From Apathetic to Amiable: The British Empire and Haile Selassie’s Ethiopia, 1916-1974

Holbert, Quentin Colin

From Apathetic to Amiable: The British Empire and Haile Selassie’s Ethiopia, 1916-1974

dc.contributor.advisor	Stapleton, Timothy
dc.contributor.author	Holbert, Quentin Colin
dc.contributor.committeemember	Elofson, Warren
dc.contributor.committeemember	Apentiik, Rowland
dc.contributor.committeemember	Huebert, Robert
dc.contributor.committeemember	Thomas, Charles
dc.date	2023-11
dc.date.accessioned	2023-08-23T20:15:55Z
dc.date.available	2023-08-23T20:15:55Z
dc.date.issued	2023-08
dc.description.abstract	Imperial Ethiopia was one of only two African states to retain its independence during the Scramble for Africa in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The most famous leader of Ethiopia was Emperor Haile Selassie, who ruled from 1930 to 1974. However, his involvement in international affairs date to 1916 when he was the Heir Apparent. The British Empire, which controlled colonies neighbouring Ethiopia, was the largest polity that the emperor conducted diplomacy with. This project examines how the British government’s attitude towards Ethiopia evolved between 1916 and 1974. The central change that happened was that Britain became friendlier to Ethiopia, having shifted from being apathetic and dismissive to more collaborative and respectful. From 1916 to 1935, Britain was dismissive of Ethiopia, although they were interested in keeping Lake Tana, one of the main reservoirs of the Nile River, flowing freely. During the diplomatic crisis leading up to the Second Italo-Ethiopian War (1935-1937), Britain tried to use Ethiopia as a bargaining chip with Fascist Italy. Nonetheless, Selassie spent his exile in the United Kingdom. When Italy joined the Axis side of the Second World War in 1940, Britain worked with both Selassie and Ethiopian patriot fighters to help liberate the country. For the remainder of the 1940s, Britain helped stabilize the war-torn country via the British Military Administration. While Selassie leaned more heavily on American military funding in the 1950s and 1960s, Britain shifted to a Soft Power approach towards Ethiopia. Despite crises like the abortive coup attempt of 1960 and the outbreak of the Eritrean War of Liberation, Britain remained a close ally of Selassie up until the Derg coup of 1974. This dissertation represents the most comprehensive analysis of British-Ethiopian relations between 1916 and 1974.
dc.identifier.citation	Holbert, Q. C. (2023). From apathetic to amiable: the British Empire and Haile Selassie’s Ethiopia, 1916-1974 (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/1880/116883
dc.identifier.uri	https://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/41725
dc.language.iso	en
dc.publisher.faculty	Graduate Studies
dc.publisher.institution	University of Calgary
dc.rights	University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.
dc.subject	Ethiopia
dc.subject	Britain
dc.subject	Haile Selassie
dc.subject	Imperial
dc.subject	International Relations
dc.subject	Diplomacy
dc.subject	Twentieth Century
dc.subject.classification	History--African
dc.subject.classification	History--European
dc.subject.classification	History--Modern
dc.title	From Apathetic to Amiable: The British Empire and Haile Selassie’s Ethiopia, 1916-1974
dc.type	doctoral thesis
thesis.degree.discipline	History
thesis.degree.grantor	University of Calgary
thesis.degree.name	Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
ucalgary.thesis.accesssetbystudent	I do not require a thesis withhold – my thesis will have open access and can be viewed and downloaded publicly as soon as possible.