The Making of a Global World
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:
- From Asia: The Silk Routes connected Asia, Europe and Africa. Along with silk from China, pottery, textiles and spices from India and Southeast Asia were traded. Precious metals like gold and silver came back from Europe.
- From the Americas: Foods like potatoes, maize, chillies, tomatoes and cocoa, originally cultivated by American Indians, spread to Europe and Asia after Columbus’s discovery of America.
2. Explain how the global transfer of disease in the pre-modern world helped in the colonisation of the Americas.
Answer: When Europeans reached America in the sixteenth century, they carried germs such as smallpox. The native people had been isolated for millions of years and had no immunity to these diseases. Smallpox spread rapidly, killing and decimating whole communities, even before direct European conquest. This massive loss of population weakened resistance and helped Europeans to colonise the Americas.
3. Write a note to explain the effects of the following:
a) The British government’s decision to abolish the Corn Laws.
Answer: After the Corn Laws were abolished, food grains could be imported cheaply into Britain. This reduced food prices and raised consumption, but it also meant British agriculture could not compete, leading to land being left uncultivated and thousands of workers losing jobs. Many migrated to cities or overseas.
b) The coming of rinderpest to Africa.
Answer: In the 1890s, rinderpest (cattle plague) spread from East Africa to the Cape, killing 90% of the cattle. This destroyed African livelihoods and forced people into the labour market. Planters, mine owners and colonial governments used this to monopolise scarce cattle resources and gain greater control over Africans.
c) The death of men of working-age in Europe because of the World War.
Answer: The First World War killed and injured millions of working-age men. This reduced the able-bodied workforce, leading to declining household incomes and social disruption after the war.
d) The Great Depression on the Indian economy.
Answer: India’s exports and imports halved between 1928 and 1934. Prices of agricultural goods fell sharply (wheat fell by 50%). Peasants suffered heavily as the colonial government did not reduce revenue demands. Jute growers in Bengal faced a collapse of raw jute prices. Peasants were burdened with debts and sold their jewellery or land. However, people with fixed incomes in towns benefited from falling prices.
e) The decision of MNCs to relocate production to Asian countries.
Answer: From the late 1970s, MNCs shifted production to Asian countries where wages were low. This made goods cheaper, stimulated world trade and transformed the economic geography of the world, especially with the rapid rise of countries like China and India.
4. Give two examples from history to show the impact of technology on food availability.
Answer:
- The invention of refrigerated ships allowed the transport of perishable foods like meat over long distances. Meat could now be exported cheaply from America, Australia, and New Zealand to Europe. This reduced prices and improved the European diet.
- The development of faster railways, steamships and the telegraph helped move food and raw materials quickly and cheaply from distant farms to markets, making food more widely available.
5. What is meant by the Bretton Woods Agreement?
Answer: The Bretton Woods Agreement (1944) set up a post-war international economic system to ensure stability and full employment. Two institutions were established:
- International Monetary Fund (IMF): to deal with external surpluses and deficits of member nations.
- World Bank (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development): to finance post-war reconstruction.
Currencies were pegged to the US dollar at fixed exchange rates, and the dollar itself was linked to gold. This system is known as the Bretton Woods system.
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:
Letter:
My dear family,
I reached this faraway land in the Caribbean after a long sea journey. The agent promised me good work, but the reality is very different. We work on the plantations from morning till night. The tasks are extremely heavy, and if we cannot finish them, our wages are cut. Sometimes we are punished severely. The living conditions are harsh, and we miss our homeland every day. Some workers have tried to escape, but they are caught and punished. Still, in this suffering, we try to keep our traditions alive. During Muharram we take out a grand procession called ‘Hosay’, and sometimes we sing and dance to forget our pain. I do not know when I will return home, but I pray that you are all safe.
Your loving son.
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.
Answer: Economists identify three types of movements (flows):
1. Flow of trade: Trade in goods such as wheat and cloth.
- Example: India exported raw cotton and indigo, and later opium to China. At the same time, India imported British manufactured goods.
2. Flow of labour: Migration of people in search of work.
- Example: Indentured Indian labourers from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Central India migrated to plantations in the Caribbean, Mauritius, Fiji, and Ceylon under contracts.
3. Flow of capital: Movement of money for short-term or long-term investment.
- Example: Indian bankers like the Shikaripuri shroffs and Nattukottai Chettiars financed export agriculture in Central and Southeast Asia.
8. Explain the causes of the Great Depression.
Answer: The Great Depression (1929–mid-1930s) was caused by many factors:
- Agricultural overproduction: Farmers produced more, but demand was limited. Prices of agricultural goods kept falling. To maintain income, farmers produced even more, worsening the glut and pushing prices further down.
- Dependence on US loans: Many countries financed their investments through loans from the US. When US lenders stopped lending and withdrew loans after 1928, economies collapsed.
- Bank failures and currency collapse: In Europe, major banks failed, and currencies like the British pound weakened.
- US protective policies: The US doubled import duties, reducing world trade further.
Thus, the depression led to massive unemployment, poverty, and economic distress worldwide.
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?
Answer:
- G-77 countries: After independence, many Asian, African and Latin American nations were still poor and lacked resources. They organised themselves as a group of 77 developing countries (G-77) to demand a New International Economic Order (NIEO).
- Reaction to Bretton Woods twins: The IMF and World Bank (called Bretton Woods twins) were created mainly to serve industrial countries, not developing ones. The G-77 countries wanted:
- Real control over their natural resources.
- Better development assistance.
- Fairer prices for raw materials.
- Better access for their manufactured goods in the markets of developed countries.
Thus, G-77 was a collective demand by developing nations for fairness against the dominance of the Bretton Woods syste
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