Modernization under Haile Selassie
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Many changes were made during the reign of
Haile Selassie Haile Selassie I ( gez, ቀዳማዊ ኀይለ ሥላሴ, Qädamawi Häylä Səllasé, ; born Tafari Makonnen; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as Regent Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia (' ...
toward the modernization of
Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
upon his accession as
Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
(King of Kings) on 2 November 1930, as well as before, beginning from the time he effectively controlled Ethiopia in 1916 as Regent
Plenipotentiary A ''plenipotentiary'' (from the Latin ''plenus'' "full" and ''potens'' "powerful") is a diplomat who has full powers—authorization to sign a treaty or convention on behalf of his or her sovereign. When used as a noun more generally, the wor ...
, Ras Tafari.


First modernization

Many of the details of the modernizations made before the fascist invasion during the
Second Italo–Ethiopian War The Second Italo-Ethiopian War, also referred to as the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, was a war of aggression which was fought between Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Italy and Ethiopian Empire, Ethiopia from October 1935 to February 1937. In Ethio ...
are written in Haile Selassie I's autobiography, '' My Life and Ethiopia's Progress'' Vol. I (written 1938), particularly in Chapter 12, "About the improvement, by ordinance and proclamation, of internal administration, and about the efforts to allow foreign civilization to enter Ethiopia". Among the efforts of his program as he listed them in the chapter: * Establishment of electrical grids in major cities beginning in 1916 * Curbing of hereditary feudal rule of nobility in remote provinces, and substitution of merit-based appointees, from 1917 * Establishment of a military college and the
Ethiopia Scout Association The Ethiopia Scout Association (''Amharic:''የኢትዮጵያ እስካውት ማህበር) is the national Scouting association of Ethiopia. The Scout movement was first introduced in Ethiopia around 1919, and had opened a school in Addis Ababa ...
movement from 1918 * Establishment of Cabinet Ministries from 1920, based on European models * Revision of judicial system; appointment of special courts for cases involving foreigners in 1920; ending outdated punishments mandated in the 500-year-old ''
Fetha Nagast The Fetha Negest ( gez, ፍትሐ ነገሥት, fətḥa nägäśt, Justice of the Kings) is a theocratic legal code compiled around 1240 by the Coptic Egyptian Christian writer Abu'l-Fada'il ibn al-Assal in Arabic. It was later translated into ...
'' law code, such as amputation of hands for conviction of theft by Imperial Proclamation in 1921; establishment of a modern Criminal Code in 1930. As a result, in Haile Selassie's words, "Justice now took a road that had honour." * Establishment of
printing press A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in which the ...
es from 1921 * Maximum legal interest rate set at 9% in 1921; usurers had charged up to 30%. * Widespread introduction of cars, motorcycles, trucks and bicycles from 1922 * Establishment of modern hospitals in major cities from 1922 * Establishment of foreign language schools in major cities from 1924 * Establishment of a properly maintained system of roads linking cities from about 1925 * Introduction of a
national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and Europea ...
(the ''Marche Tafari'') in 1927 * Establishment of the
National Bank of Ethiopia The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) is the central bank of Ethiopia. Its headquarters are in the capital city of Addis Ababa. Mamo Mihretu is the current governor of the bank. The bank is active in promoting financial inclusion policy and is a m ...
in 1927 * Introduction of airplanes in 1927 * Establishment of Ethiopian embassies and consulates in foreign countries from 1928 * Appointment of five native
Ethiopian Orthodox The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church ( am, የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ቤተ ክርስቲያን, ''Yäityop'ya ortodoks täwahedo bétäkrestyan'') is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. One of the few Chris ...
Bishops in 1928. Previously native Ethiopians were never allowed to become bishops by the governing
Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria The Coptic Orthodox Church ( cop, Ϯⲉⲕ̀ⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⲛ̀ⲟⲣⲑⲟⲇⲟⲝⲟⲥ, translit=Ti.eklyseya en.remenkimi en.orthodoxos, lit=the Egyptian Orthodox Church; ar, الكنيسة القبطي ...
, but in discussions, the Emperor won this concession by stressing that "believers in Christ are not such by innate distinctness, but by virtue of conduct." * Abolition of the '' lebasha'', a backwards superstition where travelling charlatans would claim the ability to find a thief by administering potent drugs to a small boy, and then charging whomever the boy attacked, with theft. "Consequently, there was great rejoicing in every province, as We had protected the people from the iniquities that came upon them in this matter." * Establishment of the 1931 Constitution of Ethiopia, Ethiopia's first modern Constitution * Establishment of telephone and wireless services throughout Ethiopia from 1931 * Establishment of a modern prison facility in 1932 Modernization was temporarily interrupted in 1935 following the invasion of Ethiopia by fascist Italy, eventually culminating in the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
. As the Emperor himself noted in his ''Introduction to Volume I'', "We were particularly convinced, by the policies directed against Us, that the enemy's heart was stricken with envy at Our setting up a constitution to strengthen and to consolidate Ethiopia's unity, at Our opening schools for boys and girls, at Our building hospitals in which Our people's health was to be safeguarded, as well as at all sorts of other initiatives of Ours by which Ethiopia's independence would be affirmed, not only in terms of history but in actual fact."


Abolition of slavery

Slavery as practiced in what is modern Ethiopia and Eritrea was essentially domestic. Slaves thus served in the houses of their masters or mistresses and were not employed to any significant extent for productive purpose. Among the Amhara and Tigray slaves were normally regarded as second-class members of their owners' family. and were fed, clothed and protected. They generally roamed around freely and conducted business as free people. They had complete freedom of religion and culture. The first attempt to abolish slavery in Ethiopia was made by Emperor Tewodros II (r. 1855–1868), but the slave trade was not abolished completely until 1923 with Ethiopia's accession to the
League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...
. The Anti-Slavery Society estimated there were 2 million slaves in the early 1930s out of an estimated population of between 8 and 16 million. He described in the whole of Chapter 14 his efforts to eradicate slavery, which he noted was a persistent custom in Ethiopia arising from intertribal wars, where the captured slaves could hardly be distinguished in appearance from their owners and sometimes even married them. The slave trade had already been banned unsuccessfully by his predecessors Tewodros II,
Yohannes IV ''girmāwī''His Imperial Majesty, spoken= am , ጃንሆይ ''djānhoi''Your Imperial Majesty(lit. "O steemedroyal"), alternative= am , ጌቶቹ ''getochu''Our Lord (familiar)(lit. "Our master" (pl.)) yohanes Yohannes IV (Tigrinya: ዮሓ ...
and
Menelik II , spoken = ; ''djānhoi'', lit. ''"O steemedroyal"'' , alternative = ; ''getochu'', lit. ''"Our master"'' (pl.) Menelik II ( gez, ዳግማዊ ምኒልክ ; horse name Abba Dagnew ( Amharic: አባ ዳኘው ''abba daññäw''); 17 ...
. Beginning in 1924, Haile Selassie I began doing everything possible to liberate all remaining slaves in Ethiopia, enrolling many of them in education programs. Despite all this, Haile Selassie asserted that Benito Mussolini's propaganda agents (Haile Selassie singled out the Italian consul at
Harar Harar ( amh, ሐረር; Harari: ሀረር; om, Adare Biyyo; so, Herer; ar, هرر) known historically by the indigenous as Gey (Harari: ጌይ ''Gēy'', ) is a walled city in eastern Ethiopia. It is also known in Arabic as the City of Saint ...
in particular) were constantly broadcasting to the world many false reports that slavery was still being promoted in Ethiopia, in an attempt to influence world opinion against Ethiopia, have Ethiopia indicted in the
League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...
, and create a '' casus belli'' for the invasion, genocide, and attempted recolonization of Ethiopia with Italians. :"Again, when in 1923 (= 1931) a delegation, sent by the British Anti-Slavery Society, came to Addis Ababa, We informed them orally and in writing, after a great deal of discussion, that We shall see to it that within fifteen or, at most, twenty years from now all slaves would go free and that slavery would be totally eliminated from Ethiopia. But in any country a few offenders must always be expected, and if some men are found transgressing the proclamation that has been promulgated, all the foreign envoys know that We have punished them even with the death penalty. Therefore, Our conscience does not rebuke Us, for We have done unceasingly everything possible as regards the liberation of the slaves." The institution of slavery was again abolished by order of the Italian occupying forces. On 26 August 1942, during the Second Modernization, Haile Selassie issued a proclamation completely outlawing all slavery.


Second modernization

Following the Second World War, Haile Selassie opened Ethiopia's first university. The University College of Addis Ababa was founded in 1950. In 1962, it was renamed Haile Selassie I University but is currently known as Addis Ababa University. In 1955, the 1931 Constitution of Ethiopia was replaced with the
1955 Constitution of Ethiopia Emperor Haile Selassie proclaimed a revised constitution in November 1955 of the Ethiopian Empire. This constitution was prompted, like its 1931 predecessor, by a concern with international opinion. Such opinion was particularly important at a ti ...
, extending the power of Parliament. Haile Selassie improved diplomatic ties with the United States, as well as Ethiopia's relationship with the rest of Africa. He initiated the
Organization of African Unity The Organisation of African Unity (OAU; french: Organisation de l'unité africaine, OUA) was an intergovernmental organization established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with 32 signatory governments. One of the main heads for OAU's ...
in 1963.


References

{{Ethiopia topics 20th century in Ethiopia Haile Selassie