Ethiopia, a precocious civilization in sub-Saharan Africa, where the Axum Empire, which was once ranked by the Persians as one of the four great powers of the world alongside Persia, Rome and China, was one of the only two countries in modern Africa that did not become a European colony, and in 1896 Emperor Menelik II successfully led Ethiopia to repel the Italian colonists, forcing it to sign the Treaty of Addis Ababa and recognize Ethiopia's independence. However, Ethiopia did not escape the poisonous hands of the Italian colonists, and on October 3, 1935, Italy under the fascist dictator Mussolini made a comeback, and eventually the whole territory of Ethiopia fell, but it was mistakenly "renewed" for 30 years for the last emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie I.
Ethiopia is a land of precocious civilizations in sub-Saharan Africa and one of only two countries in modern Africa that has not become a European colony.
Haile Selassie I was born on 23 July 1892 into an Amharic aristocratic family in Shoa, southern Ethiopia, with ten siblings, but only he grew up with his half-brother Irma, whose father, Duke Maconan, was a close relative of the Then Ethiopian Emperor Menelik II, a high nobleman in the Shoa region of addis Ababa, the capital Addis Ababa, who was then the governor of Harald Province, and was a nephew of Menlinic II, the national hero of the Battle of Adua.
Menlinik II, the national hero of the Battle of Adua, became emperor after unifying Ethiopia and laid the foundation for modern Ethiopia.
In 1909, Haile Selassie I completed his studies and became governor of the southwestern province of Sidamo, where he was quite successful. Two years later, due to the death of his brother, he was appointed governor of Harald Province, and in the same year married Meng Lun, daughter of King Mihair of Volo Province, who belonged to the Olomo tribe (also known as the Gaila tribe), the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia. This marriage greatly enhanced the political status and influence of Haile Selassie I. In 1913, with the death of Menelik II of the Reformation, the successor Eyasu took control of the country, the feudal princes became more divided, the treasury gradually became empty, the land annexation was serious, and the domestic contradictions intensified.
The Oromo and Amharic are among the largest ethnic groups in Ethiopia.
Thus, the innovative Haile Selassie I gained the support of the reformist faction of landlords, merchants, and intellectuals, and then deposed Emperor Eyasu at the Royal Council in 1916, and made Menelik II's daughter Zoditu empress, and Haile Selassie was made regent and crown prince, with the title of duke. Haile Selassie I began to ascend to the center of state power, controlling Ethiopia's military, financial, and personnel appointments and removals. In April 1924, he went to Europe and brought the Ethiopian Empire into the League of Nations, and in 1928, 1929, and 1930, he signed treaties of peace and friendship with Italy, the United States, and Japan, and confronted Italian and British and French forces with closeness to the United States and Japan.
Selassie I held the titles of "King of Kings", "Lion of the Jewish People", and proclaimed himself "the 225th successor of King Solomon and Queen Sheba".
In 1930, After leadership struggle, Haile Selassie I was officially crowned Emperor of Ethiopia and held the titles of "King of Kings", "Lion of the Jewish People", "Messenger of God", and proclaimed "the 225th successor of King Solomon and Queen Sheba". To illustrate, this emphasis on solomon lineage is mainly related to the glamorous legend of queen Sheba and King Solomon of Israel circulating in Ethiopia, in order to enhance the legitimacy of the rule.
During the four years he was proclaimed empress, Haile Selassie I's achievements were remarkable.
During the four years he was proclaimed empress, Haile Selassie I's achievements were remarkable. For example, in 1931, based on the 1889 Constitution of the Empire of Japan, he promulgated Ethiopia's first-ever constitution, the "1931 Constitution"; modeled on the United States, established the Senate and the House of Representatives, established a parliamentary system, and promoted the status of the judiciary; issued an amnesty prohibiting the slave trade and the slave system; strictly implemented the principle of emancipation of slaves after the death of their masters, and by 1934 had liberated more than 40,000 slaves; and also developed education, imitating the Western scientific and cultural model, and establishing state-owned banks , to promote the development of the commodity economy, attach importance to the construction of the army, the construction of airports, but also the creation of a small air force.
On October 3, 1935, the fascist dictator Mussolini ordered italy to invade Ethiopia, and the Second Italian-Egyptian War broke out.
But these reforms were halted on October 3, 1935, when the fascist dictator Mussolini ordered Italy to invade Ethiopia and was suspended. This invasion led to the Second Italian Invasion of Ethiopia, the first in 1896, only to be defeated by Emperor Menelik II. After seven months of war, Italy finally occupied all of Ethiopia, and Emperor Haile Selassie I was forced into exile in London.
The Second Italian-Egyptian War was one of the outposts of the Second World War and was a great disaster for the Ethiopian people, but a blessing for Selassie I.
The Second Italian-Egyptian War is considered one of the outposts of the Second World War, a great disaster for the Ethiopian people, but a blessing for Selassie I. Because at this time, Ethiopia, although it made great progress in many modernization reforms of Selassie I, also intensified the social contradictions that had existed for hundreds of years, and there was a huge difference between the reformists and the religious forces, primitive tribes, and feudal aristocrats that controlled the political and economic lifeblood of Ethiopia. To borrow a poem by the famous American poetess Emily Dickinson, I could have endured the darkness, if I had never seen the sun, but now the sun shines even more desolate on my desolation.
I could have endured darkness, if I had never seen the sun, but now the sun has made my desolation even more desolate. The picture shows the Amharians of Ethiopia
That is to say, although the reformers of Selassie I alleviated social contradictions, they did not completely resolve social contradictions, they did not cure the symptoms but not the root causes, not only did not meet the expectations of the reformists, but also moved the vested "cake" of the conservative forces, so there were many large-scale rebellions as early as before Selassie I ascended the throne and became emperor. If the Italian fascists had not invaded Ethiopia at this time, Haile Selassie I would have been overthrown by a revolution, rebellion or coup within a few years, but the Italian invasion changed the course of the situation.
After the defeat in the War of Resistance against Italy, Selassie I went into exile in England, and at the Conference of the League of Nations in Geneva in 1936, italy was condemned for its crime of aggression against Ethiopia.
It was the second invasion of Italy that successfully diverted the firepower of Ethiopia's internal contradictions, and the conservative nobles who had opposed Selassie I also began to take sides in the emperor's front. Even after his defeat in the War of Resistance against Italy, Selassie I made a generous statement at a meeting of the League of Nations in Geneva at the end of June 1936 condemning Italy's crimes of aggression against Ethiopia. It not only won the prestige and popular support, but also successfully hugged the "thighs" of Western developed countries such as the United States and Britain.
In December 1950, the United States and Britain proposed at the United Nations that Eritrea, under its trusteeship, form a federation with Ethiopia and enjoy a high degree of autonomy.
So when Italy was defeated by the Allies in 1941, Selassie I returned to the throne with the British. Later, Emperor Selassie followed the footsteps of the United States and Europe, and even participated in the Korean War for na, acting as a pawn of the American horse, and was naturally beaten by the volunteer army. However, it also won the favor of the United States, not only received a large amount of economic assistance from the United States, but also obtained Eritrea, which was entrusted by the United States and Britain. Eritrea has since formed a federation with Ethiopia and enjoys a high degree of autonomy and has its own constitution and parliament.
When Eritrea became independent in 1993, Ethiopia completely lost 1,350 kilometres of coastline and became a landlocked country.
However, twelve years later, in 1962, the old Emperor Selassie I's ambitions swelled, forced the abolition of federalism, and merged Eritrea into a province of Ethiopia, which led to a war between Eritrea and Ethiopia for more than twenty years, and finally Eritrea completed its independence in 1993, and Ethiopia completely lost 1350 kilometers of coastline and became a landlocked country. Of course, this is all an afterthought.
In 1971, Selassie I visited China and held talks with Chairman Mao, Premier Zhou, and other Chinese leaders, supporting the one-China policy and not recognizing Taiwan's status in the United Nations
After returning to Ethiopia, Selassie I, with the prestige accumulated by anti-aggression and the support of Western countries, became Emperor of Ethiopia for another thirty-two years. But since then, the growing age of Selassie I has long since lost the reform drive of his youth, and the people of Ethiopia under his rule have withered, reform has stagnated, and the aristocratic class has been poor and extravagant, and Ethiopia, which has always been relatively precocious, has been dragged down by the autocratic dynasty at this time. At that time, Marxism was also introduced to Ethiopia, so students, peasants, and soldiers all stood against the emperor.
The paddock castle of Emperor Selassie I of Ethiopia.
First in 1960 there was an attempted military coup to establish the crown prince, and then the disaster was not alone, in 1970 there was a serious famine in the country, in 1973 the fourth Middle East war triggered the Middle East oil crisis, the Suez Canal was closed, the domestic oil price soared and food shortages triggered a civil war, and finally in 1974, because a photo of the emperor feeding his pet lion raw meat in the palace flowed out, causing serious dissatisfaction among the people, and the military officer group led by Mengistu (Amharic) took advantage of the coup d'état to depose the old emperor. It took a sharp turn in the direction of socialism, and the Solomon Dynasty of Ethiopia, which lasted for 704 years, came to an end.
In 1974, a photograph of the emperor feeding his pet lion raw meat in the imperial palace caused serious dissatisfaction among the people, and Mengistu took advantage of the coup d'état to depose the emperor
The last emperor after his ouster, Haile Selassie I, died under house arrest on August 27, 1975 (rumored to have been smothered by a pillow), at the age of 83, seventeen years later, when the Mengistu government collapsed, the bones of Haile Selassie I were found under the toilets of the former imperial palace. This tragic ending was already predestined thirty years ago, but when thirty years later came, Haile Selassie I became the oldest and last emperor in Africa, and the era of imperial power came to an end in Africa.
But what about authoritarianism?
This article is the ninth and final chapter of the series "Ethiopia: Little China in Africa".
Review of the previous issue: Copying China's development model, can Ethiopia replicate the miracle of China's economic take-off?
Remarks: This article is only a word, welcome to share and correct. In addition, the picture in the article is quoted from the Internet, if there is a copyright private link, please delete.