Abebe Aregai

After this action, Abebe's activities are hard to follow due to contradictory evidence. This is due in large part to the reticence of the survivors in their memoirs about individuals and events: when Emperor Haile Selassie proclaimed a general amnesty upon his restoration, as Thomas L. Kane explains, "many of those who served the Italians loyally right up to the last minute took advantage of this proclamation to escape punishment, and ... [often achieved] positions of power.... In order to avoid offending one of these figures, or even the loyal relatives of some collaborator, the name of a principal in some incident will be deliberately omitted, though some reason such as 'this would be a humiliation for Ethiopia' may be given."[6]

According to Anthony Mockler, by the spring of 1937 year Abebe was left with only 40 men, forcing him to limit his activities to the mountainous region of

Although Meleke Tsahai died not long afterwards of illness, Abebe remained at large, and following the death of Olana Dingili (1939), became the leading rebel leader – although one not entirely trusted by the exiled Emperor Haile Selassie. Abebe presented himself to the Italians as ambivalent about his role as an Arbegna, always seeming to be at the point of submitting to the occupiers in return for money, arms, honors or power, yet always changing his mind at the last moment.^[9] "In negotiations he conducted with General Nasi, then deputy viceroy and governor of Shewa, Abebe gave intimations of his readiness to surrender. Simultaneously, he wrote to other patriotic leaders explaining the actual reason for engaging in the talks: to buy time. After he had made sure that his forces had sufficiently recovered from the reverses they had suffered in the preceding months, he broke off negotiations, using as a pretext the killing by the Italians of patriots in another locality."^[10] The Italians continued these talks, obsessed with the hope of recruiting the best-known resistance fighter to their side, until 15 March 1940, when General Nasi learned that Abebe Aregai, who had promised to take the oath of allegiance if the General would make a visit to his location in person, was laying an ambush for him with 20,000 men.^[11]

It was not until Emperor Haile Selassie returned to Ethiopia that he was let in on the secret. As the Emperor entered Addis Ababa with his entourage, the streets were lined with Abebe's men, cheering their returning Emperor. Abebe presented himself and his son to the Emperor, and Mockler reports that the Arbegna told Emperor Haile Selassie, bowing low before him, "I am your loyal subject. I never submitted to the enemy. I never hoped to see you alive again and I am grateful to God for this day, when I have seen the sun shine."^[12] Before and during the war, the black diaspora worldwide, particularly African-Americans, were engaged in some of the oldest recorded black solidarity protests, most notably in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City where some even organized volunteer registrations to go overseas and fight for Ethiopia. Washington Post report noted that this was due to Ethiopia’s reputation as the only independent African nation being an inspiration for independence movements and black pride in the Americas. ^[13]

Later career

Now

By the late 1950s, he had become the leader of one of the major factions that vied for the Emperor's favor; the others were led by potentiates who included Mekonnen Habte-Wold (brother of Aklilu Habte-Wold), Ras Andargachew Masai and General Mulugeta Bulli.

Coup and assassination

Brothers

Imperial Bodyguard and the government security force, seized control of the capital on 13 December 1960. Ras Abebe was taken hostage along with others. The rest of the military, however, remained loyal to the Emperor, and rushed to Addis Ababa and crushed the coup. Many of the hostages, including Ras Abebe, were killed by machine-gun fire as the army stormed the Genetta Leul palace on 17 December. Although the leaders of the coup had fled, most of them did not outlive the Ras by more than a week.^[17]

Notes

1. E.C./AD 1897-8. ("The Nasi-Ras Abbäbä Arägay Truce according to Two Amharic Sources", Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies
   , 39 (1976), p. 49
2. ^ "Imperial War Museum". IWM. Archived from the original on 2021-12-22.
3. ^ Kane, "Nasi-Ras Abbäbä Arägay Truce", p. 49
4. ^ Anthony Mockler, Haile Selassie's War (New York: Olive Branch, 2003), p. 138
5. ^ ^{a b c} Mockler, Haile Selassie's War, pp. 159f
6. ^ Kane, "Nasi-Ras Abbäbä Arägay Truce", p. 47
7. ^ Mockler, Haile Selassie's War, p. 183n
8. ^ ^{a b} Kane, "Nasi-Ras Abbäbä Arägay Truce", p. 50
9. ^ Mockler, Haile Selassie's War, pp. 201f
10. ^ Bahru Zewde, A History of Modern Ethiopia, second edition (Oxford: James Currey, 2001), pp. 172f.
11. ^ Mockler, Haile Selassie's War, p. 202
12. ^ Mockler, Haile Selassie's War, p. 379
13. ^ "Perspective | When fascist aggression in Ethiopia sparked a movement of Black solidarity". The Washington Post. 2020-08-03. Archived from the original on 2023-06-27.
14. ^ ^{a b} David Hamilton Shinn, "Abebe Aregai, Ras,", p. 3
15. ^ Paul B. Henze, Layers of Time (New York: Palgrave, 2000), p. 251
16. ^ Henze, Layers of Time, p. 239
17. ^ Henze, Layers of Time, pp. 254f. Bahru Zewde identifies Genetta Leul palace as the present Administration building of Addis Ababa University, in Sddst Kilo (A History, p. 214).