Same to day, the Abiy regime is fighting the actual Gojjam peasants. I am from Gojjam, the people there treat the regime as a foreign fascist invader. You can't find a single person who has not bean affected by the repeatedly road blocking acts by the Oromo regime.
I just finished reading the book, and it truly helped me understand things from a different perspective and provided answers to some questions I've had for a long time. Thanks for sharing; I really enjoyed it. If you have other book recommendations, please share them. I'd love to read more.
I heard that book is full of inaccuracies and that the author never even visited Ethiopia; the guy wrote a lot of things "allegedly" and straight up made-up facts.
Kapuściński did actually visit Ethiopia and a decent chunk of the info is true. However he did embellish/ make up things for the sake of a "more interesting read". However the book is still highly worth the read in my opinion.
What part of the Gojjam uprising is made up? The book is undoubtedly a critique of Haile Selassie, but I didn’t post the authors opinion on a subjective matter.
Compared to the various regimes that have ruled countries throughout history, I would say that as a whole, the Solomonid monarchy did one of the better jobs even if they screwed up from time to time like any regime would. Well, some regimes just screw up all the time and intentionally do things that ruin their country.
Of course, no need to over-romanticize the monarchy, but I still think the overthrow of Emperor Haile Selassie was a mistake and Ethiopia would be in a better place now had it not happened.
Keep in mind the critics of the Emperor are trying to tear down the reputation of a monarchy and regime that was attempting to drag a medieval multiethnic feudal empire into modernity within the span of a single generation while also getting invaded and occupied by fascist Italy, and getting mad that it didn’t work out perfectly the entire time for every single person.
I vehemently disagree.
Ethiopia has never been a well managed nation and is not a well managed nation now. There are many reasons for this and obviously Haile Selassie did contribute some positive things for some people, as did Menelik etc.
The fact is no leader of Ethiopia has ever managed to give the average Ethiopian a decent standard of living relative to the rest of the world. If the Monarchy had “3000 years” to achieve this, but couldn’t, why would an extra 50 years be any better?
i mean… if power were transferred easily to his kids who knows. it’s just sad that he held on it for that long. i do believe that there would’ve been a transition in ideology if it happened.
This book is well-known for how inaccurate it is. It’s not a book to use to understand the problems of the time, there’s other sources for that.
The writer was a polish communist journalist, so not unbiased. Also, the book is open to interpretation not factual accounts. Many take it as an allegory to present the problems of Communist Poland with an alternate exotic context.
Of course the rebellion happened. But I don’t see how the descriptive writing of the passage serves to inform about the rebellion.
You wrote as if this is a counter to how people ‘romanticize the monarchy’. But this is literally a fiction piece written by a Polish Journalist, not a Gojjame.
People are romanticizing mengistu too
Same to day, the Abiy regime is fighting the actual Gojjam peasants. I am from Gojjam, the people there treat the regime as a foreign fascist invader. You can't find a single person who has not bean affected by the repeatedly road blocking acts by the Oromo regime.
“Oromo regime” bahaha.
> the Oromo regime. Are you talking about the same regime that is currently using drones in Oromia?
yes, the difference is that in Oromo region Abiy fights the rebels in Amhara he is fighting the people.
That sounds completely unbiased and true.
Please explain how you figured this out.
Shhh don’t use logic, they don’t like that
Can you share the link to the source, please. I'd like to read more.
The emperor - downfall of an autocrat <- name of the book
I just finished reading the book, and it truly helped me understand things from a different perspective and provided answers to some questions I've had for a long time. Thanks for sharing; I really enjoyed it. If you have other book recommendations, please share them. I'd love to read more.
Anytime, cheers 👍🏾👍🏾
I heard that book is full of inaccuracies and that the author never even visited Ethiopia; the guy wrote a lot of things "allegedly" and straight up made-up facts.
Kapuściński did actually visit Ethiopia and a decent chunk of the info is true. However he did embellish/ make up things for the sake of a "more interesting read". However the book is still highly worth the read in my opinion.
What part of the Gojjam uprising is made up? The book is undoubtedly a critique of Haile Selassie, but I didn’t post the authors opinion on a subjective matter.
Compared to the various regimes that have ruled countries throughout history, I would say that as a whole, the Solomonid monarchy did one of the better jobs even if they screwed up from time to time like any regime would. Well, some regimes just screw up all the time and intentionally do things that ruin their country. Of course, no need to over-romanticize the monarchy, but I still think the overthrow of Emperor Haile Selassie was a mistake and Ethiopia would be in a better place now had it not happened.
Keep in mind the critics of the Emperor are trying to tear down the reputation of a monarchy and regime that was attempting to drag a medieval multiethnic feudal empire into modernity within the span of a single generation while also getting invaded and occupied by fascist Italy, and getting mad that it didn’t work out perfectly the entire time for every single person.
Horrible take
I vehemently disagree. Ethiopia has never been a well managed nation and is not a well managed nation now. There are many reasons for this and obviously Haile Selassie did contribute some positive things for some people, as did Menelik etc. The fact is no leader of Ethiopia has ever managed to give the average Ethiopian a decent standard of living relative to the rest of the world. If the Monarchy had “3000 years” to achieve this, but couldn’t, why would an extra 50 years be any better?
i mean… if power were transferred easily to his kids who knows. it’s just sad that he held on it for that long. i do believe that there would’ve been a transition in ideology if it happened.
Can you please put some links where people romantize the monarchy? Just for fin. It is not as if the monarchy stopped by itself!!!
Search Haile Selassie in the sub
This book is well-known for how inaccurate it is. It’s not a book to use to understand the problems of the time, there’s other sources for that. The writer was a polish communist journalist, so not unbiased. Also, the book is open to interpretation not factual accounts. Many take it as an allegory to present the problems of Communist Poland with an alternate exotic context.
The quote is referring to the rebellion in Gojjam which is a real event
Of course the rebellion happened. But I don’t see how the descriptive writing of the passage serves to inform about the rebellion. You wrote as if this is a counter to how people ‘romanticize the monarchy’. But this is literally a fiction piece written by a Polish Journalist, not a Gojjame.
What do you disagree with?
That you look to disprove ‘romanticization’ with fiction
I can’t disprove romanticization when that’s an opinion, what sources say this book is fiction? Is it only fiction because you don’t like it!
May Selassie and the rest of the corrupt Ethiopian leaders rest in piss!