Debre Ganet Kidus Gabriel
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, In N.J., Inc
His Imperial Majesty
Emperor Haile Selassie, The First
During his regency, the new Crown Prince developed the policy of cautious modernization initiated by Menelik II. Also during this time he survived the flu epidemic, having come down with the illness. He secured Ethiopia's admission to the League of Nations in 1923 by promising to eradicate slavery. In 1924, Ras Tafari toured Europe and the Middle East, visiting Jerusalem, Cairo, Alexander Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Stokhokm, London, Geneva and Athens. 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.
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Throughout Ras Tafari's travel in Europe, the Levant and Egypt, he and his entourage were greeted with enthusiasm and fascination.
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The "Oriental Dignity" of the Ethiopians and their "rich picturesque court dress" were sensationalized in the media. Among his entourage the even included a pride of lions which he distributed as gifts to the President and Prime Minister of France, to King George V of the United Kingdom and to the Zoological Garden of Paris.
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In 1926, Tafari took control of the army, and action that made him strong enough to assume the title of Negus {king}. When Empress Zawditu died suddenly on April 2, 1930, Tafari rose as Emperor and was proclaimed Kings of Kings of Ethiopia." On November 2, 1930, Ras Tafari was crowned as Emperor at Addis Ababa's Cathedral of St. George. Upon ascending the throne he took the regnal name Haile Selassie I. His full title in office was "The Conquering Lion of Judah, His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie the First, King of Kings of Ethiopia, Elect of God." This title reflect Ethiopia's dynastic tradition, which hold that all monarchs must trace their lineage to Menelik I who in Ethiopian tradition was the offspring of King Somomon and the Queen of Sheba.
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The coronation was by all accounts "a most splendid affair" and it was attended by royals and dignitaries from all over the world.
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Haile Selassie introduced Ethiopia's first written constitution on July 16, 1931, providing for bicameral legislature. This symbolized his interest in modernization and intention to increase the power of the government which had been weakening since the death of Menelik. His efforts were cut short, however, when Benito Mussolini's Italy invaded the country in 1935. The Italians who were defeated in the previous war with Ethiopia, battle of Adwa, held bitter feelings and desired conquest. The italian military used superior weaponry, airplanes, and poison gas to crush the ill fated resistance led by the Emperor. It is important to know, that the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, blessed the Ialian army, to invade Ethiopia and commit some of the most brutal war crimes on the defenseless nation; these events we will never forget.
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Haile Selassie's Royal Line {through his father and mother} originated from the Amhara people, but he also had Oromo and Gurage roots. He was born on July 23, 1892 in the village of Ejersa Goro, in the Harar province of Ethiopia. As a child he was known as Lij Tafari Mekonnen.
Lij means child and serves to indicate that a youth is of noble blood. His given name Tafari, means "one who is respected or feared." His Ge'ez name Haile Selassie was given to hymn at his infant baptism and means "Power of the Trinity."
His mother was Woizero {Lady} Yeshimebeth. Tafari's father was Ras Makonnen Wolde Mikael, the governor of Harar. Ras Makonnen served as a general in the First Italian-Ethiopian war, playing a key role at the battle of Adowa.
Haile Selassie was thus able to ascend the Imperial throne through his paternal grandmother, Woizero Tenagne Work Sahle Selassie, who was aunt of Emperor Menelik II and daughter of Negus Sehle Selassie of Shoa. As such, Haile Selassie had direct descent from Makeda, the Queen of Sheba, and King Solomon of ancient Israel, two ancient rulers from the 10th Centuiry BC. Raised as a Christian, Tafari was educated by private European tutors.
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Haile Selassie spent his youth at the Imperial Court of Emperor Menelik at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Menelik recognized Tafari's capacity for hard work, his excellent memory and his mastery of detail. The emperor rewarded the youth's intellectual and personal capabilities by appointing him at the age of fourteen, the governor of Gora Muleta in the province of Harar. When he was twenty, the emperor appointed him Dejzmatch {commander} of the extensive province of Sidamo.
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Upon the death of Menelik in 1913, his Grandon, Lij Iyasu succeeded the throne. Iyasus's apparent conversion to the religion of Islam alienated the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian leadership, who gave their favor to the opposition movement led by Ras Tafari {as Haile Selassie was now named, Ras meaning head or prince}.
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On September 27, 1916, Iyasu was deposed. In his place, the daughter of Menelik II, Zawditu was named Empress and Ras Tafari made heir apparent and Crown Prince. In the power arrangement that followed, Tafari accepted the role of Regent Plenipotentiary and became the de facto ruler of the Ethiopian Empire. Zawditu would govern while Tafari would administer.
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