A coalition of leading nobles and church authorities deposed Lij Iyasu, citing apostasy, and shifted power toward Menelik II’s daughter Zewditu. Tafari Makonnen (the future Haile Selassie) was elevated as heir and regent, setting the stage for his rise.
Forces loyal to the new order defeated Negus Mikael (Iyasu’s father) at Segale, consolidating Zewditu’s position and weakening Iyasu’s remaining support after the September 1916 deposition.
Zewditu was formally crowned Empress of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa. The coronation ceremonially anchored the post-Iyasu settlement in which Tafari served as regent and heir apparent.
During the coronation period, Tafari Makonnen’s status as the central figure of the regency was publicly reinforced; he was thereafter widely known as Ras Tafari, the political focal point of modernization efforts during Zewditu’s reign.
Ethiopia was admitted by unanimous vote to the League of Nations, a major diplomatic success associated with Ras Tafari’s international strategy. Admission was tied to commitments to apply existing anti-slavery conventions, increasing external pressure for reform.
Ras Tafari left Ethiopia for a multi-month tour that included Jerusalem and major European capitals. The trip aimed to raise Ethiopia’s international profile and to accelerate administrative and modernization ambitions through foreign contacts and observation.
Ras Tafari returned to Ethiopia after completing his extended diplomatic journey abroad. The tour’s visibility helped reinforce his modernist credentials and strengthened his standing at court.
Ras Tafari assumed the post of Chief Minister, increasing his direct control over central administration. The appointment marked a further shift of practical authority away from conservative court factions and toward the regent’s reform program.
Ethiopia and Italy signed a 20-year Treaty of Friendship and Arbitration. Ras Tafari represented Ethiopia in the negotiations, seeking security and international legitimacy amid regional pressures.
Empress Zewditu crowned Ras Tafari as Negus (“King”), a controversial step that elevated him above other regional rulers and formalized his primacy while she remained empress. The move intensified political polarization at court.
Royalist forces aligned with Negus Tafari defeated the rebellion led by Ras Gugsa Welle (Zewditu’s husband) at Anchem. The victory removed the most serious internal challenge to Tafari’s ascendancy immediately before Zewditu’s death.
Following Zewditu’s death, Tafari was proclaimed emperor, completing the transition from regent to sovereign. He took the regnal name Haile Selassie I (“Power/Might of the Trinity”).
Zewditu’s death ended the imperial arrangement established in 1916–1917. With the empress gone and opposition weakened, Negus Tafari moved to assume the imperial throne.
Haile Selassie I was crowned at Addis Ababa’s Cathedral of St George in an internationally attended ceremony that projected Ethiopia’s sovereignty and modernizing ambitions to global audiences.
Rise and coronation of Haile Selassie (1916-1930)
