Editing Haile Selassie (section)

=== King and Emperor ===
{{see also|Modernization under Haile Selassie}}
[[File:Emperor Haile Selassie I.jpg|thumb|Coronation as Emperor on 2 November 1930]]
Tafari's authority was challenged in 1928 when ''[[Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles|Dejazmach]]'' [[Balcha Safo]] went to Addis Ababa with a sizeable armed force. When Tafari consolidated his hold over the provinces, many of Menelik's appointees refused to abide by the new regulations. Balcha Safo, the governor (''Shum'') of coffee-rich [[Sidamo Province]], was particularly troublesome. The revenues he remitted to the central government did not reflect the accrued profits and Tafari recalled him to Addis Ababa. The old man came in high dudgeon and, insultingly, with a large army.{{refn |Balcha Safo brought an army of ten thousand with him from Sidamo.<ref name="Marcus, page 127"/> |group= nb}} The ''Dejazmatch'' paid homage to Empress Zewditu, but snubbed Tafari.<ref name="cambridge">{{Harvnb |Roberts | p = 723}}.</ref>{{Sfn |Marcus | p = 129}} On 18 February, while Balcha Safo and his personal bodyguard{{refn |Balcha Safo's personal bodyguard numbered about five hundred.<ref name="Marcus, page 127" />|group=nb}} were in Addis Ababa, Tafari had ''Ras'' [[Kassa Haile Darge]] buy off Balcha Safo's army, and arranged to have him replaced as ''Shum'' of Sidamo Province{{Sfn |Mockler | p = 8}} by Birru Wolde Gabriel – who himself was replaced by [[Desta Damtew]].<ref name="Marcus, page 127" />

Even so, the gesture of Balcha Safo empowered Empress Zewditu politically and she attempted to have Tafari tried for [[treason]]. He was tried for his benevolent dealings with Italy including a [[Italo–Ethiopian Treaty of 1928|20-year peace accord]] that was signed on 2 August.<ref name="so193" /> In September, a group of palace reactionaries including some courtiers of the Empress made a [[1928 Ethiopian coup d'état|final bid to get rid of Tafari]]. The attempted ''coup d'état'' was tragic in its origins and comic in its end. When confronted by Tafari and a company of his troops, the ringleaders of the coup took refuge on the palace grounds in Menelik's mausoleum. Tafari and his men surrounded them, only to be surrounded themselves by the personal guard of Zewditu. More of Tafari's khaki clad soldiers arrived and decided the outcome in his favor with superiority of arms.{{Sfn |Marcus | pp = 127–128}} Popular support, as well as the support of the police,<ref name="cambridge" /> remained with Tafari. Ultimately, the Empress relented, and, on 7 October 1928, she crowned Tafari as ''[[Negus]]'' ([[Amharic]]: "King").<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Brief Biography of His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I |url=https://ethiopiancrown.org/biography-emperor-haile-selassie-i/ |website=[[Crown Council of Ethiopia]]}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Marcus||pp=128}}</ref>

[[File:Haile Selassie I Coronation Portrait.jpg|thumb|260x260px|Official coronation painting by Beatrice Playne c. 1950s]]

The crowning of Tafari as King was controversial. He occupied the same territory as the Empress rather than going off to a regional kingdom of the empire. Two monarchs, even with one being the vassal and the other the emperor (in this case empress), had never ruled from a single location simultaneously in [[Ethiopian history]]. Conservatives agitated to redress this perceived insult to the crown's dignity, leading to the [[Gugsa Wale's rebellion|''Ras'' Gugsa Welle's rebellion]]. [[Gugsa Welle]] was the husband of the Empress and the ''Shum'' of [[Begemder]] Province. In early 1930, he raised an army and marched it from his governorate at [[Gondar]] towards [[Addis Ababa]]. On 31 March 1930, Gugsa Welle was met by forces loyal to ''Negus'' Tafari and was defeated at the [[Battle of Anchem]]. Gugsa Welle was [[killed in action]].{{Sfn |Roberts | p = 724}} News of Gugsa Welle's defeat and death had hardly spread through Addis Ababa when the Empress died suddenly on 2 April 1930. Although it was long rumored that the Empress was poisoned upon her husband's defeat,<ref>Sorenson, John (2001). ''Ghosts and Shadows: Construction of Identity and Community in an African Diaspora''. University of Toronto Press. {{ISBN|0-8020-8331-5}} p. 34.</ref> or alternately that she died from shock upon hearing of the death of her estranged yet beloved husband,<ref>Brockman, Norbert C. (1994), ''An African Biographical Dictionary''. ABC-CLIO. {{ISBN|0-87436-748-4}}, p. 381.</ref> it has since been documented that Zewditu succumbed to [[paratyphoid fever]] and complications from [[diabetes]] after the Orthodox clergy imposed strict rules concerning her diet during Lent, against her physicians' orders.<ref>Henze, Paul B. (2000), ''Layers of Time: A History of Ethiopia''. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers. {{ISBN|1-85065-393-3}}, p. 205.</ref><ref name="The Negus">{{cite book|last1=Del Boca|first1=Angelo|title=The Negus: The Life and Death of the Last King of Kings|date=2015|publisher=Arada Books|location=Addis Ababa|isbn=978-99944-823-9-9|page=107}}</ref>

Upon Zewditu's death, Tafari himself rose to emperor and was proclaimed ''Neguse Negest ze-'Ityopp'ya'', "King of Kings of Ethiopia". He was [[Coronations in Africa#Ethiopia|crowned]] on 2 November 1930, at [[St. George's Cathedral, Addis Ababa|Addis Ababa's Cathedral of St. George]]. The coronation was by all accounts "a most splendid affair",<ref name= m12>{{Harvnb |Mockler | p = 12}}.</ref> and it was attended by royals and dignitaries from all over the world. Among those in attendance were the [[Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester|Duke of Gloucester]] (King George V's son), [[Marshal of France|Marshal]] [[Louis Franchet d'Espèrey]] of France, and the [[Prince Ferdinando, Duke of Genoa (1884–1963)|Prince of Udine]] representing King [[Victor Emmanuel III]] of Italy. Special [[Ambassador]] [[Herman Murray Jacoby]] attended the coronation as the personal representative of U.S. president [[Herbert Hoover]].<ref>{{cite journal|date=September 1930|title=Items|url=http://www.afsa.org/sites/default/files/fsj-1930-09-september_0.pdf|journal=The American Foreign Service Journal|volume=VII|issue=9|pages=327|access-date=28 February 2023|archive-date=28 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230228172524/http://www.afsa.org/sites/default/files/fsj-1930-09-september_0.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thenigerianvoice.com/news/35185/2nd-november-ises-requesting-for-a-femail-singer-to-sing-th.html|title=2nd November ises, Requesting for a femail singer to sing the Queenof England for the Coronation.|access-date=16 March 2023|archive-date=14 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230314180347/https://www.thenigerianvoice.com/news/35185/2nd-november-ises-requesting-for-a-femail-singer-to-sing-th.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://en.sewasew.com/p/united-states-of-america-relations-with|title=Sewasew &#124; United States of America, relations with|access-date=28 February 2023|archive-date=28 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230228170953/https://en.sewasew.com/p/united-states-of-america-relations-with|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1930/10/24/archives/abyssinian-ruler-honors-americans-special-envoy-for-coronation-pays.html?sq=selassie&scp=2&st=p Abyssinian ruler honors Americans] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180722190722/https://www.nytimes.com/1930/10/24/archives/abyssinian-ruler-honors-americans-special-envoy-for-coronation-pays.html?sq=selassie&scp=2&st=p |date=22 July 2018 }}. ''The New York Times''. 24 October 1930.</ref> Emissaries from Egypt, Turkey, Sweden, Belgium, and Japan were there.<ref name=m12 /> British author [[Evelyn Waugh]] was also present, penning a contemporary report on the event, and American travel lecturer [[Burton Holmes]] made the only known film footage of the event.<ref>Wallace, Irving (1965). "Everybody's Rover Boy", p. 113 in ''The Sunday Gentleman''. New York: Simon & Schuster.</ref><ref>{{Citation|title=Coronation of Ras Tafari – 1930 {{!}} Movietone Moments {{!}} 2 Feb 18|date=2 February 2018|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CJsZjXsuHg|language=en|access-date=30 January 2022|archive-date=6 July 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240706033434/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CJsZjXsuHg|url-status=live}}</ref> One American newspaper report suggested that the celebration had incurred a cost in excess of $3,000,000.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1930/11/03/archives/emperor-is-crowned-in-regal-splendor-at-african-capital-coptic.html?sq=selassie&scp=4&st=p "Emperor is Crowned in Regal Splendor at African Capital"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180722185322/https://www.nytimes.com/1930/11/03/archives/emperor-is-crowned-in-regal-splendor-at-african-capital-coptic.html?sq=selassie&scp=4&st=p |date=22 July 2018 }}. ''The New York Times''. 3 November 1930.</ref> Many of those in attendance received lavish gifts;<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1930/11/12/archives/abyssinias-guests-receive-costly-gifts-each-american-delegate-gets.html?sq=selassie&scp=19&st=p Abyssinia's Guests Receive Costly Gifts] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180722184856/https://www.nytimes.com/1930/11/12/archives/abyssinias-guests-receive-costly-gifts-each-american-delegate-gets.html?sq=selassie&scp=19&st=p |date=22 July 2018 }}. ''The New York Times''. 12 November 1930.</ref> in one instance the Emperor, a Christian, even sent a gold-encased Bible to an American bishop who had not attended the coronation, but who had dedicated a prayer for the Emperor on the day of the coronation.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1931/01/27/archives/emperor-of-ethiopia-honors-bishop-freeman-sends-goldencased-bible.html?sq=selassie&scp=14&st=p "Emperor of Ethiopia Honors Bishop Freeman; Sends Gold-Encased Bible and Cross for Prayer"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180722041252/https://www.nytimes.com/1931/01/27/archives/emperor-of-ethiopia-honors-bishop-freeman-sends-goldencased-bible.html?sq=selassie&scp=14&st=p |date=22 July 2018 }}. ''The New York Times''. 27 January 1931.</ref>

[[File:Selassie on Time Magazine cover 1930.jpg|left|thumb|237x237px|Cover of [[Time (magazine)|''Time'']] magazine, 3 November 1930]]

Selassie introduced [[1931 Constitution of Ethiopia|Ethiopia's first written constitution]] on 16 July 1931,<ref>Nahum, Fasil (1997), ''Constitution for a Nation of Nations: The Ethiopian Prospect''. Red Sea Press. {{ISBN|1-56902-051-5}}, p. 17.</ref> providing for a [[bicameral legislature]].<ref name= vnahum22>Fasil (1997), ''Constitution for a Nation of Nations'', p. 22.</ref> The constitution kept power in the hands of the nobility, but it did establish democratic standards among the nobility, envisaging a transition to democratic rule: it would prevail "until the people are in a position to elect themselves."<ref name=vnahum22 /> The constitution limited succession to the throne to descendants of Selassie, which had the effect of placing other dynastic princes at the time (including the princes of [[Tigray Province|Tigrai]], and even the Emperor's loyal cousin Ras [[Kassa Haile Darge]]) outside of the line for the throne.<ref name="cs">{{Country study |country=Ethiopia |abbr=et |editor=Thomas P. Ofcansky and LaVerle Berry |date=1991 |section=Haile Selassie: The Prewar Period, 1930–36 |author=John W. Turner}}</ref>

In 1932, the [[Kingdom of Jimma|Sultanate of Jimma]] was formally absorbed into Ethiopia following the death of Sultan [[Abba Jifar II]] of [[Jimma]].<ref name="Marcus-121">Harold G. Marcus, ''The Life and Times of Menelik II: Ethiopia 1844–1913'' (Lawrenceville: Red Sea Press, 1995), p. 121</ref>