Black Lions
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TheBlack Lionswere ananti-fascistresistance movement[1]formed to fight againstFascist Italyduring theoccupationof theEthiopian EmpireinWorld War II.[2][3]
As Bahru Zewde notes, in spite of its "marginal impact on the Resistance" the Black Lions made "eloquent attempts to give the struggle coherent ideological and political direction."[4]
History[edit]
The movement was founded in western Ethiopia, and included fighters such as theShewanRas[nb 1]and a number of intellectuals who included the sons of HakimWorkneh EsheteandHeruy Welde Sellase,andYilma Deressa.[5]Its chairman was Alemework Beyene, a veterinary surgeon educated in Britain. The organization had a constitution consisting of ten points, which included: asserting the supremacy of the political sphere over the military, injunctions against mistreating peasants and prisoners of war, forbidding its members from seeking exile and urging them to prefer death to capture by the enemy.[6]
The group was effectively disbanded following the surrender of theRasImru Haile Selassie18 December 1936.[7]The majority of its members were killed by the Italians following the unsuccessful attempt onRodolfo Graziani's life on19 February 1937.[8]The few survivors included Alemework and Yilma.
Details[edit]
The Black Lions dominated the early resistance movement in Ethiopia. Members of the Black Lions included students from theHoletaMilitary Academy and foreign-educated Ethiopians. The military academy was founded in 1935 and is located inHoleta Genet.
The Black Lions convincedRasImru Haile Selassieto join them in the armed struggle since he was part of the dynamics that created the movement.RasImru was appointed byEmperorHaile Selassieasprince regentin his absence.RasImru was to reorganize and continue to resist the Italians. To do this, he fell back toGorein southern Ethiopia. On 19 December 1936, after the Italians pinned him down on the north bank of theGojeb River,RasImru surrendered. The Black Lions organization then collapsed, and many of its members were murdered.[9]
See also[edit]
Footnotes[edit]
References[edit]
- ^Zewde, Bahru (2001).A History of Modern Ethiopia 1855-1991.Addis Ababa: Addis Ababa University Press. pp.168.ISBN0-8214-1440-2.
- ^Shinn, David Hamilton; Ofcansky, Thomas P.; Prouty, Chris (2004).Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia.Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. p. 75.ISBN0-8108-4910-0.
- ^Selassie, Haile I (1999). Marcus, Harold (ed.).My Life and Ethiopia's Progress: The Autobiography of Emperor Haile Selassie I, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.Vol. II. Translated by Gebions, Ezekiel. Chicago: Research Associates School Times Publications. p. 80.ISBN0-948390-40-9.
- ^Bahru Zewde,A History of Modern Ethiopia,second edition (Oxford: James Currey, 2001), p. 174.
- ^Bahru Zewde,Pioneers of Change in Ethiopia(Oxford: James Currey, 2002), p. 203
- ^Bahru Zewde,A History,p. 175
- ^Anthony Mockler,Haile Selassie's War(New York: Olive Branch, 2003), pp. 168
- ^Bahru Zewde,Pioneers,p. 204
- ^Shinn, David Hamilton; Ofcansky, Thomas P.; Prouty, Chris (2004).Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia.Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. p. 75.ISBN0-8108-4910-0.
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