NCERT Solutions Class 10 Social Science History
(India and the Contemporary World – II)
The NCERT Solutions in English Language for Class 10 Social Science – History (India and the Contemporary World – II) Chapter – 3 (The Making of a Global World) has been provided here to help the students in solving the questions from this exercise.
Chapter – 3 (The Making of a Global World)
Exercises
| Write in brief |
1. Give two examples of different types of global exchanges which took place in the seventeenth century, choosing one example from Asia and one from the Americas.
Answer – The following are examples of cross-cultural exchanges from Asia and the Americas:
(i) Before the 17th century, China exported silk and pottery to Europe in exchange of gold and silver from Europe. This trade was carried out using the traditional ‘silk route’.
(ii) Many common food items like potatoes, soya, groundnuts, maize, tomatoes and chillies were introduced into Europe from the Americas after they were discovered by columbus at the end of the 15th century.
2. Explain how the global transfer of disease in the pre-modern world helped in the colonisation of the Americas.
Answer – The Portuguese and the Spanish had a strong firepower and army. But along with these, they also used germs and viruses for conquering parts of America. As America was isolated, earlier the original inhabitants had no immunity against these dreadful germs and viruses. The diseases once introduced, spread very fast. They killed and decimated whole communities, paving the way for their conquest. These germs were more dangerous as compared to guns and firearms because guns could be bought or captured, but there was no answer for these germs. Thus, the Portuguese and Spanish colonizers could conquer the local population easily to enable colonization of the Americas.
3. Write a note to explain the effect of the following:
a) The British government’s decision to abolish the Corn Laws.
Answer – After the abolition of the Corn Laws, food could be imported into Britain more cheaply than it could be produced within the country. Due to this, farmers did not grow corn, leaving the land uncultivated. This resulted in unemployment on a large scale and the people started migrating from England to America and Australia looking for work.
b) The coming of rinderpest to Africa.
Answer – The coming of rinderpest to Africa caused a loss of livelihood for countless Africans. Rinderpest was a cattle plague spread by Asian cattle taken to Africa by the European colonisers. The disease infected the African cattle, which died in thousands. This virtually destroyed the African economic system based on cattle and land. Africans who worked rearing cattle were unemployed and forced to earn their livelihood by working in mines and on plantations set up by the Europeans, Using this situation to their advantage, colonizing nations conquered and subdued Africa by monopolizing scarce cattle resources to force Africans into the labour market
c) The death of men of working age in Europe because of the World War.
Answer – After the First World War, most men of working age were either maimed or dead. These deaths and injuries reduced the workforce of able bodied people with fewer members in the family. This household income declined after the war.
d) The Great Depression on the Indian economy.
Answer – The Great Depression immediately affected Indian trade. In the 20th century, India became an exporter of agricultural goods and importer of manufactured goods. Her export and import nearly halved between 1928-34. As international prices crashed, prices in India also plunged. Peasants and farmers were worst hit. Colonial rulers refused to reduce the land revenue.
e) The decision of MNCs to relocate production to Asian countries.
Answer – Wages are relatively low in Asian countries due to excess supply of workers and a lower standard of living. Most of these economies have low cost structure. Most of these countries have a huge market. The low cost structure of these economies enabled mass production at a much lower cost. It led to a stimulation of world trade and capital flow. It benefited the Asian countries by increase of employment and a quick economic transformation.
4. Give two examples from history to show the impact of technology on food availability.
Answer – Examples of impact of technology on food availability :
(i) The technique of cold storage and use of refrigerated ships boosted the export of perishable goods without fear of loss. Meat exported from America could be sent to areas where meat was scarce.
(ii) Faster railways, larger ships and lighter wagons enabled cheaper and quicker movement of perishable foodstuffs from faraway farms to their final markets.
| Discuss |
5. What is meant by the Bretton Woods Agreement?
Answer – The Bretton Woods Conference was held in July of 1944 at Bretton Woods in New Hampshire, USA, Under this system, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) afterwards called the World Bank wore established to preserve global economic stability and full employment in industrialized world.
6. Imagine that you are indentured Indian labour in the Caribbean. Drawing from the details in the chapter, write a letter to your family describing your life and feelings
Answer – Indentured Indian labourers in the Carribbean—facts—signed a contract stating that they would return to India after working for five years at a plantation; belonged to eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, central India and the dry districts of Tamil Nadu; migrants took up the overseas jobs hoping to escape poverty and oppression in their home villages; migrants were not even informed about the long sea voyages, and some unwilling ones were abducted as well; also known as “the new system of slavery”; harsh living and working conditions; few legal rights; many escaped into the wilds; some developed new art forms for expression; some returned home after the contract period, while others stayed on
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.
Answer – The three types of movements or flows within the international economic exchange are trade flows, human capital flows and capital flows or investments. These can be explained as—the trade in agricultural products, migration of labour, and financial loans to and from other nations.
India was a hub of trade in the pre-modern world, and it exported textiles and spices in return for gold and silver from Europe. Many different foods such as potatoes, soya, groundnuts, maize, tomatoes, chillies and sweet potatoes came to India from the Americas after Columbus discovered it.
In the field of labour, indentured labour was provided for mines, plantations and factories abroad, in huge numbers, in the nineteenth century. This was an instrument of colonial domination by the British.
Lastly, Britain took generous loans from USA to finance the World War. Since India was an English colony, the impact of these loan debts was felt in India too. The British government increased taxes, interest rates, and lowered the prices of products it bought from the colony. Indirectly, but strongly, this affected the Indian economy and people.
8. Explain the causes of the Great Depression.
Answer – The Great Depression was a result of many different factors. The post-war global economy was weak. Also, agricultural over-production proved to be a nuisance, which was made worse by falling food grain prices. To counter this, farmers began to increase production and bring even more produce to the markets to maintain their annual incomes. This led to such a glut of food grains that prices plummeted further and farm produce was left to rot. Most countries took loans from the US, but American overseas lenders were wary about the same. When they decreased the amount of loans, the countries economically dependent on US loans faced an acute crisis. In Europe, this led to the failure of major banks and currencies such as the British pound sterling. In a bid to protect the American economy, USA doubled import duties. This worsened the world trade scenario. All these factors contributed to the Great Depression. It affected USA the worst on account of its being a global loan provider and the biggest industrial nation.
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 is an abbreviation for the group of 77 countries that demanded a new international economic order (NIEO); a system that would give them real control over their natural resources, without being victims of neo-colonialism, that is, a new form of colonialism in trade practised by the former colonial powers.
The G-77 can be seen as a reaction to the activities of the Bretton Woods twins (the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank) because these two institutions were designed to meet the financial needs of industrial and developed countries, and did nothing for the economic growth of former colonies and developing nations.
