Editing Haile Selassie (section)

==== Wollo famine ====

{{main|1972–1975 Wollo famine}}

{{Multiple image
| direction         = vertical
| image1            = Ethiopia PPP GDP and Population growth.png
| image2            = Ethiopia Land distribution data.png
| total_width       = 250
| caption1          = Ethiopia's population and [[Lists of countries by GDP per capita|GDP Per Capita]] growth during a part of Selassie's reign from 1950 to 1973
| caption2          = The Land distribution throughout the [[Ethiopian Empire]] to nobles throughout each region.<ref>{{cite book|last=Lavers|first=Tom|title=Ethiopia's 'Developmental State' Political Order and Distributive Crisis|chapter-url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/ethiopias-developmental-state/ethiopian-state-formation-and-the-revolutionary-origins-of-eprdf-dominance/B289BE6923C0C6CBC67A288E31CCB1F3|chapter=3: Ethiopian State Formation and the Revolutionary Origins of EPRDF Dominance|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|date=21 September 2023|pages=56–83|doi=10.1017/9781009428316.003|isbn=978-1-009-42831-6|access-date=16 March 2024|archive-date=16 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240316182456/https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/ethiopias-developmental-state/ethiopian-state-formation-and-the-revolutionary-origins-of-eprdf-dominance/B289BE6923C0C6CBC67A288E31CCB1F3|url-status=live}}</ref>
| width2            = 250
}}

[[Famines in Ethiopia|Famine]]{{snd}}mostly in Wollo, north-eastern Ethiopia, as well as in some parts of Tigray{{snd}}is estimated to have killed 40,000 to 80,000 Ethiopians between 1972 and 1974.<ref name="hrw">{{cite web|title=Rebellion and Famine in the North under Haile Selassie|url=http://hrw.org/reports/pdfs/e/ethiopia/ethiopia.919/c3wollo.pdf|publisher=Human Rights Watch|access-date=17 February 2008|archive-date=24 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924181350/http://www.hrw.org/reports/pdfs/e/ethiopia/ethiopia.919/c3wollo.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>{{Sfn|De Waal|p=58}} Some reports suggest that the Emperor was unaware of the famine's extent,<ref>{{Cite news|last=Mohr|first=Charles|date=18 February 1974|title=Rift in Ethiopian Society May Be Deepened by Famine|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/02/18/archives/rift-in-ethiopian-society-may-be-deepened-by-famine.html|work=The New York Times|access-date=24 March 2024|archive-date=24 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240324164447/https://www.nytimes.com/1974/02/18/archives/rift-in-ethiopian-society-may-be-deepened-by-famine.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="The Truth About Haile Selassie's Legacy">{{cite web|last1=Mohr|first1=Charles|date=15 February 1974|title=Ethiopian Famine Hits Millions|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/02/15/archives/ethiopian-famine-hits-millions-ethiopian-famine-affects-millions.html|work=The New York Times|access-date=24 March 2024|archive-date=24 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240324164446/https://www.nytimes.com/1974/02/15/archives/ethiopian-famine-hits-millions-ethiopian-famine-affects-millions.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="dson">Dickinson, Daniel, [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/4537151.stm "The last of the Ethiopian emperors"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006140943/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/4537151.stm |date=6 October 2014 }}, BBC News, Addis Ababa, 12 May 2005.</ref> while others assert that he was well aware of it.{{Sfn |De Waal | p = 61}}<ref>Woodward, Peter (2003), ''The Horn of Africa: Politics and International Relations''. I. B. Tauris. {{ISBN|1-86064-870-3}}, p. 175.</ref> The famine and its image in the media undermined the government's popular support, and his once unassailable popularity declined.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Webb|first1=Patrick|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4YujWY3vkccC&dq=wollo+Tigray+famine+end+1975&pg=PA27|title=Famine in Ethiopia: Policy Implications of Coping Failure at National and Household Levels|last2=Braun|first2=Joachim Von|last3=Yohannes|first3=Yisehac|date=1992|publisher=Intl Food Policy Res Inst|isbn=978-0-89629-095-2|language=en|access-date=6 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221005122316/https://books.google.com.et/books?id=4YujWY3vkccC&pg=PA27&lpg=PA27&dq=wollo+Tigray+famine+end+1975&source=bl&ots=Q8vBxq8a8f&sig=ACfU3U359Aa7aHPRNLrTHWgrdjMfEwhqkg&hl=am&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjTt9jth8n6AhWPgP0HHTTkAxs4ChDoAXoECAcQAg#v=onepage&q=wollo%20Tigray%20famine%20end%201975&f=false|archive-date=5 October 2022|url-status=live}}</ref>

In addition to the exposure of attempts by corrupt local officials to cover up the famine from the imperial government, the [[Kremlin]]'s depiction of Selassie's Ethiopia as backwards and inept (relative to the purported utopia of [[Marxism–Leninism]]) contributed to the popular uprising that led to its downfall and the rise of [[Mengistu Haile Mariam]].<ref>Kumar, Krishna (1998). ''Postconflict Elections, Democratisation, and International Assistance''. Lynne Rienner Publishers. {{ISBN|1-55587-778-8}}, p. 114.</ref> The crisis was exacerbated by military mutinies and high [[oil prices]]. The costs of imported goods, gasoline, and food skyrocketed, while unemployment spiked.<ref name="mammo" />