CLASS X: HISTORY

LESSON: THE MAKING OF A GLOBAL WORLD

1.

What were Corn Laws? Why were they scrapped? Write the impact of the abolition of Corn
Laws.

With the population growth and the expansion of urban sector and industry, the
demand for agricultural products went up, pushing up food grain prices. Under
pressure from landed groups, the government passed laws, restricting the import of
corn, which was known as Corn Laws.

Unhappy with high food prices, the industrialists and urban dwellers forced the
scrapping of Corn Laws.

Consequences

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After the abolition of Corn Laws, food could be imported into Britain more cheaply.

Food prices fell and consumption of food grain increased.

Forests and lands were cleared for setting up of industries .So there was more food
imported to feed the population.

It led to widespread unemployment in the agricultural sector and consequent

migration of agricultural labourers to industrial sector.

What led to the emigration of 50 million people from Europe to America and Australia?

The scrapping of Corn Laws in Britain resulted in the import of food grains from the
colonies. The industrial growth in Britain also led to higher incomes and therefore
more food import. As a result consumption in Britain rose.

Around the world food production expanded to meet the British demands. This led to
clearing of lands for agriculture. Railways were needed to link agricultural lands to
the ports.

All these activities in turn required capital and labour. Capital was provided by
financial centers such as London. The demand for labour in places where labour was
in short supply (e.g. in America and Australia) led to more migration of people from
Asia and Africa.

Thus by 1890, a global agricultural economy had taken shape, accompanied by

complex changes in labour movement patterns, capital flow, ecologies and
technology.

How did the global transfer of diseases in the pre modern world help in the colonization of
America?

Before its discovery America had been cut off from regular contact with the rest of
the world for millions of years. From the sixteenth century, its vast lands and
abundant resources began to attract all.

The Portugese and Spanish colonizers were rapidly colonizing different parts of
America through military power.

However Spanish colonizers thought of diseases and germs for colonizing some parts
of America

Due to their long isolation the original inhabitants of America had no immunity
against these diseases that came from Europe. Once diseases like small pox was

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introduced in America they spread very fast almost killing the entire population, thus
paving way for the European colonizers.
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7.

Describe the role of technology in the expansion and transformation of the world economy in
the 19th century.

Technology played an important role in the expansion and integration of world

market.

Colonization stimulated new investments and improvements in transport. Faster

railways, lighter wagons and larger ships helped to move food more cheaply and
quickly from far away farms to final markets which enabled the transport of
perishable food over long distances.

Development of a new technology such as refrigerated ships also reduced the cost of
production and increased the demand for meat which was an expensive item in
Europe.

How did rinderpest help the European colonizers to conquer and subdue Africa?

For centuries land and livestock sustained African livelihoods and people rarely
worked for a wage.

In the late nineteenth century Europeans got attracted to Africa due to its vast
resources of land and minerals. But there was a shortage of labour willing to work for
wages. The Europeans imposed a lot of restriction on the native Africans but nothing
worked.

Rinderpest a fast spreading disease of cattle plague arrived in Africa in 1880s

through infected cattle imported from Britain. These cattle were imported to feed the
Italian soldiers invading Eritrea.

It killed 90% of the livestock. The native Africans lost their source of livelihoods and
were compelled to work for wages in European plantations and mines.

Explain the factors responsible for indentured labour migration from India.

Most of the indentured workers from India mainly belonged to the regions of eastern
Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Central India and the dry districts of Tamil Nadu.

The people in these regions faced many problems like- decline of cottage industries,
increase in land rent, insufficient agricultural output, and clearing of land for mines
and plantations. As a result they failed to pay rents and became indebted .Due to
uncertain source of income they were forced to migrate in search of work at distant
places.

19th century indentured labour has been described as a new system of slavery. Why?
This system has been described as a new system of slavery because-

8.

The workers lived under harsh conditions.

They had a few legal rights.

The labourers had to work under a contract.

If any indentured labourer tried to run away from his/her destination, he/she was
severely punished

Examine the developments in the world economy after 1919.

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9.

Agricultural over production. The First World War had created increased demands for
food grains. Therefore, cultivation of food grains was actively encouraged in different
parts of the world. With the end of the war, production contracted and created glut in
the output. Grain prices fell, rural incomes declined and peasants fell deeper into
debt.

Mass production in industries: By adopting assembly line technique, industrial output

increased manifold in USA within a very short span of time. This led to increase in
higher wages and availability of consumer durable goods at affordable prices.
However, in the absence of a link between mass production and mass consumption,
this boom proved to be short lived.

Dependence on US Loans: Most of the European countries borrowed huge amount of

money from US companies for recovery and reconstruction after the end of the First
World War. By 1923, USA became the largest overseas lender. US overseas lenders
panicked at the sign of financial crisis. They began to withdraw their loans, signaling
an acute economic crisis. The withdrawal of US loans led to the collapse of
currencies such as British pound sterling.

1929 crisis: With the fall in prices and the prospect of a depression, US banks slashed
domestic lending and stopped bank loans. Farms could not sell their harvests,
business collapsed, factories shut down and people became unemployed. The US
attempt to double import duties severely affected world trade. In Latin America and
elsewhere, it intensified the slump in agricultural and raw material prices. Thus Great
Depression resulted due to a combination of various factors and its repercussion on
politics, world economy and international relations were tremendous.

Write a note on Bretton Woods Institution.

The economists and politicians learnt some lessons from the Great Depression of 1929:

10.

An industrial society based on mass production cannot be sustained without mass

consumption.

To ensure mass consumption there was a need for high and stable incomes, which
was possible with stable employment.

Economic stability was possible only with government intervention in economic

matters and the government must have control overflow of goods, capital and labour.

An international conference was held in July 1944 at Bretton Woods in USA which
established International Monetary Fund to deal with external surpluses and deficits
of its member nations and World Bank to finance post war reconstruction.

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. These
two institutions are referred as Bretton Woods Institutions.

Why G-77 is regarded as a reaction to Bretton Woods twins?

G-77 is a group comprising of 77 developing nations who were facing discrimination

in post Second World War economic sphere. They felt that the earlier colonial powers
were still controlling vast resources like land and minerals in many countries. They
are also managing to secure rights to exploit developing countries natural resources
very cheaply.

Bretton Woods Institutions were designed to meet the financial needs of the industrial
countries. Initially, they were not equipped to cope with the new challenges faced by
the developing nations.

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Thus developing nations wanted NIEO (New International Economic Order) that
would give them real control over their natural resources, more development
assistance, and fairer prices for raw materials and better access for their manufactured
goods in developed countries markets.

How trade surplus from India help Britain in its trade deficits?

In the nineteenth century Britain was purchasing raw materials from India and British
manufactured goods flooded Indian markets. The value of British exports to India
was much higher than the value of British imports from India. Thus Britain had a
trade surplus.

This surplus helped Britain to balance its trade deficits with other countries as well as
to pay home charges which included all their expenses in India. This is also known
as multi lateral trade settlement.

Write consequences of the Great Depression on Indian economy.

Indias exports and imports nearly halved between 1928 and 1934.

Prices of agricultural goods dropped sharply, compelling the peasants to sell their
produce at a lower rate or borrow money from money lenders to meet their
requirements.

Peasants suffered the most as the colonial government refused to reduce revenue
demand. They fell into deeper debt.

Due to fall in prices, the conditions of urban dwellers were less grim. With fixed
income their purchasing power increased substantially.

Discuss the role of Indian entrepreneurs abroad.

Shikaripuri Shroffs and Natu Kottai Chettiars were among the bankers and traders
who financed export agriculture in Central and South East Asia, using their own
funds or borrowed money from European Banks.

They had a sophisticated system to transfer money over large distances and developed
their own corporate organizations.

Hyderabadi and Sindhi traders ventured beyond European colonies, established

themselves at bust trading posts, selling local and imported artifacts to traders.

How the world economy has shifted from Western countries to third world countries?

From 1970s MNCs began to shift production operations to low wage Asian
countries.

Thus these countries became attractive destinations for investment by foreign MNCs
competing to capture market.

The relocation of industry to low wage countries stimulated world trade and capital
flows.

Discuss the consequences of World War I on Great Britain.

After the war Britain found it difficult to recapture its earlier position of dominance in
the Indian market and to compete with Japan internationally.

Britain had borrowed huge amount of money from the US government during the war
time. After the war Britain found herself burdened with huge external debts.

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The War had led to an economic boom which led to a large increase in demand,
production and employment. With the end of the war, production contracted and
unemployment increased in Britain.

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