‘The Making of the Global World’ is the third chapter of the NCERT History Book for Class 10. Here are given the answers to questions given intext inside the chapter texts and answers to the chapter exercises of ‘The Making of The Global World’. Answers are given as per the requirement from a topper’s point of view with full marks as a goal.
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The Making of a Global World – Intext Questions
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The Making of a Global World – Exercise Solutions
Write in brief
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.
Ans. Two examples of different types of global exchange
(i) Example from Asia: Silk routes connected Asia with Europe. Silk and pottery to from China, textiles and spices from India and South-East Asia travelled to Europe in exchange of gold and silver from Europe.
(ii) Example from America: There are many today’s common food items like potatoes, soya, groundnuts, maize, tomatoes and chillies that were introduced into Europe from the Americas after they were discovered by Columbus at the end of the 15th century.
2. Explain how the global transfer of disease in the pre-modern world helped in the colonisation of the Americas.
Ans. The native Americans were cut from the rest of the world for millions of years and therefore had no immunity against deadly germs of the diseases like small pox. These germs cane carried on the bodies of the Portuguese and the Spanish conquerors.
Smallpox proved a deadly killer and wiped out the whole communities even before the European reached there. It made the way to conquest easy for the Europeans.
Long Answer:
- The Portuguese and the Spanish had a strong fire power and army. But along with these, germs and viruses helped them in conquering parts of Americas.
- As Americas was isolated earlier, the original inhabitants had no immunity against the germs and viruses present in Europe.
- The diseases once introduced, spread very fast. The disease like smallpox affected whole communities that were paving the way for the conquest of the colonisers.
- These germs were more dangerous as compared to guns and firearms because guns could be bought or captured, but there were no ways to escape from these diseases.
- Thus, the Portuguese and Spanish colonisers conquered the local population easily to enable the colonisation of Americas.
3. Write a note to explain the effects of the following
(a) The British Government’s decision to abolish the Corn Laws.
(b) The coming of rinderpest to Africa.
(c) The death men of working age in Europe because of the World War.
(d) The Great Depression on the Indian Economy.
(e) The decision of MNCs to relocate production to Asian countries.
Answers:
(a). Corn Laws were enacted to favour American farmers but it was abolished under pressure from the industrialists. After the abolition of the Corn laws, food could be imported into Britain more cheaply than it could be produced within the country. Due to this, farmers did not grow corn, leaving the land uncultivated. This resulted in unemployment on a large scale and the people started migrating from England to America and Australia looking for work.
(b). In the 1880s, the Rinderpest, a cattle disease arrived in Africa. Cattle was imported from British Asia to East Africa which had rinderpest infection and soon after entering the East of Africa, the infection moved to the west like a fire in the forest.
By the year 1892, it had reached till Africa’s Atlantic coast. Along its way, it killed almost 90 per cent of the cattle. As Africans were depended on it at a larger scale, it destroyed their source of livelihood.
It became easier for the colonial government officials, planters and mine owners to monopolise the scarce cattle resources. It was also one of the reasons that forced Africans into the labour market. Europe took advantage of the problem, conquered and subdued Africa.
(c). World War-I was mainly fought in Europe between the years 1914 to 1918. Millions of soldiers were recruited from all over the world. The scale of death and destruction – 9 million dead and 20 million injured – was unthinkable.
Most of the killed and maimed were men of working age. In Europe, there was a reduce in the able-bodied workforce due to the deaths and injuries of the war. This led to the decline in the household incomes as the number of the people reduced in the family.
(d). The agricultural sector was badly affected from the great depression. Indian exports and imports nearly halved between 1928-1934. Wheat prices too fell by 50% during this time. Prices of raw jute crashed by 60 percent and the jute producers of Bengal faced a severe loss. Even during these trouble times, the colonial rulers refused to reduce the land revenue.
The urban sector was not that much affected as the agricultural sector because the urban land owners received rents and salaried people had fixed income. Infact the urban people were at better as the products were available at cheaper rates due to the effect of the great depression.
(e). MNCs shifting to Asian nations boosted Globalisation. There was a stimulation of world trade capital flow due to the decision of MNCs to relocate production to Asian countries. This relocation was on account of low-cost structure and lower wages in Asian countries. A low-cost structure enabled mass production at a much lower cost.
There was an increase in the employment, which benefitted the Asian nations and also resulted in a major and quick economic transformation in the countries like China and India.
4. Give two examples from history to show the impact of technology on food availability.
Ans. The examples of impact of technology on food availability are:
First example: Improvements in transport, like lighter wagons, larger ships and faster railways helped in moving food more quickly and cheaply from a faraway farm to the final market. Now the poor in Europe could add meat (even butter and eggs) to their daily diet.
Second Example: The new developed transport, like refrigerated ships, enabled the perishable foods to be delivered over the longer distances. Meat exported from America, Australia and New Zealand could be sent to Europe where meat was not available easily or cheaply.
5. What is meant by Bretton Woods Agreement?
Ans. The ‘Bretton Woods’ Agreement took place in July 1944 at Bretton Woods in New Hampshire, USA. To preserve the global economic stability and full employment in the industrial world, ‘International Monetary Fund (IMF)’ and the ‘World Bank’ were established. They mainly dealt with the debits of member nations and external surplus, and also financed the post-war reconstructions. The IMF and World Bank are referred as Bretton Woods institutions or Bretton Woods twins
Discuss
1. 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:
Block – 76/A
Trinidad
Africa
ABC
Village – Sahson
Praygraj
Uttar Pradesh
India
Date…….
My Dear Ones
It is not all good here as expected. Hardships in work and misbehaviour by our contractors are regular here. I signed to become an indentured labour to escape poverty and oppression at village but now feel cheated by the contractors. They did not give me right information regarding place of work, mode of travel and living and working conditions.
We have to work under poor conditions and strict controls. The living conditions at the plantations are tough. We have to work for 14 long hours and have almost no legal rights. My wages are cut if contractors are not satisfied with my work. The contractor uses harsh and abusive language at the worksite and treats us like coolies. Permission is hardly given to visit nearby places or neighbourhood.
Some have even run away from here while many have adjusted to survive with the local surroundings and cultural backgrounds. Now, we are part of a new culture which is a blend of our own and the local culture.
In short, I can easily say that we are no less than slaves here. I expect to return after my contract time is over.
Yours
XYZ
2. 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.
Ans. The three types of movements or flows in international economic exchange are
(i) Flow of Trade: This refers to trade in tangible goods like wheat, cotton, etc. Historically fine cotton cloth was produced in India by weavers and exported to European countries, but when the industrial revolution started in Europe and the European countries imposed tariff barriers, this export of textiles dropped drastically. In fact, India starting exporting raw cotton and importing mill made cloth from England.
(ii) Flow of Labour: This refers to migration of people in search of employment. During the nineteenth century, a large number of Indian labourers migrated to Africa, the West Indies and other countries to work on plantations and in mines as well as in railway and road construction projects set up by the Europeans. These Indians settled in the countries where they had gone after their contracts ended and now their descendants are found in these countries.
(iii) Flow of Capital: This refers to movement of capital over long distances for short-term and long-term investments. Groups of Indian financiers and traders like the Shroffs, Chettiars, etc financed agriculture and plantations in various Asian and African countries using their own funds or those borrowed from European banks.
3. Explain the causes of the Great Depression.
Ans. The Great Depression was the result of many factors as listed below:
(i) Effects of War: There was an immense industrial expansion in view of the increased demand of goods supplied to the army during the period of the First World War. After the war, the demand for these goods suddenly dropped and so there was no demand in many industries. There was also a large fall in the agricultural prices due to reduced demand.
(ii) Overproduction in Agriculture: Agricultural overproduction was another major factor responsible for the depression. This was made worse by falling agricultural prices. As prices slumped and agricultural incomes declined, the farmers tried to increase the production and bring a larger volume of produce to the market to maintain their overall income. This worsened the situation by pushing down the prices of farm produce further. Various goods rotted in the markets because of lack of buyers.
(iii) Shortage of Loans: In the mid-1920’s many countries financed their investments through loans from the USA. While it was often very easy to raise loans in the USA during the boom period, the USA overseas lenders panicked at the first sign of trouble.
(iv) Impact on the USA: With the fall in prices and the prospect of a depression, USA banks slashed domestic lending and stopped bank loans. Thousands of banks went bankrupt and were forced to close down. Factories closed, leading to unemployment of hundreds of people were rendered jobless, which further aggravated the crises.
4. 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?
Ans.
- The Bretton Woods system brought the unprecedented growth of trade and incomes for the Western economies during the 1950s and 1960s, though most of the developing countries did not benefit from it.
- Therefore, the developing nations planned to organise themselves into a group – the Group of 77 (or G-77) and demanded a New International Economic Order (NIEO) in which they have a real control over their natural resources. Later on, more developing countries joined the group and now it consists of about 130 countries.
- It was basically a system that would give a country real control over its natural resources and provide with more development assistance, better access for their manufactured goods and fairer prices for the raw materials in the markets of the developed countries.
- G-77 is seen as a reaction to the activities of the Bretton Woods twins, because the Bretton Woods twins, IMF and world Bank were mainly set up to favour the developed nations. The Western industrial powers controlled the decision making in these institutions. The US has right to veto over these institutions.
- Since these two institutions did not help the developing nations effectively, they decided to form and organise a group of their own comprising developing countries.
