Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia Totally Explained

Everything about Haile Selassie I totally explained

Haile Selassie I (Ge'ez:, "Power of the Trinity"; July 23, 1892 August 27, 1975), born Tafari Makonnen, was Ethiopia's regent from 1916 to 1930 and Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. The heir to a dynasty that traced its origins to the 13th century, and from there by tradition back to King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, Haile Selassie is a prominent figure in Ethiopian and African history. To the Rastafari movement, which has a million adherents worldwide, he's considered to be the religious symbol of God incarnate.
   Being born from parents of the three main Ethiopian ethnicities and after having played a leading role in the formation of the African Union, Haile Selassie was known as a uniting figure both inside Ethiopia and around Africa.
   Haile Selassie's 45-year reign made Ethiopia into a bulwark of sovereignty and stability on the African continent in the 20th century. As many African states were emerging from colonialism, Haile Selassie was modernizing Ethiopia's ancient African civilization. For most of his reign, he enjoyed immense popularity both at home and abroad. His suppression of rebellions among the nobility, as well as what some, such as fascist Italy, perceived to be Ethiopia's failure to modernize adequately, earned him criticism among some contemporaries and historians, however.
   At the League of Nations in 1936, the Emperor's protest of the use of chemical weapons against his people foreshadowed not only the worldwide conflict that was to come, but also the advent of the technological "refinement of barbarism" that would come to mark modern warfare. Selassie was a gifted speaker, and some of his speeches have been counted among the most memorable of the twentieth century.

Name

Haile Selassie I was born Lij Tafari Makonnen (Ge'ez ; Amharic pronunciation lij teferī mekōnnin). "Lij" translates literally to "child", and serves to indicate that a youth is of noble blood. He would later become Ras Tafari Mekonnen; "Ras" translates literally to "head" and is the equivalent of "duke", though it's often rendered in translation as "prince". In 1928, he was elevated to Negus, "King".
Upon his ascension to Emperor in 1930, he took the name Haile Selassie, meaning "Power of the Trinity". Haile Selassie's full title in office was "His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, King of Kings of Ethiopia and Elect of God" (Ge'ez ; girmāwī ḳadāmāwī 'aṣē ḫāylē śillāsē, mō'ā 'anbassā za'imnaggada yīhūda nigūsa nagast za'ītyōṗṗyā, siyūma 'igzī'a'bihēr). This title reflects Ethiopian dynastic traditions, which hold that all monarchs must trace their lineage back to Menelik I, who in the Ethiopian tradition was the offspring of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.
To Ethiopians Haile Selassie has been known by many names, including Janhoy, Talaqu Meri, and Abba Tekel. The Rastafari employ many of these appellations, also referring to him as HIM, Jah and Jah Rastafari.

Biography

Early life

Haile Selassie I was born Tafari Makonnen from a mixed Oromo, Amhara, and Gurage He inherited his imperial blood through his paternal grandmother, Princess Tenagnework Sahle Selassie, who was an aunt of Emperor Menelik II, and as such asserted 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, Ras Imru Haile Selassie to receive instruction in Harar from Abba Samuel Wolde Kahin, an Ethiopian capuchin monk, and from Dr. Vitalien, 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.

Governorship

Tafari assumed the titular governorship of Selale in 1906, a realm of marginal importance but one that enabled him to continue his studies.
Following the death of his brother Yelma in 1907, the governorate of Harar was left vacant,
On 3 August he married Menen Asfaw of Ambassel, niece of heir to the throne Lij Iyasu.

Regency

The extent to which Tafari contributed to the movement that would come to depose Iyasu V is unclear. Iyasu V, or Lij Iyasu, was the designated but uncrowned Emperor of Ethiopia from 1913 to 1916. His reputation for scandalous behavior and a disrespectful attitude to the nobles at his grandfather Menelik II's court damaged his reputation, and his flirtation with Islam was considered treasonous among the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian leadership of the empire, leading to his being deposed on 27 September 1916. and Menelik II's daughter (Iyasu's aunt) was named Empress Zewditu. Tafari was elevated to the rank of Ras and was made heir apparent. In the power arrangement that followed, Tafari accepted the role of Regent (Inderase) and became the de facto ruler of the Ethiopian Empire.
As regent, the new Crown Prince developed the policy of cautious modernization initiated by Menelik II. He secured Ethiopia's admission to the League of Nations in 1923 by promising to eradicate slavery; each emperor since Tewodros II had worked to halt slavery, but the internationally-scorned practice persisted well into Haile Selassie's reign. He toured Europe that same year, inspecting schools, hospitals, factories, and churches. Although patterning many reforms after European models, he remained wary of European pressure. To guard against economic imperialism, he required that all enterprises have at least partial local ownership. Of his modernization campaign, he remarked, "We need European progress only because we're surrounded by it. That is at once a benefit and a misfortune."
Throughout Ras Tafari's travels in Europe, the Levant, and Egypt, he and his entourage were greeted with enthusiasm and fascination. He was accompanied by two other Rases, each of whom was also the son of a general who had contributed to the victorious war against Italy a quarter century earlier. The Ethiopians' "Oriental Dignity" and "rich, picturesque court dress" were sensationalized in the media, a phenomenon the heir may have played to deliberate effect; among his entourage he even included a pride of lions, which he distributed as gifts to President Poincaré of France, George V of the United Kingdom, and the Zoological Garden of Paris. The prince arranged for the musical education of the youths, and they came to form the imperial brass band.

King and Emperor

Tafari's authority was challenged in 1928 when veteran General Balcha Safo marched on Addis Ababa. The general paid homage to the Empress, but snubbed Tafari. The gesture empowered Empress Zewditu politically, and she attempted to have Tafari tried for treason, for his benevolent dealings with Italy, which included a 20-year peace accord. When popular support, as well as the support of the police, News of Gugsa Wele'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 the defeat of her husband, or alternately that she died from shock upon hearing of the death of her estranged yet beloved husband, it has since been documented that the Empress succumbed to a flu-like fever and complications from diabetes. With the passing of Zewditu, 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 the world. Among those in attendance were George V's son Prince Henry, Marshal Franchet d'Esperey of France, and the Prince of Udine representing Italy. Emissaries from the United States, Egypt, Turkey, Sweden, Belgium, and Japan were also present. Many of those in attendance received lavish gifts; in one instance, the Christian Emperor even sent a gold-encased bible to an American bishop who hadn't attended the coronation, but who had dedicated a prayer to 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 established democratic standards among the nobility, envisaging a transition to democratic rule: it would prevail "until the people are in a position to elect themselves". A conquest of Ethiopia could also empower the cause of fascism and embolden its rhetoric of empire.
   Haile Selassie's role in the Second Italo-Abyssinian War was multi-faceted, as he served at the forefront of both the military and diplomatic efforts. Just prior to the Italian invasion of 3 October 1935, the Emperor massed his forces with the beating of the Negaret, the traditional Ethiopian war drum. He advised his troops to prepare for asymmetric warfare against Italian forces, and to utilize guerrilla tactics: "Be cunning, be savage... [D]o not mass as now, hide, strike suddenly; fight the nomad war".
   The Italians had an advanced, modern military, including a large air force. The Italians would also come to employ chemical weapons extensively throughout the conflict, even targeting Red Cross field hospitals in violation of the Geneva Convention. Following the defeat of the northern armies of Ras Seyoum Mengesha in Tigray, Haile Selassie made a stand against them himself at Maychew in southern Tigray. His army was defeated and retreated in disarray, and he found himself attacked by rebellious Raya and Azebo tribesmen, who had themselves been armed by the Italians.
   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 couldn't be defended, the government would relocate to the southern town of Gore, and that in the interest of preserving the Imperial house, the Emperor's wife Menen Asfaw and the rest of the Imperial family should immediately depart for Djibouti, 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 Haile Selassie should leave Ethiopia with his family and present the case of Ethiopia to the League of Nations at Geneva. The decision wasn't unanimous and several participants, including the nobleman Blatta Takele, 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 Djibouti on 2 May 1936.
   Marshal Pietro Badoglio led Italian troops into Addis Ababa on May 5, and Mussolini declared Ethiopia an Italian province and Victor Emanuel III its new emperor. Haile Selassie boarded a British ship at Djibouti, bound for Palestine. The Imperial family disembarked at Haifa and then went on to Jerusalem, where Haile Selassie and his retinue prepared to make their case at Geneva.

Collective security and The League of Nations, 1936

Mussolini, upon invading Ethiopia, had promptly declared his own "Italian empire"; because the League of Nations afforded Haile Selassie the opportunity to address the assembly, Italy even withdrew its League delegation, on May 12, 1936. It was in this context that Haile Selassie walked into the hall of the League of Nations, introduced by the President of the Assembly as "Sa Majesté Imperiale, l'Empereur d'Ethiopie" ("His Imperial Majesty, the Emperor of Ethiopia"). The introduction caused a great many Italian journalists in the galleries to erupt into jeering, heckling, and whistling. As it turned out, they'd earlier been issued whistles by Mussolini's son-in-law, Count Galeazzo Ciano. Haile Selassie waited calmly for the hall to be cleared, and responded "majestically" with a speech often considered among the most stirring of the twentieth century.
Although fluent in French, the working language of the League, Haile Selassie chose to deliver his historic speech in his native Amharic. He asserted that, because his "confidence in the League was absolute", his people were now being slaughtered. He pointed out that the same European states that found in Ethiopia's favor at the League of Nations were refusing Ethiopia credit and war matériel while aiding Italy, which was employing chemical weapons on military and civilian targets alike.

It was at the time when the operations for the encircling of Makale were taking place that the Italian command, fearing a rout, followed the procedure which it's now my duty to denounce to the world. Special sprayers were installed on board aircraft so that they could vaporize, over vast areas of territory, a fine, death-dealing rain. Groups of nine, fifteen, eighteen aircraft followed one another so that the fog issuing from them formed a continuous sheet. It was thus that, as from the end of January 1936, soldiers, women, children, cattle, rivers, lakes, and pastures were drenched continually with this deadly rain. In order to kill off systematically all living creatures, in order to more surely poison waters and pastures, the Italian command made its aircraft pass over and over again. That was its chief method of warfare.

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 the most death-dealing weapons", he contended that all small states were threatened by the aggression, 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."
The speech made the Emperor an icon for anti-Fascists around the world, and Time Magazine named him "Man of the Year." He failed, however, to get what he most needed: the League agreed to only partial and ineffective sanctions on Italy, and several members even recognized the Italian conquest. He spoke out against the desecration of houses of worship and historical artifacts (including the theft of 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",
The Emperor's pleas for international support did take root in the United States, particularly among African American organizations 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. Rather than canceling the radio appearance, he proceeded in much pain to complete the address, in which he linked Christianity and goodwill with the Covenant of the League of Nations, and asserted that "War isn't the only means to stop war": The Emperor's daughter, Princess Romanework, wife of Dejazmach Beyene Merid, was herself taken into captivity with her children, and she died in Italy in 1941. His daughter Tsehai died during childbirth shortly after the restoration in 1942.
After his return to Ethiopia, he donated Fairfield House to the city of Bath as a residence for the aged, and it remains so to this day.

1940s and 1950s

British forces, which consisted primarily of Ethiopian-backed African and South African colonial troops under the "Gideon Force" of Colonel Orde Wingate, coordinated the military effort to liberate Ethiopia. The Emperor himself issued several imperial proclamations in this period, demonstrating that, while authority wasn't divided up in any formal way, British military might and the Emperor's populist appeal could be joined in the concerted effort to liberate Ethiopia. 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, five years to the day since his 1936 exile:

Today is the day on which we defeated our enemy. Therefore, when We say let us rejoice with our hearts, let not our rejoicing be in any other way but in the spirit of Christ. Do not return evil for evil. Do not indulge in the atrocities which the enemy has been practicing in his usual way, even to the last.

Take care not to spoil the good name of Ethiopia by acts which are worthy of the enemy. We shall see that our enemies are disarmed and sent out the same way they came. As St. George who killed the dragon is the Patron Saint of our army as well as of our allies, let us unite with our allies in everlasting friendship and amity in order to be able to stand against the godless and cruel dragon which has newly risen and which is oppressing mankind.

After World War II, Ethiopia became a charter member of the United Nations. In 1948, the Ogaden, a region disputed with Somalia, 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 was to manage its finances, defense, and foreign policy. Ethiopia 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 postwar era. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church had been headed by the abuna, a bishop who answered to the Partriarchate in Egypt. Haile Selassie applied to Egypt's Holy Synod in 1942 and 1945 to establish the independence of Ethiopian bishops, and when his appeals were denied he threatened to sever relations with the See of St. Mark. In a 1954 speech, the Emperor spoke of Ethiopian participation in the Korean conflict as a redemption of the principles of collective security:

Nearly two decades ago, I personally assumed before history the responsibility of placing the fate of my beloved people on the issue of collective security, for surely, at that time and for the first time in world history, that issue was posed in all its clarity. My searching of conscience convinced me of the rightness of my course and if, after untold sufferings and, indeed, unaided resistance at the time of aggression, we now see the final vindication of that principle in our joint action in Korea, I can only be thankful that God gave me strength to persist in our faith until the moment of its recent glorious vindication.

During the celebrations of his Silver Jubilee in November 1955, Haile Selassie introduced a revised constitution, whereby he retained effective power, while extending political participation to the people by allowing the lower house of parliament to become an elected body. Party politics were not provided for. Modern educational methods were more widely spread throughout the Empire, and the country embarked on a development scheme and plans for modernization, tempered by Ethiopian traditions, and within the framework of the ancient monarchical structure of the state.
   Haile Selassie compromised when practical with the traditionalists in the nobility and church. He also tried to improve relations between the state and ethnic groups, and granted autonomy to Afar lands that were difficult to control. Still, his reforms to end feudalism were slow and weakened by the compromises he made with the entrenched aristocracy. The Revised Constitution of 1955 has been criticized for reasserting "the indisputable power of the monarch" and maintaining the relative powerlessness of the peasants. The coup attempt has been characterized as a pivotal moment in Ethiopian history, the point at which Ethiopians "for the first time questioned the power of the king to rule without the people's consent". Student populations began to empathize with the peasantry and poor, and to advocate on their behalf. between 1972-74. Although the region is infamous for recurrent crop failures and continuous food shortage and starvation risk, this episode was remarkably severe. It led to the 1973 production of the BBC program "The Unknown Famine" by Jonathan Dimbleby. Dimbleby's report suggested a far higher death toll than was born out by the facts, stimulating a massive influx of aid while at the same time destabilizing Haile Selassie's regime.]]
   Some reports suggest that the Emperor was unaware of the extent of the famine, while others assert that he was well aware of it. In addition to the exposure of attempts by corrupt local officials to cover up the famine from the Imperial government, the media's depiction of Haile Selassie's Ethiopia as backwards and inept (relative to the purported utopia of Marxism-Leninism) contributed to the popular uprising that led to its downfall and the rise of Mengistu Haile Mariam. The famine and its image in the media undermined popular support of the government, and Haile Selassie's once unassailable personal popularity fell.
   The crisis was exacerbated by military mutinies and high oil prices, the latter a result of the 1973 oil crisis. The international economic crisis triggered by the oil crisis caused the costs of imported goods, gasoline, and food to skyrocket, while unemployment spiked. Haile Selassie again went on television to agree to the army's demands for still greater pay, and named Endalkatchew Makonnen as his new Prime Minister. However, despite Endalkatchew's many concessions, discontent continued in March with a four-day general strike that paralyzed the nation.
   The Derg, a committee of low-ranking military officers and enlisted men, set up in June to investigate the military's demands, took advantage of the government's disarray to depose Haile Selassie on 12 September 1974. General Aman Mikael Andom, a Protestant of Eritrean origin,
   Later, most of the Imperial family was imprisoned in the Addis Ababa prison known as "Alem Bekagn", or "I am finished with the world". On 23 November, 1974, 60 former high officials of the Imperial government, known as "the Sixty", were executed without trial. The executed included Haile Selassie's grandson and two former Prime Ministers. His doctor, Asrat Woldeyes, denied that complications had occurred and rejected the government version of his death. Some imperial loyalists believed that the Emperor had been killed, and this belief remains widely held. One western correspondent in Ethiopia at the time commented, "While it isn't known what actually happened, there are strong indications that no efforts were made to save him. It is unlikely that he was actually killed. Such rumors were bound to arise no matter what happened, given the atmosphere of suspicion and distrust prevailing in Addis Ababa at the time."
   The Soviet-backed Derg fell in 1991. In 1992, the Emperor's bones were found under a concrete slab on the palace grounds; For almost a decade thereafter, as Ethiopian courts attempted to sort out the circumstances of his death, his coffin rested in Bhata Church, near his great uncle Menelik II's imperial resting place. On 5 November 2000, Haile Selassie was given an Imperial funeral by the Ethiopian Orthodox church. The post-communist government refused calls to declare the ceremony an official imperial funeral.

Children

By Menen Asfaw, Haile Selassie had six children: Princess Tenagnework, Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen, Princess Tsehai, Princess Zenebework, Prince Makonnen, and Prince Sahle Selassie.
There is some controversy as to Haile Selassie's eldest daughter, Princess Romanework Haile Selassie. While the living members of the royal family state that Romanework is the eldest daughter of Empress Menen, it has been asserted that Princess Romanework is actually the daughter of a previous union of the emperor with Woizero Altayech. The emperor's own autobiography makes no mention of a previous marriage or having fathered children with anyone other than Empress Menen.

The Rastafari Messiah

Today Haile Selassie is worshipped as the living God incarnate among followers of the Rastafari movement (taken from Haile Selassie's pre-imperial name Ras — meaning Prince — Tafari Makonnen), which emerged in Jamaica during the 1930s under the influence of Marcus Garvey's "Pan Africanism" movement, and as the Messiah who will lead the peoples of Africa and the African diaspora to freedom. His official titles, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, King of Kings and Elect of God, and his traditional lineage from Solomon and Sheba, are perceived by Rastafarians as confirmation of the return of the Messiah in the prophetic Book of Revelation in the New Testament: King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah and Root of David. Rastafari faith in the incarnate divinity of Haile Selassie began after news reports of his coronation reached Jamaica, particularly via the two Time magazine articles on the coronation the week before and the week after the event. Haile Selassie's own perspectives permeate the philosophy of the movement.
   In 1961, the Jamaican government sent a delegation composed of both Rastafarian and non-Rastafarian leaders to Ethiopia to discuss the matter of repatriation, among other issues, with the Emperor. He reportedly told the Rastafarian delegation, which included Mortimer Planno, "Tell the Brethren to be not dismayed, I personally will give my assistance in the matter of repatriation."
   When Haile Selassie visited Jamaica on 21 April 1966, somewhere around one hundred thousand Rastafari from all over Jamaica descended on Palisadoes Airport in Kingston, having heard that the man whom they considered to be their Messiah was coming to visit them. Spliffs and chalices were openly smoked, causing "a haze of ganja smoke" to drift through the air. When Haile Selassie arrived at the airport, he was unable to come down the mobile steps of the airplane, as the crowd rushed the tarmac. He then returned into the plane, disappearing for several more minutes. Finally Jamaican authorities were obliged to request Ras Mortimer Planno, a well-known Rasta leader, to climb the steps, enter the plane, and negotiate the Emperor's descent. When Planno reemerged, he announced to the crowd: "The Emperor has instructed me to tell you to be calm. Step back and let the Emperor land". This day, widely held by scholars to be a major turning point for the movement, is still commemorated by Rastafarians as Grounation Day, the anniversary of which is celebrated as the second holiest holiday after November 2, the Emperor's Coronation Day. From then on, as a result of Planno's actions, the Jamaican authorities were asked to ensure that Rastafarian representatives were present at all state functions attended by His Majesty, and Rastafarian elders also ensured that they obtained a private audience with the Emperor, where he reportedly told them that they shouldn't emigrate to Ethiopia until they'd first liberated the people of Jamaica. This dictum came to be known as "liberation before repatriation".
   Defying expectations of the Jamaican authorities, Selassie never rebuked the Rastafari for their belief in him as the returned Jesus. Instead, he presented the movement's faithful elders with gold medallions – the only recipients of such an honor on this visit. During PNP leader (later Jamaican Prime Minister) Michael Manley's visit to Ethiopia in October 1969, the Emperor allegedly still recalled his 1966 reception with amazement, and stated that he felt he'd to be respectful of their beliefs. This was the visit when Manley received as a present from the Emperor, the infamous Rod of Correction or Rod of Joshua that's thought to have greatly helped him to win the 1972 election in Jamaica. Rita Marley, Bob Marley's wife, converted to the Rastafari faith after seeing Haile Selassie on his Jamaican trip. She claimed, in interviews and in her book No Woman, No Cry that she saw a stigmata print on the palm of Haile Selassie's hand (as he waved to the crowd) that resembled the envisioned markings on Christ's hands from being nailed to the cross—a claim that wasn't supported by other sources, but was used as evidence for her and other Rastafarians to suggest that Haile Selassie I was indeed their messiah. She also converted Bob Marley, who then became internationally recognized, and as a result Rastafari became much better known throughout much of the world. Bob Marley's posthumously released song Iron Lion Zion refers to Haile Selassie.

Haile Selassie's attitude to the Rastafari

Haile Selassie I was the titular head of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and, until his visit to Jamaica in 1966, he'd never confirmed nor denied that he was divine. During his visit he specifically declined to refute the Rastafari belief that he was God. After his return to Ethiopia, he dispatched Archbishop Abuna Yesehaq Mandefro to the Caribbean to help draw Rastafarians and other West Indians to the Ethiopian church and, according to some sources, denied his divinity.
In 1948, Haile Selassie donated a piece of land at Shashamane, 250 km south of Addis Ababa, for the use of Blacks from the West Indies. Numerous Rastafari families settled there and there's a community there to this day.

Famous quotations

"A house built on granite and strong foundations, not even the onslaught of pouring rain, gushing torrents and strong winds will be able to pull down. Some people have written the story of my life representing as truth what in fact derives from ignorance, error or envy; but they can't shake the truth from its place, even if they attempt to make others believe it." — Preface to My Life and Ethiopia's Progress, Autobiography of H.M. Haile Selassie I (English translation).

"That until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned: That until there are no longer first-class and second class citizens of any nation; That until the color of a man's skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes; That until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all without regard to race; That until that day, the dream of lasting peace and world citizenship and the rule of international morality will remain but a fleeting illusion, to be pursued but never attained and until the ignoble but unhappy regimes that hold our brothers in Angola, in Mozambique, and in South Africa in subhuman bondage have been toppled and destroyed; until bigotry and prejudice and malicious and inhuman self-interest have been replaced by understanding and tolerance and goodwill; until all Africans stand and speak as free human beings, equal in the eyes of the Almighty; until that day, the African continent shan't know peace. We Africans will fight if necessary and we know that we'll win as we're confident in the victory of good over evil" English translation of 1968 Speech delivered to the United Nations and popularized in a song called War by Bob Marley.

"Apart from the Kingdom of the Lord there isn't on this earth any nation that's superior to any other. Should it happen that a strong Government finds it may with impunity destroy a weak people, then the hour strikes for that weak people to appeal to the League of Nations to give its judgment in all freedom. God and history will remember your judgment." — Address to the League of Nations, 1936.

Honors

Chief Commander of the Order of the Star of Ethiopia - 1909

Grand Cordon of the Order of Solomon - 1930

Riband of the Three Military Orders Of Christ

Knight of the Order of the Most Holy Annunciation - 1928

Order of the Elephant - 1954

Order of the Golden Lion of the House of Nassau of Luxembourg - 1924

Collar of the Order of the Seraphim - 1954

Maha Chakri - 1954

Collar of the Orders of Muhammad Ali of Egypt - 1930

Grand Cordon of the Legion d'Honneur - 1924

Chief Commander of the Legion of Merit - 1945

Grand Collar of the Order of Pahlavi - 1964

Collar of the Order of the Aztec Eagle - 1954

Royal Victorian Chain - 1930

Knight of the Order of the Garter - 1954

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath - 1924

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George - 1917

Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order - 1924

Collar of the Order of the Chrysanthemum-1956 (Grand Cordon-1930)

Order of St James of the Sword of Portugal

Order of the Liberator San Martin of Argentina

Order of the Nile of Egypt

Order of Pius IX of the Vatican - 1970

Order of Idris I of Libya

Order of Independence of Tunisia

Order of Hussein ibn Ali of the Jordan

Order of Muhammad of Morocco

Chain of Honor of the Sudan

Grand Order of the Hashemites of Iraq

Order of the Crown of Italy - 1917

Order of Leopold of Belgium - 1924

Order of SS Maurice and Lazarus - 1924

Order of the Tower and Sword of Portugal - 1925

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of William - 1954

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Netherlands Lion - 1930

Order of the White Eagle of Poland - 1930

Collar of the Order of St Olav of Norway - 1949

Collar of the Order of Charles III of Spain

Collar of the Order of the White Rose of Finland

Grand Cross of the National Order of Vietnam- 1958

Order of Truth of Burma - 1958

Collar of the Order of the Southern Cross of Brazil - 1958

Collar of the Order of the Leopard of Zaire

Order of the Lion of Senegal

Order of the Lion of Malawi

Order of Valor of Cameroon

Order of the Sun of Peru

Collar of the Order of the Bust of the Liberator Simon Bolivar of Venezuela

Order of the Condor of the Andes of Bolivia

Special Grade of the Order of the Propitious Clouds of China

Order of Oummaya of Syria

Order of Mono of Togo

Order of Congolese Merit of the Republic of the Congo

Order of the Leopard of Somalia - 1960

Order of the Equatorial Star of Gabon

Order of the Federal Republic of Nigeria

Order of the Source of the Nile of Uganda

Order of the Eagle of Zambia

Special Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany - 1954

Collar of the Order of the Republic of Italy - 1955

National orders of Lebanon, Chile, Central Africa,Upper Volta, Chad, Benin, Mali, Madagascar, Mauritania, Guinea and Niger.

Collar of the National Order of Honor and Merit of Haiti - 1966

Knight Grand Band of the Order of the Pioneers of Liberia

Grand Chief of the Order of the Golden Heart of Kenya

Grand Star of the Decoration of Honor for Merit of Austria - 1954

Star of the Republic of Indonesia, 1st Class - 1958

Raja of the Order of Sikatuna of the Philippines

Commander of the Order of the Shield and Spears of Uganda - 1964

Orders of the White Lion, 1st Class, of Czechoslovakia

Order of the Yugoslavian Grand Star - 1954

Order of Pakistan, 1st Class - 1958

Order of the State Crown of Malaysia - 1968

Order of King Abdul Aziz, 1st Class, of Saudi Arabia

Order of the Star of Ghana - 1970

Banner of the People's Republic of Hungary, 1st Class with Diamonds - 1964

Military Medal of France - 1954 Further Information

Get more info on 'Haile Selassie I'.

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:

<a href="http://haile_selassie_i_of_ethiopia.totallyexplained.com">Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.