Haile Selassie: Divinity or Despot?

An iconic figure in African history, Haile Selassie is remembered as a powerful and progressive politician who modernized Ethiopia. His policies earned him much reverence and the attention of Black leadership outside the country. Not only was he an emperor, but for some, he is considered a god.

Yet his rule was anything but peaceful. His legacy is one of many paradoxes and contradictions.

Born on July 23, 1892 in the village of Ejersa Gora in Ethiopia, Lij (child) Tafari Makonnen could trace his lineage back to Menelik I, who was, according to legend, the son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.

Tafari’s mother, Woizero (lady) Yeshimebet Ali Abba Jifar, was the daughter of a chief from Wollo province. His father, Ras (duke/prince) Makonnen Wolde Mikael Wolde Melekot, was of royal lineage, a military leader, and the governor of Harar.

Tafari’s claim to the throne was through his paternal grandmother, Tenagnework Sahle Selassie, who was an aunt of Emperor Menelik II and the daughter of King Sahle Selassie, the Solomonic Amhara King of Shewa. When Tafari’s father died in 1906, Tafari was raised in the court of Menelik II, who did not have a direct male heir. His only son had died at the age of 15.

Growing up in the imperial court, Tafari was given a good education, and he learned about the subtleties and intrigue of political life. Tafari was hardworking and attentive and gained much recognition from Menelik II. By the age of 14, Tafari had been promoted to governor of Gara Muleta in the Harar province, and by the age of 20, he was appointed commander of the province of Sidamo.

Although the exact date is unknown, at some point during his teenage years, Tafari was alleged to have married Woizero Altayech. The couple had a daughter, Princess Romanework. This episode of Tafari’s life is shrouded in mystery; the English translation of his autobiography makes no mention of it.

Tafari had a half-brother, Yelma, who was made governor of Harar. When Yelma died in 1907, this position was left vacant, and the region’s administration fell under the authority of military commander Dejazmach Balcha Safo, who proved ineffective. Balcha Safo was removed from his post, and Tafari was named the new governor.

On August 3, 1911, Tafari married Menen Asfaw of Ambassel, the niece of Lij Iyasu, who ruled as emperor from 1913 to 1916. Tafari was 19 at the time, while his wife was 22. Lij Iyasu’s rule would prove to be highly unpopular.

Lij Iyasu was Emperor Menelik II’s grandson, and upon the death of the latter on December 12, 1913, Lij Iyasu assumed the crown. He did not adhere himself to those he ruled over. His scandalous behavior and disrespectful attitude towards other nobles earned him enemies. In addition to this, there were allegations that he had converted to Islam, which proved problematic with a devoutly Christian populace and earned him enemies in the Church.

As a candidate for the throne, Tafari garnered much support from both the progressive and conservative factions. Ultimately, using the accusation of Lij Iyasu’s conversion to Islam, an alliance of nobles was able to depose the emperor. Menelik II’s daughter became Empress Zewditu, while Tafari was elevated to the rank of Ras. He was also named regent and heir apparent to the throne.

Lij Iyasu fled to the Ogaden Desert, where he was aided by his father, Negus Mikael of Wollo. With an army of 80,000 soldiers, Mikael of Wollo engaged an army of 120,000 soldiers loyal to Zewditu. Wollo was defeated at the Battle of Segale on October 27, 1916, and Lij Iyasu went into hiding. His hope of regaining the throne evaporated, and after five years, he was captured and imprisoned.

Thus, Ras Tafari became the de facto ruler of Ethiopia for the next thirteen years, during which time he set about modernizing the country. During the 1920s, Tafari also presided over the expansion of Ethiopia’s education system, building schools and universities.

In 1923, Tafari abolished slavery and admitted Ethiopia into the League of Nations, furthering the country’s standing in the Western world and garnering positive attention. He was the first Ethiopian ruler to leave the country, visiting Jerusalem, Paris, Rome, and London.

Zewditu, however, grew jealous of Tafari’s popularity. She felt obliged to name him Negus (king) on September 7, 1928. This further entrenched Tafari’s power, and a desperate Zewditu sent her husband’s army against Tafari. The ensuing battle saw this army crushed by Tafari. Zewditu died two days later, and on November 2, 1930, Negus Tafari was crowned emperor.

Upon his coronation, Tafari took the name Haile Selassie (Might of the Trinity). The coronation was a glamorous affair that drew widespread international attention. Dignitaries from all over the world were in attendance.

One of Haile Selassie’s first actions as emperor was to provide Ethiopia with a new constitution. The constitution, adopted on July 16, 1931, kept power in the hands of the nobles, but it established democratic standards. It was envisioned that the constitution would be the guiding force behind Ethiopia’s slow transition towards more far-reaching democratic reform.

In the same year, Haile Selassie established the Bank of Ethiopia. A new currency, the Ethiopian birr, replaced the Abyssinian birr but was essentially just a name change. Selassie requested that the international community stop referring to Ethiopia as Abyssinia, as it was a name coined by foreigners rather than native Ethiopians.

The birr, however, would be withdrawn in 1936 and replaced with the Italian lira.

Italian Control

On October 3, 1935, Italy invaded Ethiopia without any formal warning. Despite efforts at modernization, Ethiopia’s army was severely lacking. With only 13 aircraft and the number of tanks and armored cars in the single digits, Ethiopia’s forces were woefully ill-equipped to deal with the invasion, especially since the Italians also used chemical weapons.

By May 2, 1936, Haile Selassie and his family were forced into exile in the United Kingdom, where he appealed to the League of Nations for assistance. The Western nations offered sympathy for the Ethiopian people but did not come to their aid. The Ethiopians continued to resist the Italians by launching a guerilla war, hitting Italian targets wherever they could.

It was not until the Second World War when Britain found itself at war with Italy, that Ethiopia’s fortunes changed. In 1941, Allied forces liberated Ethiopia, and Haile Selassie returned home and began rebuilding an administration that had been destroyed during the years of Italian occupation.

After his return to Ethiopia and the expulsion of the Italians, Haile Selassie made great strides in continuing the modernization of Ethiopia. The country’s infrastructure was improved, and the expansion of the reach of education and healthcare was continued by building schools and hospitals.

In 1948, Ethiopia joined the United Nations. Issues to resolve territorial disputes left by the administration of colonial powers in neighboring areas resulted in Eritrea, a former Italian colony, being absorbed into Ethiopia. However, this happened with guarantees of Eritrea establishing its own constitution to protect the ethnic, linguistic, and cultural balance while Ethiopia took over the financial, defensive, and foreign policy aspects.

Haile Selassie: The Tyrant

Haile Selassie came to be seen as a great reformer, yet his rule also drew negative attention as it was authoritarian. Far from the depictions of Haile Selassie as a benevolent dictator, messiah, and even a god, Haile Selassie is reviled by many as a tyrannical dictator who presided over countless deaths.

A prime example is in 1943 when the Tigray region of Ethiopia rose up in revolt. The rebellion was put down with military actions conducted by the British. Civilian areas were bombed, and thousands of innocents lost their lives.

Another incident in 1948 solidified Selassie’s willingness to use violent force as a means of oppression. When the Harari Muslims rose up, demanding the autonomy that had been promised to them by Menelik II, Selassie’s response was brutal. The entire town of Harar was put under house arrest, and assets belonging to the Harari were seized.

Other areas, however, were subject to Selassie’s benevolence, and several provinces that were difficult to control were given more autonomy. Herein lies certain irony in Selassie’s actions in that they did not seem uniformly implemented.

Ultimately, Haile Selassie was a client of the West and ruled with an iron fist, similar to examples like Shah Reza Pahlavi of Iran or Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire.

Those outside the control of the Ethiopian government, such as those who had fought against the Italians as partisans, became the target of the suspicions of an increasingly paranoid Selassie. He became wary of those he perceived to be brave enough to challenge his power, and he surrounded himself with people who could be easily controlled. This included politicians who had colluded with the Italian government during the period of occupation.

Selassie centralized the government around his authority and issued a new constitution in 1955, which granted him the same authority as the previous constitution. By the 1960s, overt resistance within Ethiopia to his rule began to grow significantly. In December 1960, a significant element within the army rose up and seized control of the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. The coup was crushed, but it would help generate widespread anti-Selassie sentiment from the academic sector.

In 1963, Haile Selassie played a prominent role in the formation of the Organisation of African Unity.

The idea that Haile Selassie was a god stems from prophetic words by Marcus Garvey, who stated, “Look to Africa, when a Black king shall be crowned, for the day of deliverance is at hand.”

This statement generated mass interest in an Abrahamic religious movement in Jamaica that rebranded itself as Rastafarianism—literally named after Haile Selassie, who was known as Ras Tafari at the time.

The emergence of Selassie and his crowning as emperor, coupled with the prophetic words of Garvey, generated a spiritual belief that led to the idea of Selassie being of the divine.

The movement eventually moved toward philosophical sensibilities, and Haile Selassie became an icon of solidarity, freedom, and power among people of African descent.

Later Life & Death

Hailey Selassie’s rule continued until 1974. For many, his leadership during the 1960s and 1970s was characterized by war. Not only was Eritrea fighting for independence, but a revolt in Baler in the south led to a terrorist insurgency that lasted for six years before it was finally defeated.

Dissidents were imprisoned, but Selassie also became widely known for granting pardons to prisoners during this time.

The oil crisis in 1973 hit Ethiopia hard, and inflation soared, causing socio-economic problems throughout the country. This led to economic failures, which in turn led to widespread famine that is estimated to have killed 40,000 to 80,000 people.

In February 1974, discontent over unemployment, famine, and a stagnant political situation led to strikes and the eventual removal of Haile Selassie from power. His concessions were not enough to pacify the military, which launched a coup and had the emperor removed.

His leadership was replaced with the Marxist-Leninist Derg regime, and Haile Selassie was confined to his palace, where he spent the last days of his life. In late August, the government announced that Haile Selassie had died due to respiratory failure, but later investigations proved that he had been assassinated on governmental orders. The frail 83-year-old man had been smothered with a pillow.

From a modern perspective, Haile Selassie can be considered a controversial figure. While some Rastafarians consider him a god, his legacy seems to have been one of being more popular outside his country than within it.

While he tried to institute progressive reforms, the application of these reforms was hampered by Selassie’s bid to adhere himself to traditionalist nobles, and much of the country did not benefit from any policies that could have lifted them out of a feudal state of affairs.

By the end of the 1970s, Haile Selassie’s policies had left Ethiopia with an extremely underdeveloped economy. It had the lowest GNP per capita in Africa and a life expectancy of just 30 years. Sixty percent of infants died before their first birthday.

Under his leadership, the people of Ethiopia experienced the leap from feudalism to modernization with better healthcare and education. They also, however, experienced war and famine. Eritrea was hit particularly hard and suffered greatly during its fight for independence from Ethiopia.

Haile Selassie is a paradox of a ruler. He is seen as a great reformer in certain aspects, but his rule was marked by difficulties in placating both nobles and commoners, and brought him into conflict with both.

From an outside perspective, however, Haile Selassie enjoys a prominent position as an icon for independence and respect linked to the struggle for recognition of African success.