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107-550: Haile Selassie I ( Ge'ez : ቀዳማዊ ኀይለ ሥላሴ Qädamawi Ḫäylä Śəllase , lit.   ' Power of the Trinity ' ; born Tafari Makonnen ; 23 July 1892 – 27 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as the Regent Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia ( Enderase ) under Empress Zewditu between 1916 and 1930. Widely considered to be a defining figure in modern Ethiopian history , he

214-609: A charter member of the United Nations. In 1948, the Ogaden , a region disputed with both Italian Somaliland and British Somaliland , was granted to Ethiopia. On 2 December 1950, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 390 (V), establishing the federation of Eritrea (the former Italian colony) into Ethiopia. Eritrea was to have its own constitution, which would provide for ethnic, linguistic, and cultural balance, while Ethiopia

321-515: A federal Europe . The rhetoric of this faction, especially in light of the then-ongoing Cold War , was overwhelmingly anti-Western , and Haile Selassie saw this as a threat to the alliance he had so calculably constructed. Therefore, he took it upon himself to attempt to influence a more moderate posture within the group. Amidst popular uprisings by the country's students, peasants, urban dwellers, merchants, political activists, and marginalised religious and ethnic groups, Haile Selassie

428-629: A 1,600-year-old imperial obelisk, and condemned the atrocities suffered by the Ethiopian civilian population. He continued to plead for League intervention and to voice his certainty that "God's judgment will eventually visit the weak and the mighty alike", though his attempts to gain support for the struggle against Italy were largely unsuccessful until Italy entered World War II on the German side in June 1940. Haile Selassie's pleas for international support took root in

535-512: A charter member. In 1963, he presided over the formation of the Organisation of African Unity , the precursor of the African Union , and served as the institution's first chairman. By the early 1960s, many prominent African socialists , such as Kwame Nkrumah , Ahmed Sékou Touré , and Ahmed Ben Bella , envisioned the creation of a " United States of Africa " to rival the similar concept of

642-452: A mere 7% to the roughly 23 million Ethiopian peasants. The landless peasants lost as much as 75% of their produce to their landlords. In the late 18th and early 19th century, the supply of slave labor for agriculture was commonplace and the landless tenants suffered from miserable lives; any tenants who would not voluntarily provide the nominal service was considered a rebel and was subsequently jailed, flogged, or otherwise punished. During

749-579: A noble family from Shewa and was the governor of the districts of Menz and Doba , which are located in Semien Shewa . Tafari's mother was the daughter of a ruling chief from Were Ilu in Wollo province, Dejazmach Ali Abba Jifar. Ras Makonnen was the grandson of King Sahle Selassie who was once the ruler of Shewa . He served as a general in the First Italo–Ethiopian War , playing a key role at

856-473: A political match designed to create peace between Ethiopian nobles, the couple's family had said they married with mutual consent. Selassie described his spouse as a "woman without any malice whatsoever". The extent to which Tafari Makonnen contributed to the movement that would come to depose Lij Iyasu has been discussed extensively, particularly in Haile Selassie's own detailed account of the matter. Iyasu

963-575: A series of political and social reforms, including the 1931 constitution and the abolition of slavery . He led the empire during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War and after its defeat was exiled to the United Kingdom . After the beginning of the Italian occupation of East Africa , he traveled to Anglo-Egyptian Sudan to assist in coordinating the Ethiopian struggle against Fascist Italy , and

1070-605: A single location simultaneously in Ethiopian history . Conservatives agitated to redress this perceived insult to the crown's dignity, leading to the Ras Gugsa Welle's rebellion . Gugsa Welle was the husband of the Empress and the Shum of Begemder Province. In early 1930, he raised an army and marched it from his governorate at Gondar towards Addis Ababa . On 31 March 1930, Gugsa Welle

1177-628: A state visit to Brazil. Although it failed, this coup was considered as the initial point of student movements against the Haile Selassie government. In February 1965, students from Addis Ababa University marched in the streets under slogan "Land for the Tiller", demanding land reform and distribution. Along with combinations of armed resistance movements in Eritrea in the early 1960s and some Ethiopian provinces in Bale , Gojjam and Tigray, Haile Selassie's government

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1284-422: A surgeon from Guadeloupe . Tafari was named Dejazmach (literally "commander of the gate", roughly equivalent to " count ") at the age of 13, on 1 November 1905. Shortly thereafter, his father Makonnen died at Kulibi , in 1906. Tafari assumed the titular governorship of Selale in 1906, a realm of marginal importance, but one that enabled him to continue his studies. In 1907, he was appointed governor over part of

1391-655: A tour have inspired so many anecdotes". In return for two lions, the United Kingdom presented Tafari with the imperial crown of Emperor Tewodros II for its safe return to Empress Zewditu. The crown had been taken by General Sir Robert Napier during the 1868 Expedition to Abyssinia . In this period, the Crown Prince visited the Armenian monastery of Jerusalem . There, he adopted 40 Armenian orphans (አርባ ልጆች Arba Lijoch , "forty children"), who had lost their parents during

1498-616: A young man. The "Oriental Dignity" of the Ethiopians and their "rich, picturesque court dress" were sensationalised in the media; among his entourage he even included a pride of lions, which he distributed as gifts to President Alexandre Millerand and Prime Minister Raymond Poincaré of France , to King George V of the United Kingdom , and to the Zoological Garden ( Jardin Zoologique ) of Paris, France. As one historian noted, "Rarely can

1605-732: Is accorded divine importance in Rastafari , a relatively new Abrahamic religion that emerged in the Colony of Jamaica in the 1930s. A few years before he began his reign over the Ethiopian Empire , Selassie defeated Ethiopian army commander Ras Gugsa Welle Bitul , who was the nephew of Empress Taytu Betul , during the Battle of Anchem . He belonged to the Solomonic dynasty , which was founded by Emperor Yekuno Amlak in 1270; Amlak's successors claimed that he

1712-546: Is at once a benefit and a misfortune." Throughout Tafari's travels in Europe, the Levant , and Egypt, he and his entourage were greeted with enthusiasm and fascination. Seyum Mangasha accompanied him and Hailu Tekle Haymanot who, like Tafari, were sons of generals who contributed to the victorious war against Italy a quarter-century earlier at the Battle of Adwa . Another member of his entourage, Mulugeta Yeggazu, actually fought at Adwa as

1819-452: Is even a tendency for nouns to follow the gender of the noun with a corresponding meaning in Greek. There are two numbers, singular and plural. The plural can be constructed either by suffixing ኣት -āt to a word (regardless of gender, but often ኣን -ān if it is a male human noun), or by using an internal plural . Nouns also have two cases: the nominative, which is not marked, and

1926-486: Is lost when a plural noun with a consonant-final stem has a pronoun suffix attached (generally replaced by the added -i- , as in -i-hu , "his"), thereby losing the case/state distinction, but the distinction may be retained in the case of consonant-final singular nouns. Furthermore, suffix pronouns may or may not attract stress to themselves. In the following table, pronouns without a stress mark (an acute) are not stressed, and vowel-initial suffixes have also been given

2033-433: Is pronounced exactly the same as ḥ in the traditional pronunciation. Though the use of a different letter shows that it must originally have had some other pronunciation, what that pronunciation was is not certain. The chart below lists /ɬ/ and /t͡ɬʼ/ as possible values for ś ( ሠ ) and ḍ ( ፀ ) respectively. It also lists /χ/ as a possible value for ḫ ( ኀ ). These values are tentative, but based on

2140-400: Is stressed on the ultima (e.g. ንግር nəgə́r , "speak!"), and that, in some patterns, words can be stressed on the third-, fourth- or even fifth-to-last syllable (e.g. በረከተ bárakata ). Due to the high predictability of stress location in most words, textbooks, dictionaries and grammars generally do not mark it. Minimal pairs do exist, however, such as yənaggərā́ ("he speaks to her", with

2247-424: Is translated as "child" and serves to indicate that a youth is of noble blood. His given name Tafari means "one who is respected or feared". Like most Ethiopians, his personal name "Tafari" is followed by that of his father Makonnen and that of his grandfather Woldemikael. His name Haile Selassie was given to him at his infant baptism and adopted again as part of his regnal name in 1930. On 1 November 1905, at

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2354-695: Is used as the main liturgical language of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church , the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church , Ethiopian Catholic Church , Eritrean Catholic Church , and the Beta Israel Jewish community. Hawulti Obelisk is an ancient pre-Aksumite Obelisk located in Matara , Eritrea. The monument dates to the early Aksumite period and bears an example of the ancient Geʽez script. In one study, Tigre

2461-506: The Armenian Genocide . Tafari arranged for the musical education of the youths, and they came to form the imperial brass band. Tafari's authority was challenged in 1928 when Dejazmach Balcha Safo went to Addis Ababa with a sizeable armed force. When Tafari consolidated his hold over the provinces, many of Menelik's appointees refused to abide by the new regulations. Balcha Safo, the governor ( Shum ) of coffee-rich Sidamo Province ,

2568-752: The Battle of Adwa ; Haile Selassie was thus able to ascend to the imperial throne through his paternal grandmother, Woizero Tenagnework Sahle Selassie, who was an aunt of Emperor Menelik II and daughter of the Solomonic Amhara King of Shewa, Negus Sahle Selassie. As such, Haile Selassie claimed direct descent from Makeda , the Queen of Sheba, and King Solomon of ancient Israel. Ras Makonnen arranged for Tafari as well as his first cousin, Imru Haile Selassie , to receive instruction in Harar from Abba Samuel Wolde Kahin , an Ethiopian Capuchin friar, and from Dr. Vitalien,

2675-460: The Battle of Shire , Haile Selassie took the field with the last Ethiopian army on the northern front. On 31 March 1936, he launched a counterattack against the Italians himself at the Battle of Maychew in southern Tigray . The Emperor's army was defeated and retreated in disarray. As Haile Selassie's army withdrew, the Italians attacked from the air along with rebellious Raya and Azebo tribesmen on

2782-767: The Endelkachew Mekonnen cabinet. On 12 September 1974, Haile Selassie was imprisoned by a group of police officers under the Coordinating Committee. The 58-year-old former crown prince Asfaw Wossen , along with many patronages of the emperor, were exiled to London. On 23 November, the Massacre of the Sixty took place, in which 60 officials of Haile Selassie government, including two former prime ministers, were executed by firing squad in Kerchele Prison . The execution

2889-748: The Harari people were persecuted and many left the Harari Region . His administration was also criticised by human rights groups, such as Human Rights Watch , as autocratic and illiberal. According to some sources, late into Haile Selassie's administration, the Oromo language was banned from education, public speaking and use in administration, though there was never an official law or government policy that criminalised any language. His government also relocated many Amhara people into southern Ethiopia, where they served in government administration, courts, and church. Following

2996-746: The Holy Trinity Cathedral of Addis Ababa . Among some adherents of Rastafari , Haile Selassie is referred to as the returned Jesus —that is, the Messiah and God incarnate . This distinction notwithstanding, he was a Christian and adhered to the tenets and liturgy of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church . He has been criticised by some historians for his suppression of rebellions among the landed aristocracy ( Mesafint ), which consistently opposed his changes. Some have also criticised Ethiopia's failure to modernise rapidly enough. During his reign,

3103-481: The Ogaden Desert and his father, Negus Mikael of Wollo , had time to come to his aid. On 27 October, Negus Mikael and his army met an army under Fitawrari Habte Giyorgis loyal to Zewditu and Tafari. During the Battle of Segale , Mikael was defeated and captured. Any chance that Iyasu would regain the throne was ended, and he went into hiding. On 11 January 1921, after avoiding capture for about five years, Iyasu

3210-509: The Welwel Incident of 5 December 1934, Haile Selassie joined his northern armies and set up headquarters at Desse in Wollo province. He issued a generalized mobilization order on 3 October 1935. On 19 October 1935, he gave more precise orders for his army to his Commander-in-Chief, Ras Kassa , instructing the men to choose hidden positions, to conserve ammunition, and to avoid wearing conspicuous clothing for fear of air attack. Compared to

3317-630: The autocephaly of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church . The Ethiopian Orthodox Church had been headed by the Abuna , a bishop who answered to the Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria . In 1942 and 1945, Haile Selassie applied to the Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church to establish the independence of Ethiopian bishops, and when his appeals were denied he threatened to sever relations with

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3424-426: The se letter used for spelling the word nigūś "king") is reconstructed as descended from a Proto-Semitic voiceless lateral fricative [ɬ] . Like Arabic, Geʽez merged Proto-Semitic š and s in ሰ (also called se-isat : the se letter used for spelling the word isāt "fire"). Apart from this, Geʽez phonology is comparably conservative; the only other Proto-Semitic phonological contrasts lost may be

3531-545: The " Gideon Force " of Colonel Orde Wingate , coordinated the military effort to liberate Ethiopia. Haile Selassie issued several imperial proclamations in this period, demonstrating that British military might and the Emperor's popular appeal could be joined in the concerted effort to liberate Ethiopia. On 18 January 1941, during the East African Campaign , Haile Selassie crossed the border between Sudan and Ethiopia, near

3638-665: The Armed Forces in June 1974, and grew rapidly to topple the ministers of Haile Selassie under Prime Minister Endelkachew Makonnen . Upon deposing the emperor, many of his personages and Imperial family members fled to London like Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen . On 27 March 1975, the Derg officially abolished the monarchy and the Ethiopian Empire as a whole, and began implementing a Marxist-Leninist system, along with nationalizing all properties. Haile Selassie died on 27 August, with different sources attributing his death to strangulation by

3745-440: The Coordinating Committee abolished the semi-feudal system and implemented a nationalized system. On 21 March 1975, the Derg formally abolished the Ethiopian Empire , along with all imperial titles. On 27 August 1975, Haile Selassie died in a small apartment inside his palace at the age of 83. Official sources attributed his death to natural causes caused by a prostate operation , but later evidence emerged that suggested he

3852-654: The Coptic Church of Alexandria. Finally, in 1959, Pope Kyrillos VI elevated the Abuna to Patriarch-Catholicos. The Ethiopian Church remained affiliated with the Alexandrian Church. In addition to these efforts, Haile Selassie changed the Ethiopian church-state relationship by introducing taxation of church lands, and by restricting the legal privileges of the clergy, who had formerly been tried in their own courts for civil offenses. Ge%27ez language Today, Geʽez

3959-441: The Ethiopian people, exactly five years after the fascist forces entered Addis Ababa. He urged them not to reciprocate the atrocities they had been subjected to. On 27 August 1942, Haile Selassie confirmed the legal basis for the abolition of slavery that had been illegally enacted by Italian occupying forces throughout the empire and imposed severe penalties, including death, for slave trading. After World War II, Ethiopia became

4066-457: The Ethiopians, the Italians had an advanced, modern military that included a large air force. The Italians also came to employ chemical weapons throughout the conflict, even targeting Red Cross field hospitals. Starting in early October 1935, the Italians invaded Ethiopia . But, by November, the pace of invasion had slowed appreciably, and Haile Selassie's northern armies were able to launch what

4173-565: The League of Nations , and asserted that war can be resolved diplomatically. During this period, Haile Selassie suffered several personal tragedies. His two sons-in-law, Ras Desta Damtew and Dejazmach Beyene Merid , were both executed by the Italians. The Emperor's daughter, Princess Romanework , wife of Dejazmach Beyene Merid, was taken into captivity with her children, and she died in Italy in 1941. His daughter Tsehai died during childbirth shortly after

4280-659: The League of Nations afforded Haile Selassie the opportunity to address the assembly. In response, Italy withdrew its League delegation. Haile Selassie was introduced by the president of the Assembly as "His Imperial Majesty, the Emperor of Ethiopia" ( Sa Majesté Imperiale, l'Empereur d'Éthiopie ). The introduction caused many Italian journalists in the galleries to erupt into jeering, heckling, and whistling. They had earlier been issued whistles by Mussolini's son-in-law, Count Galeazzo Ciano . The Romanian delegate and former League president, Nicolae Titulescu , jumped to his feet and cried "To

4387-949: The League of Nations effectively collapsed was due to its failure to condemn Italy's invasion of Abyssinia. Haile Selassie spent his exile years (1936–1941) in Bath , England, in Fairfield House , which he bought. The Emperor and Kassa Haile Darge took morning walks together behind the 14-room Victorian house's high walls. Haile Selassie's favorite reading was "diplomatic history". It was during his exile in England that he began writing his 90,000-word autobiography. Prior to Fairfield House, he briefly stayed at Warne's Hotel in Worthing and in Parkside, Wimbledon . A bust of Haile Selassie by Hilda Seligman stood in nearby Cannizaro Park to commemorate his stay, and

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4494-490: The Orthodox clergy imposed strict rules concerning her diet during Lent, against her physicians' orders. Upon Zewditu's death, Tafari himself rose to emperor and was proclaimed Neguse Negest ze-'Ityopp'ya , "King of Kings of Ethiopia". He was crowned on 2 November 1930, at Addis Ababa's Cathedral of St. George . The coronation was by all accounts "a most splendid affair", and it was attended by royals and dignitaries from all over

4601-575: The Shewan Amhara Solomonic king, Sahle Selassie . He was born on 23 July 1892, in the village of Ejersa Goro , in the Hararghe province of Ethiopia. Tafari's mother, Woizero ("Lady") Yeshimebet Ali Abba Jifar, was paternally of Oromo descent and maternally of Silte heritage, while his father, Ras Makonnen Wolde Mikael , was maternally of Amhara descent but his paternal lineage remains disputed. Tafari's paternal grandfather belonged to

4708-611: 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 of Ethiopia, Lord of Lords, Elect of God". This title reflects Ethiopian dynastic traditions, which hold that all monarchs must trace their lineage to Menelik I , who is described by the Kebra Nagast (a 14th-century CE national epic) as

4815-571: The United States, particularly among African-American organisations sympathetic to the Ethiopian cause. In 1937, Haile Selassie was to give a Christmas Day radio address to the American people to thank his supporters when his taxi was involved in a traffic accident, leaving him with a fractured knee. He delivered the address despite his injury, in which he linked Christianity and goodwill with the Covenant of

4922-476: The accusative, which is marked with final -a . As in other Semitic languages, there are at least two "states", absolute (unmarked) and construct (marked with -a as well). As in Classical/Standard Arabic , singular and plural nouns often take the same final inflectional affixes for case and state, as number morphology is achieved via attaching a suffix to the stem and/or an internal change in

5029-498: The age of 13, Tafari was appointed by his father as the Dejazmatch of Gara Mulatta (a region some twenty miles southwest of Harar). The literal translation of Dejazmatch is "keeper of the door"; it is a title of nobility equivalent to a count . On 27 September 1916, he was proclaimed Crown Prince and heir apparent to the throne ( Alga Worrach ), and appointed Regent Plenipotentiary ( Balemulu Silt'an Enderase ). On 11 February 1917, he

5136-536: The base በ /b/ in the script. Noun phrases have the following overall order: በዛ ba-zā in-this: F ሀገር hagar city በዛ ሀገር ba-zā hagar in-this:F city in this city ንጉሥ nəguś king ክቡር kəbur glorious ንጉሥ ክቡር nəguś kəbur king glorious a/the glorious king Adjectives and determiners agree with the noun in gender and number: ዛቲ zāti this: FEM ንግሥት 1974 Ethiopian coup d%27%C3%A9tat Coup successful On 12 September 1974, Emperor Haile Selassie

5243-686: The case of Ethiopia to the League of Nations at Geneva . The decision was not unanimous and several participants, including the nobleman Blatta Tekle Wolde Hawariat , strenuously objected to the idea of an Ethiopian monarch fleeing before an invading force. Haile Selassie appointed his cousin Ras Imru Haile Selassie as Prince Regent in his absence, departing with his family for French Somaliland on 2 May 1936. On 5 May, Marshal Pietro Badoglio led Italian troops into Addis Ababa, and Mussolini declared Ethiopia an Italian province. Victor Emanuel III

5350-513: 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 in 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. Following

5457-466: The claims of competing factions. In other words, she had the last word. But unlike other monarchs Tafari carried the burden of daily administration, but, initially because his position was relatively weak, this was often an exercise in futility. His personal army was poorly equipped, his finances were limited, and he had little leverage to withstand the combined influence of the Empress, the Minister of War, or

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5564-483: The contrast here represented as a/ā is represented as ä/a. Geʽez is transliterated according to the following system (see the phoneme table below for IPA values): Because Geʽez is no longer spoken in daily life by large communities, the early pronunciation of some consonants is not completely certain. Gragg writes that "[t]he consonants corresponding to the graphemes ś (Geʽez ሠ ) and ḍ (Geʽez ፀ ) have merged with ሰ and ጸ respectively in

5671-406: The coronation, but who had dedicated a prayer for the Emperor on the day of the coronation. Haile Selassie introduced Ethiopia's first written constitution on 16 July 1931, providing for a bicameral legislature . The constitution kept power in the hands of the nobility, but it did establish democratic standards among the nobility, envisaging a transition to democratic rule: it would prevail "until

5778-455: The death of Ethiopian civil rights activist Hachalu Hundessa in 2020, the Bust of Haile Selassie in the United Kingdom was destroyed by Oromo-speaking protesters, and an equestrian monument depicting his father Makonnen Wolde Mikael was also removed from Harar . Haile Selassie was known as a child as Lij Tafari Makonnen (Ge'ez: ልጅ ተፈሪ መኮንን , romanized:  Ləj Täfäri Mäkonnən ). Lij

5885-500: The death of Sultan Abba Jifar II of Jimma . 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 , and to efface the failed attempt by "liberal" Italy to conquer the country, as epitomised by the defeat at Adwa . A conquest of Ethiopia could also empower

5992-481: The door with the savages!", and the offending journalists were removed from the hall. After the hall was cleared, Haile Selassie responded "majestically" with a speech considered by some among the most stirring of the 20th century, and a possible warning for future generations. Although fluent in French, the League's working language, Haile Selassie chose to deliver his speech in his native Amharic . He asserted that Italy

6099-544: The early 1930s. In 1924, Ras Tafari toured Europe and the Middle East visiting Jerusalem , Alexandria , Paris, Luxembourg, Brussels, Amsterdam , Stockholm, London, Geneva , Gibraltar and Athens . With him on his tour was a group that included Ras Seyum Mangasha of western Tigray Province ; Ras Hailu Tekle Haymanot of Gojjam province; Ras Mulugeta Yeggazu of Illubabor Province ; Ras Makonnen Endelkachew ; and Blattengeta Heruy Welde Selassie . The primary goal of

6206-633: The equivalent of a royal duke . In 1928, Empress Zewditu planned on granting him the throne of Shewa; however, at the last moment opposition from certain provincial rulers caused a change and his title Negus or "King" was conferred without geographical qualification or definition. 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 regnal name Haile Selassie I. Haile means in Ge'ez "Power of" and Selassie means trinity —therefore Haile Selassie roughly translates to "Power of

6313-442: The following patterns. Quadriconsonantal and some triconsonantal nouns follow the following pattern. Triconsonantal nouns that take this pattern must have at least one "long" vowel (namely /i e o u/ ). In the independent pronouns, gender is not distinguished in the 1st person, and case is only distinguished in the 3rd person singular. Suffix pronouns attach at the end of a noun, preposition or verb. The accusative/construct -a

6420-448: The government would relocate to the southern town of Gore , and that in the interest of preserving the imperial house, Empress Menen Asfaw and the rest of the imperial family should immediately depart for French Somaliland , and from there continue on to Jerusalem . After further debate as to whether Haile Selassie should go to Gore or accompany his family into exile, it was agreed that he should leave Ethiopia with his family and present

6527-459: The ground, who were armed and paid by the Italians. Many of the Ethiopian military were obsolete compared to the invading Italian forces, possessing mostly untrained and non-modern rifles and weaponry. Haile Selassie made a solitary pilgrimage to the churches at Lalibela , at considerable risk of capture, before returning to his capital. After a stormy session of the council of state, it was agreed that because Addis Ababa could not be defended,

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6634-418: The illness as someone fairly "prone to" the effects of disease throughout his life. He secured Ethiopia's admission to the League of Nations in 1923 by promising to eradicate slavery; each emperor since Tewodros II had issued proclamations to halt slavery , but without effect: the internationally scorned practice persisted well into Haile Selassie's reign with an estimated 2 million slaves in Ethiopia in

6741-420: The interdental fricatives and ghayn . There is no evidence within the script of stress rules in the ancient period, but stress patterns exist within the liturgical tradition(s). Accounts of these patterns are, however, contradictory. One early 20th-century account may be broadly summarized as follows: As one example of a discrepancy, a different late 19th-century account says the masculine singular imperative

6848-429: The most death-dealing weapons", he contended that the aggression threatened all small states, and that all small states were in effect reduced to vassal states in the absence of collective action. He admonished the League that "God and history will remember your judgment." At the beginning of 1936, Time named Haile Selassie "Man of the Year" for 1935, and his June 1936 speech made him an icon for anti-fascists around

6955-421: The movement that deposed Iyasu were conservatives such as Fitawrari Habte Giyorgis , Menelik II's longtime Minister of War. The movement to depose Iyasu preferred Tafari, as he attracted support from both progressive and conservative factions. Ultimately, Iyasu was deposed on the grounds of conversion to Islam. In his place, the daughter of Menelik II (the aunt of Iyasu) was named Empress Zewditu , while Tafari

7062-423: The order of the military government or natural causes during a prostate operation . A semi- feudal mode of production was a major characteristic of the Ethiopian Empire 's economy for a number of centuries. The land – which was the most essential mode of production – had been amassed by the church (over 25%), Emperor Haile Selassie and his family (20%), the feudal lords (30%) and the state (18%), leaving

7169-416: The people are in a position to elect themselves." The constitution limited succession to the throne to descendants of Haile Selassie, which had the effect of placing other dynastic princes at the time (including the princes of Tigrai , and even the Emperor's loyal cousin Ras Kassa Haile Darge ) outside of the line for the throne. In 1932, the Sultanate of Jimma was formally absorbed into Ethiopia following

7276-440: The phonological system represented by the traditional pronunciation—and indeed in all modern Ethiopian Semitic. ... There is, however, no evidence either in the tradition or in Ethiopian Semitic [for] what value these consonants may have had in Geʽez." A similar problem is found for the consonant transliterated ḫ . Gragg notes that it corresponds in etymology to velar or uvular fricatives in other Semitic languages, but it

7383-447: The pronoun suffix -(h)ā́ "her") vs. yənaggə́rā ("they speak", feminine plural), both written ይነግራ . Geʽez distinguishes two genders, masculine and feminine, the latter of which is sometimes marked with the suffix ት -t , e.g. እኅት ʼəxt ("sister"). These are less strongly distinguished than in other Semitic languages, as many nouns not denoting humans can be used in either gender: in translated Christian texts there

7490-407: The province of Sidamo . It is alleged that during his late teens, Haile Selassie was married to Woizero Altayech, and that from this union, his daughter Princess Romanework was born. Following the death of his brother Yelma in 1907, the governorate of Harar was left vacant, and its administration was left to Menelik's loyal general, Dejazmach Balcha Safo . Balcha Safo's administration of Harar

7597-439: The provincial governors. Nonetheless, her authority weakened while Tafari's power increased, she focused on praying and fasting and much less in her official duties which allowed Tafari to later have greater influence than even the Empress. During his Regency, the new Crown Prince developed the policy of cautious modernisation initiated by Menelik II. Also, during this time, he survived the 1918 flu pandemic , having come down with

7704-833: The reconstructed Proto-Semitic consonants that they are descended from. The following table presents the consonants of the Geʽ;ez language. The reconstructed phonetic value of a phoneme is given in IPA transcription, followed by its representation in the Geʽez script and scholarly transliteration. Geʽez consonants have a triple opposition between voiceless, voiced, and ejective (or emphatic ) obstruents. The Proto-Semitic "emphasis" in Geʽez has been generalized to include emphatic p̣ /pʼ/ . Geʽez has phonologized labiovelars , descending from Proto-Semitic biphonemes. Geʽez ś ሠ Sawt (in Amharic, also called śe-nigūś , i.e.

7811-680: The reign of Emperor Haile Selassie, he promised the country to follow democracy and bring modernization, such as by introducing the 1931 and 1955 Constitutions. Haile Selassie faced severe backlash and a negative public reputation , largely because of overtaxing in Gojjam starting in 1930, the famine of Wollo and Tigray in 1958, and autocratic land seizure. On 13 December 1960, a military coup d'état attempt occurred in Addis Ababa 's Guenete Leul Palace by opposition groups, including Germame Neway and Mengistu Neway , after Haile Selassie went on

7918-399: The restoration in 1942. After his return to Ethiopia, Haile Selassie donated Fairfield House to the city of Bath as a residence for the aged. In 2019, two blue plaques commemorating his residence at Fairfield and his visits to nearby Weston-super-Mare were unveiled by his grandson. British forces, which consisted primarily of Ethiopian-backed African and South African colonial troops under

8025-543: The son of the tenth-century BCE King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba . To Ethiopians, Haile Selassie has been known by many names, including Janhoy ("His Majesty") Talaqu Meri ("Great Leader") and Abba Tekel ("Father of Tekel", his horse name ). The Rastafari movement employs many of these appellations, also referring to him as Jah , Jah Jah , Jah Rastafari, and HIM (the abbreviation of "His Imperial Majesty"). Tafari's royal line (through his paternal grandmother) descended from

8132-705: The stem. There is some morphological interaction between consonant-final nouns and a pronoun suffix (see the table of suffix pronouns below). For example, when followed by የ -ya ("my"), in both nominative and accusative the resulting form is ሊቅየ liqə́ya (i.e. the accusative is not * ሊቀየ *liqáya ), but with ከ -ka ("your", masculine singular) there's a distinction between nominative ሊቅከ liqə́ka and accusative ሊቀከ liqáka , and similarly with -hu ("his") between nominative ሊቁ liqú (< *liq-ə-hu ) and accusative ሊቆ liqó (< *liqa-hu ). Internal plurals follow certain patterns. Triconsonantal nouns follow one of

8239-431: The support of the police, remained with Tafari. Ultimately, the Empress relented, and, on 7 October 1928, she crowned Tafari as Negus ( Amharic : "King"). The crowning of Tafari as King was controversial. He occupied the same territory as the Empress rather than going off to a regional kingdom of the empire. Two monarchs, even with one being the vassal and the other the emperor (in this case empress), had never ruled from

8346-679: The trip to Europe was for Ethiopia to gain access to the sea. In Paris, Tafari was to find out from the French Foreign Ministry ( Quai d'Orsay ) that this goal would not be realised. However, failing this, he and his retinue inspected schools, hospitals, factories, and churches. Although patterning many reforms after European models, Tafari remained wary of European pressure. To guard against economic imperialism , Tafari required that all enterprises have at least partial local ownership. Of his modernisation campaign, he remarked, "We need European progress only because we are surrounded by it. That

8453-592: 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 with Gideon Force , which was already in Ethiopia and preparing the way. Italy was defeated by combined forces of the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth of Nations , Free France , Free Belgium , and Ethiopian partisans . On 5 May 1941, Haile Selassie entered Addis Ababa and personally addressed

8560-538: The vowels /i, u, a/ with Proto-Semitic long *ī, *ū, *ā respectively, and /e, o/ with the Proto-Semitic diphthongs *ay and *aw . In Geʽez there still exist many alternations between /o/ and /aw/ , less so between /e/ and /aj/ , e.g. ተሎኩ taloku ~ ተለውኩ talawku ("I followed"). In the transcription employed by the Encyclopaedia Aethiopica , which is widely employed in academia,

8667-541: The world. Among those in attendance were the Duke of Gloucester (King George V's son), Marshal Louis Franchet d'Espèrey of France, and the Prince of Udine representing King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy . Special Ambassador Herman Murray Jacoby attended the coronation as the personal representative of U.S. president Herbert Hoover . Emissaries from Egypt, Turkey, Sweden, Belgium, and Japan were there. British author Evelyn Waugh

8774-514: The world. He failed, however, to get the diplomatic and matériel support he needed. The League agreed to only partial, ineffective sanctions on Italy, and Selassie was left without much-needed military equipment. Only six nations in 1937 did not recognise Italy's occupation: China, New Zealand, the Soviet Union, the Republic of Spain, Mexico and the United States. It is often said one of the many reasons

8881-572: Was a lineal descendant of Menelik I , the legendary Emperor of Ethiopia who was supposedly born to King Solomon and Queen Makeda of the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Sheba , respectively. Modern historians regard the Solomonic lineage claim as an unfounded myth created by Yekuno Amlak to justify wresting power from the Zagwe Dynasty . Haile Selassie, seeking to modernise Ethiopia, introduced

8988-707: Was a popular place of pilgrimage for London's Rastafari community, until it was destroyed by protestors on 30 June 2020. Haile Selassie stayed at the Abbey Hotel in Malvern in the 1930s, and his granddaughters and daughters of court officials were educated at Clarendon School for Girls in North Malvern . During his time in Malvern, he attended services at Holy Trinity Church, in Link Top . A blue plaque commemorating his stay in Malvern

9095-646: Was able to return home following the East African campaign of World War II . He later dissolved the Federation of Ethiopia and Eritrea , which was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1950, and annexed Eritrea as one of Ethiopia's provinces , while also fighting to prevent Eritrean secession . As an internationalist , Selassie led Ethiopia's accession to the United Nations as

9202-426: Was also present, penning a contemporary report on the event, and American travel lecturer Burton Holmes shot the only known film footage of the event. One American newspaper report suggested that the celebration had incurred a cost in excess of $ 3,000,000. Many of those in attendance received lavish gifts; in one instance the Emperor, a Christian, even sent a gold-encased Bible to an American bishop who had not attended

9309-420: Was crowned Le'ul-Ras and became known as Ras Tafari Makonnen listen . Ras is translated as "head" and is a rank of nobility equivalent to a duke , though it is often rendered in translation as "prince". Originally the title Le'ul , which means "Your Highness", was only ever used as a form of address; however, in 1916 the title Le'ul-Ras replaced the senior office of Ras Bitwoded and so became

9416-629: Was deposed by the Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, Police, and Territorial Army, a Soviet -backed military junta that consequently ruled Ethiopia as the Derg until 28 May 1991. In February 1974, the Ethiopian Revolution was accompanied by mutinies of units of the Imperial Army , which were ignited over resentment of low payment. The Derg established the Coordinating Council of

9523-425: Was elevated to the rank of Ras and was made heir apparent and Crown Prince . In the power arrangement that followed, Tafari accepted the role of Regent Plenipotentiary ( Balemulu 'Inderase ) and became the de facto ruler of the Ethiopian Empire ( Mangista Ityop'p'ya ). Zewditu would govern while Tafari would administer. While Iyasu had been deposed on 27 September 1916, on 8 October he managed to escape into

9630-457: Was employing chemical weapons on military and civilian targets alike. He pointed out that the same European states that found in Ethiopia's favor at the League of Nations were refusing Ethiopia credit and matériel while aiding Italy. Noting that his own "small people of 12 million inhabitants, without arms, without resources" could never withstand an attack by a large power such as Italy, with its 42 million people and "unlimited quantities of

9737-481: Was found to have a 71% lexical similarity to Ge'ez, while Tigrinya had a 68% lexical similarity to Geʽez, followed by Amharic at 62%. Most linguists believe that Geʽez does not constitute a common ancestor of modern Ethio-Semitic languages but became a separate language early on from another hypothetical unattested common language. Historically, /ɨ/ has a basic correspondence with Proto-Semitic short *i and *u , /æ ~ ɐ/ with short *a ,

9844-538: Was heard over Ethiopian Radio in the next day; the council also included General Aman Andom , one of the leaders of the coup, and Haile Selassie's grandson, Admiral Iskinder Desta . Further executed people at this time included roughly 200 former cabinet ministers, government officials, provincial governors, and judges who were held in the cellars of the National Palace awaiting trial on charges of corruption and maladministration. Inspired by Marxist-Leninist policy,

9951-689: Was highly symbolic, since the Solomonic Dynasty claimed descent from the House of David . Leaving the Holy Land , Haile Selassie and his entourage sailed aboard the British cruiser HMS Capetown for Gibraltar , where he stayed at the Rock Hotel . From Gibraltar, the exiles were transferred to an ordinary liner. By doing this, the United Kingdom government was spared the expense of a state reception. On 12 May 1936,

10058-521: Was ineffective, and so during the last illness of Menelik II, and the brief reign of Empress Taytu Betul , Tafari was made governor of Harar in 1910 or 1911. On 3 August 1911, Tafari married Menen Asfaw of Ambassel , niece of the heir to the throne Lij Iyasu . Menen Asfaw was 22 years old while Tafari was 19 years of age. Menen had already married two previous noblemen, while Tafari had one previous wife and one child. The marriage between Menen Asfaw and Haile Selassie lasted for 50 years. Although possibly

10165-527: Was known as the " Christmas Offensive ". During this offensive, the Italians were forced back in places and put on the defensive. In early 1936, the First Battle of Tembien stopped the progress of the Ethiopian offensive and the Italians were ready to continue their offensive. Following the defeat and destruction of the northern Ethiopian armies at the Battle of Amba Aradam , the Second Battle of Tembien , and

10272-551: Was met by forces loyal to Negus Tafari and was defeated at the Battle of Anchem . Gugsa Welle was killed in action . News of Gugsa Welle's defeat and death had hardly spread through Addis Ababa when the Empress died suddenly on 2 April 1930. Although it was long rumored that the Empress was poisoned upon her husband's defeat, or alternately that she died from shock upon hearing of the death of her estranged yet beloved husband, it has since been documented that Zewditu succumbed to paratyphoid fever and complications from diabetes after

10379-539: Was overthrown by the Derg in the 1974 Ethiopian coup d'état . With support from the Soviet Union , the Derg began governing Ethiopia as a Marxist–Leninist state . In 1994, three years after the fall of the Derg military junta , it was revealed to the public that the Derg had assassinated Haile Selassie at the Jubilee Palace in Addis Ababa on 27 August 1975. On 5 November 2000, his excavated remains were buried at

10486-634: Was overwhelmed by the early 1970s. In 1973, severe drought killed 100,000 people in Wollo and Tigray, which notably degraded his public image. In February 1974, mutinies broke out in the military over low payment and secessionist conflicts in Eritrea . In June 1974, the Derg , as it would later be known, was established as the Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, Police and Territorial Army . In less than three months, it rapidly grew enough to topple

10593-596: Was particularly troublesome. The revenues he remitted to the central government did not reflect the accrued profits and Tafari recalled him to Addis Ababa. The old man came in high dudgeon and, insultingly, with a large army. The Dejazmatch paid homage to Empress Zewditu, but snubbed Tafari. On 18 February, while Balcha Safo and his personal bodyguard were in Addis Ababa, Tafari had Ras Kassa Haile Darge buy off Balcha Safo's army, and arranged to have him replaced as Shum of Sidamo Province by Birru Wolde Gabriel – who himself

10700-523: Was proclaimed as the new Emperor of Ethiopia . On the previous day, the Ethiopian exiles had left French Somaliland aboard the British cruiser HMS Enterprise . They were bound for Jerusalem in the British Mandate of Palestine , where the Ethiopian imperial family maintained a residence. The family disembarked at Haifa and then went on to Jerusalem. Once there, Haile Selassie and his retinue prepared to make their case at Geneva. The choice of Jerusalem

10807-432: Was replaced by Desta Damtew . Even so, the gesture of Balcha Safo empowered Empress Zewditu politically and she attempted to have Tafari tried for treason . He was tried for his benevolent dealings with Italy including a 20-year peace accord that was signed on 2 August. In September, a group of palace reactionaries including some courtiers of the Empress made a final bid to get rid of Tafari . The attempted coup d'état

10914-443: Was still "semi-feudal", and the Emperor's attempts to alter its social and economic form by reforming its modes of taxation met with resistance from the nobility and clergy, which were eager to resume their privileges in the post-war era. Where Haile Selassie actually did succeed in effecting new land taxes, the burdens were often still passed by the landowners onto the peasants. Between 1941 and 1959, Haile Selassie worked to establish

11021-425: Was taken into custody by Gugsa Araya Selassie . On 11 February 1917, the coronation for Zewditu took place. She pledged to rule justly through her regent, Tafari. While Tafari was the more visible of the two, Zewditu was not simply an honorary ruler, but she did have some political restraints due to the complicated nature of her position compared to other Ethiopian monarchs, one was that it required that she arbitrate

11128-483: Was the designated but uncrowned emperor of Ethiopia from 1913 to 1916. Iyasu's reputation for scandalous behavior and a disrespectful attitude towards the nobles at the court of his grandfather, Menelik II, damaged his reputation. Iyasu's flirtation with Islam was considered treasonous among the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian leadership of the empire. On 27 September 1916, Iyasu was deposed. Contributing to

11235-416: Was to manage its finances, defense, and foreign policy. Despite his centralisation policies that had been made before World War II, Haile Selassie still found himself unable to push for all the programmes he wanted. In 1942, he attempted to institute a progressive tax scheme, but this failed due to opposition from the nobility, and only a flat tax was passed; in 1951, he agreed to reduce this as well. Ethiopia

11342-477: Was tragic in its origins and comic in its end. When confronted by Tafari and a company of his troops, the ringleaders of the coup took refuge on the palace grounds in Menelik's mausoleum. Tafari and his men surrounded them, only to be surrounded themselves by the personal guard of Zewditu. More of Tafari's khaki clad soldiers arrived and decided the outcome in his favor with superiority of arms. Popular support, as well as

11449-460: Was unveiled on Saturday, 25 June 2011. As part of the ceremony, a delegation from the Rastafari movement gave a short address and a drum recital. Haile Selassie's activity in this period was focused on countering Italian propaganda as to the Ethiopian resistance and the legality of the occupation. He spoke out against the desecration of houses of worship and historical artifacts, including the theft of

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