Revision Notes History Class 10 Chapter 3 The Making of a Global World

Important Dates to Remember

3000 BCE: An active coastal trade linked the Indus Valley Civilization with present day West Asia.
15th Century: Existence of Silk Routes.
Mid 16th Century: Portuguese and Spanish conquest and Colonisation of America.
1845 – 1849: Potato Famine in Ireland. During this famine, around 1,000,000 people died of starvation in Ireland.
1885: The big European powers met in Berlin to complete the carving up of Africa between them.
1890: Global agricultural economy took shape.
1890s: Rinderpest (Cattle Plague) had a terrifying impact on livelihoods of the African people and the local economy.
1892: Rinderpest reached Africa’s Atlantic coast.
1900s: Indian nationalist leaders began opposing the system of Indentured Labour Migration as abusive and cruel.
1914-1918: The First World War was fought.
1921: Indentured labour was abolished.
1923: America resumed exporting capital to the rest of the world and became the largest Overseas Lender.
1929-1935: The Great Depression.
1939-1945: The Second World War was fought.
July, 1944: The United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference was held at Bretton Woods in New Hampshire, USA.
1947: The IMF and the World Bank commenced financial operations.
1949: The Chinese Revolution.
The Late 1970s: MNCs began to shift production operations to low-wage Asian countries

Important Terms

Globalisation: Globalisation is generally associated with economy as the free movement of capital, goods, technology, ideas and people across the globe. Globalisation in a broader sense also includes cultural exchanges between different countries of the world.
Silk Route: The route taken by traders to carry silk cargoes from China to the West, which affected cultures of China, Central Asia and the West.
Cowrie: A Hindi word meaning ‘Sea shells’. These were used in the ancient world as a form of currency.
Coolies: Indian indentured labourers were referred to as coolies in the Caribbean Islands.
Corn Laws: British laws which imposed restrictions on the Import of Corn.
Dissenter: One who refuses to accept established beliefs and practices.
Indentured labour: A bonded labourer under contract to work for an employer for a specific amount of time, to pay off his passage to a new country or home.
Industrial War: Economic activities concerned with the processing of raw materials and manufacture of goods in factories, e.g., the use of Machine guns, Tanks, Aircraft, Chemical weapons, etc.
Hire Purchase: A system by which a buyer pays for a thing in regular instalments while enjoying the use of it.
The Great Depression: A drastic decline in the world economy resulting in mass unemployment and widespread poverty that began around 1929 and lasted till the mid-1930s.
Bank Loan: An amount of money loaned at interest by a Bank to a borrower, usually on collateral security, for a certain period of time.
Allies: Before the First World War, Britain, France and Russia later joined by U.S.A. formed an alliance and fought together in the First World War.
Central Powers: An alliance formed by Germany, Austria, Hungary and Ottoman Turkey, who fought together in the First World War.
Axis Powers: Germany, Italy and Japan were known as Axis Powers during the Second World War.
El Dorado: The fabled city of gold.
Exchange Rates: They link national currencies for the purposes of International trade. There are broadly two kinds of exchange rates, namely, fixed exchange rate and floating exchange rate.
Fixed Exchange Rates: The rates which are officially fixed by the government and do not vary with change in demand and supply of Foreign Currency.
Flexible or Floating Exchange Rates: These rates fluctuate depending on demand and supply of Foreign Currencies in Foreign Exchanges Markets, in principle without interference by governments.
Tariff: Tax imposed on a country’s imports from the rest of the world. Tariffs are levied at the point of entry, i.e., at the Border or at the Airport.
Hosay: A riotous carnival in Trinidad (for Imam Hussain) where workers of all races and religions joined to celebrate.
Plantation: Estate for cultivation of cash crops such as tea, coffee, cotton, tobacco, sugarcane, etc.
MNCs: Multinational Corporations (MNCs) are large companies that operate in several countries at the same time.
IMF: It is also termed as International Monetary Fund, The Bretton Woods Institution. It was established to deal with external surpluses and deficits of its member nations.
IBRD: It is abbreviated as the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (popularly known as the World Bank). It was set up to finance Post-war reconstruction.
G-77: 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.

Summary

Globalization:- It means integrating our economy with the world economy. As a result of globalization, the different countries of the world become economically inter dependent on each other.

Responsible factors for making of a ‘global world’:-

Migration
Movement of Capital
Trade
Interaction

Note- Making of a global world has a long history. Many people travelled long distances for knowledge, opportunity and much more.

Travelers Carried:-

Goods – Germs – Money – Ideas – Values – Inventions – Skills – Diseases

Silk Route:-

Silk route link Asia – Europe – North America.
Products –
1. Chinese pottery.
2. Textiles and spices.
3. Precious metal from Europe to Asia.

Food Travels:- Spaghetti, potato

Others- Soya, groundnuts, maize, tomatoes, chillies, sweet potatoes etc. came from America.

Conquest, Diseases and Trade:-

After discovery of America pre modern world shrank.
India became crucial point due to central position between America and Europe.
Precious metals of America-
1. Silver – Peru and Mexico
2. Gold – EL Dorado (the fabled city of gold).

Biggest weapon of Spanish –The germs of Small Pox.
Slaves were captured in Africa for growing cotton and sugar for European markets.

In 19^th Century:-

Poverty and hunger became common in Europe.
Corn Law– Under pressure from landed groups in Europe, the government restricted the import of corn. It known as Corn Law.
Nearly 50 million people emigrated from Europe to America and Australia in the 19^th century in search of better future.
Role of technology – Invention of railways, steamships, telegraph and refrigerated ships etc.

Late 19^th Century Colonialism:-

European conquest brought colonized societies into world economy. 1885 in Berlin Meet, different European powers carved Africa.
Britain, France, Belgium, Germany and Spain were main colonial powers.

Rinderpest or the Cattle Plague:-

Arrived in Africa in 1890s.
Carried by infected cattle from British Asia.
Loss of cattle, destroyed livelihood.
Forced Africans into labour market.

Indentured Labour Migration from India:-

Indentured labour – Bonded labour
Labour were hired under contracts, which promised return travel to India after they had worked five years on their employers plantations.
From Eastern U P, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and middle India.
Destinations of Indian migrants were the Trinidad, Guyana, Surinam, Mauritius and Fiji.
Tamil Nadu migrants went to Ceylon and Malaya.
Recruitment was done by agents.
It was abolished in 1921 in India.

Indian Trade Colonialism and the Global System:-

Indian textiles faced stiff competition in the international market.
Indian cotton export was declined regularly.
Share of Indian cotton export was – in 1800 – 30%, in 1815 – 15%, in 1870 – only 3%.
Export of manufactures declined due to heavy tarrifs.
Export of raw materials increased.
Opium was single largest export from India to China.
Britain had a ‘trade surplus’ with India. This surplus used to balance trade deficits with other countries. Its called multilateral settlement.
For example – Britain grows Opium in India and exported it to China and with the money earned through this sale, it financed its tea and other imports from China.

The Inter war Economy:-

World War First (1914-1918):-

Allies Group- Britain, Russia, France
Central Powers– Germany, Austria, Hungry, Ottoman Turkey

War time transformation:-

Death of working age men.
Steep decline in house hold income.
Societies re-organized for wars.
Breaking of economic links between some of largest economic powers.

Features of the World War – I

Lasted for four years.
Involved world’s leading industrial nations.
Took the lives of 9 million people

The Great Depression:-

Features:-

Began in 1929 and lasted till the mid1930s.
Steep decline in industrial production.
Decrease in incomes and trade.
Affected agricultural communities worst.

Causes:-

Agricultural over production.
Withdrawal of loans by United States, which led to failure of major banks in Europe.
Doubling of import duties by U S also affected world trade.
Falling agricultural prices.

India and the Great Depression:-

Indian trade was affected agricultural goods.
Great decrease in prices of goods.
Increase in peasant indebtedness.
Fixed income earners of urban India found themselves well off.

World War II (1939-1945):-

The Axis Powers- Germany, Japan, Italy
The Allies- Britain, the Soviet Union, France and U S.
About 60 million people died.
World divided into two groups-
1. U S
2. Soviet Union

Bretton woods Institution: –

Held in July 1944 at Bretton woods in New Hampshire USA.
Main aim to preserve economic stability and full employment in the industrial world.
Bretton woods twins-
1. World Bank
2. International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Bretton woods system was based on fixed exchange rates. For example- Indian currency Rupee were pegged the Dollar at a fixed exchange rate. Dollar fixed $ 35 per ounce of Gold.

Decolonization and Independence: –

Most colonies in Asia and Africa emerged independent but were over burdened with poverty and lack of resources.
Developing countries organized a group – G-77 (the Group of 77).
Aim of G-77-
1. Control over natural resources.
2. Fairer prices for raw materials.
3. Better access to manufactured goods.

End of Bretton woods and beginning of Globalization: –

US Dollar could not maintain its value in relation to gold.
Fixed exchange rates collapsed and floating exchange rates were introduced.
Developing countries did not forced to get loan from western commercial banks.
Unemployment began rising from mid 1970s and remained until early 1990s.
Industries were relocated to low-wage countries.
There was rapid economic transformation in India, China and Brazil.
Made in China products are available everywhere because of the low cost structure of the Chinese economy, mainly low wages.