King of Kings:
Diplomacy, Ritual, and
Modernity at the Ethiopian
Court (1941-1974)
Lecture 23
Ras Tafari Makonnen
with his family in 1928,
already serving as regent
To Empress Zewditu
two years before his coronation
as Haile Selassie
Haile Selassie’s address to the League of Nations
June 30, 1936
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 Saint 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.
[104]Haile Selassie’s speech:
May 5, 1941
British and Ethiopians
force Italian withdrawal
From Ethiopia
Britain and Italy
maintain control
of Somali coast
Eritrea and Ogaden region
both placed under
Lion of Judah monument
By French sculptor Georges Gardet Addis, 1930
Preparations for
visit by King Hussein
Prime minister Banda of Malawi in 1965
“This is a historic occasion, one unique so far in the history of Malawi…we have had the privilege of welcoming and entertaining in our midst the one leader in all Africa who has been responsible for more than anyone else for the birth of the true spirit among Africans, the true spirit of African Unity. He has also been responsible for the coming into being of the
1.When His Most Exalted Majesty left the room, it was I who opened the door. It was an art to open the door at the right time, the exact instance. To open the door too early would have been reprehensible, as if I were hurrying the Emperor out. If I opened it too late, on the other hand, His Sublime Highness would have to slow down, or perhaps even stop, which would detract from his lordly dignity, a dignity that meant getting round without collisions or obstacles (27).
1.When His Most Exalted Majesty
left the room, it was I who opened
the door. It was an art to open the
door at the right time, the exact
instance. To open the door too
early would have been
reprehensible, as if I were hurrying
the Emperor out. If I opened it too
late, on the other hand, His
Sublime Highness would have to
slow down, or perhaps even stop,
which would detract from his lordly
dignity, a dignity that meant getting
round without collisions or
obstacles (27).
2.
1.When His Most Exalted Majesty left the room, it was I who opened the door. It was an art to open the door at the right time, the exact instance. To open the door too early would have been reprehensible, as if I were hurrying the Emperor out. If I opened it too late, on the other hand, His Sublime Highness would have to slow down, or perhaps even stop, which would detract from his lordly dignity, a dignity that meant getting round without collisions or obstacles (27).
1.My dear brother, the Hour of
Assignments set the whole Palace
trembling! For some, it was the
trembling of joy, and a deeply
sensuous delight; for others, well, it
was the trembling of fear and
catastrophe, since in that hour His
Distinguished Majesty not only
handed out prizes and distributed
nominations and plums, but also
punished, removed from office, and
demoted. No, I’ve got it wrong.
Really there was no division into
happy and frightened ones: joy and
fear simultaneously filled the heart of
everyone summoned to the
Audience Hall, since no one knew
what awaited him there (28).
1.“Sometimes he stops before the lions’ cage to throw him a leg of veal that a servant has handed to him. He watches the lions’ rapacity and smiles. Then he approaches the leopards, which are chained, and gives them ribs of beef” (Kapuscinski, The Emperor, 9).
“In this sense a judgment of him depends on how you see his achievements. Here lies a paradox. His reputation is enormous, his admirers are worldwide.
He is seen as great modernizer, as an international statesman, as a foresighted monarch. Yet Ethiopia remains one of the least developed countries in the
world, operating under a feudal system that still permeates both Amhara and non-Amhara parts of the
country, with a more or less continuous series of internal troubles over the last thirty years…
On the one hand can be listed the number of schools, factories, hospitals, roads, the ministerial system, a centralized bureaucracy, a Parliament, and modern army and tax structure. By comparison with what there was when Haile Selassie became Crown Prince
the contrast is great.
Another way of looking at it is to say that only 8 per cent of the school-age children were in school in 1970,
there is only one hospital per 300,000 people (primarily in Addis and Asmara), most of the country is
still without roads, the Parliament is a rubber stamp, the army largely involved in putting down revolts caused by bad government, taxation hardly touch the wealthy and famine in 1973 killed 100,000 people. This
has take fifty-eight years to achieve. Both ways of summing up the achievements of Haile Selassie’s rule
are vlid — one’s choice depends upon one’s own prejudices and priorities.
Patrick Gilkes, The Dying Lion: Feudalism and Modernization
