Haile Selassie: Statesman, Colonizer, God? | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

welcome to stuff you should know a. production of iHeart. [Music]. Radio hey and welcome to the podcast I'm. Josh and there's Chuck and it's just the. two of us and we are here to just wrap. it up wrap wrap wrap have a little chat. a little talk and just. rap just two of us we we do that every. time Jerry's not here we sing that song.

every time we reference it some way. shape or form it's not that great of a. song oh. God please tell me you're joking no I'm. actually not I think it's one of those. ones I've just heard too many times. oh sorry that's all right I can't listen. to Journey any longer either if that. makes you feel any better well but this. is Bill Withers all right that's a tough. one to swallow but uh I I'm sick of that. song okay.

I think um uh Austin Powers was the one. that put it over the top was it in that. movie yeah they turned it into like a. rrap what yeah with him and mini me oh. God no wonder who thought mini me was. going to show up in the highly salassi. um episode I did not until just now yeah. same here uh this is a a complicated. episode about a complicated story yeah. and the reason why we should just come. out of the gate and explain why this is. so complicated number one we're talking.

about a a human being who ruled a nation. one of the most powerful Nations on the. continent of Africa for virtually his. entire lifetime right there's a lot that. can happen during that time you can make. a lot of enemies you can become revered. and so as a consequence the guy did a. lot of stuff a lot of good stuff a lot. of shady stuff a lot of downright evil. stuff and over the course of the the. time that he was ruling and then beyond. some people came to to venerate him as a.

god like a god on Earth other people. came to loath him as a murderous. colonizer other people saw him as a a. modernizer of a Nation there's so many. different opinions about this guy that. it's really going to be tough to like. cram it all in into this one episode but. we're gonna we're going to try we're. going to make it if we try yeah and I I. think aside from the the God thing which. you know we'll get to uh I think he he. kind of was a lot of those things uh he. he did modernize Ethiopia and he was a.

progressive voice for Africans but he. also did a lot of bad things and uh it. seemed like I don't know for my it. seemed like the last 20 years of his. life he did a lot more bad than the. first like 40 years of his rule that's. what I got too he started to phone it in. I think and be. awful well that's a consequence of. phoning it in you know yeah but when you. if you do a little research on Hy casse. you'll see a lot of Articles like. praising.

him like really strongly and then a lot. of articles that are like why are we. rewriting this uh the history of this. person to not include any of the bad. stuff well what's amazing is you can. actually there's an answer to that. question the reason why is because of. ree you can thank ree for reforming the. image of H salassi in across the world. it's amazing it's astounding it's it's. been really effective yeah so um Chuck. we're going to talk about H salasi who. is the ruler of Ethiopia the Emperor of.

Ethiopia in fact he had one of the most. amazing titles of any ruler anywhere. when he became emperor His official. title was his Imperial Majesty the. Conquering Lion of the tribe of Judah. highly salasi the first elect of God. Emperor of Ethiopia that was his full. title which is just straight up. impressive yeah there there were a lot. of different titles that he had over the. years and a lot of different names for. the different titles it gets kind of can. get in the we with that stuff I just did.

no well but he also had another title at. the same time which I can't even find. right now but we'll get to um so let's. talk a little bit about Ethiopia the. country that he ruled uh you know those. of us off the continent um consider. Ethiopia as like a cohesive whole nation. but like most Nations across the world. on any continent it's actually um an. assemblage of different smaller um units. that were eventually brought together. and UniFi into a nation like we.

recognize today yeah and unified is sort. of a should be in quotes sure yeah. that's a good point yeah so it is uh in. the Horn of Africa and like you said it. was home to lots of civilizations over. the course of you know ancient history. and then uh you know over through time. and it was um it was it was a pretty big. Power it uh is unique for that area in. that it was one of the first Christian.

nations and remained a Christian Nation. despite being completely cut off from. the rest of the Christian World on all. sides basically yeah and it was one of. the oldest around uh it it's state. religion is Christianity I think uh. Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity that. branch of the Christian Church um and. since like I think the 4th Century CE at. least so for a very long time it's been. a Christian nation and that meant that.

it had like pretty good relations with. other Christian nations around the world. but also it traded with um the tribes in. Arabia uh it traded with others in the. Middle East like it was a really. important power for a really long time. yeah for sure and we should probably. talk about the solomonic dynasty yeah. for a while is in King Solomon uh the. coronation of yuno and you know we're. doing our best with a lot of these names. I tried to look most of these up by the. way well how's this one go well this one.

goes yuno amloc sure uh in. 1270 and this is important because like. I said as in King Solomon this dynasty. basically says we are the direct. descendants of King Solomon and uh Queen. of Sheba from the Bible and uh the lion. of Judah is our symbol and you know this. is the the sort of um solemn line that. uh as as we'll see would you know.

eventually Dali salassi yeah and it's. found among the amhara people which are. one of the groups of people living in. the Ethiopian region at the time and. some people say that this dynasty this. lineage of rulers is the oldest in the. world if you credit that as as factual. or even roughly factual that King. Solomon and the Queen of Sheba um. produced menelik I as a son who became. the first ruler of the solomonic dynasty. then that's we're talking like 3,000.

years essentially of rule by this one. group in this one area. um historians say that's a great story. also menc the first is said to have. brought the Arc of the Covenant to. Ethiopia where it's supposedly being. hidden or kept um but really we can date. it as far back as 1270 which is nothing. to sneeze at when yuno amlak was. definitely coronated since 1270 there've. been nothing but solomonic rulers ever. since then that's a pretty pretty good.

track record frankly yeah for sure uh. but again that's not to say that there. was like complete Unity under that rule. uh throughout the years uh in the 18th. and uh early into the 19th century. Ethiopia was uh very fractured um there. were a lot of feudal kingdoms a lot of. different like you mentioned religions. and ethnicities are sort of you know. co-mingling with one another and. eventually as far as our story goes um. unification around the.

1850s is when things really sort of get. uh well more unified right and I don't I. was wondering what the answer is like if. there is a definitive answer is. unification a good thing because it. keeps formerly Waring neighboring groups. from Waring or is it a bad thing because. these groups were Waring for a reason. and now they're kind of smooshed. together whether they like it or not. yeah you know I wonder if it's a case-by. case basis or if there's a right way to. do it or a wrong way to do it or that. you shouldn't do it at all I don't know.

it's a good question so by the 19th. century um Emperor menelik II who took. the throne six or so hundred years after. his namesake did who who found the. solomonic dynasty became the the ruler. of a unified Ethiopia and that's really. where the story kind of begins as far as. um where our our protagonist Le tafari. McAn is concerned that's right uh.

because he was born July 23rd. 1892 uh just what 3 years after uh. menelik II was crowned right yep so you. know we're talking about HAL salasi but. as you said born Li tari uh Li means. child of tari is one who is respected or. feared so Li tari macin is child of mcin. who is respected and feared yeah and his. dad was Raz which means Prince mckinin.

so his dad was a prince already it's. pretty good Birthright you know um. especially in a a feudal society that he. was born into but even more than that. his. great-grandfather um sahal salasi had. been emperor of the kingdom of shua um. before Ethiopia was um unified so this. guy had like literal Royal Blood and was. part of that solomonic dynasty just by. birth yeah and uh you said his D was.

Prince uh the word there would be Ross. and that's important to just put a pin. in that because if you put Ross and tari. together uh you will eventually get Ross. tari sounds Vaguely Familiar I can't put. a finger on it you already mentioned ray. music so that's that's where this is all. leading but Ross means Prince uh his. father was a governor of the harar. province uh advisor to the emperor uh. which at this point I believe you. already said was menelik II Y and the.

first during the Min like the second. years and when tafari was young uh this. is when Italy had its sort of first. first push into trying to basically um. you know this is a period of Rapid. colonization uh from the Europeans all. over Africa I think it was called the um. the Scramble for Africa and this was. Italy's first push because they had land. on both sides of Ethiopia and Atria and.

Italian Somali land and Ethiopia was. kind of right there in the middle uh but. they were defeated that first time when. 15,000 Italians uh were beaten back by. about 75,000 Ethiopians in the Battle of. adwa yeah and so um manc uh. II um became just revered for that like. this this African country beat back a an. um a colonial power from Europe and it. was a huge black eye on Italy that They.

Carried um a soreness for for decades. afterward as we'll see but it was an. enormous feather in the cap of Ethiopia. because at the time this Scramble for. Africa one group after another was. falling um prey to these Colonial Powers. who are just moving in moving their. people in and taking over forcing a lot. of these people into slavery extracting. their resources and Ethiopia said no. nice try Italy we're going to remain. self-sufficient and. self-determined yeah that's a good point.

uh his mother uh yashimabet died when he. was about two years old and he went on. to get a really sort of unusual and vast. education under um the teachings of. French missionaries uh other teachers. and Scholars he learned uh which was. unusual at the time for where he was a. lot of European history and languages. and that education would set him up for. you know his later life on the. international stage yeah for sure I mean. his familiar with Europe would be.

extraordinarily helpful because um. Europe even though uh the some of the. former um like Age of Exploration Powers. uh like lost their clout Europe Still. Remains super important in Africa. because they were colonizer so to have a. a a a rapport with European powers was. very helpful keeping them at Bay and. also making Ethiopia a really treasured. asset or Ally to those European powers. too yeah for sure it was just a good.

position for him to be in oh absolutely. uh and he he ingratiated himself he was. very much loved on the international. stage for most of his life which you. know was kind of at odds with how he was. viewed at home for the last couple of. decades yeah so because he was born into. that Royal um lineage he he kind of made. Moves throughout the court um in at age. 13 he was made a. dejazmach yeah uh which is essentially. like a count um and from that point on.

he just kept rising and Rising further. and further up in in importance in the. aristocracy right because we should say. at the time and for a very long time. Ethiopia was a a feudal agrarian society. and economy where peasants worked the. land and had to give a lot of their the. fruits of their labor over to land. owners who didn't do anything except. extract labor and goods from the. peasantry and then it went up and up and.

up and then you had an aristocracy that. was sitting at the top that was also. tiered and at the very top of this were. the rulers of Ethiopia of which Ross. tafari was um rising in rank and. influence yeah for sure and slavery. played a big part in that and a big part. in this story as you'll see uh so just. sort of setting that up um over the next. few years he was like you said kind of. rising through these different positions. uh he got married in 1911 to a noble.

woman named men Asal and had six kids. and they stayed married until she died. in. 1962 and then in 1913 uh minc II died. and there was a very sort of interesting. power struggle that went on because his. literal successor was his. grandson uh iazu uh I F and he was not. good enough for the job evidently he was. not a good manager of people didn't show.

a lot of Promise as a ruler and even. more importantly he was um I mean the. rumor was that he actually converted to. Islam he was not uh friendly to the. Ethiopian Orthodox church and because of. these rumors uh and uh he was deposed as. Emperor uh he was arrested and spent the. rest of his life in detention uh wherein. his I believe in. 1916 his aunt uh zudu was crowned. empress. yeah and then so I don't I didn't get.

this I didn't understand why I couldn't. find why maybe you know um. simultaneously or shortly after zudu was. crowned Empress uh tafari um became Ros. tafari uh and the the DEA facto ruler of. Ethiopia as the Supreme Regent and AA. parent was it because he was young still. I guess he was 25 at the time was it. because he was a man and she was a woman. and a woman have okay gotcha okay so.

they were basically power sharing even. though because he was a man I'm I'm. guessing uh he was just deferred to over. her in a society that requires a an. empress to have like a a male um Regent. with her right yeah I mean that's. basically I I saw that in two or three. different places that if he uh I'm sorry. if um zudu was uh was a man that he may. have still had that position but he. would not had nearly the power that he. had as a man because she was a woman.

gotcha so um as this deao ruler of. Ethiopia started making moves on the. world stage and there was a a difference. between his and zitu's um politics from. the outset she was more conservative. than he was he was much more being. younger I think was a big part of it. much more um progressiv minded much more. interested in modernizing much more. interested in opening the country to. internationalism and so um in 1923. Ethiopia became a member of the League. of Nations just the third African.

country to do so and that was after. South Africa and Liberia and that was. like 100% toffar is doing from what I. understand yeah totally um part of that. required uh the the pledge to you know. abolish slavery uh as we'll see that was. in 1923 and the abolition of slavery in. Ethiopia did not happen in full for many. many decades so it was uh you know. that's another you know sort of a thread.

that goes to the story of just how long. it took to get slavery abolished there. because it was such a part of their uh. tiered system in Ethiopia uhuh and it. it's worth saying too I think Chuck that. um African Continental style slavery was. much different from the kind of slavery. that was developed through the. transatlantic trade that that was. established here in the United States. and in the Americas. but literal human ownership was not the.

case yeah I mean there was still like a. um a curtailment of Liberty but at the. same time you lived in the same house. and ate the same food that the your you. know putative owner ate it was just you. just treated much differently and you. don't want to sanitize it because you're. still you still didn't have freedom like. an an individual human being should have. but just compared to just the horrors of. the transatlantic slavery practices like.

it the African slave trade was was it. was just not like it at all in a lot of. ways yeah for sure um so in 1928 he was. named uh nebus which is a title. equivalent to King but it's not the same. as you know the king as we would think. CU it's still below Emperor and he. started traveling the world basically uh. and and and every single way basically. becoming the face of Ethiopia uh despite. the fact that he was not emperor you. know going to Jerusalem going to Rome.

going to Paris meeting with King George. I in London and it was sort of a a a. world tour where he placed himself. expressly sort of in the. Limelight uh as you said that you know. he had different politics than uh the. empress herself and that combined with. him sort of putting himself on the world. stage and and front of her essentially. did not sit well uh to the point where. uh her husband l a rebellion uh guaw.

where he wanted to install himself as. Emperor uh but he was defeated by tafari. uh was killed and then within a couple. of days later uh zudu died of unclear. circumstances and I think we all know. what that means well yeah there's a. rumor that she died of shock at the news. of her husband's death but more likely. um there's uh just kind of this idea. that um uh H salasi was not above. poisoning opponents and Rivals and that.

it's entirely possible that's how she. she went away yeah for sure uh and we. should also point out prior to this uh. prior to 1930 through the 19 like late. 1920s he was really doing a lot of that. Progressive work building roads uh he. established a National Bank uh he redid. the judicial system that kind of said. you know we need a more you know modern. western-based judicial system and not. this you know you steal a loafer bread. and we cut off your hand biblical style.

and yeah he continued that on when he. became ruler after zuda was gone um on. November 2nd 1930 which is the holiest. day of days for um the rasta religion as. we'll see um tari became highly salassi. again his Imperial Majesty the. Conquering Lion of the tribe of Judah. highly salasi the first elect of God. Emperor of Ethiopia and one of the first. things he did was to um write the first. written Constitution that Ethiopia ever.

had and um it it was extremely. Progressive especially considering again. this is a a feudal agrarian society. we're talking about yeah for sure um for. them it was a very very much a step. forward uh he did create their first. Parliament uh but it was pretty clear. with this and even when they made. further changes I think in the 1950s to. the Constitution that it was still you. know the emperor had the last say over.

everything right so I think that kind of. goes to show the kind of um governing he. did like he was well aware of if if you. you know agree to something but figure. out a way to not do it or to to keep it. from taking any power away from you it. can really plate people a lot he was. kind of masterful with that and that's a. good example of that all right is that a. good long intro yeah forgot we haven't. taking a break yet so we'll take a break.

we'll come back and we'll pick up with. Italy's second push into Ethiopia in the. 1930s right after. [Music]. [Music]. this. [Music].

okay so um about five years after um Hal. salasi or I should say tafari mcen. became H salasi um Italy came a call in. again um remember you said that Italy. had uh erria to kind of the North and. the East and Somali land to the south in. the East is that correct still yeah and. they wanted to build a railroad Road. through Ethiopia to connect those okay.

so again by this time um musolini has. come to power in Italy and he has um. revived national pride that's a big. thing that you'll see in history um. fascism tends to follow a a major. humiliation of a country on a world. stage like Germany was humiliated uh in. the treaty after World War I and just. really punished and fascism developed. out of that um Italy lost a lot of. standing as a colonial European power.

after it was beaten back by Ethiopia in. the 19th century fascism followed after. that you really want to be careful about. stuff like that uh not addressing the. FAS fascism that can follow and this is. another example of that so musolini came. along and he's like hey you remember the. time that Ethiopia defeated us well. we're going to make that up we're going. to go invade Ethiopia again and this. time we're going to do it with. industrial Warfare. yeah it was a much different deal this.

time they they had far better uh. equipment and weaponry and. ammunition uh I believe they were still. maybe technically outnumbered but uh the. way Ethiopians were fighting was sort of. outdated uh to the war machine of Italy. at this point so it was it was a real. David versus Goliath kind of. situation um so this is when salassi has. a real chance to kind of uh take Center. Stage. uh internationally even more so uh by.

you know started you know sort of. rattling the chains of the League of. Nations which Italy was a member of as. well yeah uh saying like hey what's. going on here is isn't right uh we need. some help uh it was called the abenia. crisis uh abenia being the exm for. Ethiopia that I saw used basically more. than Ethiopia in my research MH uh and. it was it was a dark time in this War. they were they were getting beaten down. really badly um he was uh exiled uh.

because the Italians were literally. encroaching to the capital so he went to. French Somali land uh in May of 1936. which effectively ended uh ended the war. like as at least as far as Italy's. concerned they were like the war is over. and we won yeah and now we're occupying. um Ethiopia like you said we won um the. way that they won was through mustard. gas it was essentially a huge campaign.

of mustard gas there were massacres they. set up concentration camps it was a. horrible occupation just exactly the. kind you would expect from like a first. half of the 20th century um colonizing. power and yet they historians still say. that Ethiopia never was colonized it was. occupied by Italy but they didn't get a. chance to colonize which is often often. followed. occupation uh they just were remained in.

the occupation stage for about 5 years. and over the course of that 5 years. salassi was in Exile I think he was in. bath England um where he ran a. government in absentia and still kind of. tried to keep his rule going but from. outside the country which is occupied by. the Italians which is tougher than it. even sounds yeah totally so he is sort. of rattling the saber to the league of. ations uh so much so that uh Time.

magazine named him Man of the Year in. 1935 but the problem was is that Europe. was still courting Italy at this point. they weren't they hadn't fully jumped. over to Germany side and so they were. sort of on a on a a sort of a Highwire. there trying to court Italy and even. though they're a member of the League of. Nations and they were attacking another. member of the League of Nations they. didn't want to do anything to tick off. Italy too much um so a the new British. foreign secretary a guy named Samuel.

got into private talks with the. French prime minister Pierre Laval and. they came up with the the Laval. pact which essentially said Ethiopia if. you give up basically half of your land. to Italy uh we can make the fighting. stop uh they never released it but it. was leaked to the press and you know it. was there was outrage of course and it. it essentially was sort of the first uh. blow to what would be the death of the. League of Nations yeah I think another.

thing that um that Holly sassi's speech. did to contribute to the League of. Nations was to basically point out like. hey you guys aren't aren't doing. anything that you agreed to do like all. of you condemned Italy's Invasion as a. straightup Invasion and here I am to ask. you to help me buy arms don't even give. me arms just give me money so I can go. buy arms and you still won't do it. what's the use of this thing um so that. was another blow to it and then uh. subsequently hly salassi became even.

more um I guess kind of respected on the. world stage that speech was a huge. watershed moment in his um rule in his. lifetime even um he became a a. essentially celebrity like you said Time. magazine named a man of the year. apparently there was an expression in. America around that time that developed. that was um well if that's so then I'm. highly. salassi and then there was a song too. Olivia helped us with this she turned up.

a mention of him in a Shanty in Old. Shanty Town I'd be just as sassy as. highly Cassy if I were a. king so things are not going well uh he. is like you said he went from frch. Somali land in Exile to England and then. finally uh in. 1941 World War II was well underway and. this is well after Italy had joined up. with the Germans and uh England you know. finally helps out mainly because Italy.

and Germany had uh threatened British. territory in africah mhm England finally. steps up in 1941 and says all right. we're going to help you out here uh. because we're sort of threatened as well. uh we have some uh area here in the. Sudan and so we're going to help you. assemble an army here and take back your. Capital yeah so um that was a huge deal. it was not just the British army but the. British army working in conjunction with. these these um Fighters that were.

assembled in Somali land um and there. was a a guy who doesn't get his due. Lorenzo tezas who on behalf of salasi. organized this this basically Guerilla. Army that fought against the Italians. and ended up winning pushing the. Italians out of Ethiopia and back into. arria that's right and so he came back. uh May 5th 1941 uh returned to the.

capital gave a big speech saying you. know we need to get the Italians out of. here but we need to do it in a way. that's not like they were doing things. uh because you know we're above that. kind of thing and so he's finally back. on his throne um he begins in the 19. early. 1940s to abolish slavery um I think in. 1942 is when they say he officially. abolished it but it it it took a long. time for it to completely you know get. removed from the system um but you know.

like I said in. 1923 is when they said hey get rid of. slavery so that was a couple of. decades yeah and um Marcus Garvey who as. we'll see played a huge role in the um. the development of the cult of. personality for H salasi was um turned. out to be pretty critical of him and for. one reason was because um salassi. allowed slavery to continue for decades. after he became the ruler of Ethiopia. Garvey that didn't sit well with Garvey.

he also called him a coward for leaving. Ethiopia to go run the government in. absentia yeah you can definitely see. both points of view um for him staying. or going uh and it worked out because he. sat back on his throne again five years. to the day after the Italians invaded. But regardless of how that happened when. he came back to rule again in 1941 he. was um more well thought of by. Ethiopians and the rest of the world.

alike than he was even before the um. Italian invasion so he got back to um. modernizing again and he put his foot on. the gas I think a little harder than he. should I think he was really trying to. make up for the enormous setback that. the Italian occupation had created yeah. and there was also a lot of um internal. strife within. Ethiopia uh after um the United States. actually stepped up and helped Unite. erria with Ethiopia again in.

1952 yeah uh one thing it did was it. gave Ethiopia access to the Red Sea. which was a big deal but it wasn't a. true like unification erria remained um. had like an independent government in a. lot of ways still uh H Cassi did not. like this he wanted more control and in. 1962 he dissolved their. Parliament um and basically sort of. Annex them uh which led to the creation. of The arrian Liberation Front the EF.

and a basically three decade uh internal. Civil War of you know kind of constant. uprisings within Ethiopia from the. atrians yeah Atria finally um regained. its independence in I think. 1994 um after years and years of. essentially Civil War because again we. were talking at the outset of this that. um these were groups of of different. people these were different ethnic. groups that had lived in the same area.

but had now been put under unification. and they were all now considered. Ethiopians but they had their own ethnic. Consciousness and they did not a lot of. them did not like being considered. Ethiopians I think the ormo people in. particular um bristled at the idea the. most because they had the largest. population in Ethiopia and yet the. amhara people of which H salassi was and. the whole solomonic dynasty was from the.

amhara people um they were the ones who. were ruling things so imagine that um. imagine that this this other group that. you've been kind of Rivals with for. centuries now is telling your group. exactly what to do where to live what. taxing you is saying you're you're with. us now whether you like it or not that. was the kind of like internal strife. that was just kind of rubbing Ethiopia. at the edges throughout the entire um. the entirety of the highly cass's rule.

yeah for sure uh and like you said he's. got his foot on the gas in the. 1950s in particular uh in. 55 um they passed a new a brand new. brand spanking new very shiny. Constitution MH further modernizing the. Judiciary for one uh this time. Parliament was elected by the people. more human rights were guaranteed but it. was still not like a western style. democracy uh High Cassi was still very.

much in charge uh and more popular than. ever on the international stage he's all. of a sudden visiting the United States. uh I believe uh FDR invited him after. World War II but he never went so he. finally came at Eisenhower's behest uh. had a ticker tape parade in Manhattan. for high Cassie uh went to a Yankees. game went to yosan National Park just. does this big like kind of PR tour. through America it's really interesting.

yeah for sure and again like this guy. was like Americans couldn't believe what. they were seeing like this was a time. where there was still like segregation. in America and here's this black African. leader who's who just revered in the. United States what it's just like. cognitive dissonance but they were just. thrilled by this guy right so um highly. solasi ate that stuff up he loved that. one of the big criticisms of him in. retrospect and I think even at the time. was that his his preferred company were.

um Europeans and Americans and other. people of wealthy countries uh that's. who he liked to rub elbows with that's. who was invited to the parties that he. threw in the Royal palaces um he he. didn't he didn't seem to think that much. about the people he ruled and who. essentially gave him all the power that. he had that he went and used to. basically um enrich himself in his own. his own image. I think that's a great setup for a.

break yeah oh sure yeah I don't like to. toot my own horn so you just put me on. the spot all right we'll be right back. after. [Music]. this. [Music].

all right so when we left off uh you. were talking about the fact that H. salassi was um very popular. internationally not so much or not as. much at home at least like with. everybody he had factions of people who. loved him in Ethiopia but uh it was. complicated and there were probably. mostly from the amhara ethnic group too. remember yeah for sure so um he he's got. a situation sort of where he's getting. older he's trying to push uh Progressive.

ideals um that are popular with the. young people not as popular with the. older guard of course and that just that. creates a lot of internal strife and. he's also got this sort of ongoing uh. problem with the elf all these. ethnicities mixed together um there's. going to be some strife and finally in. December. 1960 uh he was in Brazil in members of. his Imperial bodyguard uh staged to coup.

and they proclaimed that his son salassi. son Crown Prince Asal wosen was the new. emperor uh there were about four days of. violence and about 300 deaths but it was. suppressed and those leaders the formal. Imperial bodyguards were killed and this. really changed things as far as sort of. setting up the last couple of Decades of. Cassie's Rule and reign as. as basically a police.

state yeah and yet he still was a shrewd. um ruler internal ruler um that the coup. had set up shop in the Royal Palace. while he was away and he donated that. Royal Palace to establish the the. university the first University in. Ethiopia which became uh Adis Ababa. University which is a highly respected. University today and so um he like it. was a it was a really shrewd move on his. part to basically plate the young.

intelligencia who were definitely part. of that coup uh if not you know um in in. physically at least in spirit um so they. were they were like oh okay we're. getting a university and at the same. time he knows he's taking his foot off. the modernizing uh gas and he needs to. basically consolidate his power even. further probably take some back and. remind everybody that he's still Emperor. yeah yeah for sure um one of the truly. seems like great things he did uh was in.

1963 when uh he led the movement to. establish the organization of African. Unity uh the oau which was basically uh. 32 African nations uh that had won. Independence at that time getting. together establishing this Union uh I. believe it's now called the African. Union and you know they had bold you. know pretty pretty great objectives they. wanted to improve life for African. uh they wanted to protect the. sovereignity of the countries that had.

won their independence and he was of. course chosen as the first president of. the oou and he was in his 70s at this. point like he was he was getting on up. there in in age yeah and it's ironic. because he was like an elder Statesman. compared to the much younger generally. Democratic leaders that were the other. that made up the rest of the African. Union countries right and they were. there all those younger rulers were. there or leaders I should say they. weren't rulers because this wave of.

decolonization had been kicked off by. Ghana and I think the early 60s and so. that was one of the the purposes of the. African Union or at first the oou was to. to basically say okay we we need to like. level set again this is a new continent. we're taking it back we're setting up. new governments and all that so it's. kind of ironic that H salassi was the. first president of the organization of. African Unity because he was exactly the. kind of person who uh was being toppled.

elsewhere around Africa except he was. not toppled because he had never been. colonized although other groups in. Ethiopia considered him a colonizer he. managed to survive that wave and. strangely was made the president of the. oou yeah I I think it was just because. he was such a popular a worldwide. popular figure is what I what I can. figure so it it almost seemed like it. was um like it was just sort of destined.

to be that he would be their first. president even though if they really. thought about it and and I don't even. know if they held a vote actually I. meant to look that up yeah or if he was. basically just like I'll be president. right right he called president first I. call it so uh toward the end of his run. um more criticism coming him way from. within. Ethiopia uh there inflation is really. high there are people living in poverty. uh any descent was squash uh squashed.

leaders of descent disappeared um he. still had a positive view. internationally through all of this. somehow uh but that was not the truth of. the matter back home no um and that kind. of stuff was making people bristle. further and further not just the other. ethnic groups like the aromo um or the. somalis but like even people in his own. you know um his own group they were they.

they there was a huge problem no matter. how good a ruler he was viewed as there. was always going to be a people who who. were saying it's the 1960s and we still. have an emperor can we look any more. backwards just that alone yeah kind of. put a a a time limit on how much longer. he was going to rule but then that whole. kind of Crackdown phase of his rule also. really really had a huge hit on his. popularity too among other quarters yeah. he was like when I was 13 man emper.

Emperors were all the rage yeah that's a. great point that when he came into power. that was that's that was normal but he. stayed in power for so long that he. outlived the age of Emperors weirdly 60. something years uh the other problem or. another problem was the fact that he um. as Emperor had a very lavish. luxurious uh some say wasteful lifestyle. uh which was not a a popular thing to do.

when your country is uh struggling in a. lot of ways um certainly when they were. hit by their their second really huge. famine um at the beginning of. 1972 uh this was a famine in the wallow. Province where eventually over the. course of three years by 1975 more than. uh I saw up to 250,000 maybe 200,000. people died yeah and he's how how much. did he was his birthday party 30. something million he spent $35 million.

on his 80th birthday party in 1972 while. this famine was going on yeah right. right in the middle of this thing uh. there was actual food being I'm not sure. what but there was food being produced. in Wala and he was exporting it. elsewhere at the time yeah um somebody. pointed out I can't remember which. article it was um maybe one from London. School of Economics that said like the. areas that experienced famine in. Ethiopia were the ones that were the. most Restless against his rule oh.

interesting like there was one one. region that he asked the Brits to bomb. in 1942 while they were there like hey. before you go do you mind bombing this. uh this Restless region up to the north. I think it might have been the wallow. region um yeah like if you messed with. him there was a good chance that you. were going to suffer some sort of famine. and exporting the um the food that you. were producing again feudal Society you. could do that kind of thing that would. be a great way to guarantee a famine and.

then even without meddling in it. directly whether he did or not he um. definitely tried to downplay it. internally and externally because he. didn't want it to tarnish his reputation. apparently he was mad at the um the. people in the famin stricken areas for. starving because it it looked it it. reflected badly on him yeah it's not a. good look so things are unraveling and. it's pretty clear that it's unraveling. uh a lot of protests are happening all.

of a sudden uh the union the labor force. has gone on strike uh this was in. 1974 and finally in the summer of 1974 a. group called the durg uh the provisional. military administrative Council which. were this wasn't upper military brass. they were relatively uh low-ranking. officers and officials They seized power. in 1974 it was a coup and uh in. September of 1974 they deposed him.

placed him under house arrest and said. your son who previously uh was named uh. Emperor even though that never happened. was named Emperor once again for a very. short time from the summer of 74 to. March of 75 when the durg abolished the. Ethiopian monarchy. altogether yes so um H salassi is still. living in the Royal Palace but now he's. under house arrest essentially um and. the the durg this new government is led.

by a guy named mistu Hal Mariam and they. created what was known as a Red Terror. like they essentially said guy no no. committed tons and tons of war crimes. like killed thousands of people tortured. tens of thousands of more and um. basically said we're not we're not with. the US any longer we're now with the. Soviet Union and we're just redoing. everything in the most bloody way. possible um Unfortunately they held. power for the next 20 years it wasn't.

until they were deposed in 1994 and. replaced by a more democratic government. um that they were charged with all the. horrible atrocities that they had but. long before that happened while while. the durg was just brand new um Holly. salasi um was reported as dead I think. in August of 1975 he was found dead in. the his little apartment in the Royal. Palace. and the dur leaders were like yeah he. had a prostate operation a couple of.

months ago and it probably was a. complication from that but anyway it's. Ethiopian tradition to bury people. within 24 hours so we're going to do it. in 12 yeah it was um I I think that the. inside story was that he was strangled. by dur soldiers uh it seems pretty. obvious he was gotten rid of uh I think. there were some people that said that he. was in um the Crown Prince actually his. son said you know he was in pretty good. health as far as I knew uh before he. died so I know he was 83 but um he was.

he was not dying no there was another. long-standing rumor that he had been. smothered with a pillow but yes in just. the way that he had dispatched the. empress before him it seems he had been. dispatched as well by the dur and then. in probably the most uh insulting way uh. uh your your remains can be handled um. they found that after um Miriam was. deposed in 1992 that he had been buried.

under the laboratory in the Royal. Palace yeah with a V laboratory yeah. that's what I sound like you said. laboratory no no uh so that is highly. salassi um but we uh of course have to. close by talking about ree right yeah. because there's a lot of people out. there especially in Jamaica who said he. didn't really die and those weren't his. bones that they found and reburied yeah. um if you you know we mentioned early in.

the thing uh. Rastafari uh Rastafarian theology uh is. basically a reference to the his. identity as as God as the Messiah um. African descended people in Jamaica had. combined elements of Christianity uh. other different religions in Africa and. this is also during the back to Africa. movement U when there were you know. potentially some people in Jamaica they. were like no we need to go back to the. Homeland yeah and I said Marcus Garvey. figures big into the cold of personality.

around Holly Cassi that's largely. because in in the 1920s Marcus Garvey. predicted that when a black king shall. be crowned in Africa the day of. Deliverance is at hand um and that. basically black people would be free and. that Ethiopia was that whole location. that you wanted to go to if you were. going back to Africa and it just had a. huge impact on Jamaica in part because. on Coronation Day um The Rains came that. ended a long-standing drought in Jamaica.

and they were like man this Garvy Cat. knows what he's talking about and they. became hyperfocused on Holly salassi so. his coronation day was the holiest day. or is the holiest Day November 2nd in. the Rastafarian religion and we keep. saying religion and theology that's. because Rastafarians believe that um. that that Holly salassi was God. incarnate and still is if you believe. that he didn't actually die and that he. followed in a line of um I can't.

remember an ancient priest um Jesus and. then Holly Cassi were the incarnations. of God here on Earth yeah and he never. claimed to be that uh I I I think I've. seen that he didn't expressly deny it. either uh I think he only went to. Jamaica one time though right so it. wasn't like um I don't know it's a very. interesting thing that I don't fully. understand to be honest well that time. that he went to Jamaica um in 1963.

that's the second holiest day in the. Rastafarian religion they call it. groundation day and 100,000 rosarians. showed up and were just like like trying. to tear the plane apart to get him out. of there because they wanted to see him. so badly like it was a big deal and. because so the Ros ofans had generally. been um mocked and made fun of by other. Jamaicans for the last few decades like. they've been following H salassi as. their Savior for 30 years by then um and.

after he came and Jamaica got to see. like oh this guy's actually pretty cool. um a lot more people became rosarians. including one woman named Rita Anderson. who converted after Holly cass's visit. and she became Rita Marley. yeah oh man this one was a lot it was a. lot yeah and he lives on in Ree uh if. you want to learn more about hly salassi. you can listen to a bunch of ree you can.

go read historical accounts you can read. all sorts of stuff about him and you'll. get just this hugely complex complicated. picture yeah for sure uh I hope we did a. good job you know what this one did is. it as I was researching it it laid bare. just how little African history you're. taught in an American school yeah I mean. that's one reason we wanted to do this. was just just to kind of shake that up a. little bit at least oh no for sure but. usually when we're researching other.

types of History it's like yeah I've. sort of heard this here and there I. don't fully remember but like this was a. a groundup learning experience uh for me. I I I knew nothing about the history of. Ethiopia so um really interesting stuff. it is it's also kind of exciting too. because that means that there's a whole. continent with the rich history that we. haven't even begun to tap into you know. yeah totally look out for more in 2024. that's right. if you want to know more about um hly. salassi I think I just explained how you.

could do that which means that we've. already I guess begun listener. mail that's right uh this is on AP. classes um from our episode on uh what. was that specifically about I think that. was the pigan effect episode yeah yeah. that's right uh hey guys I'm a high. school teacher at a public school in. Suburban Cincinnati uh I currently teach. AP human geography and AP World History. I've also taught AP US History AP.

government and AP psychology in the past. uh just so you know the big Trend in AP. across the country the last decade plus. has been to open it up to as many. students as possible yeah uh we still. have a teacher uh we still have teacher. recommendations for AP class at our. school but if any kid wants to take a. certain AP class they can for the most. part uh classes like AP Human Geography. are certainly more accessible for a lot. of students in a class at requires a lot. of prerequisite knowledge like AP. Chemistry uh in general though AP.

classes have changed a lot since the. '90s um and are far less exclusive than. they once were and of course I'm sure it. was like this when you were there you. had to test to get into an AP class. right oh yeah yeah they just thought. they didn't stink at. all that's right uh thanks for all you. do guys listen to all the episodes and I. include what I learn from you into my. classes whenever I can and that is from. from Connor teacher in. Cincinnati that's awesome I really hope.

that some of those AP teachers who. thwarted me time and time again are. alive to see that our work is being used. in AP classes that's right man what a. turn of events huh you showed them uh if. you want to be like Connor and give us. some great information that will just. make our day we love to hear that kind. of stuff you can wrap it up spank it on. the bottom and send it off to stuff. podcast at iHeart Radio. stuff you should know is a production of.

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