Question 1: What is globalisation, and why does its history have a long timeline?
Answer: Globalisation refers to the interconnectedness of the world, especially in terms of economic systems, trade, migration, and cultural exchange. Its history spans thousands of years, as human societies have steadily become more interlinked through trade, migration, and the movement of ideas, and even diseases.
Question 2: What were some early examples of global interconnectedness?
Answer:
- Coastal trade linking the Indus Valley with West Asia as early as 3000 BCE.
- The use of cowries (Seashells) from the Maldives as currency in China and East Africa.
- The spread of disease-carrying germs traced back to the 7th century.
Question 3: What were the Silk Routes, and why were they significant?
Answer: The Silk Routes were ancient trade routes that connected Asia with Europe and Northern Africa. They were significant for:
- Facilitating the trade of Chinese silk, Indian spices, and Southeast Asia goods.
- Enabling cultural exchanges, such as the spread of Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam.
- Promoting the movement of goods like pottery, textiles, and precious metals.
Question 4: How did food contribute to cultural exchange in the pre-modern world?
Answer: Food items and crops were exchanged across regions through traders and travelers. Examples include:
- Noodles traveling from China to become spaghetti in Italy.
- Crops like potatoes, tomatoes, maize, and chillies being introduced to Europe and Asia after Columbus discovered the Americas.
These exchanges impacted diets and sometimes even survival,as seen in Europe’s reliance on potatoes.
Question 5: How did the introduction of potatoes impact Europe?
Answer: The humble potato significantly improved the diet and health of Europe’s poor, helping them live longer. However, in Ireland, over-reliance on potatoes led to a catastrophic famine in the mid-1840s when the potato crop was destroyed by disease, resulting in mass starvation.
Question 6: How did European exploration in the 16th century change the world?
Answer: European sailors discovered sea routes to Asia and America, which led to:
- The integration of the Americas into global trade.
- The flow of precious metals like silver from South America to Europe, enhancing European wealth.
- The spread of European influence and colonisation, especially in the Americas.
Question 7: What role did diseases play in the European conquest of the Americas?
Answer: Diseases like smallpox, carried by Europeans, proved to be deadly for the indigenous populations of the Americas. These populations had no immunity due to prolonged isolation, leading to massive deaths that weakened communities and paved the way for conquest.
Question 8: Why did people migrate from Europe to America in the pre-modern period?
Answer: People migrated from Europe to America due to:
- Poverty and hunger in Europe.
- Overcrowded cities and widespread diseases.
- Religious persecution and conflicts.
- America offered opportunities for a better life, and and plantations grew cash crops for European markets.
Question 9: What was the impact of the Americas on global trade?
Answer: The America transformed global trade by:
- Providing new crops like potatoes, maize, and tomatoes.
- Supplying precious metals like silver, which financed European trade with Asia.
- Becoming a hub for plantation economies worked by African slaves, producing goods for European markets.
Question 10: How did China and India’s roles in world trade change by the 18th century?
Answer: Until the 18th century, China and India were among the richest countries and dominated Asian trade. However:
- From the 15th century, China restricted overseas trade and became isolated
- The Americas’ wealth shifted the centre of world trade westwards, establishing Europe as the dominant hub.
Question 11: How did the three flows in the 19th-century world economy affect societies?
Answer: The three flows – trade (goods like cloth and wheat), labour (migration for employment), and capital (short- and long-term investments) – were interwoven and deeply affected societies.These reshaped economic exchanges, increased interconnections, and influenced people’s lives significantly.
Question 12: Why was self-sufficiency in food not viable for Britain in the 19th century?
Answer: Population growth and industrial expansion increased the demand for food grains, raising prices. The Corn Laws restricted imports, leading to high food prices and social conflict. The abolition of these laws allowed cheaper imports, reducing prices, improving living standards, and promoting economic growth.
Question 13: How did the abolition of the Corn Laws impact British agriculture?
Answer: Cheaper imports made British agriculture unable to compete, leading to uncultivated land and unemployment. Many rural workers migrated to cities or overseas in search of work.
Question 14: What role did railways and harbours play in the global agricultural economy?
Answer: Railways connected agricultural regions to ports, and harbours were expanded for exporting goods. These infrastructure developments facilitated the global trade of agricultural products, requiring significant capital and labour investments.
Question 15: How did technology transform the trade in meat during the 19th century?
Answer: Refrigerated ships allowed the transport of frozen meat, reducing costs and making meat affordable for Europe’s poor. This technological advancement diversified diets, improved living standards, and promoted social stability.
Question 16: How did colonialism reshape African societies during the late 19th century?
Answer: Colonialism brought economic, social, and ecological disruptions. Europeans exploited African land and resources, imposed taxes, displaced peasants, and forced many into wage labour for plantations and mines.
Question 17: What was indentured labour migration, and why did it occur?
Answer: Indentured labour migration involved Indians and Chinese working under contracts for plantations, mines, and infrastructure projcets. It arose from poverty, debt, and economic changes like rising land rents and the decline of cottoge industries in India.
Question 18: What was the impact of rinderpest on African livelihoods?
Answer: Rinderpes, introduced by infected cattle, killed 90% of Africa’s cattle, destroying livelihoods. Europeans monopolize the remaining cattle, consolidating power and forcing Africans into the labour market.
Question 19: What were the living conditions of indentured labourers?
Answer: Living and working conditions were harsh, with limited legal rights. Workers often faced false promises, abductions, and exploitation but adapted by blending cultures and expressing themselves through new traditions.
Question 20: How did Indian entrepreneurs contribute to the global agricultural economy?
Answer: Indian bankers like the Shikaripuri shroffs and Nattukottai Chettiars financed export agriculture in Asia. They developed sophisticated financial systems and followed colonizers into Africa, supporting the global trade netword.
Question 21: How did colonial policies impact India’s exports?
Answer: Colonial tariffs restricted Indian textile imports into Britain, leading to a decline in textile exports. Instead, India exported raw materials like cotton and indigo. Opium exports to China financed Britain’s trade with China.
Question 22: What were the two power blocs involved in the First World War?
Answer: The Allies (Britain, France, and Russia, later joined by the US) and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungry, and Ottoman Turkey).
Question 23: Why is the First World War called the first modern industrial war?
Answer: It was the first war to involve the use of modern industrial weapons like machine guns, tanks, aircraft, and chemical weapons on a massive scale.
Question 24: How did the First World War impact the workforce in Europe?
Answer: It reduced the able-bodied workforce as most of the killed and injured were men of working age, leading to declining household incomes.
Question 25: How did the US transform economically due to the First World War?
Answer: The US shifted from being an international debtor to an international creditor by lending large sums to allied powers.
Question 26: Why was Britain unable to regain its economic dominance after the war?
Answer: Britain’s industries faced competition from Indian and Japanese industries, and it was burdened with huge external debts due to war borrowing.
Question 27: What was the state of unemployment in Britain in 1921?
Answer: One in every five British workers was out of word.
Question 28: How did the war affected wheat producers after it ended?
Answer: A glut in wheat production caused grain prices to fall, leading to declining rural incomes and increasing farmer debts.
Question 29: How did higher wages in Ford’s factories affect production and consumption?
Answer: Higher wages increased the buying capacity of workers, boosting the sale of consumer goods and creating a cycle of economic growth.
Question 30: What was the significance of ‘hire purchase’ in the 1920s US economy?
Answer: It allowed people to buy consumer goods on credit, which spurred demand and economic prosperity.
Question 31: When did the Great Depression begin, and how long did it last?
Answer: It began around 1929 and lasted until the mid-1930s.
Question 32: What were the main causes of the Great Depression?
Answer: Overproduction in agriculture, falling agricultural prices, withdrawal US loans, and protectionist policies like doubling US import duties.
Question 33: Which sectors were most severely affected during the Great Depression?
Answer: Agricultural regions and communities, as agricultural prices fell more than industrial goods prices.
Question 34: How did the Great Depression affect the US economy?
Answer: Banks and businesses collapsed, unemployment soared, and many household lost their homes, cars, and consumer goods.
Question 35: How did the Great Depression affect India’s trade?
Answer: India’s exports and imports nearly halved between 1928 and 1934, and prices for agricultural goods like wheat fell sharply.
Question 36: Why did Indian peasants suffer more than urban dwellers during the depression?
Answer: Agricultural prices fell, but the colonial government refused to reduce revenue demands, leading to greater indebtedness among peasants.
Question 37: How did the Great Depression impact jute producers in Bengal?
Answer: The price of raw jute crashed by more than 60%, leaving jute growers heavily indebted.
Question 38: What role did Indian gold exports play during the Great Depression?
Answer: Indian gold exports helped global economic recovery and aided Britain but did little to alleviate the suffering of Indian peasants.
Question 39: How did urban Indian benefit during the Great Depression?
Answer: Falling prices benefited those with fixed incomes, such as salaried employeed and town-dwelling landowners, making them better off.
Question 40: What significant political movement was launched during the Great Depression in India?
Answer: Mahatma Gandhi launched the Civil Disobedience Movement in 1931, amidst the economic and social unrest caused by the depression.
Question 41: What were the main Axis and Allied powers during the Second World War?
Answer:
- Axis Powers: Nazi Germany, Japan, and Italy.
- Allied Powers: Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and the US.
Question 42: How many people were estimated to have died as a result of the Second World War?
Answer: At least 60 million poeple, or about 3% of the world’s 1939 population, died directly or indirectly due to the war.
Question 43: What were the two crucial influences that shaped post-war reconstruction?
Answer: The emergence of the US as the dominant economic, political, and military power in the Western world.
The dominance of the Soviet Union, which had transformed itself into a world power.
Question 44: What lessons did economists and politicians learn from the inter-war economic experience?
Answer: Mass production requires mass consumption, which needs high and stable incomes.
Markets alone cannot guarantee full employment, so government intervention is necessary.
Economic stability ad full employment require governments ot control international flows of goods, capital, and labour.
Question 45: What was the aim of the Bretton Woods system?
Answer: To preserve economic stability and full employment in the industrial world.
Question 46: What institutions were established at the Bretton Woods Conference?
Answer: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) – to address external surpluses and deficits of members nations.
The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank)- to finance post-war reconstruction.
Question 47: What was the basis of the Bretton Woods system?
Answer: Fixed exchange rates where national currencies were pegged to the US dollar, and the dollar was anchored to gold at $35 per ounce.
Question 48: What characterised the growth of the Western industrial nations and Japan during the early post-war years?
Answer: World trade grew annually at over 8% between 1950 and 1970.
Incomes grew at nearly 5% annually.
Unemployment averaged less than 5% inmost industrial countries.
Question 49: How did developing countries attempt to catch up with industrial nations during this period?
Answer: they invested heavily in importing industrial plants and equipment featuring modern technology.
Question 50: What challeges did newly independent nations face after decolonisation?
Answer: Poverty and lack of resources.
Economies and societies weakened by long periods of colonial rule.
Question 51: How did the focus of the IMF and World Bank shift after the late 1950s?
Answer: They began addressing the financial needs of developing countries as Europe and Japan rebuilt their economies.
Question 52: What was the Group 77 (G-77) , and what did it demand?
Answer: A coalition of developing countries formed to demand a New International Economic Order (NIEO).
Their demands included control over natural resources, more development assistance, fairer prices for raw materials, and better access to developed markets.
Question 53: What led to the collapse of the Bretton Woods system?
Answer: Rising costs of US overseas involvements weakened its finances and the dollar’s confidence.
The dollar could no longer maintain its value against gold.
Also Read
- Social Science Class 10
- Quick Revision of Social Science Class 10
- History chapter 1 The Rise of Nationalism in Europe
- History chapter 2 The Rise of Nationalism in India
- History chapter 3 the Making of a Global World
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