A committee of junior military officers called the Derg (Amharic for "committee"

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Emperor Haile Selassie Deposed: Ethiopia Falls

A committee of junior military officers called the Derg (Amharic for "committee") deposed Emperor Haile Selassie on September 12, 1974, ending a reign that had lasted 58 years and a dynasty that claimed descent from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Selassie, 82 and increasingly frail, was driven from the palace in a Volkswagen Beetle. The Derg executed 60 officials of the old regime without trial on November 23. Haile Selassie himself was almost certainly murdered in 1975, reportedly smothered in his bed. The Derg, led by Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam, imposed a Marxist military dictatorship that killed an estimated 500,000 to 750,000 people during the "Red Terror" and presided over the devastating famine of 1984-85.

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September 12, 1974

52 years ago

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Emperor Haile Selassie Deposed: Ethiopia Falls

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