Making of global world Q ans

Ch 3 The Making of Global World 

Q. What role did the ‘Silk route’ play in linking distant parts of the world? 

Answer:

The routes on which cargoes carried Chinese silk to the west were known as ‘Silk routes’.

(i) Historians have discovered several silk routes over land and by sea, covering vast regions of Asia and connecting Asia with Europe and North Africa. Even pottery from China, textile and spices from India and South Asia also travelled the same route.

(ii) In return, precious metals like gold and silver flowed from Europe to Asia. The traders along with trading items carried knowledge, ideas, values, skills, inventions, lifestyles, food habits, religious beliefs, etc.

(iii) Culturally, Buddhism emerged from Eastern India and spread in several directions through the silk routes. Thus, silk route not only played a major role in linking distant parts of the world, but also promoted pre-modern trade and cultural links.

Q. Why did Europeans flee to America in the 19th Century? Give three reasons.

Answer:

The Europeans fled to America in the 19th century because of the following reasons-

Poverty and hunger were common and widespread in Europe in the beginning of the 19th century.

Cities were overcrowded and people feared deadly diseases.

Religious conflicts were frequent as dissenters were persecuted on a large scale.

Q. The Spanish conquest and colonization of America was decisively underway by the mid-sixteenth century.’ Explain with examples.

Answer:

The Spanish conquest and colonization of America was decisively underway by the mid-sixteenth century because of the following reasons-

It was not with conventional weaponry that the Spanish conquerors won America but with germs like smallpox which was spread into the region.

America’s original inhabitants had no immunity against these diseases that came from Europe.

Smallpox was a deadly weapon. It spread deep into the continent before any European could reach there.

It erased whole communities, leading to conquest.

This biological warfare in mid-sixteenth century made it easy for Spanish to overpower the Americans.

Q. "Economists of the 19th century identify three types of movement or 'flows' within international economic exchange." Explain.

Ans. The three flows identified by the economists of the 19th century were:

(i) Flow of trade: This refers largely to trade in good, e.g. cloth or wheat.

(ii) Flow of labour: When people migrated from one country to another in search of employment, it was termed as flow of labour.

(iii) Movement of capital: Investing money for long term or short term over long distances was termed as movement of capital. For example, capital flowed from financial centres like London to other parts of the world. 

Q.1. 'The pre-modern world shrank greatly in the 16th century.' Explain.

Ans. (i) Because the European sailors found a sea route to Asia and successfully crossed the western ocean to America.

(ii) The Portuguese and the Spanish conquests and colonialisation of America was decisively under way by the mid-16th century.

(iii) Precious metals, particularly silver, from mines located in presently Peru and Mexico enhanced Europe's wealth and financed its trade with Asia.

(iv) The Corn Laws were British trade laws to regulate the export or import of corn.

[4/27, 17:44] 🕉️: Good morning

Chapter: The Making of Global World

Answer the following questions

Q. What were the main features of the First World War? 

Ans. The main features of the First World War are as follows:

(i) The First World War (1914-18) was mainly fought in Europe. But its impact was felt around the world.

(ii) It was fought between two power blocs -the Allies (Britain, France and Russia) and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria - Hungary and Ottoman Turkey).

(iii) It lasted for more than four years. 

(iv) It was the first modern industrial war as it saw the use of machine guns, tanks, aircraft, chemical weapons, etc., on a large scale.

(v) To fight the war, millions of soldiers had to be recruited from around the world and most of them were men of working age.

(vi) During the war, 9 million people were dead and 20 million were injured.

(vii) These death and injuries reduced the able-bodied workforce in Europe.

(viii) Industries were restructured to produce war-related goods.

Q. Define the term "Trade Surplus". How was the income received from trade surplus with India used by Britain?

Ans. Trade Surplus: It is a situation in which the total value of exports of a nation during the year exceeds the total value of imports.

(i) Over the 19th century, British manufacturers flooded Indian market. Food grains and raw material exports from India to Britain and the rest of world also increased.

(ii) Value of British exports to India were higher than imports from India. 

(iii) Britain, as such had "Trade surplus" with India. Britain used this surplus to balance trade deficit with other countries.

(iv) This is how a multilateral settlement system works that allows one country's deficit with another country to be settled by its surplus with a third country.

(v) India played a crucial role in helping Britain to balance its deficits. Britain's trade surplus in India helped paying the home charges that included private remittances home by British officials and traders.

Q. Explain the impacts of first world war on British economy.

Ans. 

(i) After the war, Britain found it difficult to recapture its earlier position of dominance in the colonial market.

(ii) To finance war expenditures, Britain had borrowed from the U.S. At the end of the war Britain was burdened with huge external debts. 

(iii) The war had led to a huge increase in demand, production and employment. 

(iv) The government reduced bloated war expenditures to bring them into line with peace time revenues.

(v) These developments led to huge job losses. In 1921, one in every five British worker was out of work.

Q. The First World War was a war like no other before. Explain any three features about the war that supports the statement.

Ans. (i) It involved the world's leading Industrial nations. 

(ii) This war was the first modern industrial war.

Machine guns, tanks, aircrafts, chemical weapons, were used on a massive scale.

(iii) Most of those who were maimed were men of working age. The scale of death and destruction was great. These deaths and injuries reduced the workforce.

(iv) Industries during the war were restructured to produce war-related products.

(v) The war led to the snapping of economic links between the world's largest economic powers which were now fighting with each other to pay for them. The war transformed the US from being an international debtor to an international creditor.

[4/27, 17:44] 🕉️: Good morning

Chapter: The Making of Global World

Answer the following questions

Q. How did rinderpest become instrumental in subjugating the Africans?

Answer:

Rinderpest was a devastating cattle disease that not only affected the cattle but also the lives of the people by subjugating them to the Europeans in the following ways -

It affected the livelihood, economy and even the social peace and harmony of the Africans.

About ninety per cent of the cattle were killed, which forced Africans to work for the Europeans in the plantations.

It enabled the Europeans to colonise and subdue Africa. The colonial government forced Africans into labour market.

Q. How did technology help to solve hardship of food availability throughout the world in the late-nineteenth century? Explain with example.

Answer:

Technological advancement stimulated the process of food availability. Technology help to solve hardship of food availability in the following ways -

Because of new investments and improvements in transport, like faster railways with lighter wagons and large ships, food moved quickly and cheaply from farms to final markets. Now perishable food could travel long distances easily through refrigerated ships.

Earlier animals were carried long which posed problems like utilisation of space, diseases and loss of weight. Now animals could be slaughtered and easily packed for long distances. Cost of transportation also reduced.

The poor could now consume more varied diet including meat as it was available in plenty and at reduced costs.

Q. Describe the Canal Colonies. Where and why were they introduced?

Answer:

The areas irrigated by the new canals built by the British were called the Canal Colonies.

These were introduced in the region of west Punjab. 

Peasants from the other parts of Punjab settled around these canals.

The British wanted to transform semi-desert wastelands into fertile agricultural land. 

Their aim was to grow wheat and cotton for export.

Q.What are indentured labourers? How were they recruited?

 

Answer:

Indentured labour was a practice introduced by the British in the nineteenth century. Indentured labour refers to bonded labour under contract. The labourer works for an employer for a specified period of time. In the 19th century hundreds of thousands of Indian and Chinese labourers went to work on plantations, in mines and in road and railway construction projects around the world.

Recruitment -

In India, indentured labour were hired under contracts which promised return travel to India after they had worked five years on their employers’ plantations.

Recruitment was done by agents employed by the plantation owners and paid a small commission.

Agents also sometimes tempted these migrants by providing false information regarding their destinations, modes of travel, the nature of work and living and working conditions. 

Sometimes agents even forcibly abducted less willing workers.

Q. Explain the condition of the indentured labourers who went to work in different parts of the world. 

Answer: Condition of Indentured Labour- 

Many migrants agreed to take up work to escape poverty and oppression in their home villages.

On arrival at the plantations labourers found conditions to be different from what they had imagined. 

Living and working conditions were hard and there were very few legal rights.

But workers discovered their own ways of surviving. Many of them escaped into the wilds, though if caught they would face severe punishment.

Others developed new forms of individual and collective self expression, blending different cultural forms. 

In Trinidad, the annual Muharram procession was transformed into a riotous carnival called ‘Hosay’, in which workers of all races and religions joined. The protest religion ‘Rastafarianism’ and ‘Chutney Music’ popular in the Caribbean both were developed post the indenture experience.

Most indentured labour gradually found that their economic and social positions were not inferior to but often better off than their own country.

Q. Why have the historians described the 19th century indenture as a ‘new system of slavery’? Explain any five reasons. 

Answer:

Indentured labour is a bonded labourer under contract to work for an employer for a specific amount of time, to pay for his passage to a new country or home.

Reasons why it can be described as new system of slavery:

Many migrants agreed to take up work to escape poverty and oppression in their home villages. They were cheated and were provided false information by the agents regarding their destination, modes of travel, the nature of work and working conditions.

Often migrants were not even told that they were to go on long sea journeys and sometimes agents forcibly abducted less willing workers.

The tasks allotted to them on plantations were extremely heavy and could not be completed in a day. They were beaten or imprisoned for not being able to meet tasks.

Deductions were made from wages if the work was considered unsatisfactory or if they failed to complete a job.

Living and working conditions were harsh and there were few legal rights to protect the workers.

Q. What were the steps taken by European employers to retain the Africa labours?

The European employers had taken the following steps to retain the African laborers :

i) The European government imposed a heavy taxation system which could be paid by the African laborers only by working for the Europeans.

ii) They were kept in closed circuit areas and were not allowed to move freely.

iii) A new inheritance law was issued stating that only one family member will inherit the land and the rest will move into the labor market.

[4/27, 17:44] 🕉️: Good Afternoon

Chapter: The Making of Global World

Answer the following questions

Q. How did Henry Ford revolutionize massi production in the U.S.? 

Ans. (i) Henry Ford adapted the assembly line of a Chicago slaughter house to his new car plant in Detroit. 

(ii) The assembly line allowed a faster and cheaper way of producing vehicles. It forced workers to repeat a single task mechanically and continuously. 

(iii) This increased their efficiency in the single task and the speed of production too.

(iv) Standing in front of the conveyor belt, no worker could delay the motions or take a break.

(v) In the beginning many workers quit, since they could not cope up with the stress of work. 

(vi) Henry Ford doubled their wages and against that, he not only increased the speed of the production time but also banned trade unions from operating in his plants.

[4/27, 17:44] 🕉️: Good Evening

Chapter: The Making of Global World

Answer the following questions

Q. Describe any five factors that led to the end of the Bretton Woods System and the beginning of globalization.

 Ans. The important reasons behind the end of Bretton Woods system are:

(i) Decline in economic power of the USA:

(a) US dollar no longer commanded confidence. 

(b) US dollar could not maintain its value in relation to gold.

(c) Collapse of fixed exchange rates on floating exchange rates.

(ii) Change in the international financial: The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank were created to meet the financial needs of the industrial countries. International financial system changed, and developing countries were forced to borrow from western commercial banks.

(iii) Unemployment in industrialised countries: Industrial world was hit by unemployment. The number of unemployed started rising and people trudged long distances looking for any work they could find.

(iv) Shifting to production enterprises: MNCs shifted their production units to Asian countries because of cheap labour and low wages.

(v) Changes in China: China became an attraction destination for investment by foreign MNCs.

Q. How did the Great Depression of 1929 affect the Indian trade? Explain. 

Ans. The Great Depression affected the Indian trade in many ways: 

(i) India's exports and imports were halved between 1928 and 1934.

(ii) As international prices crashed, prices in India also plunged. 

(iii) Peasants and farmers suffered more than urban dwellers.

(iv) Peasants producing for the world market were the worst hit.

(v) Town-dwelling land owners and middle-class salaried employees found themselves better off as everything cost less.

Q. Explain the effects of the Great Depression of 1929 on the United States.

Ans. (i) With the fall in prices and the prospect of a depression, the US banks also slashed domestic lending and called back loans.

(ii) Farmers were unable to sell their harvests. 

(iii) Faced with falling income, many households in the US could not repay what they had borrowed, and were forced to give up their homes, cars and other consumer durables.

(iv) Industrial production registered a fall of about 35%.

(v) The number of the unemployed started rising, and in 1933, it touched 17 million. As unemployment soared, people trudged long distances looking for any work they could find. Ultimately, the US banking system itself collapsed.

Q. What is G-77? What were its demands?

Ans. G-77 or Group of 77 refers to the seventy-seven developing countries that did not benefit from the fast growth western economies experienced in 1950s and 1960s. So, they organized themselves into G-77.

They demanded:

(i) A new international economic order that would give them real control over their natural resources.

(ii) More development assistance. 

(iii) Fairer prices for raw material and

(iv) Better access for their manufactured goods in developed countries' markets.

Q. Why did most of the developing countries organise themselves as a group - the Group of 77 (G-77)?

Ans. (i) The developing countries came under the guidance of IMF and World Bank which were dominated by the former colonial powers in order to uplift their economies.

(ii) Former colonial powers exploited the natural resources of developing nations through IMF and World Bank. 

(iii) The developing nations organised themselves into G-77 so as to gain real control over their natural resources, to get more development assistance and fairer prices for raw materials.

(iv) They also wanted a better opportunity for their manufactured goods in the markets of developing nations.