30/08/2022. 13.

The Making of a Global

World
1. Silk routes- The routes through which West bound silk cargo travelled were called as silk
routes.
Q1: 'Trade and cultural exchange always go hand in hand'. Explain.
A:- 1. Religion-
(a) Christian missionaries travelled through this routes to Asia.
(b) Muslim preachers also travelled through these routes .
(c) Buddhism emerged in Eastern India and spread in several direction through these routes.
2. Food travels-
(a) Traders and travellers introduced new crops and food items to the lands they travelled.
(b) Noodles traveled from China to become Spaghetti in Europe.
(c) Many of our food items such as potatoes, tomatoes, Maize, chilli, groundnut were brought to
India from America.
(d) Sometimes new crops could make the difference of life and death.
Ex- Ireland's poor peasants became so dependent on potatoes that when disease destroyed the
crop, thousands of them died.
2. Conquest, Disease, and Trade-
(a) Colonization of America was not just the result of superior fire arms but it was germs of
smallpox which they carried on their person.
(b) Before it's discovery, America was isolated from rest of the world. Because of their isolation,
the original inhabitants of America, had no immunity against the disease that came from
Europe.
(c) Once introduced, smallpox proved to be a deadly killer. It killed the whole community and
paved a way for America's conquest.
Q2:- Why did thousands of Europeans started fleeing to America ?
A:- (a) Until the 19th century, poverty and hunger were common in Europe.
(b) Cities were crowded and deadly diseases were wide spread.
(c) Religious conflicts were common and religious dissents were prosecuted.
Q3:- 'During the 19th century there were three kinds of flows or movements within international
economic exchanges'. What were they ?
A:-(a) Flow of trade- referred largely to trade in goods. Ex- cloth and wheat.
(b) Flow of labour - migration of people in search of jobs.
(c) Flow of capital - for short term or long term investments over long distances.
3. A world economy takes shape.
Britain:-
(a) Population increased in the late 18th and 19th century and the demand for food increased.
(b) As the demand increased, the prices also increased.
(c) The landed class pressurized the government to restrict the import of corn.
(d) The laws which restricted the import of corn were known as Corn Laws.
(e) Unhappy with high food prices the industrialist and the urban people forced the government
to abolished the corn laws.
Q4:- What happened when the corn laws were abolished ? ( consequences of abolition of corn
loss )
A:- (a) Food could be imported into Britain more cheaply than it could be used to produce within
the country.
(b) British agriculture could not complete with imports.
(c) Vast lands were left uncultivated.
(d) Many men and women were thrown out of work.
4. As food prices fell, consumption increased, which led to increase in imports.
5. Eastern Europe, Russia, Australia, America began clearing lands to expand food production.
6. In order to transport these food grains, Railways and Ships were needed, which required
labour and capital.
7. Labour came from Asia and Africa. Capital came from financial centres like London.
8. By 1890, a global agricultural economy had taken shape.
9. Some changes took place in India also, In Punjab, the British government began building a
network of canals to grow more wheat and cotton and these colonies came to be known as
canal colonies.
10. Role of technology-
(a) Technology helped in making the perishable goods available over long distances at cheaper
prices.
(b) Till 1870's, animals were shipped live from America, Australia, New Zealand to Europe and
then slaughtered when they arrived.
(c) Live animals took up lot of space in the ship. Many died in voyage , fell ill, lost weight or
became unfit to eat.
(d) Meat was hence, an expensive luxury beyond the reach of European poor.
(e) The coming of new technology, namely refrigerated ships, enabled to transport of perishable
goods over long distances.
(f) Now animals were slaughtered for food at the starting point and then transported to Europe
as frozen meat.
(g) This reduced the shipping cost and lowered the prices of meat in Europe.
(h) The poor in Europe could now enjoy a more varied diet or variety of dishes.
11. In 1885, the big European powers met at Berlin to complete the carving up of Africa
between them.
12. Rinderpest or the cattle plague-
(a) In 1890s the spread of Rinderpest had a terrifying impact on people's livelihoods and the
local economy.
(b )It shows how a disease affecting cattle reshaped the lives and fortunes of thousands of
people in Africa.
(c) Africa had abundant land and population.
(d) African's survived on land and cattle and rarely worked for a wage.
(e) In the late 19th century, Europeans were attracted to Africa due to its vast resources of land
and minerals.
(f) They wanted to establish plantations and mines but found shortage of labour willing to work
for wages.
(g) Europeans used many methods to recruit and retain labour.
(h) Heavy taxes were imposed which could be paid only in cash.
(i) Inheritance laws were changed- only one member of the family was allowed to inherit the
land, so that others will be pushhed to labour market.
(j) Mine workers were not allowed to move freely.
(j) Introduced Rinderpest.
Q5:- What is Rinderpest ?
A:- (a) It arrived in 1880's. It was carried by infected cattles imported from British Asia to feed
the Italian soldiers.
(b) It spread like wildfire , killing 90% of the cattle.
(c) The loss of cattle destroyed African livelihoods and enabled conquest of Africa.
Q6:- What is Indentured labour ?
A:- (a) A bonded labour under contract to work for an employer for a specific amount of time, to
pay of his passage to a new country or home.
(b) Most Indian indentured workers came from Eastern UP, Bihar, Central India and dry districts
of Tamilnadu.
Q7:- Why did labour move from above regions ?
A:- in the mid 19th century these regions experienced many changes-
(a) Cottage industries declined.
(b) Land rents rose.
(c) Lands were cleared for mines and plantations .
(d) All these affected the lives of the poor. They failed to pay their rents, became deeply in
debted and wore forced to migrate in search of work.
Q8:- To which countries did Indian indentured labour move?
A:- Caribbean islands ( mainly Trinidad, Guyana and Surinaam ), Mauritius and Fiji, Ceylon and
Malaya.
Q9:- "Living and working conditions for the indentured labour were harsh. But workers
developed their own ways of surviving, blending different cultural forms". Justify.
A:- 1. In Trinidad, the annual Muharram procession was transformed into a riotous carnival
called 'Hosay' ( from Imran Hussain ) in which workers of all races and religions joined.
2. The protest religion of Rasta Farianism is also said to reflect social and cultural links with
Indian migrants to the Caribbean.
3. Chutney music ' , popular in Trinidad and Guyana, is another creative contemporary
expression of the past-indenture experience.
4. These forms of cultural fusion are part of the making of the global world.
5. Examples of labour from India-
The Nobel prize winning writer V.S. Naipaul .
West Indies cricketer Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sawan.
13. Indian Entrepreneurs abroad-
(a) The small peasants borrowed money from money lenders like Shikaripuri Shroffs and Nattu
Kottai Chettiars. These people financed export agriculture in Central and South East Asia. They
had a system of transfer of money over large distances.
(b) Indian traders and money lenders also followed Europeans into Africa .
Ex- Hyderabadi Sindhi traders.
14. Indian trade, colonialism and the global system-
War time transformations-
(a) From the early 19th century , Britain begin to export cotton cloth and restricted the import to
protect local industries.
(b) Tariffs were imposed on cloth imported to Britain.
(c) Exports from India started decline in export of raw material increased.
(d) British goods like cloth and other finished products, started flirting Indian markets.
(e) Britain had trade surplus.
(f) Britain first following multi-lateral settlement system.
(g) This allows one countries deficit with another country to be settled by its surplus with a third
country.
15. War time transformations-
-- 1914-1918
-- The Allies:- Britain, France, USSR, later USA.
-- The Central powers- Germany, Italy, Ottoman-Turkish Empire,: Austria-Hungary.
Q10:- Why is it called as first world war ?
A:- (a) The war was joined by many countries.
(b) It was the first modern industrial war which used aircrafts, tanks, machine guns, chemical
weapons etc. on a large scale.
(c) Led to huge loss of men and material.
(d) More civilians were killed than the soldiers.
Q11:- What parda after effects of the war ?
A:- 1. Most of the killed were men of working age, hence household incomes decreased after
the war.
2. When men went to war, women stepped out of the houses to take up the jobs.
2. Britain borrowed large sums of money from US.
3. From international debtor US became creditor.
16. The rise of mass production and consumption-
(a) In US recovery was quicker after the war.
(b) The most important feature of this recovery was mass production and consumption.
(c) Pioneer of mass production was car manufacturer Henry Ford.
(d) He adopted the assembly line system of Chicago Slaughter house.
(e) He realised that assembly line method ( Conveyor belt ) would allow a faster and cheaper
way of producing vehicles.
(f) Standing in front of a conveyor belt, no worker could afford to delay the motions, take a break
or talk to the co-workers.
(g) The T-model Ford cars were the first mass produced car.
(h) In the beginning the factory workers were unable to cope with the stress, So they quit in
large numbers.
(i) Henry Ford decided to double the wages.
(j) Mass production lowered the costs and prices of the engineer good.
(k) Due to higher wages more workers could now effort to purchase durable consumer goods.
Ex- Refrigerator, Washing machines, cars, houses etc. through the system of
hire - purchase i.e; on credit repaid in weekly or monthly installments.
(l) There was a boom in construction and home ownership due to availability of loans.
(m) In 1923, US began to export capital to rest of the world and became oversea lenders.
(n) By 1919, the world plunged into a depression called economic depression.
Q12:- What was the great economic depression ?
A:- 1. The period from 1929 to 1933 is known as great depression.
2. During this period, most parts of the world experienced decline in production, employment,
income and trade.
3. Agriculture was worst affected.
Q13:- What were the causes of great depression ?
A:- It was caused by a number of factors-
1. The post-war word economy was very fragile.
2. Agricultural over production-
After war, the prices of the agricultural goods decreased. Agricultural incomes reduced.
Farmers tried to expand production to maintain their overall income. This further reduced the
prices.
3. In order to protect its own economy, US import duties.
Q14: What were the effects of depression in US ?
A:- 1. The US was also the industrial country most severely affected by depression.
2. With the fall in prices and the prospects of depression US Banks slashed domestic lending
rates and called back loans.
3. Farms could not sell their harvest and business collapsed.
4. Unemployment increased . People went long distances looking for work.
5. Ultimately, the US banking system itself collapsed.
6. By 1933, over 4,000 banks closed.
Q15:- What were the effects of the Great depression on India ?
A:- 1. Peasants and farmers suffered more than urban dwellers.
2. Though agricultural prices fell, the colonial government refused to reduce revenue demand.
3. Peasants producing for the world market were the worst hit.
4. Peasants indebtedness increased. India became an exporter of gold.
5. The depression proved to be less grim for the urban people.
6.With the falling prices, people with fixed incomes like town dwellers, landowners who received
rents, middle class salaried people found themselves in a better position, because everything
cost less, industrial investment also grew.
17. Rebuilding the world economy-
Post - war era-
Two crucial influences shaped post - war reconstruction-
1. The first was the emergence of US as dominant economic political and military power in the
Western world The emergence of USAR as a dominant power.
Q16:- What was post - war settlement and the Bretton Woods institution ?
A:- Economist and politicians learned two lessons from inter-war economic experiences-
1. An industrial society based on mass production cannot be sustained without mass
consumption.
2. The framework for the post - war economics system to preserve economic stability and full
employment was agreed upon at the United Nations Monitory and Financial Conference held in
July 1944 at Bretton Woods in New Hempshire USA.
3.At this conference, Bretton Woods institutions or Bretton Wood twins were formed-
(a) The international monetary fund ( IMF ) was formed to deal with external surpluses and
deficit of its members.
(b) The International Bank for reconstruction and development popularly known as World Bank
was set up to finance post- war reconstruction.
18. Economic stability could be ensured only through the intervention of the government.
19.The goal of full employment could only be achieved if governments had the power to control
flow of trade capital and labour.
20. In this system National currencies were pegged to the dollar at a fixed exchange rate.
21. The dollar itself was anchored to gold at a fixed price of 35 dollar per ounce of gold.
22. Decolonisation and independence-
(a) IMF and the World bank were designed to meet the financial needs of industrial countries.
(b) They were not equipped to cope with the challenges of poverty and lack of development in
the former colonies.
(c) The newly independent countries organized themselves into a group of 77 countries , called
G-77, to demand a New International Economic Order ( NIEO ).
(d) By the NIEO they meant a system that would give them real control over there natural
resources, more development assistance, fairer prices for their raw material and better access
for their manufactured goods in the markets of developed countries.
(e) End of Bretton Woods and the beginning of globalisation-
The MNCs began locating themselves in those countries where they could get cheap labour and
other resources.
Ex- India, China, Brazil etc.