India and the Contemporary World (History) Class 10 Ch 3 - The Making of a Global World, NCERT Solution for Social Science. This NCERT Solution is prepared by our subject expert teacher at Textual Solution, according to CBSE marking scheme.
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.
Answer :
Two examples of different types of global exchanges which took place before the seventeenth century are as follows :
- Europeans travellers, traders, priests and pilgrims carried with them goods, money, values, skills, ideas, and inventions to Asia.
- The portuguese and Spanish carried with them the germs of diseases such as those of smallpox to the Americas. The local residents of Americas had no immunity against these diseases that came from Europe. Consequently, they died in thousands.
2. Explain how the global transfer of disease in the pre - modern world helped in the colonisation of the Americas.
Answer :
European sailors crossed the western ocean to the Americas in the sixteenth century. Before it, the Americas had been cut off from regular contact with the rest of the world. By the mid - sixteenth century the Portuguese and Spanish started the conquest and colonisation of the Americas. But European conquest and colonisation of the Americas was not just a result of superior firepower. It was the result of the germs such as those of smallpox that they carried on their person. Because of their long isolation, Americas' original inhabitants had no immunity against these diseases that came from Europe. As a result, they began to die in thousands and whole communities eliminated. It paved the way for conquest and colonisation of the Americas.
3. Write a note to explain the effects of of the following :
a) The British government's decision to abolish the Corn Laws.
Answer :
The corn laws were the laws which the British Parliament passed in the nineteenth century to restrict the import. These laws were passed under pressure from landed groups. Industrialists and urban people were not happy with high food prices. So they forced the government to abolish the Corn Laws. Under influence, the British Government decided to abolish these laws. Its decision had the following effects :
- Food items could be imported into Britain more cheaply than it could be produced within the country.
- The British agriculture was not able to compete with imports. Conseuently, peasants stopped cultivating their land.
- Thousands of men and women became unemployed. They flocked to the cities or migrated to other countries.
b) The coming of rinderpest to Africa.
Answer :
Rinderpest was a fast - spreading disease of cattle plague which arrived in Africa in the 1880s. It was a fatal disease and was carried by infected cattle imported from British Asia to feed the Italian soldiers invading Eritrea in East Africa. It entered Africa in the east and moved west like forest fire. It reached Africa's Atlantic coast in 1892 and the Cape (Africa's southernmost tip) five years later.
Rinderpest had terrifying effects on people's livelihoods and the local economy of Africa. It killed 90% of the cattle. The loss of cattle destroyed African livelihoods. The remaining 10% of the cattle resources were monopolised by planters, mine owners and colonial governments. They used them to strengthen their power and to force Africans into the labour market. Now Europeans colonisers were able to conquer and subdue Africa.
c) The death of men of working age in Europe because of the World War
Answer :
The First World War caused widespread destruction of life and property. It caused unprecedented devastations. Millions of people were killed, wounded and disabled during the war. But most of the killed and wounded were men of working age. These deaths and injuries reduced the able - bodied work - force in Europe. With fewer numbers within the family, household incomes declined after the war. Consequently, women were given jobs and some working people were welcomed from the other countries.
d) The Great Depression on the Indian economy.
Answer :
In 1929, the whole world was gripped by a fearful economic trouble which continued up to 1933. The world did not have to face such a gigantic problem before this. This economic crisis was the result of too much industrialisation because of which production increased manifold. But to dispose of these commodities was very difficult. This worldwide crisis is known as the Great Depression of 1929. This crisis started in the US but soon it engulfed the whole world except Russia. The effects of this crisis on the Indian economy were as follows :
- Indian trade was affected. India's export and imports nearly halved between 1928 and 1934.
- Wheat prices in India fell by 50% between 1928 and 1934.
- Peasants and farmers suffered more than urban people. Though the agricultural prices fell by sharply, the British Government refused to reduce land revenue.
- The jute producers of Bengal fell deeper into debt because the price of raw jute had fallen more than 60%.
- India became an exporter of precious metals, notably gold.
- Landlords and middle class salaried employees in cities found themselves better off because of falling prices.
- Industrial investment grew as the government extended tariff protection to industries.
e) The decision of MNCs to relocate production to Asian countries.
Answer :
MNCs stand for multinational corporations. These are large companies that invest money and operate in several countries at the same time. From the late 1970 MNCs decided to relocate production to Asian countries. This decision of theirs had the following effects :
- It stimulated world trade and capital flows.
- It helped the Asian countries in solving the unemployment problem by increasing job opportunities.
- New varities of things were manufactured on a large scale in the Asian countries. It enabled people to enjoy various items.
- It helped the Asian countries to come out of the former colonial powers.
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 are the following :
- Faster railways, lighter wagons and larger ships helped move food more cheaply and quickly from far away farms to final markets. For example, till the 1870s, animals were shipped live from America to Europe and then slaughtered when they arrived there.
- The refrigerated ships enabled the transport of perishable foods for long distances. Now the animals were slaughtered in America, Australia or New Zealand and then transported to Europe as frozen meat. This reduced shipping costs and lowered meat prices in Europe.
5. What is meant by the Bretton Woods Agreement ?
Answer :
The Bretton Woods Agreement was signed between the world powers in July 1944 at Mount Washington Hotel situated in Bretton Woods in New Hampshire, USA. The main aim of this agreement was to preserve economic stability and full employment in the industrial world. Its framework was agreed upon at the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference. This conference established the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to deal with external surpluses and deficit of its members. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the World Bank) was set up to finance post - war reconstruction. Both these institutions started financial operations in 1947.
Discuss
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 :
Respected parents,
I am sure this will find all of you in the best of health as it leaves me here. As you know I have been hired under a contract which promises return travel to India after I have worked five years on my employer's plantation in the Caribbean. Most of the workers working with me are Indians and they are from eastern Uttar Pradesh. Bihar, Central India and the dry regions of Tamil Nadu. We were provided false information by agents about the nature of work and living and working conditions. On arrival at the plantation, I found conditions to be different from what I had imagined. Living and working conditions are hard and there are few legal rights. Once I tried to escape in the wilds but I was caught and given severe punishment.
I want to come back to India as soon as my contract ends. I have heard that our nationalist leaders have started opposing the system of indentured labour migration as abusive and cruel. I hope they will succeed in getting this system abolished. May God they succeed so that I can return India and live with my parents !
with regards,
Your Son
ABC
7. Explain 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 international economic exchange are explained as under :
- Flow of trade - The first type of flow is the flow of trade. In the nineteenth century it was mainly referred to trade in goods, especially cloth or wheat.
- Flow of labour - The second is the flow of labour. It means the migration of people in search of employment.
- Flow of capital - The third is the flow of capital in foreign countries either for short term or long term investments.
All the three flows were closely related and affected the lives of people in more than one way.
Examples of the Involvement of India and Indians :
- India had trade relations with several countries of the world from time immemorial. Nearly five thousand years ago, the people of the Indus Valley civilisation had been carrying trade with other countries such as Mesopotamia, etc.
- In the nineteenth century, hundreds of thousands of Indian labourers went to work on plantations, in mines, and in road and railway construction projects around the world.
- During the British rule in India, several Europeans established their factories in India. As a result, flow of capital from India to European countries began.
Answer :
Towards the end of 1929, the West and eventually the whole world was gripped by a grave economic crisis. This crisis started in the U.S.A but soon it engulfed the whole world except Russia. It is known as the Great Depression in the world history. The causes of the crisis were the following :
- Over production and unplanned and unco-ordinated development of industries.
- The owners of factories and business enterprises tried to maximize their profits by producing more goods than what were demanded for.
- The purchasing power of the workers remained low. The capitalists were not ready to reduce the price as would affect the profits,. So the goods remained unsold.
- There was a glut in the market. It was called economic depression.
Answer :
The G - 77 countries is referred to as a group of 77 developing countries which came into existence in the late 20th century to demand a New International Economic Order (NIEO). In order to preserve economic stability and full employment in the industrial world, the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference was held in July 1944 at Bretton Woods in New Hampshire, USA. In this conference were set up two international institutions, namely the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD or the World Bank). These institutions are sometimes called the Bretton Woods twins.
G-77 as a Reaction to the Activities of the Bretton Woods Twins :
- Since the IMF and the World Bank have been established by the developed countries, decision - making in these institutions is controlled by the Western industrial powers. The US has an effective right of veto over major IMF and World Bank decisions. The developing countries have no say in these institutions.
- The developing countries were overburdened by poverty and a lack of rsources, and their economies and socities were handicapped by long periods of colonial rule. But the IMF and the World Bank were designed to meet the financial needs of the industrial countries. They were not equipped to cope with the challenge of poverty and lack of development in the former colonies.
- As colonies, many of the less developed regions of the world had been part of Western empires. Now, as newly independent countries facing urgent pressure to lift their populations out of poverty, they came under the guidance of international agencies dominated by the former colonial powers, Even after many years of decolonisation, the former colonial powers still controlled vital resources such as minerals and land in many of their former colonies.
- Large corporations of other powerful countries, for example the US, also often managed to secure rights to exploit developing countries' natural resources very cheaply.
- Most developing countries did not benefit from the fast growth the Western economies experienced in the 1950s and 1960s. Therefore they organised themselves as a group - the Group of 77 (or G - 77) - to demand a New International Economic Order (NIEO). By the NIEO they meant a system that would give them real control over their natural resources, more development assistance, fairer prices for raw materials, and better access for their manufactured goods in developed countries' markets.