HIS The Making of a Global World (PT Only) - NCERT Solutions
CBSE Class–10 Social Science
NCERT Solutions
History Chapter 4
The Making of a Global World
NCERT Solutions
History Chapter 4
The Making of a Global World
Question 1. Give two examples of different types of global exchanges which took place before the seventeenth century, choosing one example from Asia and one from the Americas.
Answer: Examples of the different types of global exchanges which took place before the seventeenth century:
Asia and Europe -
Answer: Examples of the different types of global exchanges which took place before the seventeenth century:
Asia and Europe -
- Traders and travellers introduced new type crops where they travelled.
- It is believed that noodle travelled to Europe from China to become spaghetti.
- Chinese pottery, textiles, spices from India and south east Asia
- Precious metals like Gold and Silver flowed from Europe to Asia via Silk Route.
America- Europe- Asia
- Common foods like potatoes, Soya, groundnuts, maize, tomatoes, chillies, sweet potatoes etc reached from native America to Europe and Asia after Christopher Columbus accidentally discovered America.
- Even germs of diseases like smallpox were carried on their person from Europe to America.
Question 2. Explain how the global transfer of disease in the pre-modern world helped in the colonization of the Americas.
Answer:
Answer:
- Europeans like Spaniards, Portuguese flowed into America after its discovery.
- The germs of smallpox were carried on their person.
- The global transfer of disease in the pre-modern world helped in the colonization of the Americas because the native American Indians were not immune to the diseases that the settlers and colonizers brought with them.
- The Europeans were more or less immune to smallpox, but the native Americans, having been cut off from the rest of the world for millions of years, had no defence against it. These germs killed and wiped out whole communities, paving the way for foreign domination.
- Weapons and soldiers could be destroyed or captured, but diseases could not be fought against. But not diseases such as smallpox to which the conquerors were mostly immune.
Question 3. Write a note to explain the effects of the following:
- The British government’s decision to abolish the Corn Laws.
- The coming of rinderpest to Africa.
- The death of men of working age in Europe because of the World War.
- The Great Depression on the Indian economy.
- The decision of MNCs to relocate production to Asian countries.
Answer: (a) The British government's decision to abolish the Corn Laws lead to the inflow of cheaper agricultural crops from America and Australia. British agriculture was unable to compete with imports.
Many English farmers left their profession and migrated to towns and cities. Some went overseas. This indirectly led to global agriculture and rapid urbanization, a prerequisite of industrial growth. Faster industrial growth in Britain also led to higher incomes, and therefore more foo imports. In Eastern Europe, Russia, America and Australia-lands were cleared and food production expanded to meet the British demand.
Many English farmers left their profession and migrated to towns and cities. Some went overseas. This indirectly led to global agriculture and rapid urbanization, a prerequisite of industrial growth. Faster industrial growth in Britain also led to higher incomes, and therefore more foo imports. In Eastern Europe, Russia, America and Australia-lands were cleared and food production expanded to meet the British demand.
(b) Rinderpest was devastating cattle disease which was carried by infected cattle from British Asia to Eastern Africa in 1890s. It spread in Africa like a wild forest fire. The coming of rinderpest to Africa caused a loss of livelihood and the local economy for countless Africans. Using this situation to their advantage, colonizing nations conquered and subdued Africa by monopolizing scarce cattle resources to force Africans into the labour market to work for a wage.
(c) Most of the victims of world war belonged to young generations of working men. As a result, it reduced the able-bodied workforce in Europe, thereby reducing household income.
Entire societies were reorganised for war as men went to battle, women stepped in to undertake jobs that earlier only men were expected to do.
The role of women increased and led to a demand for more equality of status. It made the feminist movement stronger. Women started working alongside men in every field. Women and youngsters became more independent and free with long-term effects.
Entire societies were reorganised for war as men went to battle, women stepped in to undertake jobs that earlier only men were expected to do.
The role of women increased and led to a demand for more equality of status. It made the feminist movement stronger. Women started working alongside men in every field. Women and youngsters became more independent and free with long-term effects.
(d) By the early twentieth century, the global economy had become an integral one. The impact of the Great Depression in India was felt especially in the agricultural sector. It was evident that the Indian economy was closely becoming integrated into a global economy. India was a British colony and exported agricultural goods and imported manufactured goods. The fall in agricultural price led to a reduction of farmers’ income and agricultural export.
As international prices crashed, prices in India also plunged. Between 1928 and 1934 wheat prices in India fell by 50%.
India's trade exports and imports almost halved between 1928 and 1934
The government did not decrease their tax and so, many farmers and landlords became more indebted to moneylenders and corrupt officials. It led to great rural unrest in India.
In these depression years, India became an exporter of precious metals, notably gold.
As international prices crashed, prices in India also plunged. Between 1928 and 1934 wheat prices in India fell by 50%.
India's trade exports and imports almost halved between 1928 and 1934
The government did not decrease their tax and so, many farmers and landlords became more indebted to moneylenders and corrupt officials. It led to great rural unrest in India.
In these depression years, India became an exporter of precious metals, notably gold.
(e) Impact of MNC's decision to relocate production in Asian Countries:
- It provided for cheap labour to MNC's.
- It stimulated world trade.
- Increased capital inflow in the Asian Countries.
- Brought about new technology and production methods to the Asian Countries.
- Greater choice of goods and services to the people.
- Greater employment opportunities for Asian countries.
- Rapid economic transformation resulting in the growth of economies like India, China.
Question 4. Give two examples from history to show the impact of technology on food availability.
Answer: Two examples from history to show the impact of technology on food availability were:
Answer: Two examples from history to show the impact of technology on food availability were:
- Improvement in transport - Faster railways, lighter wagons and larger ships helped transport food more cheaply and quickly from production units to even faraway markets.
- Export of meat to Europe - Meat which was out of reach of poor Europeans became accessible. Refrigerated ships helped transport perishable foods such as meat, butter and eggs over long distances. Now animals were slaughtered for food at the starting point in America, Australia or New Zealand-and then transported to Europe as frozen meat. This reduced shipping cost and lowered meat prices in Europe.
Better living conditions promoted social peace within the country and support for imperialism abroad.
Question 5. What is meant by the Bretton Woods Agreement?
Answer:
Answer:
- The main aim of the post war international economic system was to ensure economic stability and full employment in the industrial world.
- The Bretton Woods Agreement is the landmark system for monetary and exchange rate management established in 1944.
- Its framework was agreed upon at the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference held in July 1944 at Bretton Woods in New Hampshire, USA.
- It established the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to deal with external surpluses and deficits of member nations and financed post-war reconstruction. Setting up a system of rules, institutions, and procedures to regulate the international monetary system these accords established the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), which today is part of the World Bank Group.
- The post war international economic system is also often described as the Bretton Woods system.
Discuss
Question 6. Imagine that you are an indentured Indian labourer in the Caribbean. Drawing from the details in this chapter, write a letter to your family describing your life and feelings.
Answer: I am working in Trinidad (Caribbean) as an indentured labourer. Through this letter, I want to tell you about my hardship and misbehaviour of the contractor towards me. The contractor at the time of hiring me did not provide the correct information regarding the place of work, mode of travel and living and working conditions.
Very few legal rights are provided to us. The contractor uses harsh and abusive language at the worksite. He treats us like coolies and we are an uneasy minority in the cocoa plantations in Trinidad. Sometimes agents even forcibly abducted me though I was not willing to do the work.
Whenever I do not attend my work, I am prosecuted and sent to jail. There is a lot of work at the plantations with a heavy workload and sometimes I have to finish all of it one day. In case of unsatisfactory work (in the contractor’s thinking), my wages are cut. I am living a life of a slave and in great trouble.
Answer: I am working in Trinidad (Caribbean) as an indentured labourer. Through this letter, I want to tell you about my hardship and misbehaviour of the contractor towards me. The contractor at the time of hiring me did not provide the correct information regarding the place of work, mode of travel and living and working conditions.
Very few legal rights are provided to us. The contractor uses harsh and abusive language at the worksite. He treats us like coolies and we are an uneasy minority in the cocoa plantations in Trinidad. Sometimes agents even forcibly abducted me though I was not willing to do the work.
Whenever I do not attend my work, I am prosecuted and sent to jail. There is a lot of work at the plantations with a heavy workload and sometimes I have to finish all of it one day. In case of unsatisfactory work (in the contractor’s thinking), my wages are cut. I am living a life of a slave and in great trouble.
Question 7. Explain the three types of movements or flows within international economic exchange. Find one example of each type of flow which involved India and Indians, and write a short account of it.
Answer: The three types of movements or flows within the international economic exchange are trade flows, human capital flows and capital flows or investments. These can be explained as—the trade in agricultural products, migration of labour, and financial loans to and from other nations.
Flow of trade - India was a hub of trade in the pre-modern world, and it exported textiles and spices in return for gold and silver from Europe. After colonization, the flow of Indian textiles i.e. fine Indian cotton to Britain declined and the local market shrank.
Flow of labour - In the field of labour, indentured labour was provided for mines, plantations and factories abroad, in huge numbers, in the nineteenth century. This was an instrument of colonial domination by the British. These labours migrated in hope of better future but were exploited to a greater extent. All over the world, some 150million are estimated to have left their homes, crossed oceans and vast distances over land in search of a better future.
Flow of Capital -Lastly, Britain took generous loans from the USA to finance the World War. Capital flowed from financial centres such as London. Since India was an English colony, the impact of these loan debts was felt in India too. The British government increased taxes, interest rates, and lowered the prices of products it bought from the colony. Indirectly, but strongly, this affected the Indian economy and people.
Answer: The three types of movements or flows within the international economic exchange are trade flows, human capital flows and capital flows or investments. These can be explained as—the trade in agricultural products, migration of labour, and financial loans to and from other nations.
Flow of trade - India was a hub of trade in the pre-modern world, and it exported textiles and spices in return for gold and silver from Europe. After colonization, the flow of Indian textiles i.e. fine Indian cotton to Britain declined and the local market shrank.
Flow of labour - In the field of labour, indentured labour was provided for mines, plantations and factories abroad, in huge numbers, in the nineteenth century. This was an instrument of colonial domination by the British. These labours migrated in hope of better future but were exploited to a greater extent. All over the world, some 150million are estimated to have left their homes, crossed oceans and vast distances over land in search of a better future.
Flow of Capital -Lastly, Britain took generous loans from the USA to finance the World War. Capital flowed from financial centres such as London. Since India was an English colony, the impact of these loan debts was felt in India too. The British government increased taxes, interest rates, and lowered the prices of products it bought from the colony. Indirectly, but strongly, this affected the Indian economy and people.
Question 8. Explain the causes of the Great Depression.
Answer: The Great Depression was a result of many factors: Post world war - I economy was already fragile.
Answer: The Great Depression was a result of many factors: Post world war - I economy was already fragile.
- Prosperity in the USA during the 1920s created a cycle of higher employment and incomes. It led to rise in consumption and demands. More investment and more employment created tendencies of speculations which led to the Great Depression of 1929 Up to the mid-1930s.
- Stock market crashed in 1929. It created panic among investors and depositors who stopped investing and depositing. As a result, it created a cycle of depreciation. The result was a profound psychological shock and a loss of confidence in the economy among both consumers and businesses.
- Failure of the banks. Some of the banks closed down when people withdrew all their assets, leaving them unable to invest. There was also less money to lend, partly because people were hoarding it in the form of cash. Some banks called back loans taken from them at the same dollar rate in spite of the falling value of the dollar. It was worsened by British change in policy to value pound at the pre-war value.
Question 9. Explain what is referred to as the G-77 countries. In what ways can G-77 be seen as a reaction to the activities of the Bretton Woods twins?
Answer: G-77 countries is an abbreviation for the group of 77 countries that demanded a New International Economic Order (NIEO); a system that would give them real control over their natural resources, without being victims of neo-colonialism, that is, a new form of colonialism in trade practised by the former colonial powers. The Group of 77 (G77) at the United Nations is a coalition of 134 developing nations, designed to promote its members' collective economic interests and create an enhanced joint negotiating capacity in the United Nations.
The G-77 can be seen as a reaction to the activities of the Bretton Woods twins (the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank) because these two institutions were designed to meet the financial needs of industrial and developed countries, and did nothing for the economic growth of former colonies and developing nations.
Answer: G-77 countries is an abbreviation for the group of 77 countries that demanded a New International Economic Order (NIEO); a system that would give them real control over their natural resources, without being victims of neo-colonialism, that is, a new form of colonialism in trade practised by the former colonial powers. The Group of 77 (G77) at the United Nations is a coalition of 134 developing nations, designed to promote its members' collective economic interests and create an enhanced joint negotiating capacity in the United Nations.
The G-77 can be seen as a reaction to the activities of the Bretton Woods twins (the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank) because these two institutions were designed to meet the financial needs of industrial and developed countries, and did nothing for the economic growth of former colonies and developing nations.