Editing Haile Selassie (section)

=== World War II and return ===
[[File:Addis Ababa-8e00855u.jpg|thumb|left|In 1942]]

British forces, which consisted primarily of Ethiopian-backed African and South African colonial troops under the "[[Gideon Force]]" of Colonel [[Orde Wingate]], coordinated the military effort to liberate Ethiopia. Selassie issued several imperial proclamations in this period, demonstrating that British military might and the Emperor's popular appeal could be joined in the concerted effort to liberate Ethiopia.<ref name="ofcan" />

On 18 January 1941, during the [[East African Campaign (World War II)|East African Campaign]], Selassie crossed the border between Sudan and Ethiopia, near the village of Um Iddla. The standard of the [[Lion of Judah]] was raised again. Two days later, he and a force of Ethiopian patriots joined with [[Gideon Force]], which was already in Ethiopia and preparing the way.<ref>Barker, A.J. (1936), ''The Rape of Ethiopia'', p. 156.</ref>

Italy was defeated by combined forces of the United Kingdom, the [[Commonwealth of Nations]], [[Free French Forces|Free France]], [[Free Belgian Forces|Free Belgium]], and [[Arbegnoch|Ethiopian partisans]]. On 5 May 1941, Selassie entered [[Addis Ababa]] and personally addressed the Ethiopian people, exactly five years after the fascist forces entered Addis Ababa. He urged them not to reciprocate the atrocities they had been subjected to.{{Sfn|Haile Selassie 1999|loc=vol. 2, p. 165}}

On 27 August 1942, Selassie confirmed the legal basis for the abolition of [[African slave trade|slavery]] that had been [[International law|illegally]] enacted by Italian occupying forces throughout the empire and imposed severe penalties, including capital punishment for slave trading.<ref>Hinks, Peter P.; McKivigan, John R. and Williams, R. Owen (2007). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=_SeZrcBqt-YC Encyclopedia of Antislavery and Abolition] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230703205917/https://books.google.com/books?id=_SeZrcBqt-YC |date=3 July 2023 }}'', Greenwood Publishing Group, p. 248. {{ISBN|0-313-33143-X}}.</ref><ref>Thomas P. Ofcansky, LaVerle Bennette Berry Ethiopia, a Country Study. Federal Research Division, Library of Congress (1993) p. 110</ref>