Examine the roles of Yohannes IV and Menelik II in the unification and expansion of Ethiopia.

The question requires that candidates consider the roles of Yohannes and Menelik in the unification and expansion of Ethiopia in a way that uncovers the assumptions and interrelationships of the issue. For Yohannes, candidates may consider his outmanoeuvring of rivals following Tewedros’s death, thus preventing the disintegration of the empire. They may also focus on his success in heading off external threats to Ethiopian independence. For Menelik, they may refer to victory over the Italians and subsequent expansion to the south. Candidates are not expected to have an equal balance between unification and expansion. However, there must be some consideration of each factor. Candidates may or may not choose to use a comparative approach and may conclude that while Yohannes’s achievement was the survival of a unified state, Menelik’s main accomplishment was expansion. They may refer to Menelik’s modernization policies but only in the context of strengthening the Ethiopian state.