rich land recognized by the European
colonial powers as sovereign from as early as 1900. Selassie's predecessor
expanded his empire successfully in the 1880's and formed treaties with the
Italians, who recognized the imperial potential of northern Africa. Relations
became strained, however, in the 1890's when Britain and Italy agreed that
Ethiopia should fall under Italian influence. Despite occasional conflicts,
Ethiopia under Menelik remained sovereign, and thus we see a stage set for the
leadership of Selassie: a free Ethiopia with Italian, British, and French
colonies nearby, and an Italian will to expand its territorial claims when its
power and opportunity arise. (Marcus, 52)
Well before Selassie's crowning as negus (king), he began work modernizing
Ethiopia to rival that which he saw 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. In 1919 Ethiopia applied for membership into the League of
Nations but was banned because its practice of slavery was still strong. By
1923, working with the Empress Zauditu, the slave trade was abolished and
Ethiopia was unanimously accepted into the League. He further acted to seek
approval of other nations by emancipating existing slaves and their children and
created government bureaus to do so. Also prior to his taking of power, 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)
In 1931, upon assuming power, Selassie established the first Ethiopian
constitution, which aimed to re-focus governmental power from many rases to his
blood line solely. This move was effective in aiding Ethiopia's modernization
through bureaucracy and solidarity, and forced the many regional rases to either
oppose him treasonably or join him with their support. (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. The north African
colony of Eritrea, held by the Italians, was harmonious in its African/Italian
co-existence from the 1890's until 1922, when Mussolini's administration began
to emphasize the superiority of Italian inhabitants, and even enforced the
segregation of the population. As late as 1928, motions of peace were made by
Italy, but it seemed as though Mussolini wanted Eritrea only as a strategic base
for future conquest in Africa. (Marcus, 108) In December 1934, there was an
incident seemingly provoked by Italian forces which involved an Ethiopian escort
to the Welwel wells used by desert nomads. The League of Nations exonerated both
parties in the battle in September 1935, and it seemed to Mussolini that he
would not be condemned for his future hostilities. (Marcus, 148-49) Italy
invaded Ethiopia one month later 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. He 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,
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 was 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 on Ethiopian soil 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. His stubbornness and
foresight to retaining power showed Selassie to be a determined dictator, but
certainly not without Ethiopia's benefit in mind. The modernization's made by
Britain concerning currency, industrialization, and bureaucracy made Selassie
see the major importance in modernizing in order to survive. 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 battled the tax and the path was lain for opposition
to the newly re-established government. Selassie backed down from his new tax
brackets and issued a flat tithe to all noble landowners who resisted, but this
merely 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 such diversified nations
as 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, however,
his internal influence lacked major support which would, in the future, lead 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 realized to be slowly obtained, a coup d'état
occurred in Addis Ababa in December 1960, while Selassie was abroad on one of
his frequent diplomatic missions. (Prouty, 40) While initially successful, the
coup led by the Imperial Bodyguard, police chief, and intellectual radicals
lacked the public support necessary, and fell 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 did, however lead to the polarization of the traditional and
progressive factions, and the public awareness of the need to improve the
economic, social, and political position 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 grasp on the economy
was drafted, but opposed vigorously 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 one 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 army branch of 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. This group effectively removed Selassie's means
of governing, as they had complete military control. In July 1974, the Derg
demanded a new constitution; when it was found to be unsatisfactory to their
"Ethiopia First" ideology, they proceeded to undermine the emperor's authority,
and enjoyed much public support. (Tareke, 204-13) 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 left his ``earthly
body of blood and flesh``,back to Zion.Some say Him died {THAT IS A LIE.....JAH
LIVES} 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.
Y MAS GAN
ULAGHIZE
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