Haile Selassie

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Haile Selassie I was the Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He was born Tafari Makonnen in 1892 and belonged to the Solomonic royal line. Before becoming emperor, he acted as the country’s regent (the government’s true leader) from 1916 to 1930, while Empress Zewditu ruled the surface of the throne.

Selassie became emperor after Zewditu’s death and took the name Haile Selassie I. He aimed to modernize Ethiopia and introduced the first written constitution in 1931, which created a two-house parliament but kept real power mainly in the hands of the royal and noble families.

In the mid-1930s, Italy invaded Ethiopia. Selassie led the resistance from exile after Addis Ababa fell to Italian forces in 1936. He spoke to the League of Nations and became a symbol of anti-fascist resistance. He returned to Ethiopia in 1941 with Allied help and helped drive the Italians out.

After the war, Selassie worked to strengthen Ethiopia on the world stage. He helped Ethiopia join the United Nations and, in 1963, helped form the Organization of African Unity (the forerunner of the African Union) and served as its first chair. He pushed for African unity and ideas like a “United States of Africa,” though the plan faced resistance at home.

Selassie also focused on modernization in education, taxation, and church affairs. He ended slavery in Ethiopia in law and tried to reform the tax system, though old feudal power remained strong. He maintained close ties with Western nations and supported UN peacekeeping missions.

Erik (Eritrea) and the federation of Eritrea with Ethiopia became big issues during his reign. Eritrea fought for independence, and the federation was dissolved in the early 1960s, leading to a long war that lasted many years.

In the 1970s, famine and rising costs hurt the country, sparking protests and military mutinies. In 1974, the military group known as the Derg deposed Selassie. He was imprisoned and later killed in 1975, in a move that ended the Solomonic dynasty for a time.

Outside Ethiopia, Selassie left a lasting mark. Rastafari followers in Jamaica worship him as a divine figure, and he became a global symbol of African dignity and anti-colonial spirit. He is remembered for helping Ethiopia stand up to foreign aggression and for his work to connect Africa with the wider world, even as his own people faced hardship at home.