Ethiopia Pt.2: Haile Selassie, King of Kings

After a short emergency interlude into Syria, Conflicted Season 5 returns to our exploration of the fascinating land of Ethiopia. Moving now to the 20th century, where one man dominated the country: Emperor Haile Selassie, King of Kings.

Haile Selassie is a name synonymous with a few things: Ethiopia’s age of regal power in the 20th century; being the only African monarch to withstand Western colonialism; and, of course, the religion in Jamaica which reveres him as a god, Rastafarianism. But Haile Selassie himself was actually much more human, more mortal, than all this implies – to look at his life is to understand how the modern Ethiopian state came to be formed, or rather, failed to be formed…

In this episode, Thomas and Aimen give us an in depth look at Ethiopia in the 20th century, from Haile Selassie’s prophesied birth, to the political machinations that brought him to power, and how he cemented it in this tumultuous time for his country. The wider geopolitics of his reign were fascinating too, which saw Mussolini’s fascist Italians invade, Western powers joining to expel them in World War 2, and a period of rule afterwards where Selassie preached African unity while himself conquering neighbouring lands. We’ll talk about Selassie in Bath, his resplendent tours throughout Europe, thrilling visits to the League of Nations, and yes, the religion set up in his name to revere him, Rastafarianism.

New Conflicted Season 5 episodes will be coming every two weeks, but if you want to have your Conflicted fix every single week, then you’ll have to join our Conflicted Community.

Subscribers will get bonus episodes every other week, and can also join our Conflicted Community chatroom, where you can interact with fellow dearest listeners, discuss episodes past and future, get exclusive messages from Thomas and Aimen, ask future Q&A questions and so much more.

All the information you need to sign up to the Conflicted Community is on this link: https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/

Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MHconflicted

And Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices