Haile Selassie -- Ethiopia

Haile Selassie I ("Power of the Trinity") born 23 July 1892, as Tafari Makonnen, he was Ethiopia's regent from 1916 to 1930 and Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974.  He was the heir to a dynasty that traced its origins back to King Solomon and Queen Makeda, Empress of Axum, and known as the Queen of Sheba.  Haile Selassie is a defining figure in both Ethiopian and African history.

His mother was Yeshimbet Ali Abajiffar and his father was Ras Makonnen Wolde Michael, Governor of Harrar, relative of Emperor Menelik II, and a former general who had played a key role in the 1896 Battle of Adwa where Ethiopia defeated the invading Italian Army to become the only African state to retain its independence by military action.  

Haile Selassie is revered as the returned messiah of the Bible, God incarnate, among the Rastafari movement.  

This began in Jamaica during the 1930s, and perceives Haile Selassie as the Messiah who will lead a future golden age of eternal peace, righteousness, and prosperity.  Rasta’s also refer to Selassie as HIM ( His Imperial Majesty), Jah, and Jah Rastafari. Haile Selassie was a direct descendent from Makeda, the Queen of Sheba, and King Solomon of ancient Israel.  Ras Tafari Makonnen; "Ras" translates to "head" (equivalent of duke or prince ) Tafari, in Amharic means "one who is respected", while Haile means "Power of" and Selassie means trinity.  

After the death of Empress Zauditu on 2 November 1930, Ras Tafari Makonnen was crowned emperor and took as his regnal name "Haile Selassie", meaning "Power of the Trinity". His full title in office was "His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I, King of Kings (Emperor) of Ethiopia, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Elect of God".  The title reflects Ethiopian dynastic traditions, that all monarchs must trace their lineage back to Menelik I, who was the son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.  Tafari assumed the titular governorship of Selale in 1906, a realm of marginal importance, in 1907 he was appointed governor over part of the province of Sidamo.  On 3 August he married Menen Asfaw of Ambassel, niece of heir to the throne Lij Iyasu.  Tafari was made governor of Harar in 1910, Iyasu V, or Lij Iyasu, was the uncrowned Emperor of Ethiopia from 1913 to 1916. Iyasu's reputation for scandalous behaviour and a disrespectful attitude towards the nobles at the court of Menelik II, and his flirtation with Islam damaged his reputation. On 27 September 1916, Iyasu was deposed on the grounds of conversion to Islam. 

Empress Zewditu was made Regent, while Tafari was elevated to the rank of Ras, heir apparent and Crown Prince.  The coronation for Zewditu took place on 11 February 1917, she pledged to rule justly through her Regent. Tafari was the more visible of the two, but Zewditu was far from an honorary ruler. During his Regency, the new Crown Prince developed the policy of cautious modernisation initiated by Menelik II and he secured Ethiopia's admission to the League of Nations in 1923. In 1924, Ras Tafari toured Europe and the Middle East, the primary goal of the trip to Europe was for Ethiopia to gain access to the sea, but this goal would not be realised.  Tafari remained wary of European pressure and to guard against economic imperialism, Tafari required that all enterprises have at least partial local ownership.  During his modernisation campaign, he remarked, "We need European progress only because we are surrounded by it, that is at once a benefit and a misfortune." In return for a gift of two lions, the United Kingdom presented Ras Tafari with the imperial crown of Emperor Tewodros II for its safe return to Empress Zewditu, Robert Napier had taken the crown during the 1868 Expedition to Abyssinia.

7 October 1928, Tafari was crowned as King, he occupied the same territory as the Empress rather than his own regional kingdom of the empire. Two monarchs, even with one being the vassal and the other the emperor or empress, had never occupied the same location as their seat in Ethiopian history. Conservatives agitated to redress this perceived insult to the dignity of the crown, led to the rebellion of Ras Gugsa Welle.  

In early 1930, he raised an army and marched on Addis Ababa, on 31 March 1930, Gugsa Welle was met by forces loyal to Negus Tafari and was defeated at the Battle of Anchem.  Tafari himself rose to emperor and was proclaimed Neguse Negest ze-'Ityopp'ya, "King of Kings of Ethiopia".  He was crowned on the  02 November 1930 and introduced Ethiopia's first written constitution on the 16 July 1931.

Ethiopia became the target of renewed Italian imperialist designs in the 1930s.  Benito Mussolini's Fascist regime was keen to avenge the military defeats Italy had suffered to Ethiopia in the First Italo-Abyssinian War.  A conquest of Ethiopia would also provide a bridge between Italy's Eritrean and Italian Somaliland possessions.  Following the 5 December 1934 Italian invasion of Ethiopia at Walwal Ogeden Province, Haile Selassie joined his northern armies and set up headquarters at Desse in Wollo province.”

In early October 1935, the Italians defeated the northern Ethiopian armies at the Battle of Amba Aradam, the Second Battle of Tembien, and the Battle of Shire. Haile Selassie took the field with the last Ethiopian army on the northern front, then on 31 March 1936, he launched a counter attack against the Italians at the Battle of Maychew in southern Tigray, but the emperor's army was defeated and had to retreat.