Emperor Haile Selassie I: biography, children, photography, quotations

The last emperor of Ethiopia, deposed as a result of the military coup in 1974, Haile Selassie I, was an extremely controversial ruler. During his stay in power, he was known as an enlightened and active monarch, whose country was not only a nobody's colony, but also became a full-fledged participant in the United Nations.

Contradictory ruler

Haile Selassie I held managerial positions since 1906, when he turned 15 years old. At the age of 25 he received the title of heir to the crown and regent and in fact began to rule Ethiopia autocraticly. This autocracy continued for 58 years.

For such a long period, Ethiopia has achieved international recognition, has become a party to several international organizations and treaties and has been able to resist attempts at capture from Italy. Haile Selassie I organized and headed the Organization of African Unity, which later became the African Union.

For his decent policy and freedom of the people, they idolized their emperor. Born in the years of his ascension to the throne, Rastafarianism considered him to be the embodiment of the god Jha. The very religious movement received its name from the name that Haile Selassie wore before the coronation. But not everything was so unambiguous.

During the reign of Haile Selassie I, Ethiopia remained a poor state, suffering from disease and hunger, despite more than sufficient assistance from both the US and UK, and the USSR. While his subjects were dying of hunger, the emperor was one of the richest men of the time, not only in Africa, but throughout the world. It is not surprising that such contradictions led to a dual perception of his personality in history.

Names

The name given to the future emperor by his parents is Tafari. This name is translated from the language of geez as "one who should be respected and afraid". As a child from a noble family, the future heir must have before the name rank - lidge, and after the third followed the name of the father and, sometimes, the grandfather. Therefore, the last emperor's name was: Lidj Tafari Makonnyon Voldemikael. During the baptism, Tafari received the sacred name Haile Selassie, which in translation means "the power of the Trinity."

Taking over the management of one of the regions of Ethiopia, and subsequently becoming heir to the throne, the future ruler received a new rank - races, the equivalent of the Russian prince or the western prince. Now he was approached by the races of Tafari Makonny. It was this name which gave the name Rastafarianism.

Having ascended the throne, the races of Tafari had to accept a new, royal title. He chose the name given to him at baptism, and became emperor Haile Selassie 1. The full title of an autocratic monarch was as follows: King of Kings, Leader of lords, lion - winner of the tribe of Judah, His Imperial Majesty, Elected by God and Light of Peace.

Haile Selassie I: biography, early years

The future emperor was born July 23, 1892 in a small village Edzersa Goro in the province of Harer. He was the tenth child in the family of the race of Mekonnyn, the cousin of Emperor Ethiopia Menelik II. Father Haile Selassie was governor of Harar, the chief commander of the Ethiopian army and an adviser to the emperor. The dynasty of Maconny came from the very King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.

Due to his high position in society, the races of Maconny could give his son an excellent education. First, the training of the boy was done by governesses, then by a monk from the Order of Capuchins, and afterwards by a scientist from Guadeloupe of French origin. At the age of thirteen, Tafari received a new title - dejazmach, which corresponds to the European count. At the same time, Tafari received his first managerial experience and was appointed governor of the tiny province of Salaga. At the age of 15, Tafari was given control of the province of Sidamo, and at the age of 18 he began to rule his native Harer.

Regency

Having received the management of his native province, Tafari decided to stay for a while at the court of the emperor. After climbing the throne of the new emperor Iyasu V, relations between the head of the country and Tafari cooled noticeably, he even lost the post of Governor Harar.

The emperor Iyasu V began to openly express his sympathy for Islam and even began wearing a turban, threatening to convert Ethiopia, one of the first Christian states of the world, to Islam. Such intentions greatly intimidated the courtiers, and in 1916 they, using the temporary absence of the emperor, excommunicated him from the church, deposed his aunt and appointed him to the throne, appointing Tafari a regent and granting him the title of race.

As a regent until 1930, the races of Tafari conducted many reforms, among which the army reforms and transformations in domestic and foreign policy were especially different. Tafari Makonnyn raised the level of education, established basic infrastructure and ensured the partial abolition of slavery. He concluded treaties with many states in the region, as well as world powers, and achieved the acceptance of Ethiopia in the League of Nations.

Ascent to the throne

In late 1930, the regent was crowned and raised to the Ethiopian throne under the name of Haile Selassie I. His coronation was attended not only by the entire Ethiopian aristocracy, but also by representatives of the ruling echelons of many European states. In honor of the adoption of the crown, the photograph of Haile Selassie I was published on the cover of the Times magazine.

Reform of the Emperor

The reformist policy of the new emperor has repeatedly been criticized for much more traditional values and a conservative focus on preserving the absolute monarchy. Even the constitution, adopted in 1931, the first in the history of Ethiopia, proclaimed the power of the emperor absolute and indestructible.

Haile Selassie I created a bicameral parliament. In the upper chamber, the emperor appointed senators on his own, and at the bottom there was a selection among the ruling strata of the aristocracy. No matter how radically the reforms looked, they still did not change the situation of ordinary citizens of Ethiopia.

Conflict with Italy

In early October 1935, Italy unexpectedly launched military action against Ethiopia, violating its borders, moving from Eritrea through the Mareb River and from Somalia towards Harer. Haile Selassie announced a general mobilization.

Despite the fact that massive army reforms were carried out, the Ethiopian army was extremely unprepared for large-scale battles and did not possess heavy weapons. Against tanks, flamethrowers, explosive bullets and even chemical weapons, Ethiopians were armed only with small arms. Many of the representatives of the irregular army went into battle with spears and swords.

Despite the fact that the emperor personally led his troops into battle, in the middle of 1936 the Ethiopians were defeated, and Haile Selassie I, children, grandchildren and close associates of the emperor fled abroad. The Ethiopian people were discouraged and disappointed by the choice of the ruler.

Being in exile, the emperor repeatedly turned to the United States, Great Britain and other states for help. In his speech at the Council of the League of Nations, Haile Selassie, whose quotations then spread across all important publications, severely condemned Italy's use of chemical weapons. In 1940, having secured the support of Great Britain, he returned to Ethiopia.

Discontent in Ethiopia

Since 1941, the emperor returned fighting for the liberation of Ethiopia and in 1943 suppressed the last uprisings of Italian troops and Ethiopian tribes supporting them. However, Haile Selassie's reputation was undermined, and his authority was shaken. In an attempt to rectify the situation and enlist the support not only of the aristocracy, but also of the people, the emperor carried out a series of reforms that completely abolished slavery, allowed the Ethiopians to elect representatives of the lower house of parliament, and declared freedom of speech and assembly.

However, Haile Selassie I was not ready to part with absolute power, and therefore established an intimidating repressive apparatus that did not allow the use of basic rights and the protection of political freedoms.

Not surprisingly, among the people, as well as among the aristocracy increased discontent. The prolonged famine in Wallough province, which took the lives of thousands of Ethiopians, the absence of significant changes in the executive branch and the continuous despotism of the emperor led to the fact that in 1960 there was a coup d'état, which was joined by the Crown Prince Asf Wasen. Haile Selassie I succeeded in suppressing this insurrection, but his discontent with the regime did not cease to boil.

Revolution in Ethiopia

Over the next 13 years, the discontent of the Ethiopian population was growing, until in 1974, as a result of negligent attitude towards the people in the country, there was no tragedy. Growing hunger killed more than 200 thousand people, and the rest were on the brink of survival. Military men from all parts of the country demanded an increase in the content, they were supported by workers and students. As a result of the constitutional meeting, Haile Selassie I was deprived of actual power, and his government apparatus was deposed. In place of the secular government came the military, the first order of which was the arrest of the entire imperial family.

In August 1975, the military government announced a sudden illness of the former emperor. He died on August 27 at the age of 83 for unknown reasons. The investigation was not conducted and the body was not given an autopsy. Many suspected that the former Emperor Haile Selassie I was strangled by the leader of the uprising Mengistu Haile Mariam.