Chapter 3
History, Civic Education and Literature: Defining the Nation’s Identity and Projecting its Destiny
p. 101-123
Texte intégral
1A study of history, civic education and literature helps us to identify, classify and prioritise the political aims of a school. School-based knowledge must be compared with curriculum requirements and the knowledge produced outside, from which a school partly differs by virtue of its pedagogical function (Chervel 1988). The aims of education as defined in the school curriculum were “to foster in children the traditional values of loyalty, unity, and devotion to emperor and country, which have sustained the nation for a thousand years”1, “to fit them to contribute as fully as possible to the spiritual, cultural, social and, economic progress of his country,” and “to participate efficiently in the productive work of the world”.2 Emphasis was placed on patriotism and a future of progress, both nationally and for humanity in general.
2Making “choices of historical sequences” according to “a citizenship projected for the pupils” (De Cock 2009, 2–3) meant that the history taught in the classroom was about teaching the nation. Civic education legitimised power, the moral values to be adhered to and a certain type of model citizen. Finally, the literature reflected concerns that linked moral and political issues. Ethiopian literature of the 1940s and 1950s was produced to be used by the minority who had passed through the school system, if not by the pupils themselves. It reflected the aspirations of a generation of nationalist, progressive writers whose loyalty was to the regime (Molvaer 2008). This chapter seeks to understand how teaching expressed moral formation with building the nation and citizenship.
3Two separate periods can be distinguished as far as textbooks are concerned, whereas the same literary works were used throughout the period between 1941 and 1974. During the 1940s and 1950s, Ethiopian textbooks were developed to teach Amharic and Ethiopian history, and many non-school textbooks were also used, especially Amharic novels. The authors were Ethiopian scholars or expatriate development workers.3 Owing to lack of funds, world history courses were based on textbooks that had been brought in from England and the United States. In the 1960s and 1970s, teaching materials for all subjects were produced specifically for Ethiopia, and were written by Ethiopian or Western scholars from Addis Ababa University, reputable secondary schools or the Ministry of Education with expertise in the country.4 The authors tried to adapt knowledge to the local environment as much as possible while maintaining an international perspective.
1. The Semitic and Christian nation
4The Tarikenna Messale (Stories and Fables), which were written in the early 1940s, have accompanied generations of children as they learn to read. Before discovering the short stories, poems and tales with their moral content, children opened the Tarikenna Messale to paragraphs that explained the official political philosophy, which was presented in the form of four definitions: country, people, flag and king. The definition of “country” emphasised the historical, linguistic, cultural and religious unity of the empire: “A country is a part of the world inhabited by a unified population, bound by history, language, religion, customs, hopes, joys and misfortunes” (አገር በታሪክ በቋንቋ በሃይማኖት በልማድ በተስፋ በደስታ በመከራ ተሳስሮ የሚኖር አንድ ወገን የሆነ ሕዝብ የሚኖርበት የዓለም ክፍል ነው).5 Implicitly, and yet clearly, the identity of all of Ethiopia was that of the Christian North, and everyone had to recognise themselves in this identity, regardless of their mother culture, region of origin or schooling.
1.1 Myths of origins
5The history that was taught established the existence of a Semitic and Christian Ethiopia that was several thousand years old. It was bordered approximately by the Red Sea to the north and east (as far as the coasts of present-day Somaliland), the Nile to the west and the borders of present-day Kenya to the south. In school textbooks, the term “Ethiopia” was used to describe both this territory, which went far beyond the jurisdiction of the Ethiopian state, and the Ethiopian state itself.
6The story began with the Asian origins of the settlement. The Ethiopian people migrated from southern Arabia and Israel several thousand years before Christ. The immigrants, who were the sons of Shem, mixed with the native inhabitants, the sons of Cham, thereby giving them a superior civilisation. The second stage was the story of the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon. In around 1000 BC, the Queen of Sheba ruled over Ethiopia and Yemen. One day, she decided to undertake a great journey to King Solomon to be inspired by his administration and wisdom. After a lengthy stay in Israel, she returned to her kingdom pregnant with the future Menilek I, the son of Solomon and the mythical founder of the line of Ethiopian emperors. As he became a man, and shortly before inheriting the throne, the young prince decided that he wished to meet his father. He went to Jerusalem, from where he returned with the Tablets of the Law. At this ancient stage of their history, the Ethiopians were a Semitic people, a depository of divine law, governed by a dynasty descended from the wisest of the biblical kings, of which Haile Selassie was the last descendant.6 These two myths, of the sons of Shem and the Queen of Sheba, were included in the textbooks of the 1950s, as well as in those published in the early 1970s. These books were based on a mythical past that did not correspond to the academic history of the same period. This is a reflection of the nationalist function of school history, not the dissemination of a “simplified state of knowledge” to be used by children.
7Ethiopia prospered under the Aksum Empire until the 6th century AD. During these centuries of greatness, it welcomed Jews fleeing Babylon and Greek traders. The former brought their religion, the latter their culture and wisdom. The kingdom attained a high level of civilisation.7 The kings and merchants of Aksum maintained diplomatic and commercial relations with the Byzantine Empire, Persia and India, and Aksum was one of the most powerful kingdoms in the world.8 It was during this period that Ethiopia officially converted to Christianity, which was introduced in the 4th century AD by two young Greek Christians, Sidracos and Frumentos, who had accompanied a merchant whose ship had been wrecked on the Ethiopian coast. Gathered at the king’s court, they were committed to the education of the heir to the throne, the future king, Abrehä, to whom they taught Christianity, and so the dynasty descended from Solomon became Christian.9 With the Semitic origins of the settlement and the Solomonian descent of the emperors, Christianity placed Ethiopia definitively on the side of the Mediterranean and Near Eastern civilisations.
8This system of arranging the history of the nation associated it with a prestigious past, in an international context in which the civilisation of reference was Western, and Ethiopia was among the so-called “underdeveloped” nations. In the patriotic context of the years following liberation from Italian occupation, this national history placed the only uncolonised country in Africa among the great nations of world history. It had existed since biblical times, and its past was inscribed in the prestigious Mediterranean antiquity, whose legacy Europe had captured for its sole benefit.
1.2 Muslims, pagans and “Galla”: repulsive figures
9The definition of a specific identity implies a gesture of distinction. This meant that the history that was taught at school left out the societies that fell under the authority of the Ethiopian state at the end of the 19th century, or else represented them negatively. The Christian kingdom had survived thanks to its centuries-long resistance to aggression from its pagan and Muslim neighbours, who had been integrated by the conquests of Menilek II. In the 1940s and 1950s, pagans and Muslims were portrayed in particularly unflattering ways. The 1952 handbook referred to the “great Muslim threat,” and described Muslims as cruel people who only cared about war. The same textbook, which told of the victory of Emperor Amdä Säyon over the Sultan of Yifat in the 13th century, described the latter as a “foolish sultan.”10 The Oromo, one of the largest (albeit very diverse) populations in the country, were presented as pagan intruders, and were seen as a threat, and as repellent. The famous Ethiopian story of Tekle Tsadik Mekuria, which was recommended as a reading book for students and as a reference book for social science teachers,11 contained this passage:
ጋሎች ሕግና ሥርዐት የላቸውም ፥ አንድ ወንድ እስከ ዐሥር ሴት ያገባል ፤ እነዚህም በዙ እየወለዱ ይረባሉ ። ክርስቲያኑ ግን ተመጻዳቂ ስለ ሆነ ግማሹ ድንግላይ እኩሉ ቄስና መነኵሴ ቈራቢ እየሆነ በመኖሩ አይረባምና ፤ ቊጥሩ እያደር ያንሳል ፥ በዚህም ላይ ከክርስቲያኑ ወገን ጦርነት ከሚሄደው የማይሄደው ይበልጣል ፤ ይኸውም ባላገርና ነጋዴ ቄስና ደብታራ ነው ። […] ከሄደው ውስጥ ጓዝና ሰፈር ጠባቂ ይሆናል ። ጋሎች ግን ከመካከላቸው ድንግላይ ቄስ መነኵሴ ደብታራ ባላገር ነጋዴ አልጋ ጠባቂ ጓዝ ጠባቂ የላቸውም። ሁሉም በነፍስ ወከፍ ለጦርነት ይሰለፋሉ።
The Galla lack both law and discipline. A man can marry up to ten women, resulting in multiplication through the birth of numerous children. However, the Christian community is sanctified; some members are ascetics, others are priests, monks, or communicants. They do not focus on multiplying, and the [Christian] numbers remain insufficient. Furthermore, within the Christian community, those who abstain from going to war outnumber those who participate; these include peasants, merchants, priests, and scholars. […] Among those who engage in warfare are porters and aides-de-camp. Contrastingly, the Galla lack ascetics, priests, monks, scholars, peasants, merchants, aides-de-camp, and porters among them. All of them align themselves in battle for war.12
10Tekle Tsadik Mekuria attributes these words to a high 16th century Christian dignitary. However, readers were not offered any critical distance. The Oromo were identified, as they were in all textbooks, by the derogatory term “Galla.” They were an imaginary counter-model against which Ethiopian identity was defined. They did not practice agriculture or trade. They had no priests or scholars, and so had no religion or culture. Characterised by a strong propensity to proliferate, their main concern seemed to be to wage war on the Christians so that they could take away their territories. They were described as an inferior population, a society without morals and lacking any form of social differentiation. Ultimately, their paganism and savagery stood in opposition to the religion and civilisation of Christian Ethiopia. The term “Galla” was first used to describe the Oromo, but it also applied to other more minority populations who had been incorporated by the conquests of the late 19th century. In the testimony he left of the final expedition of Menilek II’s armies against the Wolaita kingdom in 1896, the traveller Vanderheym spoke of the “Gallas of the Wolaita.”13 The name might also include the Hadiya, the Kambatta and the Sidama.
11Textbooks from both the 1950s and 1970s summed up the historical role of Muslims and “heathens” as a threat. The kingdom of Aksum remained powerful until the 7th century: that is, until the birth of Islam. As the Red Sea became a Muslim lake, Aksumite trade declined, ushering in a long period of isolation and decline. It was at this time that a queen from the south, Yodit, invaded Ethiopia. She reigned for a few years, during which she burned books and destroyed churches. According to the Grade 4 textbook of 1970, she would have been a “Falasha,” a term used to describe Ethiopian Jews.14 In the 1974 Grade 10 textbook, she was described as either Jewish or pagan.15 In both cases, she was an enemy of Christianity, and therefore of Ethiopia. She destroyed the cultural heritage of the kingdom of Aksum and hastened its downfall.
12Although the Christian kingdom had regained its strength since the 13th century and the restoration of the Solomonian Dynasty, a new phase of decline was about to begin, once again due to Islam. In the 16th century, Imam Ahmed, who was called Ahmed Gragn (“the left-handed one”) by the Christians, invaded the kingdom. Like Yodit centuries earlier, he burned churches and “killed many Christians.”16 Ethiopia survived thanks to the tenacity of Emperor Gelawedewos and the help of troops sent by the King of Portugal, an episode that is told as an act of solidarity between Christians. From the second half of the 16th century, Ethiopia had to face the Oromo migrations. In the 1974 Grade 10 manual, they were described thus:
First, they invaded the provinces of Dewaro and Fatagar. Another branch invaded Harar at about the same time. Those who invaded Dewaro and Fatagar occupied the plateau of Shoa. From this region, different groups of Galla invaders conquered Welega, Illubabor, Jimma, Wollo, Gojjam, Dembia and Tigre.17
13It was then said that the emperors Sertse-Dengel and Susneyos had saved the Christian kingdom from destruction by the “Galla” by fighting them and settling them down. This vision was not unique to textbooks. The author of these quotations, Bairu Tafla, was a historian at the Institute of Ethiopian Studies, where the elite of the Ethiopian academy could be found, and he was merely echoing a common opinion among historians. The point here is not to suggest that the Christian kingdom did not have to fight against the Muslim kingdoms, which were then its neighbours, or that the settlement of the Oromo people went smoothly, but rather to point out that history was taught exclusively from the point of view of the Christian kingdom, and presented entire constituent parts of the nation in an entirely negative way.
14The textbooks that were produced in the 1960s and 1970s, however, offered a less caricatural view. In the Grade 7 textbook published in 1970, for example, pupils could read that Islam, like Christianity, was one of the world’s major religions, and that Ethiopia had many Muslims.18 These passages suggested that they could be seen as members of the national community, and not only as enemies. This did not reflect a radical change in perspective, however: although the Grade 10 textbook published in 1974, in the very last year of the regime, no longer included the crude caricatures of the 1952 textbook, Muslims were still the historical enemy. In addition, some of the old textbooks in which Muslims and “Galla” were blatantly denigrated continued to be used. Ethiopian civilisation was defined in comparison with them, and the idea that Ethiopia was made in spite of them still persisted. As time went by, however, the messages became more ambiguous: they were sometimes still hostile and contemptuous, but on occasion more open. The fact remains that these “Others” were not the inhabitants of distant countries, or even neighbours. While the expansion of the borders of the empire by conquest had made them subjects of the emperor, history textbooks reduced them to second-class subjects, beyond the legitimate scope of the nation. This symbolic violence echoed that exercised by the representatives of power in the societies of the south.
15Historical links with Africa were depicted as being extremely tenuous. In the Grade 4 textbook, one short line was devoted to the African provenance of the gold and ivory exported by Aksum, compared with several paragraphs and repetitions on the Semitic origins of the settlement. The ancient Semites who had crossed the Red Sea had mixed with the indigenous inhabitants to form the Ethiopian people, but the latter had played no historical role in terms of civilisation, and it was from them that the “Galla” were descended. In an empire that had become extremely multi-religious and multicultural, the history of the nation imposed a Semitic and Christian framework in which pretenders to a political and social existence had to blend in. For the pupils from the defeated populations, the school curriculum left no other choice than to deny their own culture and accept the identity of the power that had subjugated their grandfathers.
2. The deified emperor
2.1 Solomonian legitimacy
16The mythical account that established the Solomonic descent of the emperors came from the official historiography that had been drawn up by the state and the church since the 13th century, followed by the academic history of orientalist influence. It was presented as historically proven in the first history textbook written especially for Ethiopian schools in 1952 and in the Grade 4 textbook published in 1970.19 The secondary school textbook for grades 9–12 published in 1969 offered a more nuanced view, without daring to actually question it. The authors pointed out that this story could not be proved. However, because they were not able to question the origin of the dynasty of which Haile Selassie was the last representative, they preserved the myth by performing a somewhat confused pirouette, writing: “The story of the Queen of Sheba and Solomon may well be true but there is practically no historical evidence for it. Even if the story is not true it does not mean that the emperors were not descended from Solomon.”20 The Constitutions of 1931 and 1955 only affirmed the legitimacy of the Shewa Dynasty, which had appropriated the myth of the Solomonian origin of the emperors for its sole benefit. A fundamental element of the official ideology, it was recalled in civic education classes, which especially cited Article 2 of the 1955 Constitution, which stated: “The Imperial Dignity shall remain perpetually attached to the line of Haile Selassie I, descendant of King Sahle Selassie, [which] descends without interruption from the dynasty of Menilek I, son of the Queen of Ethiopia, the Queen of Sheba, and King Solomon of Jerusalem.”21
17The history that was taught at school clearly confirmed the hegemony of the Shewa Dynasty vis-à-vis the other royal lineages of the northern provinces. It was the only authentic heir of Aksum. The ambiguous approach adopted towards the Zagwe Dynasty, which reigned in the 11th and 12th centuries, is significant in this respect. While devoting a few lines to King Lalibela’s remarkable architectural achievements—the eleven churches cut into the rock—the 1970 Grade 4 manual stated that the Lasta Dynasty had forcibly removed a Solomonian Dynasty that had been weakened by Muslim encirclement and Yodit invasions. It also reported that these emperors came from an indigenous population—Zagwe or Agaw—and were therefore non-Semitic.22 The Grade 10 manual published four years later attributed a more respectable status to them, describing a pious dynasty that had left a magnificent legacy to Ethiopia and to the Christian world in general. However, it remained a second-rate dynasty, appearing as a parenthesis before the return of the Solomonians in the 13th century. This return was presented as a rebirth after the “Dark Ages” that had followed the decline of the kingdom of Aksum. However, the author of the Grade 10 textbook, the historian Bairu Tafla, proposed replacing this term with “Early Middle Age” because of the discoveries that had been made from new sources. However, the chapter devoted to the “Ethiopian medieval civilization” only covered the 13th and 15th centuries, those of the restoration of the Solomonian Dynasty. It showed how power had been strengthened through a reorganised and fortified administration, and how religion and culture had flourished and spread through the construction of numerous churches and monasteries, the translation of Arabic works and the production of new Ethiopian works. As part of the same movement, education had developed through enriched and codified teaching. The Ethiopian emperors had regained an authority that enabled them to maintain respect for, and even control, the neighbouring Muslim powers.23 Ethiopia had emerged from its period of retreat and entered a phase of fulfilment, one that lasted until the “Era of Princes” (1755–1855), when imperial power gave way to that of the great regional lords, and an Oromo Dynasty, the Yajju, appointed and dismissed the emperors.
18The advent of Emperor Tewodros II in 1855 brought an end to this period of fragmentation and ushered in what is commonly referred to as the history of modern Ethiopia. The school curriculum characterised this phase by three interdependent phenomena that came together in the person of Haile Selassie: the restoration of unity through the centralisation of power, the safeguarding of independence in the colonial context and Ethiopia’s commitment to progress.
2.2 Haile Selassie: from mythical hero to enlightened monarch
19The last of the definitions presented at the beginning of the Tarikenna Messale reading books was titled “The king: source of power and dignity.” There was no lack of attributes and metaphors to describe and justify the nature of his power:
የሕዝብ እረኛ፤ የፍርድ ሚዛን ፤የሃይማኖት ጠባቂ የአስተዳደር መሪ የአንድነት ማሰሪያ የጦር ሠራዊት ጠቅላይ የአገር ኩራት የታሪክ መገናኛ፤ የጀግናነትና የበጎ ሥራ ሸላሚ ንጉሥ ነው። ንጉሥ በመቀባቱ ሕዝብን ለመጠበቅ ሕግና ሥርዓትን ለማስፈጸም ከእግዚአብሔር አደራ የተቀበለ አባት ነው። […] ንጉሥን ማክበር ማፍቀርና ትእዛዙን መፈጸም ለኢትዮጵያ ልጆች ሁሉ የተቀደሰ ሥራ ነው።
The king serves as the shepherd of his people, the embodiment of justice, the protector of religion, the leader of the administration, the source of unity, the commander of the armies, the pride of the country, the focal point of history, and the one who recognizes and rewards heroism and charitable acts. Endowed with divine authority, the king acts as the father to those attached to him, entrusted with the responsibility of enforcing law and order to safeguard the people. […] Respecting and loving the king, as well as carrying out his orders, is a sacred duty for all the children of Ethiopia.24
20As a political and religious leader, it was from God that the emperor had received his appointment of political, administrative and legal power, without which there was no community. It was therefore as much a mission as a prerogative. The emperor was the guardian of religion as the basis of the identity of the nation, and of the territory as a holy land. He was the shepherd without whom the people would have been lost, the protective father to whom obedience was owed and, in the image of God, the great retributor, who bestowed rewards or punishments. He was the focal point of history and the source of unity, and was the metaphor for Ethiopia, the symbol and guarantor of its existence. Ultimately, the emperor was the cornerstone of the entire nationalist ideological edifice. This was not a general, disembodied theory: these functions and attributes were specifically intended for Haile Selassie. A succession of Solomonian emperors had been the backbone of three millennia of Ethiopian history, but Haile Selassie was its culmination, the final outcome from which history had to be understood. Arguing pedagogical necessities, school curricula were very clear on this subject:
The long history of Ethiopia creates the problem of giving the child an adequate picture of his country’s past without burdening him with too many details, all of which are important but not possible to include. The history as outlined, therefore, begins with His Imperial Majesty and His Family before going into the remote past.25
21Haile Selassie was omnipresent. At primary school level, two textbooks, የቀዳማዊ ኃይለ ሥላሴ ታሪክ (YäQädamawi Haile Selassie Tarik, History of Haile Selassie I, 1930–41) and አዲስ ዘመን ታሪክ (Addis Zäman Tarik, History of the New Era, 1941–57), were exclusively devoted to him, while just one, የኢትዮጵያ ታሪክ ከንግስት ሳባ እስከ ደግማዊ ምኒለክ YäEthiopia Tarik KäNegest Saba eskä Dagmawi Menilek (History of Ethiopia from the Queen of Sheba to Menilek II) covered three entire millennia.26 The 1952 textbook, which dealt with the whole of Ethiopian history since the Queen of Sheba, devoted 43 pages out of 75 to Haile Selassie. The narrative was organised in such a way that each reign since Emperor Tewodros II (1855–68) was a step towards his own, marking progress towards final fulfilment. It was an account of the transition from the old to the new, from feudalism to centralisation, from the traditional to the modern.
22Tewodros II was the first emperor who sought to put an end to the fragmentation of the “Era of Princes” in order to restore imperial power. He repaired all the churches that had been destroyed by the “Gallas” and tried to bring all the provinces under his authority to make the country powerful again: “So Tewodros aimed at political reunification of the country under a strong central government. He wanted to put an end to the feudal characters of the central government and the army, and to confer on the people the blessings of unity, peace and safety.”27 But he had to face opposition from the princes and the church, who were firmly attached to their privileges. He was the emperor who failed because he was ahead of his time. The reign of Yohannes IV (1871–89) was one more step in the same direction, a more effective period of transition from the “old” to the “new.”28 Tewodros II had revived the idea of political unity, but Yohannes IV began to realise it. Both acted against centrifugal forces in order to strengthen national unity through religious unity.29 By a process of unification, Yohannes IV enabled the country to resist Egyptian attacks and the first attempts at colonisation by Italy.
23It was with the pivotal figure of Menilek II (1889–1913) that Ethiopia truly entered a new phase in its history. He was both a great unifier, the saviour of independence and the initiator of “modernisation.” He first expanded Ethiopia by uniting the provinces under his authority.30 The regions that were conquered by force at the end of the 19th century were treated as provinces under the domain of the Ethiopian kings. The conquest movement was therefore presented as reunification. Menilek II was also the commander of the Ethiopian troops who defeated the Italian colonial army at the Battle of Adwa, the founding gesture of independence. Once the empire had been rebuilt and independence had been secured, “Menilek had a great desire to modernise his country. He realised that modernisation was necessary to strengthen Ethiopia and defend its independence.” By “modernisation,” the authors of the textbooks meant steps such as the creation of the first Council of Ministers in 1907—which was described as the first move towards parliamentary democracy—the construction of the first government schools and hospitals, the introduction of telephones and the first cars. Menilek II set in motion the work that bore fruit during the reign of Haile Selassie.31
24Haile Selassie’s accession to power was reached under the aegis of providence. In the 1952 textbook, it was in the form of a true mystic who was concerned above all with captivating children. From an early age, the young Teferi was destined to assume imperial office: “It is evident that he was born to be the Emperor of Ethiopia in spite of all adverse circumstances.”32 It was he to whom the “Hand of God” had given birth at a crucial moment when Ethiopia needed a man who would be capable of administering in peace and wisdom a territory conquered by force:
“If Menilek II was the King David of Ethiopia, then Haile Selassie I can certainly be said to be her King Solomon. When his country required a wise ruler to strengthen and reform the empire which Menilek had won with his sword, the Hand of God had raised the son of Ras Mekonnen to the ancient throne of Ethiopia.”33
25Haile Selassie’s march to power was presented in terms of selflessness and dedication. In 1917, he had not accepted the office of Regent, as if in spite of himself, to save Ethiopia from the destruction orchestrated by Lej Iyassu, Menilek II’s successor, who was sympathetic to Islam. Feeling the Hand of God guiding him, Teferi then assumed leadership of the revolt against this apostate emperor, saving the country from Islamic domination.34 Portraying the darkest possible image of Lej Iyassu to both justify the revolt of the Shewan nobility against this young man from Wällo and perfect his own image was a tried and tested practice Haile Selassie used throughout his reign.
26His role as a saviour was once again highlighted in the chapter on liberation titled The Lion of Judah Has Conquered.35 No other protagonist was mentioned—neither the English army nor the Ethiopian resistance, whose respective actions had been decisive—except God, who sent a sign from heaven: “The rain came down this afternoon […] to leave the capital clean for its victorious Sovereign.”36 Liberation was like the epic story of a legendary hero. The 1969 textbook presented a more realistic version of his role, attributing the regained independence to his diplomatic skills:
“Yet the emperor’s decision to leave the country was certainly right. During his exile he was able to interest the British in the case of Ethiopia sufficiently to get help in 1941. […] It was the emperor’s international reputation which kept Ethiopia independent after the war.”37
27Now restored to his throne, the emperor had to justify his exile, and faced with the men who had remained behind to lead the struggle during the five years of occupation, he needed to take credit for his country’s regained independence. A few short lines were devoted to the resistance fighters in the same book, but they remained marginal actors.
28Haile Selassie was then able to turn his attention to the progress of his country and inaugurate the “New Era.”38 From a very early age, his political action had been motivated by the goal of progress. He was the representative of this ambition in the face of a powerful conservative group. From his accession to the regency to his coronation as emperor in 1931, he had to share power with Empress Zewditu, the daughter of Menilek II. But Zewditu was conservative, as was her ally, the powerful Habte Giorgis: “[They] distrusted foreign innovation because they were foreign and feared that the growth of a centralised state and civil service would lessen their feudal powers.” In contrast, “Tefari was liberal in outlook and progressive.”39 His coronation as emperor therefore meant the victory of the progressives over the conservatives, of the advocates of the future over those of the past. He was then able to bring Ethiopia definitively into the era of modernity.
29This notion of progress was not presented as an imitation of Europe or the United States. Rather, the reform-minded intellectuals who participated in the production of school knowledge called for a renaissance, a restoration of the old power through the re-establishment of past links with the outside world. In his famous novel Araya (a first name meaning “model”), which was part of the secondary school syllabus, the writer Germachew Tekle Hawariat explained this concept:
ጥንታዊት ኢትዮጵያ በብዙ ሺሕ ዘመን ልማዶች ታስራ ፥ ከጓደኞች ተለይታ ወደ ኋላ ቀርታ በመንገታገት ስትኖር የልማድ ሰንሰለቷን ለመፍታትና ወደማይቀረው ወዳዲስ ሥልጣኔ ለመራመድ ፈቃዷን የገለጸችው በዳግማዊ ምኒልክ ዘመነ ምንግሥት ቢሆንም እርምጃዋ የታየውና አካሄዷ የተረጋገጠው በቀዳማዊ ኃይለ ሥላሴ መሪነት ነው።
The customs of ancient Ethiopia have remained steadfast for millennia. Isolated from her allies, she endured and had to contend [to survive]. Though the prospect of breaking the chains hindering her customs and advancing towards a new civilization emerged during the reign of Menilek II, her progress became evident and its momentum confirmed under the leadership of Haile Selassie.40
30In both history syllabuses and the literature, the convergence of history in the person of Haile Selassie was complete: he saved Ethiopia’s thousand-year-old independence, restored its past splendour and guided it towards the future.
3. Rulers to admire, governed to imitate
31It was possible to find some justification for Haile Selassie’s authoritarianism in progressive clothing in the history of “great men.” A textbook imported from Great Britain, The March of Time, presented the great moments of a Eurocentric world history through their achievements. Similarly, Ethiopian books such as ታላላቅ ሰዎች (Talallaq Säwoch, Great Men) by Kebede Mikael, or የታላላቅ መንገድኞች ታሪክ (Yätalallaq Mängädägnoch Tarik, Stories of the Great Travellers) by Ma’aza Bekele, were short biographies of an edifying nature. The Ethiopian authors were inspired by a practice they had experienced as students during their studies in Europe or the United States, as well as by Ethiopian hagiographical tradition. Curriculum developers, both Ethiopians and expatriates, had clearly identified the contradictions between the use of imported textbooks and the nationalist aims of the school system. The authors of the 1947 curriculum, for example, pointed out the difficulties of teaching history with imported textbooks, because: “Most history books are written with bias, usually in favour of the country for which the history is written.”41 However, linking the great Ethiopian emperors with the “great statesmen” of world history made it possible to justify autocracy in the name of progress.
3.1 Great statesmen
32Emperor Tewodros II had a prominent place in history textbooks. A play taught in the Amharic courses was entirely devoted to him. It made him a figure of bravery, heroism and patriotism. In his 1973 study of Amharic textbooks, Asfew Melaku explained how Tewodros II was used to encourage nationalism, defend centralisation and encourage cooperation with the monarch:
An Ethiopian student cannot help feeling genuine pride for the life and work of the emperor, his attempt to unite the fragmented Ethiopia of this time. Of what use are the qualities of a leader if the people—the chiefs, the clergy, the bishop and the masses—do not cooperate? […] The student learns early in his life to respond to the nationalistic qualities and aspirations of Theodore [Tewodros] and these are very well presented in this book. (Asfew 1973, 38)
33Among foreign heads of state, Napoleon Bonaparte featured prominently in both imported school textbooks and Ethiopian books. The March of Time told the story of a child born into a modest background who owed his brilliant career to his assiduous studies, hard work and military skills. Like the great soldier, the wise head of state was particularly highlighted: “He built many buildings, drew up a new code of laws, and gave all poor children the chance of a good education.” The British textbook was less complimentary about the rest of his career: blinded by his desire for power, the French emperor had spilled too much blood.42 But everywhere else it was praise that dominated. Kebede Mikael—who had studied in France—wrote a chapter on him in ታላላቅ ሰዎች (Talallaq Säwoch, Great Men), beginning with the French meaning of the word “genius” and ending with the affirmation that history would grant him eternal life. He was compared to Alexander the Great, and all his actions were portrayed as having been motivated by the common good of Europe. The author discussed the literature that was critical of him and gave him credit before refuting it: although the wars of Napoleon Bonaparte might be criticised, his legislative and legal actions placed him in the patrimony of humanity, on the same level as Moses and Solon.43
34Generally speaking, the intention behind their glorification was to nurture respect and veneration. This in turn helped perfect the image of the “modernising” Ethiopian emperors Menilek II and Haile Selassie. Could Napoleon Bonaparte’s imperial project, which had been so highly praised by Kebede Mikael, and that of Menilek II, the builder of the Ethiopian Empire, not be brought together? Did Haile Selassie’s legislative and legal activity not echo that of the French emperor? This link was directly established by Tekle Tsadik Mekuria in his moral treatise የሰው ጠባይና አብሮ የመኖር ዘዴ (YäSäw Täbayenna Abro YäMänor Zädé, Human Behaviour and the Art of Living Together), which was part of the secondary school curriculum. The characters who illustrated his depiction of “great minds” (አሳበ ሰፊ, asabä säfi) were Napoleon, Menilek II and Haile Selassie. The three statesmen were wise rulers who sought new solutions when their countries faced new problems. Coming to power at decisive moments and forced to face difficult situations that required a strong spirit of initiative, they took the right decisions at the right time, sometimes against the advice of the majority. As great administrators and legislators, they left a strong and lasting legacy for their successors. With political vision, they looked to the future rather than just dealing with what they had inherited from the past.44
35In his novel Araya, Germachew Tekle Hawariat drew another parallel, that of the reigns of Menilek II and Haile Selassie with those of Frederick William I and Frederick II of Prussia:
ፍሬዲሪክ ዊልሂም የፕሩስን ምንግስት ለማጐልመስ በታላቅ ትግሥቱና በልዩ ስጦታው ያደራጀውን ጦርና ያከማቸውን ገንዘብ ቁም ነገር ለማ ሲያዝ ፍሬዲሪክ ሁለተኛ (ትልቁ) ባልጋው ተተክቶ ያባቱን ሥራ ባያከናውነው ኖሮ ጀርመን የዛሬውን ደረጃዋን አታገኝም ነበር። እንዲሁም ዐፄ ምኒልክ ያቀዱትንና የወጠኑት ሥራ ሁሉ ለመከተልና ለመፈጸም ቀዳማዊ ኃይለ ሥላሴ ባይተኩ ኖሮ ኢትዮጽያ በዚህ ባለችበት እርመጃ አትገኝም ነበር። ስለዚህ ሕዝቦች የሚመሩ ሰዎች ቢሆኑም ሰዎቹን ደግሞ የሚመርጥና አሳሳቢያቸውም እግዚአብሔር ነው ለማለት የሚቻል ነው ።
To fortify the Prussian state, Frédéric-Guillaume took a significant initiative to organize the army and accumulate funds with remarkable patience and unique talent. If Frederick II (the Great), who ascended to the throne, had not continued his father’s efforts, Germany would not have achieved its current level of development. Similarly, Ethiopia would not have reached its present state of progress if Haile Selassie I had not succeeded Emperor Menilek II to carry on and fulfill the work he had envisioned and initiated. Thus, it can be asserted that when there are individuals leading nations, their selection and diligence are divinely ordained.45
36The “great men” owed their historical role to providence, which was the source of their genius and visionary qualities. Through these comparisons, the Ethiopian authors justified the authority of an “enlightened despot,” of whom Frederick II was the archetype. The characters they highlighted were always authoritarian and progressive. Since the 1920s, this model of head of state had been favoured by Ethiopian reformist intellectuals, and it was perfectly suited to the image Haile Selassie wanted to project of himself.
3.2 Models of governance for girls and boys
37Imported and Ethiopian textbooks contained instructions on how to behave and examples to justify them. The introductory pages of the Tarikenna Messale explained that the existence of the nation was renewed by the common work of its members. It was based on the heritage of the past, but could only be reproduced in the present through the work of each and every one. Pupils were warned that no action could be taken without consequences for Ethiopia. Members of the nation should act for the common good and not for their own personal interests.
ሕዝብ ፤ በአንድ መንግስት በአንድ ሰንደቅ ዓላማ በአንድ ሕግ ጥላ ተሰብሰበው የሚኖሩ ሰዎች ማለት ነው። […] በአስተዳደሩም በልዩ ልዩ ሥራ የተሳሰረ ። […] እኛ ኢትዮጵያውያን የምንሠራው ሥራ መልካም ቢሆን አገራችን ኢትዮጵያ እንደምትከበር የምንሠራው ሥራ መጥፎ ቢሆን ግን እንደምትዋረድ አትርሳ ። […] ብዙ ገንዘብና በዙ ርስት ከማግኘት ይልቅ ለአገሩ ትልቅ ሥራ የሠራላት ሰው ስሙ ለዘለዓለም በታሪክ ሲጠራ ይኖራል ።
The term “the people” refers to individuals united under the same government, sharing a common flag, and protected by the same laws. […] They are also connected through a unified administration and engagement in various collective endeavors. […] It is crucial to remember that the outcomes of our endeavors as Ethiopians, whether positive or negative, reflect on the glory or detriment of our country, Ethiopia. […] History will eternally recall the name of someone who has accomplished great deeds for their nation, as opposed to someone who has amassed wealth and acquired extensive land.46
38While this particular advice was imbued with an abstract morality, other textbooks gave it a concrete content, citing figures who were not statesmen but who had dedicated their lives to the common good. One of these was Robert Owen, who was presented as a model of a philanthropic employer who, contrary to the most common practices of his time, improved the lot of his workers.47 He came from a poor family, but was lucky enough to have had an education. He was very serious about his studies, and won the goodwill of the school headmaster, the priests and the town doctor, who lent him books. Forced to support himself, he found a job in a cloth shop at the age of ten. There, “Robert Owen was happy […] for he was quick at his work and pleased his master.” In his spare time, he read. At the age of 19, he became a workshop manager in a cotton mill. This experience gave him the ambition to own machines of his own, not only to enrich himself but also to improve the lot of the workers. Indeed, “Robert Owen believed that if working people were paid better wages, had better homes and were able to send their children to school, they would not only be happier, but they would do better work.” Later, when he owned his own mill in New Lanark, he found that his first workers were “poor,” “ignorant,” “dirty,” “thieves” and “violent.” Believing that these men and women behaved badly because they were mistreated, he built houses separated by clean streets, a school and shops where workers could find quality products at honest prices. While the other spinning mill owners laughed at his experiments and predicted his ruin, the workers became happy, loved him and therefore worked as hard as they could. As a result, he became very rich and highly respected, and when he died at the age of 87, he left behind a better world than the one he had found.
39The example of Robert Owen showed that seriousness in his studies, a taste for work and respect for his masters allowed him to improve his lot and even to become very rich. One had to obey one’s superiors and respect one’s subordinates in order to be respected and loved in return. Robert Owen was, in reality, a utopian socialist. The textbook reduces New Lanark’s utopian project to a form of paternalism, which is a model of virtue.
40Florence Nightingale was a second edifying example, this time aimed at girls.48 This feminist icon was presented as a model of female devotion. Born into a family of rich merchants, she had a pampered childhood. Very early on, her favourite game was playing nurse. As she grew up, she felt the need to make herself truly useful. As her father was rich, she did not need to work, but she felt it was her duty to help those who were not as fortunate as she was, so she trained as a nurse. After reading in the press that men wounded in the war in Crimea were not being properly cared for, she decided to travel there. Accompanied by thirty-four other nurses, she took charge of the military hospital, which was in a deplorable state, dirty and without resources. They immediately cleaned and equipped it before taking over the care. Thus,
This wonderful woman brought about great changes in the hospital […]. She went from bed to bed, tending the wounded, washing their wounds and binding them with clean bandages, at the same time soothing the pain of these poor soldiers with kind words. The men, who were suffering so much and were so far from home, came to look on her as an angel.
41But Florence Nightingale had to face opposition from officers and doctors who did not appreciate her strength of character and her volunteer spirit. Ultimately, however, “they saw all the good she was doing […]. In the end, there was nothing they would not do for Florence Nightingale.” Back in Europe, she continued to fight for clean hospitals and well-trained nurses throughout her life. This biography ended with an address to the students: “Whenever you see a bright, clean hospital, with its clever, well-trained nurses, think of ‘The Lady with the Lamp,’ who spent most of her life with the sick and the wounded and helped to make these things possible.”
42Nightingale highlighted the maternal qualities of devotion to caring for and comforting one’s neighbour, as well as the benefits of courage, perseverance and determination. However, as with Robert Owen, whose utopian socialism had been overlooked, nothing was said about the fact that Florence Nightingale was also a feminist figure. All that needed to be remembered was that the dedication and altruism of one individual had consequences for the society as a whole. The last chapter of the manual called on students to follow the example of these people, who were dedicated to making the world a better place:
One day, you and all the other boys and girls like you, all over the world, will be men and women and you will then be history makers yourselves. You will want to make the world a better and happier place to live in. You can help to do this now by learning as much as you can of the March of Time and trying to understand how our present ways of living have grown out of the past. […] So, work as well as you can, always think of others and help them when you are able, and study carefully The March of Time in your own lifetime. Eventually you will make this world a better place to live in.49
43In the end, these model lives summoned pupils to take on their future social role with a spirit of morality. It was by adopting an altruistic moral code and respecting the established order that everyone could make the world a better place. The collective destiny was placed in the hands of those in power and the good morals of graduates, with each person’s role being strictly respected. It was a type of organisation of society that corresponded perfectly to the authoritarian regime that combined conservative morals and the ethics of progress desired by Haile Selassie.
4. Progress or capitalist industrial society
44The nation united behind the emperor had to be progressive. In order to achieve this, everyone had to act in concert, and all efforts had to converge in this direction. The introductory pages of the Tarikenna Messale remind the reader of this:
ሌሎቹ የዓለም ንግሥታት ከደረሱበት የሥልጣኔ ደረጃ ላይ አገራችን ኢትዮጵያ በቶሎ እንደትደርስ እኛ ኢትዮጵያውያን ሁሉ ማሳብና መጣጣር ይገባናል። ድካማችንና ትጋታችንም በተለየ ለዚሁ ዐሳብ ብቻ እንዲሆን ያስፈልጋል ። […] ማንኛውም የውጭ አገር ሰው ለተወለደባት አገሩ የሚያስብላት መልካም ዐሳብ ፤ የሠራላት መልካም ሥራ ሲነገር በሰማህ ፤ ወይም ተጽፎ ባየህ ጊዜ ፤ አንተም ደግሞ እንደዚሁ ይህንኑ ያህል ላገርህ ለኢትዮጵያ ልታስብላትና ልትሠራላት የሚገባህ መሆኑን ዕወቀው።
We Ethiopians need to fortify ourselves and strive to ensure that our country, Ethiopia, swiftly attains the level of progress seen in other nations worldwide. Our endeavors and persistence should be dedicated to this singular goal. […] If you come across or read about a commendable idea or undertaking by a foreigner for their homeland, recognize that you too should contemplate and act similarly for your own country…50
45Ethiopians had to be united and open to the outside world. In the face of those who feared that Ethiopia would be lost if it drew inspiration from foreign countries, schools conveyed the contrary idea that it was a necessity if the country was to regain its strength and occupy a respectable place among other nations. The Ethiopian intellectuals of the 1940s and 1950s who engaged in the production of school knowledge were both resolutely nationalistic and fascinated by Europe and the United States. For their part, American advisers to the Ministry of Education, who were imbued with the theories of modernisation, were convinced of the universal character of their political, economic and social model. In teaching, this was reflected by the idea that the whole of humanity was converging towards a capitalist industrial society. This was the purpose of the textbooks on “world history.” In the 1940s and 1950s, the histories of Ethiopia and the world were the subject of separate books. From the mid-1960s onwards, however, textbooks were created that aimed to include the history of Ethiopia in world history. As the teacher’s notes in the Grade 7 textbook published in 1970 put it:
It is appropriate, and very good training, to present the topics as part of a very long story, the story of man in many lands, and to stress interdependence and continuity in the development of history. While at work on this book, the students should occasionally be reminded of the general structure of the whole history programme. In elementary school, they have had a first initiation to the history of their own country. Later on, the Senior High School curriculum will offer them an entire programme of connected history. They will learn plenty more about their own country, about the African continent, and the world at large.51 [Italics in the original]
46Pupils had to understand the history of Ethiopia in relation to the histories of Africa and the world. The secondary school textbooks of the 1960s consisted of three main chapters on the history of the Mediterranean and European worlds, the history of Ethiopia and the history of Africa. There was a corresponding period for each grade: ancient in Grade 9, early Middle Ages in Grade 10, late Middle Ages in Grade 11, and contemporary in Grade 12. Within this approach, which was based on “interdependence” and “connected history,” Europe was the matrix of world history, as well as the reference point from which the history of other regions was to be read and understood. As Abebe Fisseha pointed out, “The syllabus [was designed] on the basis of the assumption that the students would understand better what happened in the rest of the world (including Ethiopia) if they learned world history by reference to major events in Europe” (Abebe 1992, 104). Ultimately, it was a question of integrating Ethiopian history into a vast convergent movement, of which Europe was the point of reference.
47Europe, and by extension the United States, was the model to be followed as a core region in world history. Industrial society was presented as the result of the linear progress of humanity. It was endowed with a character that was both desirable and inexorable, which made its spread natural and indisputable:
The industrial revolution started in England […] After some time, other countries started to do like England. The first countries to do so were France, and Germany, and Belgium, and the United States of America. Later on, other countries of the world did the same. The industrial revolution has not finished spreading. There are many countries in the world where it is just starting, for example, in Africa and Asia.52 [Italics in the original]
48The Grade 7 manual went on to describe industrialisation as a virtuous circle. By allowing goods to be produced more quickly and in larger quantities, it had brought about an abundance through which humans housed, dressed and cared for themselves better, and moved and communicated more quickly. It was also credited with the progress made in education by the production of pens, notebooks and books. Since the Industrial Revolution, what had once been reserved for the richest now benefitted the greatest number. Finally, no actor seemed to be harmed, and the whole process of production, distribution and consumption was a win-win situation:
The countries that had the machines became rich, because they could sell a lot of finished goods to other countries. Other countries had a lot of raw materials. They sold these materials to the countries that had factories, and became rich in this way. Big merchants carried goods from one country to another, and little merchants sold them in the shops. Thousands of workmen were needed in the factories. A lot of poor people had no land in the countryside, or no jobs in the town. The new factories gave them a chance to work and earn money. And with the money they earned, they could buy some of the useful things made in factories.53
49The countries producing finished products and the countries exporting raw materials, large international traders and small local traders, industrialists and workers, producers and consumers: each was a beneficiary. No grain of sand seemed to disturb the circle of abundance.
Figure 7: Promoting industrialisation and mechanisation

Source: MOEFA, History for Young Ethiopians, Grade 7 (1970), 106–10.
50A short paragraph was devoted to the negative aspects of the Industrial Revolution, but they were a thing of the past. Its early stages had been characterised by low wages for workers in European factories and the countries supplying raw materials, long working hours and the employment of women and children. But things had improved since then. Bosses had understood the need to help the workers. Governments had passed laws to protect them. Unions were allowed and they secured better wages, shorter working hours and an end to child labour so that children could go to school, and bosses paid for medical costs incurred by accidents at work. The authors of the handbook concluded that: “In the world of today [1970], the factories make huge amounts of useful things for people everywhere. At the same time, the workmen who make those things lead much better lives than before.”54
51The Industrial Revolution was on its way to improving the lives of people all over the world. It was now reaching Ethiopia, and the four photographs in this chapter of the textbook showcased the achievements of an industrialising country: tractors working a field, a sugar factory, an oil refinery and the Koka Dam south of Addis Ababa, which was producing electricity. By enabling integration into a burgeoning global economy, this progress would improve the lives of all Ethiopians.
52The manual ended with a chapter on colonisation titled How Great Nations Became powerful in Africa and Elsewhere.55 The author explained that powerful countries had historically always conquered or dominated others. The specific aspect of European imperialism in the 19th and 20th centuries was its links with the Industrial Revolution. Europeans had to find raw materials and outlets for their products, which eventually led to colonisation, and the textbook concluded by cataloguing its good and bad sides. On the positive side of the balance sheet were the end of slavery, the end of the internecine wars and the construction of roads, railways and hospitals. The negative side included land grabs and forced labour, the violence inflicted on the colonised and the dependence of Africans, who were obliged to obey foreign masters.
53But did pitting uncolonised Ethiopia against this record not solve the problem of imitating the West posed by some of Haile Selassie’s detractors? Was Ethiopia not only concerned with the “good things”? It was building roads, factories, schools and hospitals—progress—while at the same time remaining in control of its own destiny.
Conclusion
54Within the national school system, “history teaching is thought of as a tool for building a ‘national imagination,’ with facts following a smooth, fluid trajectory carried by the dynamics of progress” (De Cock 2009, 7). The history taught in Ethiopian schools was organised on the basis of a dual teleology. There was the three thousand year old history of Ethiopia, with its Semitic and Christian identity, of which Haile Selassie was the culmination, the symbol of continuity and the figure of eternity, and then there was the “world history” imported from Great Britain and the United States, which postulated the convergence of human societies towards an industrial capitalist society. What history classes seemed to be saying was that with its prestigious past and its independence during colonisation, Ethiopia had a solid basis for moving forward along the path traced by the western industrialised countries without suffering from any type of complex, all the more so as it was guided by an enlightened monarch who was worthy of the greatest of the men who were portrayed in imported history textbooks. In a way, the West could show the way towards progress, but it was actually seen from a nationalist perspective, and students were invited to be progressive and patriotic.
55Finally, the teachings testify to the particularistic way in which citizenship was thought about. This was far removed from what the authors of the 1971 article “Educational Aims and Objectives” proposed. These Ethiopian pedagogues recognised the diversity of the country’s cultures and argued: “The aims of education are to bring about such a blending of indigenous cultures into a rich national culture” (Girma et al. 1974, 9). On the contrary, however, the definition of nationhood that emerged from school education was a radical process of inclusion and exclusion that rejected anything that was not Christian and supposedly Semitic as inferior or on the side of historic enemies. Pupils who did not meet these criteria suffered from an inferior identity and were encouraged to transform themselves in order to achieve full citizenship. The teachings reveal that the school was an instrument for transforming individuals so that they would be able to adapt to a highly restrictive definition of the nation.
Notes de bas de page
1 MOEFA, Elementary Schools Curriculum, Years I-VI (1971), 1.
2 MOEFA, Secondary School Curriculum, Book I (1963), vi-vii.
3 The works of the writer Kebede Mikael were school classics. Tekle Tsadik Mekuria, a pupil at Tefari Mekonnen School before the Italian occupation, wrote books on the history of Ethiopia for use in schools in the early 1940s that were still in use in the early 1960s; MOE, List of Books and Equipment for Academic Secondary Schools (Addis Ababa, 1960).
4Kiros Habte Selassie and Mazengia Dina, authors of the 1969 Short Illustrated History textbook. Bairu Tafla, author of the grade 10 history textbook published in 1974, was one of the historians at the Institute of Ethiopian Studies. To mention only a few examples of foreign authors: Roland Turenne from Quebec, author of several geography textbooks in the early 1970s, was a teacher at Tefari Mekonnen School; Patrick Gilkes, author of “Teaching Notes” for Ethiopian history courses in secondary schools, worked at the Ministry of Education; and British historian Richard Pankhurst, founder of the Institute of Ethiopian Studies, was involved in the production of history and English textbooks.
5 MOEFA, ታሪክና ምሳሌ ፩ኛ መጽሐፍ (Stories and Fables, Book 1) (1942).
6 MOEFA, A Modern History for Ethiopia, Grades 6–12 (1952), 7–11.
7 MOEFA, የኢትዮጵያ ጥንት ታሪክ ፬ኛ ክፍል (Ancient History of Ethiopia, Grade 4) (1970), 20.
8MOEFA, History For Young Ethiopians, Grade 10, Book 4 (1974), 88.
9MOEFA, የኢትዮጵያ ጥንት ታሪክ ፬ኛ ክፍል (Ancient History of Ethiopia, Grade 4) (1970), 24.
10MOEFA, A Modern History for Ethiopia (1952), 10.
11MOEFA, List of Books and Equipment for Academic Secondary Schools (1960), 2; MOEFA, Textbooks Production Program 1956–1960 (1960), 24.
12 Tekle Tsadik Mekuria, የኢትዮጵያ ታሪክ ታሪክ ከዐፄ ልብነ ድንግል ድንግል እስከ ዐፄ ቴዎሮስ (History of Ethiopia from Emperor Lebnä Dengel to Emperor Tewodros) (1964), 96.
13 J.G. Vanderheym, Une expédition avec le Negous Ménélik (vingt mois en Abyssinie) (Paris: Librairie Hachette et Cie, 1896).
14 MOEFA, የኢትዮጵያ ጥንት ታሪክ ታሪክ ፬ኛ ክፍል (Ancient History of Ethiopia, Grade 4) (1970), 34.
15MOEFA, History For Young Ethiopians, Grade 10, Book 4 (1974), 91.
16Ibid., 118.
17Ibid., 120.
18 MOEFA, History for Young Ethiopians, Grade 7 (1970), 11 and 24.
19MOEFA, A Modern History for Ethiopia, Grades 6–12 (1952), 7–11; MOEFA, የኢትዮጵያ ጥንት ታሪክ ፤ ፬ኛ ክፍል (Ancient History of Ethiopia, Grade 4) (1970.), 9–19.
20MOEFA, Ethiopia. A Short Illustrated History, Grades 9–12 (1969), 23.
21MOEFA, History For Young Ethiopians. Part 2, Civics, Book 2, Grade 8 (1974), 139.
22MOEFA, የኢትዮጵያ ጥንት ታሪክ ፤ ፬ኛ ክፍል (Ancient History of Ethiopia, Grade 4) (1970), 38.
23MOEFA, History For Young Ethiopians, Grade 10, Book 4 (1974), 86–101.
24MOEFA, ታሪክና ምሳሌ ፩ኛ መጽሐፍ (Stories and Fables, Book 1) (1942), first pages unnumbered.
25 MOEFA, Curriculum for Ethiopian Schools 1–8 (1947), 116; MOEFA, Elementary School Curriculum Years I-VIII (1958), 107.
26 MOEFA, Textbook Production Program, 1956–1960, 22.
27 MOEFA, A Modern History for Ethiopia (1952), 12.
28 A.C. Fernando, M.T. Chako, Intelligent Exercises. History (World and Ethiopia). For Senior Secondary Schools, 8 (Addis Ababa: Progress Unity Friendship, MAS Co-operative Society, , vol. II, date not given), 3.
29Ibid., 21.
30MOEFA, Elementary School Curriculum Years I-VIII (1958), 110.
31 A.C. Fernando, M.T. Chako, Intelligent Exercises… (date not given), 31.
32 MOEFA, A Modern History for Ethiopia (1952), 32.
33 Ibid., 38.
34 Ibid., 35.
35 The Lion of Judah was the emblem of the Solomonic Monarchy.
36 MOEFA, A Modern History for Ethiopia (1952), 55.
37 MOEFA, Ethiopia. A Short Illustrated History, Grades 9–12 (1969), 150.
38 See the title of the textbook አዲስ ዘመን ታሪክ, 1933–1949 (History of the New Era, 1940–1957). After the liberation, the government organ, the weekly Berhannenna Selam was replaced by the daily Addis Zemen, which means “New Era.”
39 A.C. Fernando, M.T. Chako, Intelligent Exercises… (n.d.), 37.
40 Germachew Tekle Hawariat, አርአያ (Model) (Addis Ababa; Berhannenna Selam, 1941 EC [1948]), 124.
41 MOE, Curriculum for Ethiopian Schools 1–8 (1947), 116.
42E.C.T. Horniblow, J.J. Sullivan, The March of Time, Book IV. Makers of Our Modern World (London: The Grant Educational Co., 1953), 113–24.
43Kebede Mikael, ታላላቅ ሰዎች (Great Men) (Addis Ababa: Mega Printing Press, 1999 EC [1st edition 1950]), 97–126.
44 Tekle Tsadik Mekuria, የሰው ጠባይና አብሮ የመኖር ዘዴ (Human Behaviour and the Art of Living Together) (Addis Ababa: Berhannenna Selam, 1959 [1951 EC]), 69–82.
45Germachaw Tekle Hawariat, አርአያ (Addis Ababa: Berhannenna Selam, 1941 EC [1948]), 124.
46MOEFA, ታሪክና ምሳሌ ፩ኛ መጽሐፍ (Tarikenna Messale, book 1) (1942), first pages unnumbered.
47E.C.T. Horniblow and J.J. Sullivan, The March of Time…. (1953), 146–54.
48 Ibid., 154–61.
49 Ibid., 226.
50 MOEFA, ታሪክና ምሳሌ ፩ኛ መጽሐፍ (Stories and Fables, Book 1) (1942), first pages unnumbered.
51MOEFA, History for Young Ethiopians, Grade 7 (1970), 10.
52Ibid., 107.
53 Ibid., 108.
54 Ibid., 110–12.
55 Ibid., 125–33.

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