| Ba Beta Kristiyan Haile Selassie I |
| Haile Selassie I |
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| May 5th (5th of Miyaza) “Fasika” (Passover) This day represents a major Holy Day with service. After service, family day celebration starts with the playing of Rasta Music (e.g., Reggae) with refreshments, closing with a prayer from the Priest. |
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| Selected Speeches |
| The Church of Haile Selassie I, Inc. |
| The Church of Haile Selassie I, Inc. |
| Ba Beta Kristiyan Haile Selassie I |
| Chapter IV |
| Selected Speeches |
How many are the young men, the women, the priests and the monks
whom the Italians pitilessly massacred during these years? You know that
in Addis Ababa alone many thousands perished during the three days
following St. Michael's Day on Yekatit, 12 1929 (19th February, 1937).
The blood and bones of those who were split with axes and hammered to
death, pierced with bayonets, clubbed and stoned, of those who were
burned alive with their little children in their homes, of those who perished
of hunger and thirst in prison have been crying for justice. Everybody
knows that this act of barbarism and cruelty was not perpetrated in Addis
Ababa alone, but more especially in the provinces of Ethiopia. There is
hardly anyone who has not been caught and beaten, kicked, humiliated and
imprisoned.
Now we shall pass on to the new history that is before us. Five years ago
today the facist forces entered our capital city. Then Mussolini announced
to the world that he had established a Roman Empire in our country,
Ethiopia. He belived that the land he declared he had conquered would
forever be in his hands. The heroism of the Ethiopian people known in
history. But as we had no port through which to import modern
armaments necessary for our people, we were unable to obtain them.
Fifty-two nations condemned Mussolini for his deed. But he boasted of
his violent deed and took no notice of their condemnation. The past five
years have been years of darkness for you, my people. But you never lost
hope, and little by little you spread on the Ethiopian hills. The enemy never
ventured to come near the mountains on which you were because,
enduring every hardship and affliction, you, the warriors of Ethiopia,
safeguarded your freedom during the past five years. But in spite of the
fact that he could not conquer the country, he spent many thousands of
millions of lire, saying that he was civilizing what he could hold. He spent
all that money not because he desired to improve the condition of the
oppressed Ethiopian people or to mitigate the injustice he had done. It is
because he wanted to plant a fascist colony in our sacred land of Ethiopia
and to impose on her the rule of oppression which he had planned. He
tried to exterminate the Ethiopian race, and did not even entertain the idea
of giving her the administration of a mandate or a protectorate, which in
any case would have been considered a heavy yoke for a free people. But
all the money that could be counted by the thousand million and all the
prepared armaments served a purpose which Mussolini never intented
them to serve. At the time when Italy revealed her intentions of entering
the war in order to be able to snatch from defeated France as much as she
could, the number of soldiers, the amount of money and the armaments
she had sent to Ethiopia was enormous. The regular troops she
concentrated were not less than 250,000; she also amassed provisions to
last for many years in case she was encircled. Trusting in, and bragging
of, the invincibility of this military force, the fascist government proceeded
with planting totalitarian rule in our country. But something happened
which the fascist government did not take into account. The fighting
spirit which is essential in modern war revealed in you.
whom the Italians pitilessly massacred during these years? You know that
in Addis Ababa alone many thousands perished during the three days
following St. Michael's Day on Yekatit, 12 1929 (19th February, 1937).
The blood and bones of those who were split with axes and hammered to
death, pierced with bayonets, clubbed and stoned, of those who were
burned alive with their little children in their homes, of those who perished
of hunger and thirst in prison have been crying for justice. Everybody
knows that this act of barbarism and cruelty was not perpetrated in Addis
Ababa alone, but more especially in the provinces of Ethiopia. There is
hardly anyone who has not been caught and beaten, kicked, humiliated and
imprisoned.
Now we shall pass on to the new history that is before us. Five years ago
today the facist forces entered our capital city. Then Mussolini announced
to the world that he had established a Roman Empire in our country,
Ethiopia. He belived that the land he declared he had conquered would
forever be in his hands. The heroism of the Ethiopian people known in
history. But as we had no port through which to import modern
armaments necessary for our people, we were unable to obtain them.
Fifty-two nations condemned Mussolini for his deed. But he boasted of
his violent deed and took no notice of their condemnation. The past five
years have been years of darkness for you, my people. But you never lost
hope, and little by little you spread on the Ethiopian hills. The enemy never
ventured to come near the mountains on which you were because,
enduring every hardship and affliction, you, the warriors of Ethiopia,
safeguarded your freedom during the past five years. But in spite of the
fact that he could not conquer the country, he spent many thousands of
millions of lire, saying that he was civilizing what he could hold. He spent
all that money not because he desired to improve the condition of the
oppressed Ethiopian people or to mitigate the injustice he had done. It is
because he wanted to plant a fascist colony in our sacred land of Ethiopia
and to impose on her the rule of oppression which he had planned. He
tried to exterminate the Ethiopian race, and did not even entertain the idea
of giving her the administration of a mandate or a protectorate, which in
any case would have been considered a heavy yoke for a free people. But
all the money that could be counted by the thousand million and all the
prepared armaments served a purpose which Mussolini never intented
them to serve. At the time when Italy revealed her intentions of entering
the war in order to be able to snatch from defeated France as much as she
could, the number of soldiers, the amount of money and the armaments
she had sent to Ethiopia was enormous. The regular troops she
concentrated were not less than 250,000; she also amassed provisions to
last for many years in case she was encircled. Trusting in, and bragging
of, the invincibility of this military force, the fascist government proceeded
with planting totalitarian rule in our country. But something happened
which the fascist government did not take into account. The fighting
spirit which is essential in modern war revealed in you.
| Formidable Adversaries |
| Historic - War and Peace |
| Haile Selassie the First - May 5, 1941 |
| Triumphant Entry - Victory Day May 05, 1941 |
| ... Today is a day on which Ethiopia is stretching her hands to God in joy and thankfulness and revealing her happiness to her children.... |
People of my country and especially my faithful soldiers!
No human lips can express the thankfulness which I feel to the merciful
God who has enabled me to stand in your midst on this day of which the
angels in heaven and the creation on earth could neither have thought of
nor known. Before everything else I want to tell you and to make you
understand that this day is a day on which a fresh chapter of the history of
the New Ethiopia begins. In this new era a new work is commencing
which it is the duty of all of us to perform.
If we desire to be reminiscent of the affliction which befell Ethiopia during
the past years we shall only speak of her recent history. When Ethiopia,
who has preserved her independence for many thousands of years, was
attacked in 1888 E.C. (1896 Gregorian Calendar) by Italy, who had
harboured aggressive designs against her for many years before with the
intention of destroying her freedom, her brave sons fought at Adowa and
she saved her independence. The Treaty of Wuchali (Uccialli 1889) was
not the only cause of the battle that was fought at Adowa. It was only a
pretext for the constant desire that Italy had had of ruling Ethiopia.
Although the Great European War interfered with her plans for a time, and
in spite of her outward protestations of friendship, Italy revealed in recent
years the preparations she had been making against Ethiopia after her
defeat at Adowa, because of her resentment that justice should have
prevailed against her.
When Italy began to make a war of aggression on Ethiopia, although we
knew we were not as well armed as she was, we went against here with
what strength we could muster, because it was our duty to resist an
enemy that had come to seize Our country. But as it was apparent that
she was bent on exterminating Our people with poison gas, the use of
which was prohibited by international law, we went to appeal to the
League of Nations and to claim justice. As it was feared that this hostility
started by Italy might spread all over the world, and as it was a period
when all those who were charged with the responsibility of government
were trying to save the world from the catastrophe which has since
befallen it, they were working to bring about understanding in the world to
prevent the spread of the conflagration. At that time our true friend, Great
Britain, received Us with sympathy. I remained their working, but
constantly being in spirit with my countrymen whose blood was being
uselessly, and ruthlessly shed at the hands of the Italians: with the
monasteries and churches that were being burned down; with those
forced to take refuge in foreign lands; and with those suffering and being
afflicted in the wilderness, in the caves and in the forests of their native
land.
No human lips can express the thankfulness which I feel to the merciful
God who has enabled me to stand in your midst on this day of which the
angels in heaven and the creation on earth could neither have thought of
nor known. Before everything else I want to tell you and to make you
understand that this day is a day on which a fresh chapter of the history of
the New Ethiopia begins. In this new era a new work is commencing
which it is the duty of all of us to perform.
If we desire to be reminiscent of the affliction which befell Ethiopia during
the past years we shall only speak of her recent history. When Ethiopia,
who has preserved her independence for many thousands of years, was
attacked in 1888 E.C. (1896 Gregorian Calendar) by Italy, who had
harboured aggressive designs against her for many years before with the
intention of destroying her freedom, her brave sons fought at Adowa and
she saved her independence. The Treaty of Wuchali (Uccialli 1889) was
not the only cause of the battle that was fought at Adowa. It was only a
pretext for the constant desire that Italy had had of ruling Ethiopia.
Although the Great European War interfered with her plans for a time, and
in spite of her outward protestations of friendship, Italy revealed in recent
years the preparations she had been making against Ethiopia after her
defeat at Adowa, because of her resentment that justice should have
prevailed against her.
When Italy began to make a war of aggression on Ethiopia, although we
knew we were not as well armed as she was, we went against here with
what strength we could muster, because it was our duty to resist an
enemy that had come to seize Our country. But as it was apparent that
she was bent on exterminating Our people with poison gas, the use of
which was prohibited by international law, we went to appeal to the
League of Nations and to claim justice. As it was feared that this hostility
started by Italy might spread all over the world, and as it was a period
when all those who were charged with the responsibility of government
were trying to save the world from the catastrophe which has since
befallen it, they were working to bring about understanding in the world to
prevent the spread of the conflagration. At that time our true friend, Great
Britain, received Us with sympathy. I remained their working, but
constantly being in spirit with my countrymen whose blood was being
uselessly, and ruthlessly shed at the hands of the Italians: with the
monasteries and churches that were being burned down; with those
forced to take refuge in foreign lands; and with those suffering and being
afflicted in the wilderness, in the caves and in the forests of their native
land.
| Thousands Perished |
| A New Day |
People of my country, Ethiopia!
Today is a day on which Ethiopia is stretching her hands to God in joy and
thankfulness and revealing her happiness to her children.
This day, on which the people of Ethiopia are freed from oppressive
foreign yoke and eternal servitude and on which I am enabled to rejoin my
people, whom I love and have longed for, will be honoured as a holiday to
be commemorated annually as a Great Ethiopian Anniversary. On this day
we shall remember those heroic warriors who, determined not to
surrender the great charge passed on to them by their Father, became
sacrifices, shedding their blood and breaking their bones for the freedom
of the land they loved and for the honour of their Emperor and their flag.
The history of Ethiopia will be witness for these Our warriors.
The tribulations and afflications which befeel us during the past five years
and which cannot be recounted and numbered in detail will be a great
lesson to Us all, and with industry, unity, co-operation and love engraved
in your hearts, will be a great incentive to you to be my helpers in the
affairs of Ethiopia which I have in mind. In the New Ethiopia I want you
to be a people undivided and endowed with freedom and equality before
the law.
You will have to join me in my efforts for the prosperity of the country,
for the riches of the people, for the development of agriculture,
commerce, education and learning, for the protection on modern lines of
adminstration of the country.
It is my firm wish and purpose to merit the blessing with which God in
His mercy has visited Us, first, by showing our gratitude to Our Allies, the
British, by the release of the Imperial troops to fight the common enemy
on other fronts, and by supplying them with troops whenenver they may
be needed; secondly, to do work beneficial to the people and the country
by establishing in our Ethiopia a Government which will protect the Faith
and cause it is to be respected, and by guaranteeing liberty of the people
and Freedom of conscience.
What I would finally announce to you, my people, is that today is a day of
rejoicing for Us all. Today is a day on which we defeated our enemy.
Therefore, when we say let us all rejoice with our hearts let not our
rejoicing be in any other way but in the spirit of Christ. Do not return evil
for evil. Do not indulge inthe atrocities which the enemy has been
practising in his usual way, even up to the last moment.
Take care not to spoil the good name of Ethiopia by acts which are
worthy of the enemy. We shall see that our enemies aare disarmed and
sent the same way they came. As St. George who killed the dragon is the
Patron Saint of our army as well as of our allies, let us unite with our allies
in everlasting friendship and amity in order to be able to stand against the
godless and cruel dragon which has newly risen and which is oppressing
mankind. I charge you to consider them as a brother and a friend and to
show them kindness and consideration.
Today is a day on which Ethiopia is stretching her hands to God in joy and
thankfulness and revealing her happiness to her children.
This day, on which the people of Ethiopia are freed from oppressive
foreign yoke and eternal servitude and on which I am enabled to rejoin my
people, whom I love and have longed for, will be honoured as a holiday to
be commemorated annually as a Great Ethiopian Anniversary. On this day
we shall remember those heroic warriors who, determined not to
surrender the great charge passed on to them by their Father, became
sacrifices, shedding their blood and breaking their bones for the freedom
of the land they loved and for the honour of their Emperor and their flag.
The history of Ethiopia will be witness for these Our warriors.
The tribulations and afflications which befeel us during the past five years
and which cannot be recounted and numbered in detail will be a great
lesson to Us all, and with industry, unity, co-operation and love engraved
in your hearts, will be a great incentive to you to be my helpers in the
affairs of Ethiopia which I have in mind. In the New Ethiopia I want you
to be a people undivided and endowed with freedom and equality before
the law.
You will have to join me in my efforts for the prosperity of the country,
for the riches of the people, for the development of agriculture,
commerce, education and learning, for the protection on modern lines of
adminstration of the country.
It is my firm wish and purpose to merit the blessing with which God in
His mercy has visited Us, first, by showing our gratitude to Our Allies, the
British, by the release of the Imperial troops to fight the common enemy
on other fronts, and by supplying them with troops whenenver they may
be needed; secondly, to do work beneficial to the people and the country
by establishing in our Ethiopia a Government which will protect the Faith
and cause it is to be respected, and by guaranteeing liberty of the people
and Freedom of conscience.
What I would finally announce to you, my people, is that today is a day of
rejoicing for Us all. Today is a day on which we defeated our enemy.
Therefore, when we say let us all rejoice with our hearts let not our
rejoicing be in any other way but in the spirit of Christ. Do not return evil
for evil. Do not indulge inthe atrocities which the enemy has been
practising in his usual way, even up to the last moment.
Take care not to spoil the good name of Ethiopia by acts which are
worthy of the enemy. We shall see that our enemies aare disarmed and
sent the same way they came. As St. George who killed the dragon is the
Patron Saint of our army as well as of our allies, let us unite with our allies
in everlasting friendship and amity in order to be able to stand against the
godless and cruel dragon which has newly risen and which is oppressing
mankind. I charge you to consider them as a brother and a friend and to
show them kindness and consideration.
You were able to destroy the enemy who were superior to you in number
and equipment, because you are a people possessed of bravery and mercy
and because you co-operated and knew the stratagems of war.
The British troops, who were fighting for human rights on other fronts of
the war, needed time to get ready to come to the assistance of Ethiopia
and free her. But you, warriors of Ethiopia, harassed the enemy by
cutting his communications, by harrying him and restricting him to his
fortifications. In spite of the great numbers of troops in which he put his
trust, he realized that the Ethiopian people from one end to the other hated
him and his rule. He knew also that it was impossible for him to live in
such a country and in the midst of such a people. Even by using poison
gas and bombs and by his atrocities he could no longer hope to enjoy an
overlordship of a country the inside of which was undermined. He
realized that the soldiers who surrounded him were adversaries more
powerful than he was. He spent the daring and the money that were left
to him to meet his adversaries. Then he looked around, if perchance he
could find somewhere where he could take shelter in Ethiopia, but he
could find no shelter.
When the time came, our great ally, the British Government, prepared to
launch a proper attack against our enemy. As soon as I knew that I left
for the distant land of the Sudan which borders us in the West, and
entered central Gojjam. In Gojjam our enemy had strong fortified
positions, powerful troops, aeroplanes and artillery. On comparing the
number of Our soldiers with that of the enemy We found that We had one
soldier for every 20 of his. Moreover, we had no artillery and aircraft that
we could dispose of at will. The fact that I was found in the midst of my
warriors at once attracted many thousands of men. And the fear and
anxiety of our enemy increased to that extent. While my soldiers were
harassing and cutting the enemy's communications and after having driven
his trooops across the Abbai (Blue Nile), were pursing them towards Shoa
and Begamder. I heard the good news that the British Imperial troops had,
with incomparable speed, occupied Our capital city and were pushing
towards Dessie in the North and Jimma in the South. In the same way,
the troops who started form the Sudan destroyed the fortress at Keren
with wonderful force and utterly defeated the enemy. And as the time
came for my return to my capital I mustered my soldiers who were
scattered in every direction in pursuit of our enemies, and find myself in
my capital today. I am exceedingly happy that I have been able to arrive
here at the head of my soldiers, the enemy who was found on my path
being defeated, and to break the power of the common foe. I am deeply
thankful to Almighty God that I stand today in your midst in my Palace,
from which the fascist government has fled.
and equipment, because you are a people possessed of bravery and mercy
and because you co-operated and knew the stratagems of war.
The British troops, who were fighting for human rights on other fronts of
the war, needed time to get ready to come to the assistance of Ethiopia
and free her. But you, warriors of Ethiopia, harassed the enemy by
cutting his communications, by harrying him and restricting him to his
fortifications. In spite of the great numbers of troops in which he put his
trust, he realized that the Ethiopian people from one end to the other hated
him and his rule. He knew also that it was impossible for him to live in
such a country and in the midst of such a people. Even by using poison
gas and bombs and by his atrocities he could no longer hope to enjoy an
overlordship of a country the inside of which was undermined. He
realized that the soldiers who surrounded him were adversaries more
powerful than he was. He spent the daring and the money that were left
to him to meet his adversaries. Then he looked around, if perchance he
could find somewhere where he could take shelter in Ethiopia, but he
could find no shelter.
When the time came, our great ally, the British Government, prepared to
launch a proper attack against our enemy. As soon as I knew that I left
for the distant land of the Sudan which borders us in the West, and
entered central Gojjam. In Gojjam our enemy had strong fortified
positions, powerful troops, aeroplanes and artillery. On comparing the
number of Our soldiers with that of the enemy We found that We had one
soldier for every 20 of his. Moreover, we had no artillery and aircraft that
we could dispose of at will. The fact that I was found in the midst of my
warriors at once attracted many thousands of men. And the fear and
anxiety of our enemy increased to that extent. While my soldiers were
harassing and cutting the enemy's communications and after having driven
his trooops across the Abbai (Blue Nile), were pursing them towards Shoa
and Begamder. I heard the good news that the British Imperial troops had,
with incomparable speed, occupied Our capital city and were pushing
towards Dessie in the North and Jimma in the South. In the same way,
the troops who started form the Sudan destroyed the fortress at Keren
with wonderful force and utterly defeated the enemy. And as the time
came for my return to my capital I mustered my soldiers who were
scattered in every direction in pursuit of our enemies, and find myself in
my capital today. I am exceedingly happy that I have been able to arrive
here at the head of my soldiers, the enemy who was found on my path
being defeated, and to break the power of the common foe. I am deeply
thankful to Almighty God that I stand today in your midst in my Palace,
from which the fascist government has fled.