Haile Selassie I Crowned as Emperor of Ethiopia

Haile Selassie I Crowned as Emperor of Ethiopia

On this day, 3 April 1930, Haile Selassie I, born Tafari Makonnen on 23 July 1892, was crowned as Emperor of Ethiopia. He was raised to power as Regent Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia (Enderase) for Empress Zewditu from 1916. Haile Selassie is widely considered a defining figure in modern Ethiopian and African history, and the key figure of Rastafari, a religious movement in Jamaica, which emerged shortly after he became emperor in the 1930s.

On 2 November 1930, after the death of Empress Zewditu, Tafari was crowned Negusa Nagast, literally King of Kings, rendered in English as “Emperor”. Upon his ascension, he took as his regal name Haile Selassie I. Haile means in Ge’ez “Power of” and Selassie means trinity — therefore Haile Selassie roughly translates to “Power of the Trinity”. Haile Selassie’s full title in office was “By the Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Elect of God”. This title reflected Ethiopian dynastic traditions, which held that all monarchs should trace their lineage to Menelik I, who is described by the Kebra Nagast (a 14th-century national epic) as the son of the 10th-century King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.

Haile Selassie’s internationalist views led to Ethiopia becoming a charter member of the United Nations. Ethiopia became the target of renewed Italian imperialist designs in the 1930s. Benito Mussolini’s Fascist regime was keen to avenge the military defeats Italy had suffered to Ethiopia in the First Italo-Abyssinian War of 1894-1896, and to efface the failed attempt by “liberal” Italy to conquer the country, as epitomised by the defeat at the heroic Battle of Adwa of 1896.

A conquest of Ethiopia could also empower the cause of fascism and embolden its empire’s rhetoric. Ethiopia would also provide a bridge between Italy’s Eritrean and Italian Somaliland possessions. Ethiopia’s position in the League of Nations did not dissuade the Italians from invading on 5 May 1935. The “collective security” envisaged by the League proved useless, and a scandal erupted when the Hoare-Laval Pact revealed that Ethiopia’s League allies were scheming to appease Italy.

On 18 January 1941, during the East African Campaign, Haile Selassie crossed the border between Sudan and Ethiopia near the village of Um Iddla. The standard of the Lion of Judah was raised again. Two days later, he and a force of Ethiopian patriots joined Gideon Force which was already in Ethiopia and preparing the way. Italy was defeated by a force of the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth of Nations, Free France, Free Belgium and Ethiopian patriots. On 5 May 1941, Haile Selassie entered Addis Ababa and personally addressed the Ethiopian people, exactly five years after the fascist forces entered Addis Ababa.

In September 1961, Haile Selassie attended the Conference of the Heads of State of Government of Non-Aligned Countries in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, the founding conference of the Non-Aligned Movement. In 1963, he presided over the formation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), the precursor of the African Union (AU), and served as its first chairman. In 1974, he was overthrown in a military coup by a Marxist-Leninist junta and was assassinated on 27 August 1975.

To Ethiopians, Haile Selassie has been known by many names, including Janhoy, Talaqu Meri, and Abba Tekel, with the Rastafari movement referring to him as HIM “His Imperial Majesty” Jah Rastafari. Among some members of the Rastafari movement, Haile Selassie is considered as the returned Messiah of the Bible, God incarnate. This distinction notwithstanding, he was a Christian and adhered to the tenets and liturgy of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. The Rastafari movement was founded in Jamaica sometime around 1930 and its followers were estimated at between 700,000 and one million as of 2012.

In 1962, Haile Selassie I hosted the first Commander of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), Nelson Mandela, and supported the African National Congress’ (ANC) armed struggle against the apartheid regime. As part of the 1940s Anton Lembede-led ANC Youth League, Mandela regarded Haile Selassie as an African hero, alongside Marcus Garvey and W.E.B. Du Bois. Haile Selassie being crowned Emperor in 1930, became “the shaping force of contemporary Ethiopian history.

Ethiopia, which was formerly known as Abyssinia, “was founded long before the birth of Christ, supposedly by the son of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Although it had been conquered dozens of times, Ethiopia was the birthplace of African nationalism.” For Mandela, “Unlike so many other African states, it had fought colonialism at every turn. Menelik had rebuffed the Italians in the last century … Selasie was forced to flee when the Italians conquered Ethiopia in 1935, he returned after the Allied forces drove the Italians out in 1941.”

On 2 – 10 February 1962, the Pan-African Freedom Movement of East and Central Africa (PAFMECSA) held a conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, attended by leaders from independent states and nationalist movements, with observers from other parts of Africa. The conference was officially opened by “His Imperial Majesty, who was dressed in an elaborate brocaded army uniform”. Mandela maintained that he was “surprised by how small the emperor appeared, but his dignity and confidence made him seem like the African giant that he was. …He stood perfectly straight, and inclined his head only slightly to indicate that he was listening. Dignity was the hallmark of all his actions”

Sources:
Wikipedia.
South African History Online (SAHO)
Nelson Mandela, “Long Walk to Freedom”, Abacus, 1994.
Sifiso Mxolisi Ndlovu, “Mandela as Public Face of the African National Congress”, The Thinker, Vol. 52, 2013.

Castro Khwela
Good evening fellow Compatriots!