The World

When the emperor returned from the shah’s party, he faced a continuing war against Eritrean rebels in the north and Somalians in the south, while a famine raged in Wollo and Tigray in the north-east. The superpowers played proxies in the Horn of Africa: Moscow backed Siad Barre of Somalia, whom it armed to attack Ethiopia, which was supported in turn by Washington; Eritrean rebels, trained by China, attacked from the east. The emperor was losing his grip at home. When a loyal nobleman asked him to retire, he replied, ‘Tell me, did King David retire?’ Challenged by a female journalist, he shouted, ‘Democracy! Republic! What do these words mean? Illusions, illusions,’ before stalking out, grumbling, ‘Who’s this woman? Enough, go away.’ But the illusions were his.

As 50,000 starved, the negus denied the famine: ‘Everything is under control.’ His ally, the shah, offered help, but ‘He refused,’ noted Alam, ‘denying anyone was suffering or even that there was a drought.’ The emperor’s delusions reminded him of the shah: ‘Inevitably one thinks of the parallels.’

Students protested; young officers conspired. In February 1974, after riots in Addis, Haile Selassie addressed the nation on television, calming the demonstrators, but his rule was subsiding rather than collapsing as generals, students, NCOs and Marxists planned a takeover. General Aman Andom, who had been sacked by the emperor, assumed leadership of a Provisional Military Administrative Council (nicknamed the Derg) to which each rebel unit sent three delegates.

On 12 September, the Derg easily took control of the Jubilee Palace and arrested the emperor, now a wizened old man, who was bizarrely conveyed in a VW Beetle to the military barracks – ‘What? In here?’ murmured the emperor at the sight of the car – before being imprisoned in the Grand Palace. Technically the rebels recognized the crown prince, abroad for medical treatment, as ‘emperor-designate’, but then appointed General Aman as first president. Aman had been the mentor of a young soldier of poor background who would emerge as leader. Mengistu Haile Mariam, now thirty-seven, had been sent to join the Derg by his commander, who wanted to get rid of a troublemaker. Instead the troublemaker took over the country. He had been trained in the USA but had suffered racism there. At home, this dwarfish servant’s son burned with hatred for the racism of the imperial elite. ‘In this country, some aristocratic families automatically categorize persons with dark skin, thick lips, and kinky hair as barias – slaves,’ he told the Derg. ‘Let it be clear to everybody that I’ll soon make these imbeciles crawl and grind corn!’ Now a convert to Marxism, he remained behind the scenes, but started to organize the Derg and push for Leninist revolution, encouraging the crushing of opposition within the military. In October, the killing started. Aristocrats and generals were arrested. When Mengistu’s old patron, General Aman, resisted, he was denounced and killed in a shootout. In March 1975, Mengistu proposed that Derg leaders should be elected by secret ballot, and he emerged as joint vice-chairman with another major Atnafu Abate. For two years, the two majors Mengistu and Atnafu ruled Ethiopia.

In November 1974, after mass arrests of the elite, Mengistu proposed the execution of sixty princes, generals and aristocrats. The Derg approved. Mengistu arrived to interrogate the emperor, accusing him of stealing $14 billion: ‘Where would I get this money? And for what?’ he replied. ‘To live in exile? We have experienced exile …’ Living alone, cared for by his butler, the ex-monarch looked out of the window and wept. ‘Oh Ethiopia, do you ever harbour ill towards me?’ He was right to sense peril.

On 27 August 1975, Mengistu lingered outside his bedroom. The butler was sent away. Mengistu and three others chloroformed the old emperor, then suffocated him. ‘We tried our best to save him,’ lied Mengistu later, ‘but we could not keep him.’ Mengistu buried the last Lion of Judah under a slab outside the latrines in the palace yard.

With the Soviets challenging America in Africa, Kissinger ran foreign policy as Nixon faced impeachment. ‘People have got to know,’ Nixon said on television, ‘whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I’m not a crook. I’ve earned everything I’ve got.’