Editing Lij Iyasu (section)

==Reign==
[[File:Lidsch Ieassu, nepot al lui Menelik.jpg|thumb|Iyasu and his retinue, ca. 1914.|left]]
On the night of 12–13 December 1913, Emperor Menelik II died. Iyasu was informed of his grandfather's death. The Emperor's body was secretly locked away in a small room adjoining the Se'el Bet Kidane Meheret (Our Lady Covenant of Mercy) Church on the grounds of the Imperial Palace. No public announcement of the Emperor's death was made, and no requiem or any type of mourning ritual was allowed. Empress Taitu was immediately expelled from the Imperial Palace and sent to the old palace on Mt. Entoto. ''Lij'' Iyasu's aunt, [[Zewditu]] Menelik, was also removed from the palace and banished into internal exile at her estates at Falle.  By mid-January, the news had slipped through the official wall of silence. On 10 January 1914, the leading nobles of Ethiopia had gathered to discuss their response to his loss and the future of Ethiopia. "Although no records of the 1914 meeting have come to the author's notice," Marcus admits, he states that "it is safe to conclude" that their arrival in Addis Ababa "indicated their fidelity to Menelik's heir." However, they opposed his immediate coronation, although they did approve of his proposal to crown his father "[[Mikael of Wollo|Negus of the North]]".<ref>{{harvp|Marcus|1995|pp=261f}}</ref>

''Lij'' Iyasu showed a pronounced lack of interest in the day-to-day running of the government, leaving most of the work for the ministers to deal with. However, the cabinet of ministers remained largely unchanged from the days of his grandfather, and by now the ministers wielded much power and influence. They were constantly subject to insults and disparagement by ''Lij'' Iyasu who referred to them as "my grandfather's fattened sheep."<ref>Bahru Zewde, ''A History'', p. 123.</ref>  He constantly spoke of his intention of dismissing "these Shewans", as he called them, and appointing new officials and creating a new aristocracy of his own choosing. His essentially reformist orientation clashed with the conservatism of his grandfather's old ministers. As Paul Henze notes, Iyasu "seems deliberately to have antagonized the Shewan establishment. He lacked the diplomatic skill and the refined sense of discretion that came naturally to [[Haile Selassie I|Tafari]]."<ref>{{harvp|Henze|2000|p=193}}</ref>

Iyasu's many capricious acts served only to further alienate the aristocracy. One was his betrothal of his royal-blooded cousin ''Woizero'' Sakamyelesh Seyfu to his former driver, Tilahun. Another was the appointment of his Syrian friend, the rubber merchant [[Hasib Ydlibi]], to the position of ''[[Nagadras]]'' (or Customs-Master) at the railway depot at [[Dire Dawa]], thus giving him control of the vast tariffs and customs that were collected there. All this, combined with Iyasu's frequent absences from the capital, created the ideal environment for the ministers, led by ''Fitawrari'' [[Habte Giyorgis]], the Minister of War, to plot his downfall.

===Alleged conversion to Islam===
[[File:Iyasu in a Muslim Turban.png|thumb|''Lij'' Iyasu wearing a Muslim [[turban]] with [[Abdullahi Sadiq]].]]
In 1914, Iyasu assigned [[Abdullahi Sadiq]] with the governorship of [[Ogaden]], a decision that was vehemently opposed by the British.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Keller |first1=Tait |title=Environmental Histories of the First World War |date=2018 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=226 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AWJjDwAAQBAJ&q=iyasu+abdullahi+sadiq+ogaden&pg=PA226|isbn=978-1108429160 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Scramble in the Horn |publisher=Everest press |page=448 |url=http://dspace-roma3.caspur.it/bitstream/2307/2960/1/The%20scramble%20in%20the%20Horn%20of%20Africa.%20History%20of%20Somalia%20(1827-1977).pdf |access-date=27 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180713202443/http://dspace-roma3.caspur.it/bitstream/2307/2960/1/The%20scramble%20in%20the%20Horn%20of%20Africa.%20History%20of%20Somalia%20(1827-1977).pdf |archive-date=13 July 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In February 1915, Iyasu travelled to [[Harar]] with Abdullahi Sadiq, who had become his constant companion, and went to the largest mosque of the city, the [[Jamia Mosque, Harar|Jamia Mosque]], for a three-hour service. Throughout his stay in Harar he was friendly towards the Muslims, an act which worried the priests of Ethiopia; when he remained in this Muslim community over Easter, they were scandalized.<ref>{{harvp|Marcus|1995|p=268}}</ref>

However, the foreign delegations in Addis Ababa had been lobbying for him to join their sides in [[World War I]]. According to Marcus, many of the Ethiopian nobility and commoners were impressed by the early successes of the [[Central Powers]], and both listened eagerly to [[German Empire|German]] and [[Ottoman Empire|Turkish]] propaganda concerning events. Both sides sought Ethiopian support: the Central Powers wanted the Ethiopians to drive the Italians out of [[Italian Eritrea|Eritrea]] and [[Italian Somaliland|Somalia]]. Rumors circulated that, in return for Iyasu invading the [[Anglo-Egyptian Sudan|Sudan]] with 50,000 soldiers, he would be rewarded with the strategic port of [[French Somaliland|Djibouti]]. At a minimum, the [[Allies of World War I|Allies]] sought to keep Ethiopia neutral.<ref>{{harvp|Nicolle|1997|p=5}}</ref>

In August 1915, Iyasu went to [[French Somaliland]] in disguise, without informing either French diplomats in Addis Ababa or even the colonial government. There he spent two days in mysterious meetings. Although Marcus states that "What actually happened will not be known until information from the French archives becomes available," ''[[Fitawrari]]'' ("Commander of the Vanguard") [[Tekle Hawariat Tekle Mariyam]], a fervent reformer and a onetime friend of Iyasu, states in his recently published autobiography that the Djibouti trip was something of a vacation for ''Lij'' Iyasu, and that he spent much of his time consorting with Muslim notables in the city and consuming large amounts of [[khat|qat]] as well as completely depleting the funds of the Ethiopian mission in the French colony.<ref name=TekleHawariat>{{citation | first = Tekle | last = Hawariat | title = Story of My Life}}.</ref>

Around the same time, the British reported that documents preaching [[jihad]] against the Europeans had been posted in the Harar marketplace. That August, the British reported that supplies were being sent to [[Jijiga]] to support the activities of [[Mohammed Abdullah Hassan]] and [[Sheikh Hassan Barsane]], a devout Muslim pair who were at war with the British and Italians in [[Somalia]] and [[Somaliland]]. Then in September, the Italians revealed that one of their Somali agents had witnessed Iyasu declaring to an assemblage of Muslim leaders that he was a Muslim, and swore to his apostasy on a Quran.<ref>{{harvp|Marcus|1995|pp=265–276}}</ref> Although Harold Marcus accepts these reports at face value, [[Bahru Zewde]] is more suspicious of their veracity and instead argues that Iyasu's intent was to integrate the [[Somalis]] into the [[Ethiopian Empire]], but "Allied ingenuity lent palpability to Iyasu's apostasy (which was the main charge levelled against him) by forging pictures and documents to prove the charge."<ref>Bahru Zewde, ''A History'', pp. 126f.</ref>  Whatever the truth, these reports brought the simmering discontent with Iyasu to a fierce boil against him. European colonial powers in the region began supporting a coup d'état against Iyasu because of signs he was about join World War 1 on the opposing side.<ref>{{cite news |title=How Ethiopian prince scuppered Germany's WW1 plans |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-37428682 |agency=BBC News}}</ref>

===Fall===
{{Main|Battle of Segale}}
On 27 September 1916, while at the city of Harar, ''Lij'' Iyasu was deposed in favor of his aunt, [[Zewditu]].<ref>{{cite book | title=Historical dictionary of Ethiopia | first=David Hamilton | last=Shinn |author2=Ofcansky, Thomas P. |author3=Prouty, Chris | publisher=Scarecrow Press | year=2004 | isbn=978-0-8108-4910-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ep7__RWqq4IC&pg=PA228}}</ref> The nobility under the leadership of Fitawrari [[Habte Giyorgis Dinagde]] had assembled in the capital and charged ''Lij'' Iyasu with apostasy, alleging that he had converted to Islam and had thus forfeited the Imperial crown.  The Coptic Archbishop [[Abuna Mattheos X|Mattewos]], after some hesitation, was convinced to release the nobility from its oath of loyalty to Iyasu, and he was declared deposed from the throne and excommunicated from the Church.  The assembly of nobles then named Zewditu Menelik as Empress of Ethiopia, and Dejazmatch Tafari Makonnen was elevated to the title of Ras, and made heir to the throne.   Iyasu sent an army to attack Addis Ababa, which was met at [[Mieso]] and turned back. His father initially hesitated, then marched south from Dessie with 80,000 troops. On 27 October, ''Negus'' Mikael was defeated at the [[Battle of Segale]]. According to Paul Henze, Iyasu had reached [[Ankober]] the morning of the battle with a few thousand loyal followers, and after witnessing his father's defeat, fled towards the [[Eritrea]]n border.<ref>{{harvp|Henze|2000|p=196}}</ref> On 8 November, Iyasu appeared in [[Dessie]] where he vainly sought the support from the nobility of Tigray and then the Italians. On 10 December, Iyasu fled and took refuge with his followers on the abandoned [[Amba Mariam|amba of Maqdala]]. At Maqdala, he was surrounded and subjected to an uninspired siege. On 18 July 1917, Iyasu slipped through the siege lines and rallied the peasantry of Wollo to revolt. On 27 August in Wello,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rMj7AgAAQBAJ|title=The Life and Times of Lïj Iyasu of Ethiopia: New Insights|last1=Ficquet|first1=Éloi|last2=Smidt|first2=Wolbert G.C.|date=2014|publisher=LIT Verlag Münster|isbn=978-3643904768|pages=172|language=en}}</ref> troops under Habte Giyorgis defeated the rebels and captured many of Iyasu's generals, including ''Ras'' Imer.<ref>{{cite book|first=Harold|last=Marcus|title=Haile Sellassie I: The Formative Years|location=Lawrenceville|publisher=Red Sea Press|year=1996|pages=24–30}}</ref> After this defeat, with a few hundred picked men, Iyasu fled to the desert of the [[Afar Triangle]], where he roamed for five years. On 11 January 1921, Iyasu was captured and taken into custody by [[Gugsa Araya Selassie]]. He was handed over to the custody of his cousin ''Ras'' [[Kassa Haile Darge]]. ''Ras'' Kassa kept Iyasu in comfortable house arrest at his country home at [[Fiche, Ethiopia|Fiche]].{{cn|date=September 2022}}

Empress Zewditu I, who in spite of having been treated harshly by her nephew seems to have had considerable sympathy for Iyasu's fate, is said to have tried to have him handed over to her personal custody in order that he "be brought back to Christ and salvation" under her guidance. In her view, the most serious part of his fate was his excommunication, and she deeply wanted to save her nephew from what she regarded as assured damnation. While her plea to have her nephew moved to the Imperial Palace in Addis Ababa was vehemently vetoed by both ''[[Fitawrari]]'' Habte Giorgis and by the Crown Prince, ''Ras'' Teferi Makonnen, the Empress took care that Iyasu lived in luxury and was supplied with whatever he desired. ''Ras'' Kassa also adhered to this policy for as long as Iyasu was in his custody, so the terms of Iyasu's imprisonment were not particularly harsh.{{cn|date=September 2022}}