History of The Piece
The future emperor of Ethiopia was born Tafari Makonnen, (Ethiopian, 1892–1975) son of an advisor to Emperor Menelik II. At fourteen, he was appointed a regional governor, where he made a reputation as a progressive and effective administrator. In 1916, under Empress Zauditu, Tafari became regent and the effective ruler of Ethiopia; he took the title Haile Selassie upon being crowned emperor in 1930. Starting in the 1920s, he undertook a vigorous modernization program, building schools, creating a standing army, strengthening the government bureaucracy, enacting a constitution, and bringing Ethiopia into the League of Nations. But Italy invaded Ethiopia in 1935, forcing the emperor into exile. In June 1936, Selassie addressed the League of Nations in Geneva, requesting help against the invaders and warning: “It is us today. It will be you tomorrow.”
Restored to power after Ethiopian and British troops defeated the Italians in 1941, Selassie continued over the next three decades to pursue economic development and social modernization. He did not, however, offer more than token democratic participation, nor did he carry out land reform on behalf of the country’s peasants. Dissent began to build in the 1960s and crested in 1974, when the country was hit by a famine. Confined to his palace after a military rebellion in 1974, Selassie died the next year under suspicious circumstances.