Haile Selassie And The Iranian Revolution

It is fifty years ago this year that Haile Selassie was overthrown as Emperor of Ethiopia. I believe that this overthrow greatly influenced the world-changing Iranian Revolution that would happen four years later.

Iran and Ethiopia are not near each other. But the two underwent revolutions in the 1970s, both of which were major world events, and which were so similar that I cannot help wondering if the 1974 overthrow of Haile Selassie ended up being the prototype of the Iranian Revolution, and indeed if it might not have happened at all without such an ideal prototype having taken place a few years before.

We saw the very far-reaching effect that the Iranian Revolution has had on the world in the posting on this blog, "The Great Revolution Of Our Time", January 2017.

To begin with, the monarchies of Haile Selassie, in Ethiopia, and the Shah of Iran, had very similar flags. Both featured a royal lion.

From the Wikipedia article "Flag of Ethiopia".

From the Wikipedia article "Flag of Iran". 

Both ended up being the last of an ancient dynasty of kings. Haile Selassie was claimed to be the heir of the Solomonic Dynasty, which legend has beginning with the biblical visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon.

The Shah of Iran's throne, although not his own dynasty, led right back to Cyrus the Great who is described in the Bible as liberating the captive Jews when he conquered Babylon, and assisting in the building of the Second Temple.

Both had impressive titles. Haile Selassie was known as the Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah. In 1967 the Shah had himself crowned, in an elaborate ceremony with more diamonds than the world had likely seen before, as Shahanshah or "King of Kings".

Both were trying to put their countries through programs of modernization and westernization. Both had a complex earlier history with western powers.

Both had border issues that would turn into two of the worst wars of the late Twentieth and early Twenty-First Centuries, after the deaths of both leaders. Iran with Iraq and Ethiopia with Eritrea.

Both leaders were targeted with uprisings and suffered from paralyzing strikes.

Those are the obvious parallels between the revolutions against Haile Selassie and the Shah of Iran. There are other similarities between the two, but are in reverse.

The high oil prices of the 1970s was an important factor in each revolution, but in reverse. The high oil prices hurt Haile Selassie but helped the Shah. However the modernization projects that the Shah's oil revenue funded drew the ire of Iran's conservative Muslims. Not to mention how unequally the wealth was distributed and the Shah's lavish celebrations that it paid for, crowning himself "King of Kings" in 1967 and celebrating the 2500th anniversary of his throne in 1971.

What the overthrow of Haile Selassie didn't have was a Khomeini figure. But, again, we see reversed parallels. The adoration of Khomeini as he famously walked down the steps of an Air France jet, in 1979, remarkably parallels the adoration of Haile Selassie as he descended from a plane while visiting Jamaica in 1966.

Jamaica was not his own country, it was on the other side of the world from Ethiopia. But Haile Selassie was considered as divine by many Rastafarians. His reception was so strikingly similar to that of Khomeini, upon returning to Iran from exile, that we can say with certainty that the revolution against Haile Selassie was the prototype for the Iranian Revolution, and indeed it may not have happened at all without it. 

There is another reverse parallel, this one between Haile Selassie and Khomeini while both were in exile, before returning home. 

This image, from Google Street View, shows the home in Bath, England where Haile Selassie once lived in exile. He was well-liked in the town, often walking his dog and chatting with locals. Years later he made a return visit and donated the house to the city.

Haile Selassie's government in exile was very similar to the later exile of Ayatollah Khomeini in a house in a town in France. The following image, from the Wikipedia article "Ruhollah Khomeini" shows him holding a press conference in front of the house.