NCERT Solutions for Class 10 Social Science History Chapter 4 The Making of Global World
NCERT Solutions for Class 10 Social History Chapter 4 The Making of a Global World
NCERT Solutions for Class 10 SST
Q.1. Give two examples of different types of global exchanges which took place before the 17th century, choosing one example from Asia, and one from America.
Ans.
(a) Asia: The silk routes are a good example of vibrant pre-modern trade before the 17th century. The historians have identified several silk routes, overland and by sea, linking Asia with Europe and northern Africa. .These routes were used for trades in Chinese pottery, textiles and spices from India and Southeast Asia. In return, precious metals – gold and silver – came from Europe to Asia.’ Secondly, Christian missionaries and later Muslim preachers travelled through these routes. It may be mentioned here that in ancient times, Buddhism too spread in several directions through intersecting points on the silk routes.
(b) Americas: After the discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus, many of our common foods such as potatoes, soya, groundnuts, maize, tomatoes, chilies came from America’s original inhabitants i.e., the American Indians. From the sixteenth century, America’s vast lands, abundant crops and minerals transformed trade and lives everywhere. Precious metals like silver from mines in Peru and Mexico enhanced Europe’s wealth and financed its trade with Asia. Legends spread in seventeenth-century Europe about South America’s fabled wealth. Many expeditions set off in search of El Dorado, the fabled city of gold. Thus there were global exchanges before the seventeenth century.
Q.2. Explain how the global transfer of disease in the pre-modem world helped in the colonisation of America. [CBSE 2008 (O), Sept. 2010, 2011]
Ans. (i) The Portuguese and the Spanish had a strong firepower and army.
(iii) As America was isolated, so the original inhabitants had no immunity against these dreadful germs and viruses.
(iv) Smallpox proved a deadly killer. Once introduced, it spread deep into the continent killing several communities, and paving the way for conquests.
(v) These germs were more dangerous as compared to guns and firearms because guns could be brought or captured, but there was no answer for these germs.
Q.3. Write a note and 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 of 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.
Ans. (a)(i) The scrapping of Corn Laws lead to free trade of food grains.
(ii) After the abolition of Corn Laws, food could be imported into Britain more cheaply than it could be produced within the country.
(iii) British farmers were unable to compete with imports. Vast areas of land were now left uncultivated, and thousands of men and women were thrown out of work. They flocked to the cities or migrated overseas
(iv) Increase in demand due to fall in prices and increase in income leads to mismatch between demand and supply of food grains.
(v) Many countries of the world like Russia. America and Australia and some eastern European countries started exporting food grains to Britain which gave further set back to the local producers.
(b)(i) Arrival of rinderpest : Rinderpest arrived in Africa in the late 1880s. Within two years, it spread in the whole continent reaching Cape Town (Africa’s southernmost tip) within five years.
(ii) Loss of Cattle : The germs of the disease were carried by infected cattle imported from British Asia to feed the Italian soldiers invading Eritrea in Eastern Africa. The rinderpest killed about 90 per cent of the cattle.
(iii) Loss of livelihood : As cattle was the main wealth of the people so the loss of cattle destroyed the African livelihoods.
(iv) African into labour market : Planters, mine owners and colonial governments now successfully monopolised what scarce cattle resources remained, to strengthen their power, and to force the Africans into the labour market.
(v) Subdue of Africa : Control over scarce resource of cattle enabled the European colonisers to conquer and subdue Africa.
(c) (i) Reduction in the workforce: Most of the killed and injured were men of working age. These deaths and injuries reduced the able-bodied workforce in Europe. With fewer numbers within the family, the household income declined after the war.
(ii) New Social Set-up : The entire societies were reorganized for war – as men went to battle, women stepped in to undertake jobs that earlier only men were expected to do.
(d) (i) Impact on trade : The depression immediately affected Indian trade. India’s exports and imports nearly halved between 1928 and 1934. As international prices crashed, prices in India plunged. Between 1928 and 1934 wheat prices in India fell by about 50 per cent.
(if) Impact on farmers : The fall in prices had a deep impact on the poor farmers. Though agricultural prices fell sharply, but the colonial government refused to give any relief to the farmers in taxes. Peasants producing tor the world market were the worst hit.
(iii) Impact on Urban India : The depression proved less grim for urban India. Because of falling prices those with fixed income- say town-dwelling landowners, who received rents and middle-class salaried employees now found themselves better off. Every thing low cost.
(iv) High Industrial investment : Industrial investment also grew as the government extended tariff protection to industries, under the pressure of nationalist opinion.
(v) Political Impact : The Great Depression paved way for Gandhiji to launch the Civil Disobedience movement.
(e) (i) Wages are relatively low in Asian countries due to excess supply of workers.
(ii) Most of these economies have low cost structure.
(iii) Most of these countries have a huge market.
Q.4. Give two examples from history to show the impact of Science and Technology on food availability.
Ans.
(i) Availability of cheap food in different markets: Improvements in transport; faster railways, lighter wagons and larger ships helped move food more cheaply and quickly from the far-away farms to the final markets.
(ii) Impact on meat: Till the 1870s, meat from America was shipped to Europe in the form of live animals which were then slaughtered in Europe. But live animals took up a lot of ship space. But the invention of refrigerated ships made it possible to transport meat from one region to another. Now animals were slaughtered in America, Australia or New Zealand, and then transported to Europe as frozen meat. The invention of the refrigerated ship had the following advantages :
- This reduced shipping costs and lowered meat prices in Europe.
- The poor in Europe could now consume a more varied diet.
- To the earlier, monotony of bread and potatoes many, not all, could add meat, butter and eggs.
- Better living conditions promoted social peace within the country, and support for imperialism abroad.
Q.5. What is meant by the Bretton Woods Agreement ?
Ans.
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.
Q.7. Explain the three types of movements or flows within the international economic exchange. Find one example of each type of flow which involved India and Indians, and write a short account of it. [CBSE 2008, Sept. 2011]
Or
Explain the three types of flows within an international economic exchange by giving anyone example each. [CBSE Sept. 2010]
Ans. (i) The flow of trade : The flow of trade refers largely to trade in goods. For example, wheat travelled from Russia, America and Australia to Britain.
(iii) The movement of capital : This covers the movement of capital for short-term or long-term investments over long distances. For example, capital flowed from financial centres such as London to other parts of the world.
Q.8. Explain the cause of the Great Depression.
Ans. This was a period during which most parts of the world experienced catastrophic decline in production, employment, income and trade. The state of Economic Depression set in the United States of America in 1929 and engulfed the entire world. Tins state of Economic Depression set in the United States of America (USA) in 1929. and engulfed the entire world. Hence, it is known as the Greet Depression.
Causes of Economic Depression :
(i) Conditions created by the War: There was an immense industrial expansion in view of the increased demands of goods related to army during the period of the First World War. After the war, the industries went through the same proliferation. However, the sharp decrease in demands for military and war products gave birth to the economic depression.
(ii) Overproduction in agriculture:
Agricultural overproduction was one another major factor responsible for the depression. This was made worse by falling agricultural prices. As prices slumped, and agricultural income declined, farmers tried to expand production, and bring a larger volume of produce to the market to maintain their overall income. This worsened the glut in the market, pushing down prices even further. The farm produce rotted for lack of buyers.
(iii) Shortage of loans : In the mid 1920s, many countries financed their investments through loans from the US. While it was often very easy to raise loans in the US during the boom period, but the US overseas lenders panicked at the first sign of trouble.
(iv) Multiple effect : The withdrawal of lenders from the market had a multiple effect. In Europe, it led to the failure of some major banks, and the collapse of currencies such as the British pound and the sterling.
In Latin America and elsewhere, it intensified the slump in agricultural and raw material prices. The US attempt to protect its economy in the depression by doubling import duties also dealt another severe blow to the world trade.
Q.9. (i) Explain what referred to as the G-77 countries.
(ii) In what ways can G-77 be seen as a reaction to the activities of the Bretton Woods Twins ?
Ans.
(i)G-77 is also known as the Group of 77. G-77 is a group of developing countries which organised themselves into a group as they did not receive any benefits from the fast growth, experienced in the 1950s and 1960s by the Western Economies. G-77 demanded a
(ii) By establishing G-77, they could.
- Get real control over their natural resources.
- More assistance in their development.
- Fairer prices for raw materials.
- Better access for their manufactured goods.
