ETHIOPIA: The End of the Lion of Judah

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Love Affair. Ethiopia's rases (feudal lords) in 1916 chose Haile Selassie to be regent and heir to Empress Zauditu. Fourteen years later, when the Empress died suddenly, he was crowned the 255th Emperor of the Menelik line, which, legend claims, sprang more than 2,500 years ago from the celebrated love affair between King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. For the next 44 years he ruled unchallenged, except for the Italian occupation and for a brief and abortive palace coup at the end of 1960. During his reign, the Emperor demanded all the obsequiousness due absolute power; no one was allowed to approach him without bowing thrice and job seekers were obliged to prostrate themselves before him.

The Emperor was a founding father of the Organization of African Unity in 1963 and established its headquarters in his capital. At home, though, he seemed concerned mostly with the trappings of progress—inspecting new roads and interviewing youths proposed for scholarships abroad. He did little to initiate changes that might have raised Ethiopia from its position as one of Africa's poorest, least literate and most corrupt nations. His failure to act on economic and social problems triggered the military protests last February and led inexorably to his ouster.

Haile Selassie, for all his failings, acted as a glue binding together Ethiopia's disparate parts. Without him, the country may be increasingly difficult to govern, especially if—as some experts fear—there is a struggle between military men who want to wield total power and those officers (backed by a large number of students and academics) who want a leftist government dominated by civilians. Such a clash would clearly delay the reforms needed to bring Ethiopia belatedly into the 20th century.