Economic Origins of the Absolutist State in Ethiopia (1916-1935)

Abstract

The transformation of the diffident and almost self-effacing Tafari into the Machiavellian Haile Selassie, Ethiopia's most accomplished modern autocrat, has rarely failed to excite interest and investigation. The treatment of the subject has generally been characterized by blind sycophancy or the bemused fascination of an ordinary mortal in face of a Superman. To some the lustre resides not only in the man but also in his family (particularly his father) and a dynasty of unparalleled longevity!1 Others have been at pains to paint an idyllic setting for the birth-place of the hero a place smacking of an earthly paradise, endowed with rich soil, green hills, fragrant air and women of proverbial beauty.2

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