The Second World War, 1941-1945
1941
May 5 to July 31: After the liberation of Addis Ababa, Emperor Haile Selassie has become convinced that his empire must modernize and liberalize in order to avoid becoming a further target for colonization and dismissal. He his appalled by the revolutionary and destructive order that the Italians wrought and vows to bring Ethiopia to greatness [1].
August: The Atlantic Charter is promulgated by the United States and United Kingdom. The document makes its way to British forces serving in East Africa during 1942 and reaches the Emperor. After some deliberation, Emperor Haile Selassie sends representatives to Washington to request a meeting with the other Allied powers [2]. This creates enormous tension between the Ethiopians and the British, who are de facto administering the territory, although the British are far more concerned with the course of the North African campaign and let the diplomatic mission go [3].
September: Emperor Haile Selassie begins talks with Coptic Orthodox Pope Joseph II of Alexandria on the promotion of the Ethiopian Church to an autocephalous Patriarchate.
December: Using the large caches of weapons the Italian forces left, Emperor Haile Selassie reestablishes the Kebur Zabanga ("Imperial Guard") and places his cousin Ras Haile Darge in command. By the end of 1942, the Imperial Guard numbers some five battalions of about 1000 men each.
On December 8, the United States enters the Second World War against Japan. Germany and Italy declare war several days later.
1943
January 14-25: Casablanca Conference. Emperor Haile Selassie is invited to join the conference by President Roosevelt, and arrives on January 15, after weather held up his sizable group group which includes representatives of the Kebur Zabanga. While the Casablanca Conference focuses on the Italy campaign, the Emperor offers the reconstituted Kebur Zabanga ("Imperial Guard") to participate in Allied operations "wherever they are needed." Furthermore, during Roosevelt's conversations on the status of Jewish immigrants in North Africa after the war, the Emperor offers to take "any and all Jews willing to immigrate to Ethiopia," explaining their historical role in the Solomonic dynasty [4]. The Emperor's offer appeals to Winston Churchill as a possible post-war resolution to the problems in Palestine, if an unlikely solution.
President Roosevelt forms a friendship with the Emperor and agrees that the five battalions of the reformed Kebur Zabanga should participate in the war [5][6]. Furthermore, President Roosevelt promises to meet with the Emperor "once more" to discuss post-war Africa. After some discussion, it is decided that the soldiers will be sent to England to "properly train for the eventual invasion of Italy."
On January 25, Emperor Haile Selasie signs a document bringing Ethiopia formally into the war against Germany.
Ethiopia becomes eligible for lend-lease at this point, although most of the lend-lease is in the form of tractors, oil, and fertilizers instead of tanks and guns.
July: The under-trained Kebur Zabanga arrive in England. They are attached to the 8th Infantry Division and are given American equipment. Under Shaleqa Haile Darge, the troops train intensely [7].
November 23-28: First Cairo Conference. Emperor Haile Selassie joins Churchill, Roosevelt, and Chiang Kai-Shek in Cairo to discuss post-war Asia and Africa. Here, Roosevelt and Haile Selassie begin to strike up sharp disagreements about the threat of communism to the world, with the Emperor going so far as to contemplate "launching a war against them [the Communists] at the earliest opportunity." However, Chiang finds the sentiment admirable and expresses hope for formal Sino-Ethiopian relations "when the Tojo and Mao are both buried."
Despite a growing rift over confronting communism, both Haile Selassie and Roosevelt agree that decolonization should be the ultimate post-war goal (pointing to the Atlantic Charter) for Africa and Asia, to Churchill's chagrin. All parties in attendance agree to continue deploying military force against Japan until it surrenders unconditionally and liberates Manchuria, Formosa, and Korea.
Emperor Haile Selassie signs a document which announces formally brings Ethiopia to war against Japan. The United Kingdom formally relinquishes control over Ethiopia, at Roosevelt's insistence.
1944
June 5: With clear skies and calm seas, the Allies launch Operation Overlord, the invasion of France.
July 4: The "Kagnew Regiment" attached to the 8th Infantry Division land in Europe.
August-September: The Kagnew Regiment is relegated to a rear guard role during the Battle for Brest, although they assisted fighting in the outskirts of Brest.
September-November: The 8th Infantry Division makes its way over to the Ruhr, reaching the Western Front in time for Operation Queen.
November 23-December 16: The 8th Infantry Division joins the Battle for Hurtgen Forest. The Kagnew Battalion participates more fully during the Hurtgen Forest Operation. The stiff German resistance costs the 8th dearly and advancement is slow. The Kagnew Regiment is mostly ignored by German forces, being composed of "untermensch," and the Kagnew Regiment manages to outflank German forces during the battle, ultimately cutting them off. The Kagnew Regiment will receive the Presidential Unit Citation for its actions during the Hurtgen Forest.
December 16: Ardenne Offensive. The Kagnew Regiment doesn't participate in the famous "Battle of the Bulge," instead positioned near Aachen.
Statistics, 1945 [8]:
Population: 20.92 million people
GDP: US$ 6.75 billion
GDP PC: US$ 322
1945
February 11-15: The Kagnew Regiment breaks through to the Ruhr River, spearheading the 8th Infantry's to the river. Three days later, the Kagnew Regiment is part of the Allied Offensive over the river. The Kagnew Regiment takes heavy losses but pushes through into Duren, Germany. The unit will be awarded the Army Meritorious Unit Commendation for its actions during the "Ruhr breakout."
March 1: The 8th Infantry Division reaches the Rhine. Preparations are made to clear the Ruhr Pocket.
March 17-April 3: The Battle of the Ruhr Pocket. The Kagnew Regiment is held up in Duren keeping the peace.
April 1: President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies. Vice President Truman becomes President.
April 20: The 8th Infantry encounters the Wilhemshaven concentration camp (part of the Neuengamme concentration camp), with its 800 prisoners starving to death [9]. The sight of the emaciated prisoners has a great effect on the Kagnew Regiment, who remain in Wiliamshaven for several weeks.
April 21: German forces in Italy and Western Europe surrender to the Democracies. V-E day declared in many nations. Forces in the East will continue fighting against the Soviets for another week before collapsing.
April 25 to June 26: United Nations Conference on International Organization. The Emperor sends representatives to the proceedings.
May 31: The Kagnew Regiment is withdrawn from Wilhemshaven and sent back to Ethiopia to acquire additional replacements and recruits. They will remain in Ethiopia during July and then ship out to the Pacific Theater "when transport becomes available." The Regiment, almost down to a man, volunteers to reenlist in the hopes of confronting fascism in the Pacific.
July 5: General Election in the United Kingdom; Winston Churchill's Tory government is swept out of office and Clementt Attlee's Labour party is swept into power.
July 16: Trinity Nuclear Test is successful; the nuclear age begins.
July 17: Potsdam Declaration: Japan is given the option of surrender or "complete destruction."
August 6-9: Hiroshima is destroyed by an atomic bomb. The Allies repeat their demands, threatening to use "these terrible new weapons until Japan submits." To underscore their demands, Kitakyushu is hit with the second bomb.
August 7: "Operation August Storm" begins in Manchuria as Soviet forces begin striking Japanese forces in Manchuria [10].
August 11: Despite a coup attempt, Emperor Hirohito agrees to unconditionally surrender to the Allied forces following the destruction of Hiroshima and Kitakyushu. V-J Day. World War II has formally ended.
September 24 to October 31: Emperor Haile Selassie, along with some of the soldiers of the Kagnew Regiment, journeys to San Fransisco to sign the United Nations Charter as well as carry out a good will trip and offer open immigration to all Americans who wish to immigrate to Ethiopia. He'll find a spokesman for the movement in Paul Robeson, a famous singer, actor, and Pan-Africanist who agrees to immigrate to Ethiopia "in the near future."
Emperor Haile Selassie proves to be a minor celebrity in the United States among the African American community, as well as America at large.
October 24: Ethiopia signs the charter of the United Nations, becoming one of its founding members.
October 29: The Food and Agriculture Organization is formed, with the goal of ending world hunger.
October 30: India joins the United Nations.
December 1: The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is declared.
December 2: The Democratic Republic of Vietnam is declared.
December 5: The International Monetary Fund begins operating.
Undated
Jewish survivors of the holocaust begin immigrating to Palestine and America, although a small percentage will immigrate to Ethiopia, settling in and around Addis Ababa. They are welcomed warmly by Emperor Haile Selassie and less so by the nobles.
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[1]- This is the POD: Basically, Haile Selassie takes on a more reformist mantle post-war instead of focusing increasingly centralizing the power of the state (and thus his own power). This would, of course, weaken his own power base noticeably, but if successful will pretty much neuter the nobility; at least, weaken the uppity Mesafint (hereditary nobles) to the benefit of the Mekwanint (appointed nobles) over whom the Emperor has more sway. So it's not inconceivable.
[2]- Leul Ras is an aristocratic title. Leul refers to those of imperial blood, and Ras is a rank.
[3]- Really, the Brits were pretty restricted in what they could do to an upity Ethiopia; there was still a minor guerrilla war being waged that opposed the Brits and they needed Haile Selassie on their side to help keep those vital lines of communications open to India.
[4]- We can debate the actual role of Solomon in establishing the Solomonic dynasty (i.e., the modern dynasty probably has no relation to Somolon), but it's a useful propaganda piece.
[5]- I might be reaching a little bit, but it's certainly not impossible; both men had a strong attraction to the idea of collective security and the formation of a workable successor to the League of Nations.
[6]- Roosevelt would later write that the decision to have the Kebur Zabanga participate in the war was a "political" move that could be used for propaganda purposes both in America and around the world. It helps to show that the Nazis are fighting against everyone: Slavs, Anglos, French, Belgians, Americans, and even black Africans.
[7]- Litterally, "Commander of a Thousand."
[8]- Statistics for Ethiopia prior to 1980 are hard to come by and tend to conflict a lot, so I've done some extrapolation to estimate Ethiopia's population and GDP in 1940. It is most certainly wrong, but precise numbers aren't too much of an issue.
[9]- ITTL, it was kept running until the last second.
[10]- That is the actual name of the operation ITTL, a slightly arrogant title.
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