Write in brief
Question 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 (Trade and Cultural Exchange):
The Silk Routes serve as a prime example of vibrant pre-modern trade and cultural links. These routes, existing since before the Christian Era, carried Chinese goods such as silk cargoes and pottery westwards, along with textiles and spices from India and Southeast Asia. In exchange, precious metals – gold and silver – flowed from Europe to Asia. These routes also facilitated the spread of religions, including Buddhism, early Christian missionaries, and later, early Muslim preachers.
From the Americas (Food Exchange):
Many common foods that form the basis of global diets were only introduced in Europe and Asia after Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas. These foods, which came from America’s original inhabitants (the American Indians), included potatoes, soya, groundnuts, maize, tomatoes, chillies, and sweet potatoes. The introduction of the humble potato, for instance, helped Europe’s poor eat better and live longer.
Question 2: Explain how the global transfer of disease in the pre-modern world helped in the colonisation of the Americas.
Answer-
The Portuguese and Spanish conquest of America was decisively underway by the mid-sixteenth century. The most powerful weapon of the Spanish conquerors was not superior firepower, but the germs they carried, such as those of smallpox.
America’s original inhabitants had been cut off from regular contact with the rest of the world and thus had no immunity against these European diseases. Smallpox proved a deadly killer.
Once introduced, the disease spread deep into the continent ahead even of any Europeans reaching there. It killed and decimated whole communities, paving the way for the European conquest.
Question 3: Write a note to explain the effects of the following:
a) The British government’s decision to abolish the Corn Laws.
Answer-
The abolition of the Corn Laws meant that food could be imported into Britain more cheaply than it could be produced within the country.
British agriculture was unable to compete with the imports. Consequently, vast areas of land were left uncultivated, and thousands of men and women who were agricultural workers were thrown out of work. They then flocked to the cities or migrated overseas.
b) The coming of rinderpest to Africa.
Answer-
Rinderpest, or the cattle plague, arrived in Africa in the late 1880s, carried by infected cattle imported from British Asia to feed Italian soldiers.
The disease spread "like forest fire," killing 90 per cent of the cattle along its path. This destroyed African livelihoods, which were traditionally sustained by land and livestock, making people rarely work for a wage.
Planters, mine owners, and colonial governments successfully monopolised the scarce cattle resources that remained, using this control to strengthen their power and force Africans into the labour market.
c) The death of men of working-age in Europe because of the World War.
Answer-
The First World War saw a scale of death and destruction previously unthinkable, resulting in 9 million dead and 20 million injured.
Most of the killed and maimed were men of working age. These deaths and injuries reduced the able-bodied workforce in Europe.
With fewer working men within the family, household incomes declined after the war. This demographic shift also forced women to step in to undertake jobs that earlier only men were expected to do.
d) The Great Depression on the Indian economy.
Answer-
The Great Depression immediately affected Indian trade, causing India’s exports and imports to nearly halve between 1928 and 1934. As international prices crashed, prices in India also plunged; for instance, wheat prices fell by 50 per cent.
Peasants producing for the world market were the worst hit. Although agricultural prices fell sharply, the colonial government refused to reduce revenue demands. This led to peasants falling deeper and deeper into debt. They used up their savings, mortgaged lands, and sold jewellery and precious metals. Consequently, India became an exporter of precious metals, notably gold.
e) The decision of MNCs to relocate production to Asian countries.
Answer-
From the late 1970s, Multinational Corporations (MNCs) began to shift their production operations to low-wage Asian countries.
Countries like China became attractive destinations for investment due to their low-cost structure, most importantly their low wages.
The relocation of industry to these low-wage countries stimulated world trade and capital flows, dramatically transforming the world’s economic geography as countries like India, China, and Brazil underwent rapid economic transformation.
Question 4: Give two examples from history to show the impact of technology on food availability.
Answer-
1.Refrigerated Ships: Until the 1870s, animals were shipped live from America to Europe, where they were slaughtered. Many died or fell ill during the voyage, making meat an expensive luxury. The development of refrigerated ships enabled the transport of perishable foods (frozen meat) over long distances. This reduced shipping costs and lowered meat prices in Europe, allowing the poor to consume a more varied diet.
2.Railways and Steamships: The railways, steamships, and telegraph were vital inventions in the nineteenth century. Faster railways, lighter wagons and larger ships helped move food more cheaply and quickly from faraway agricultural farms (like those in America and Australia) to final markets in industrial Europe. This ensured that food supplies expanded rapidly to meet the growing demand in Britain.
Question 5: What is meant by the Bretton Woods Agreement?
Answer-
The Bretton Woods Agreement refers to the framework for the post-war international economic system established at the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference.
This conference was held in July 1944 at Bretton Woods in New Hampshire, USA.
The main aim of the Bretton Woods system was to preserve economic stability and full employment in the industrial world by minimizing economic fluctuations. The system established the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to deal with external surpluses and deficits, and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank) to finance post-war reconstruction. The system was based on fixed exchange rates, where national currencies were pegged to the US dollar, and the dollar was anchored to gold.
Discuss
Question 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-
(This answer outlines the key details an indentured labourer would report, reflecting the historical context of their journey, living conditions, and resistance, as detailed in the source.)
My dear family, I write this letter from the plantations in the Caribbean islands, where I was taken after being hired as an indentured labourer. I miss our village greatly, which I left hoping to escape the crushing indebtedness and rising land rents we faced in eastern Uttar Pradesh.
The agents who recruited us gave us false information about the place and the nature of the work. I was not even told that I would embark on a long sea voyage. The working and living conditions here are truly harsh, and we have few legal rights. The five-year contract sometimes feels like a ‘new system of slavery’. We must work relentlessly, and if the work is considered unsatisfactory, deductions are made from wages or we face punishment. One has to spend the period of indenture in great trouble.
Yet, we are trying to find ways of surviving. We have developed new ways of expressing ourselves collectively. For example, we join workers of all races and religions in transforming the annual Muharram procession into a riotous carnival called ‘Hosay’. I pray that I can return home one day, but many who complete their contracts stay here because going back seems impossible.
Question 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 movement or ‘flows’ within international economic exchanges in the nineteenth century:
1.The flow of trade: This flow referred largely to the trade in goods, such as cloth or wheat.
2.The flow of labour: This flow refers to the migration of people in search of employment over long distances.
3.The movement of capital: This flow refers to short-term or long-term investments moving over long distances.
Examples involving India and Indians:
1.Flow of Trade (Goods): A key example is the massive shift in India’s export pattern under colonial rule. While exports of fine Indian cotton textiles rapidly declined, the export of raw materials increased equally fast. India exported massive quantities of raw cotton to feed British textile mills. India’s single largest export for a time was opium shipments to China. Britain grew opium in India and used the money earned from its sale to finance its tea and other imports from China.
2.Flow of Labour (Migration): The system of indentured labour migration saw hundreds of thousands of Indian labourers go to work on plantations, in mines, and in road and railway construction projects. These migrants, coming largely from regions experiencing economic hardship, were shipped to destinations such as the Caribbean islands, Mauritius and Fiji. They worked under contracts that promised return travel after five years, although conditions were often described as a ‘new system of slavery’.
3.Movement of Capital (Investment): Indian bankers and traders provided vital capital for export agriculture abroad. Groups like the Shikaripuri Shroffs and Nattukottai Chettiars were prominent bankers who financed export agriculture in Central and Southeast Asia. They used sophisticated systems to transfer money over large distances. Indian traders, such as the Hyderabadi Sindhi traders, also ventured beyond European colonies, establishing flourishing emporia at busy ports worldwide, selling local and imported curios.
Question 8: Explain the causes of the Great Depression.
Answer-
The Great Depression began around 1929 and caused catastrophic declines in production, employment, incomes, and trade worldwide. It was caused by a combination of factors:
1.Agricultural Overproduction and Price Slump: Agricultural overproduction remained a major problem throughout the 1920s. This led to falling agricultural prices. As prices slumped and incomes declined, farmers tried to expand production further to maintain their overall income, which worsened the glut in the market. Farm produce was left rotting for a lack of buyers.
2.Withdrawal of US Loans: In the mid-1920s, many countries relied on loans from the US to finance their investments. US overseas lenders panicked at the first sign of economic trouble and drastically cut lending. The withdrawal of US loans led to the failure of major banks in Europe and the collapse of currencies like the British pound sterling, intensifying the global slump.
3.Fragile Mass Consumption Structure in the US: The prosperity of the US in the 1920s was fragile, fueled by the widespread use of ‘hire purchase’ (credit) for cars, washing machines, and houses. When the economy deteriorated, millions of households could not repay what they had borrowed and were forced to give up their homes and consumer durables.
4.Collapse of the US Banking System: As farms could not sell harvests and businesses collapsed, US banks slashed domestic lending and were unable to recover investments or collect loans. Thousands of banks went bankrupt and closed (over 4,000 banks closed by 1933), deepening the crisis.
Question 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-
The G-77 refers to the Group of 77. This group was formed by developing countries.
After the Second World War, most colonies in Asia and Africa gained independence. These newly independent nations were overburdened by poverty and a lack of resources, and their economies were handicapped by long periods of colonial rule.
The formation of the G-77 can be seen as a reaction against the structure and impact of the Bretton Woods institutions (the IMF and the World Bank) in the following ways:
The Bretton Woods institutions were originally designed to meet the financial needs of the Western industrial countries. They were not equipped to cope with the challenge of poverty and lack of development in the former colonies.
Even after decolonisation, these new nations came under the guidance of international agencies dominated by the former colonial powers. Furthermore, large corporations of powerful countries, like the US, secured rights to exploit developing countries’ natural resources very cheaply.
Because most developing countries did not benefit from the fast growth of the Western economies in the 1950s and 1960s, the G-77 organized to demand a New International Economic Order (NIEO). The NIEO sought a system that would give them real control over their natural resources, fairer prices for raw materials, more development assistance, and better access for their manufactured goods in developed markets.