NCERT Solution History Class 10 Chapter 3 The Making of a Global World
In-Text Questions
Discuss (Page 56)
Question.1. Explain what we mean when we say that the world ‘shrank’ in the 1500s.
- The word ‘Shrank’ stands for increased interaction among the people of various continents of the world.
- Before 1500 s there was not much inter connectedness, trade and commerce among the residents of various containments.
- But after 1500s the commercial cultural exchange of ideas and people increased in the continents of the world that stretched from America to the Asia through Europe and Africa.
Activity (Page 59)
Question.2. Prepare a flow chart to show how Britain’s decision to import food led to increased migration to America and Australia.
Question.3. Imagine that you are an agricultural worker who has arrived in America from Ireland. Write a paragraph on why you chose to come and how you are earning your living.
Hi! I am mack , I am from Ireland. I have come to America. I was a peasant in Ireland. But I had to migrate to America. The main reason behind this was the unemployment of peasants in Ireland. This occurred due to the import of chapter food items in our country. Thus, we were out berated by the imported food grain and became unemployed. Then I decided to migrate to America, as here peasants were required to work on large farms, and I got employment. In America I live near my employer’s farm. I work in his field and grow crops. In this way I earn my living.
Discuss (Page 64)
Question.4. Discuss the importance of language and popular traditions in the creation of national identity.
- A person is identified by his language and traditional practices because the language that he speaks belongs to a nation, his motherland. It is the nation which is important than an individual.
- Also the language and traditional practices of a land or territory develop in a long time, thus get firmly established.
- People are born and die but language and traditions stay. They are always alive.
- They give an identity to an Individual wherever he goes.
Therefore, the language and popular traditions are important in creating national identity of an Individual.
Discuss (Page 73)
Question.5.Who profits from jute cultivation according to the jute growers’ lament? Explain.
The jute growers’ lament was that only the traders and moneylenders profited from jute cultivation, not the growers. Peasants of Bengal cultivated raw jute which was processed in factories for export in the form of gunny bags.
They grew raw jute hoping that a better time would come and there would be increase in-exports. But this did not happen as gunny exports collapsed due to the depression. Due to glut in the local market, the price of raw jute crashed by more than 60 per cent and so, they fell into heavy debt. Thus, only the traders and moneylenders profited from jute cultivation, not the farmers.
Discuss (Page 75)
Question.6. Briefly summarize the two lessons learnt by economists and politicians from the inter-war economic experience?
The inter-war economic experience was very bad
- Most of the countries were devastated and cities were destroyed.
- The economists and politicians learned that they had to ensure economic stability of the industrial countries.
- Also they understood the interdependence of national economies all over the world.
Hence, they drew up an internationally accepted framework to recover and consolidate the world economy.
NCERT Solution
Write in brief
(Page 78)
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.
Asia : Caravans carried items such as precious stones and metals, gold, ivory, and glass to China until around the fifth century C.E. From China, the Parthians and other merchants carried silk, furs, ceramics, jade, bronze objects, lacquer and iron. Silk was mostly demanded in Rome.
America : In the sixteenth century, precious metals like silver from the mines of Peru and Mexico were taken to Europe. This in turn financed European trade with Asia.
Question.2. Explain how the global transfer of disease in the pre-modern world helped in the colonisation of the Americas.
A virus called small pox, which was brought from Europe to the America, decimated much of the native communities around the mid-sixteenth century. The original inhabitants had no immunity against such diseases and they were unable to resist the coloniser’s superior weapons.
Question.3. Write a note to explain the effects of the following:
(a) The British government’s decision to abolish the Corn Laws.
The immediate effect of the British government’s decision to abolish the Corn Laws was the inflow of cheaper agricultural crops from America and Australia. Many English farmers left their profession and migrated to towns and cities. Some went overseas. This indirectly led to global agriculture and rapid urbanisation, a prerequisite of industrial growth.
(b) The coming of rinderpest to Africa.
Rinderpest was a cattle epidemic that came to Africa with the infected the meat imported from British Asia to feed the Italian soldiers invading Eritrea in East Africa. It killed more than 90 per cent of the livestocks in Africa, making them dependent on Europeans for food and turned them subservient.
(c) The death of men of working-age in Europe because of the World War.
Most of the victims of world war belonged to young generations of working men. As a result, it reduced the workforce in Europe, thereby reducing household income. The role of women increased and led to 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) The Great Depression on the Indian economy.
The impact of the Great Depression in India was felt especially in the agricultural sector. It was evident that Indian economy was closely becoming integrated to global economy. India was a British colony and exported agricultural goods and imported manufactured goods. The fall in agricultural price led to reduction of farmers’ income and agricultural export. The government did not decrease their tax and so, many farmers and landlords became more indebted to moneylenders and corrupt officials. It led to a great rural unrest in India.
(e) The decision of MNCs to relocate production to Asian countries.
US business expanded worldwide through the MNCs. In recent years, they have tried to relocate production to Asian countries for the following reasons:
- Partly to locate their manufacturing operations and become domestic producers to avoid high tariff rates imposed by different countries.
- It is also because Asian countries are attractive destinations for investment, trying to capture world markets with its large population and globalisation.
- The economic transformation of countries like India, China and Brazil also stimulated world trade and capital flows.
Question.4. Give two examples from history to show the impact of technology on food availability.
The nineteenth century witnessed a high rate of growth in industrial and agricultural products.
- The technological development was accelerated by the industrial growth and increasing world trade. Colonies also provided the resources and markets which sustained the industrial growth. Thus, railways were needed to link agricultural regions to the ports from where the goods were transported, thereby increasing food availability to more destinations.
- Shipbuilding also became an important industry and countries competed to control trade routes on seas. Technology helped in the larger social, political and economic factors. For example, steamships and railways helped in carrying large volume of trading materials between long and inaccessible distance.
Question.5. What is meant by the Bretton Woods Agreement?
The main aim of the post-war international economic system was to preserve economic stability and full employment in the industrial world. The United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference held in July 1944 at Bretton Woods in New Hampshire in the USA agreed upon its framework. The Bretton Woods Conference established the following institutions:
International Monetary Fund: Its aim was to deal with external surpluses and deficits of its member nations The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development or World Bank was set up to finance post-war reconstruction. The above institutions are known as The Bretton Woods institutions or Bretton Woods twins. The post-war international economic system is also often described as the Bretton Woods system. It was based on fixed exchange rates. National currencies were pegged to the dollar at a fixed exchange rate. The dollar itself was anchored to gold at a fixed price of $ 35 per ounce of gold. The decision-making in these institutions is controlled by the western industrial powers. The US has an effective right of veto over key IMF and World Bank decisions.
Discuss
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Question.6. Imagine that you are an indentured Indian laborer in the Caribbean. Drawing from the details in this chapter, write a letter to your family describing your life and feelings.
Do it yourself
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.
Economy of the nineteenth century are identified into three types or flows by the economist. They are based on the international exchange of goods and capital. They are:
- Trade flow of goods, e.g. cloth or wheat, in which goods are exchanged at long and short distances. Indians traded with the rest of the world as early as the Indus Valley civilisation. For example, Indus people had trade relations with Mesopotamia.
- Labour flow, e.g. the migration of people for employment, in which industrial countries actively create conditions favourable for employment and services. Many Indian labourers worked in plantations at South America and other colonies.
- Movement of capital for short-term or long-term investment. In this, movement of resources from one country to another takes place through loans or business investments. The British transferred a lot of capital from India to England before independence.
All three are closely associated and affected the lives of people in the nineteenth century.
Question.8. Explain the causes of the Great Depression.
The Great Depression was caused by several factors:
- 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
upto 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.
- Failure of the banks. Some of the banks closed down when people withdrew all their assets, leaving them unable to invest. Some banks called back loans taken from them at the same dollar rate inspite of the falling value of 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?
The IMF and the World Bank or the Bretton Woods twins served in the reconstruction of these nations. In the process, large corporations of powerful nations like the USA often managed to secure economic and other extra-territorial rights over weaker nations. The economic advances made by the West and Japan in the 1950s and 1960s did not benefit most of the developing countries. As a reaction to the activities of the Bretton Woods twins, they organised themselves into a group known as the Group of 77 or G-77 in order to demand a new international economic order (NIEO). The NIEO stood for a system that would give these nations real control over their natural resources, more development assistance, fairer prices for raw materials, and better access for manufactured goods in their markets.
