The Making of Global World LAQ CBSE Class 10 Social Sciences

How did Silk Routes link the world ? Explain with three suitable examples. [CBSE 2008 (D)]
Or
Explain any three characteristics of Silk Routes. [CBSE Comp. (D) 2008, Sept. 2010, 2012]
Or
Enumerate the importance of Silk Routes. [CBSE Sept. 2010]
Ans. (i) The silk routes are a good example of vibrant pre-modem trade and cultural links between the distant parts of the world.
(ii) The silk route was used by the Chinese traders to export silk to other countries.
(iii) These routes were used by traders to trade goods from one country to another.
(iv) Trade and cultural exchange always went hard in hand. Early Christian missionaries almost certainly travelled through this route to Asia, as did the early Muslim preachers, a few centuries later.
(v) These routes were also used to spread religions Buddhism emerged from eastern India to spread ir. several directions through intersecting points on the silk routes.

Q.2. Explain the impacts of scrapping of the Corn Law. [CBSE Sept, 2010, 2014]
Or
What was the result of the abolishing of Corn Laws? [CBSE Sept, 2010, 2012]
Ans. (i) The scrapping of Corn Laws lead to free trade of food grains.
(ii) After the abolition of Corn Laws, food could be imported into Britain more cheaply than it could be produced within the country.
(iii) British farmers were unable to compete with imports. Vast areas of land were now left uncultivated, and thousands of men and women were thrown out of work. They flocked to the cities or migrated overseas
(iv) Increase in demand due to fall in prices and increase in income leads to mismatch between demand and supply of food grains.
(v) Many countries of the world like Russia. America and Australia and some eastern European countries started exporting food grains to Britain which gave further set back to the local producers.

Q.3. ‘By 1890, a global agricultural economy had taken shape.’ Explain by giving example.
Or
Describe any three changes in the global agricultural economy after 1890. [CBSE 2014]
Ans. (i) Food and other products : Food and Other products started flowing from far away places. It was no longer grown by a peasant tilling his own land, but by an agricultural worker, perhaps recently arrived, who was now working on a large farm that only a generation ago. had perhaps been a forest.
(ii) Infrastructure : The food and other products being transported by railways bud: for that very purpose and by ships which were increasingly manned in these decades by low paid workers from southern Europe Asia Africa and the Caribbean Islands.
(iii) Raw materials : Indian farmers were producing raw cotton and other farm products to British industry. World trade between 1820 and 1914 multiplied about 25 to 40 times.
(iv) Scrapping of Corn Law : The scrapping of the Corn Laws laid the foundation of free trade. Now food could be imported or exported into Britain freely.
(v) Commercialisation of agriculture in colonies: The imperial countries took various steps to commercialise agriculture in their colonies. For example. British government built a network of irrigation canals to transform semi desert waste land of West Punjab into fertile agricultural land.

Q.4. “The example of indentured labour migration from India and other parts of the world illustrates the two-sided nature of the 19th century” world.” Explain by giving examples.
Or
Why 19th century indentured has been described as a ‘new system of slavery’ ? Explain. [CBSE Sept. 2010, 2012, 2014]
Ans. (i) It was a world of faster economic growth as well as greater misery, higher income for some, and poverty for others, technological advances in some areas, and new forms of exploitation in others.
In India, indentured labourers were hired under contracts which promised the return travel to India, after they had worked for five years on their employer’s plantation.
(ii) Most of the indentured workers migrated in hope for a bright future, but they were exploited by the recruiting agent and by the employer.

• • They had to pay a commission to the recruiting agent.
  • The agents used to provides false information to the workers regarding their final destination, modes of travel, the nature of work and living and working conditions.

• Sometimes, agents even forcibly abducted less willing migrants.

Q.5. ‘The indentured workers had discovered their own ways of surviving.” Explain. [CBSE 2013]
Or
How did the indentured labourers maintain their cultural identity in other part of the world ? [CBSE 2013]
Ans. (i) Many of the indentured labourers escaped into the jungles.
(ii) They started celebrating festivals like Hosay in which both the Hindus and Muslims, who had migrated from India participated.
(iii) Many of the migrants joined or became part of the Rastafarianism, ie. a religious movement born out of black slums of Jamaica.
(iv) They started creating their own way of enjoyment like Chutney Music. The Chutney Music has beer, created by Indo- Caribbean people. The Music derives elements from Indian film songs.
(v) They developed a new culture which was a blend of the new culture and the traditional culture of the indentured labourers.

Q.6. Explain the impact of the First World War on Britain.
Or
How did the First World War change the economic life of the people in Britain ? Explain. [CBSE 2008 (D)]
Or
Describe in brief the world economic conditions of the post First World War period. [CBSE 2010 (D), Sept. 2012, 2013]
Ans. (i) The post-war economic recovery proved difficult as the heavy expenditure on the World War I weakened the British economy
(ii) While Britain was preoccupied with war, industries had development in Japan and India. So now Britain had to face competition from these countries, especially from Japan.
(iii) To finance war expenditures. Britain had borrowed liberally from the United States (US). This meant that at the end of the war. Britain was burdened with huge external debts.
(iv) The war had led to an economic boom, i.e., to a large increase in demand, production, prices and employment. When the war boom ended production contracted, employment and unemployment increased.
(v) The economic hardship of the war period forced the people of British colonies against them. For example. Non-Cooperation movement was launched in India.

Q.7. What was the impact of the Great Depression on USA ? Explain. [CBSE 2013]
Ans. (i) With the fall in prices and the prospect of a depression, the US banks also slashed domestic lending, and called back loans.
(ii) Farms were unable to sell their harvests.
(iii) Faced with falling income, many households in the US could not repay what they had borrowed, and were forced to give up their homes, cars and other consumer durables.
(iv) industrial production registered a fail of about 35 per cent.
(v) The number of the unemployed started rising, and in 1933. it touched 17 million. As unemployment soared, people trudged long distances looking for any work they could find. Ultimately, the US banking system itself collapsed.

Q.8. Explain the consequences of the Second World War.
Or
Describe in brief the destruction caused during the Second World War. [CBSE 2010 (O), Sept. 2012]
Ans. (i) Death and Destruction : More than GO million people, or about 3 per cent of the world’s population, are believed to have been killed, directly or indirectly, as a result of the tear. Millions or more were injured too. Many big cities were reduced to ashes.
(ii) Damage to Agriculture. Trade and Industries : The World War II caused a great damage to agriculture, trade and commerce. The terrible battles fought in different countries, made large tracts of land infertile. Lakhs of industries were destroyed which caused a severe damage to the industrial production. Many industries were closed down in the absence of sufficient raw materials.
(iii) Increase in Soviet Russia’s Power and Prestige : The Second World War boosted up the power and prestige of the Soviet Union. Russian influence started increasing in the international held, and many countries got attracted towards communism. (iv) USA becomes a Super Power : The World War II made USA the supreme power of the world Undoubtedly, the USA played an important role in the victory of the Allies. After the war, no European country was either as powerful or as prosperous as the United States of America (USA).
(v) New Economic system : The main aim of the post-war international economic system was to preserve economic Stability and full employment in the industrial world. The Bretton Woods conference established the International Monetary fund IMP to deal with external surpluses and deficits its member nations. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development ( popularly known as the World Bank) was set up to finance post-war reconstruction.

Q.9. ‘Economists and politicians drew two key lessons from inter-war economic experiences.’ Explain. [CBSE Sept 2012]
Ans. (i) Full employment : An industrial society based on mass production cannot be sustained without mass consumption. But to ensure mass consumption, there was a need for high and stable income Income could not be stable if employment was unstable Thus, stable income also required a stead. full employment.
(ii) Intervention of government : Before the Second World War, most of the economists believed that capitalist economies or markets are self-sustaining. i.e. there is no need for government intervention. But the inter-war period proved that markets alone could not guarantee full employment.
Therefore, the government would have to step into minimise fluctuations of price, output and employment. Economic stability could be ensured only through the intervention of the government.

Q.10. What is meant by the Bretton Woods Agreement ? Explain. [CBSE Sept. 2010. 2011]
Ans. The Bretton Woods Conference took place in the July of 1944 at Bretton Woods in New Hamsphire, USA. Under this system, the International Monetary Fund (IMP) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) were established.
The main terms of this agreement were:
(i) Formation of IMF and IBRD (also called the World Bank).
(ii) To establish monetary cooperation amongst the member countries.
(iii) Adjustable peg foreign exchange rates system was followed, i. the exchange rates were fixed, with the provision of changing them if necessary.
Currencies were required to be convertible for trade related and other current account transactions. The governments, however, had the power to regulate capital flows.
(iv) All member countries were required to subscribe to the IMF’s capital.

Q.11. What were the impacts of the Bretton Woods system ? Explain.
Ans. (i) Bretton Woods system inaugurated an era Of unprecedented growth of trade and income for the Western industrial nations and Japan.
(ii) It provided a big boost to the world trade which grew annually at over 8 per cent between 1950 and 1970. and incomes at nearly 5 per cent.
(iii) The grow-h was also mostly stable, without large fluctuations.
(iv) The system also controlled the unemployment which averaged less than 5 per cent in most industrial countries.
(v) These decades also saw the worldwide spread of technology and enterprise. Developing countries were in a hurry to catch up with the advanced industrial countries. Therefore, they invested vast amounts of capital, importing industrial plans and equipment featuring modern technology.

Q.12. ‘In the. 19th century, all over the world more than 150 million people migrated from one country to another.’ Explain the factors responsible for this migration.
Ans. (i) Abolition of Corn Laws and free trade : The scrapping of the Corn laws laid the foundation of free trade. Now, food could be imported Or exported into Britain freely.
(ii) New Economic activities: The free trace led to development of railways and new ports. People had to settle or, the lands to bring them under cultivation. This meant building homes and settlements. All the construction activities needed labour. The demand for labour in places where labour was in short supply led to migration.
(iii) Role of technology: The railways, steamships, lighter wagons helped the people to move from one country to another.
(iv) Imperialism : The wave of imperialism engulfed the whole world and due to this people migrated from one nation to another.
(v) Different flows : The flow of trade accompanied with capital paved way for the flow of labour.

Q.13. Explain the role of technology in shaping the world economy of the 19th century. [CBSE 2010 (D)]
Or
What was the impact of technology on food availability ? Explain with the help of examples. [CBSE Sept. 2010, 2011, 2014]
Or
What was the role of technology in transforming in the 19th century world ? Explain with an example. [CBSE Sept. 2010]
Ans. (i) Transformation of the world economy : Technology played a major role in all these developments. Railways, steam shipping, telegraph, etc. were important inventions without which it was not possible to imagine the transformation of nineteenth-century world.
(ii) Linking the markets : New investments and improvements in transport: faster railways. lighter wagons and larger ships helped move food more cheaply and quickly from far away farms to final markets.
(iii) Impact on the meat trade : Till the 1870s, moat from America was shipped to Europe in the form of live animals which were then slaughtered in Europe. But live animals took up a lot of ship space. Many also died in voyage, fell ill. lost weight or became unfit to eat. So the prices of meat were very high and it was beyond the reacts of the European poor. Due to high price, the demand and production was low. But the invention of refrigerated ships made it possible to transport meat from one region to another.
(iv) Social peace and Imperialism : The refrigerated ships reduced shipping cost and lowered meat prices in Europe. The poor in Europe could now consume a more varied diet. Better living conditions promoted social peace within the country and support for Imperialism abroad.
(v) Colonialism : Technology played very important role in linking the world markets which promoted the sprit of colonialism.

Q.14. Define the term ‘Trade Surplus’. How was the income received from trade surplus with India used by Britain? [CBSE 2010, 2012, 2011]
Ans. When the value of exports is higher than value of imports, it is called as ‘Trade Surplus’.
(ii) Britain used this surplus to balance its trade deficits with other countries — that is. with countries from which Britain was importing more than it was selling to.
(iii) This is how n multi-lateral settlement system works—it allows one country’s deficit with another country to be settled by its surplus with a third country.
(iv) By helping Britain balance its deficits. India played a crucial role in the late- nineteenth century world economy.
(v) Britain’s trade surplus in India also helped to pay the so-called ‘home charges’ that included private remittances home by British officials and traders, interest payments on India’s external debt, and pensions of British officials in India.

Q.15 What do you know about the Great Depression ? Explain the major factors responsible for the Great Depression. [CBSE 2008 (F), Sept. 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013]
Ans. This was a period during which most parts of the world experienced catastrophic decline in production, employment, income and trade. The state of Economic Depression set in the United States of America in 1929 and engulfed the entire world. Tins state of Economic Depression set in the United States of America (USA) in 1929. and engulfed the entire world. Hence, it is known as the Greet Depression.

Causes of Economic Depression :
(i) Conditions created by the War: There was an immense industrial expansion in view of the increased demands of goods related to army during the period of the First World War. After the war, the industries went through the same proliferation. However, the sharp decrease in demands for military and war products gave birth to the economic depression.
(ii) Overproduction in agriculture:
Agricultural overproduction was one another major factor responsible for the depression. This was made worse by falling agricultural prices. As prices slumped, and agricultural income declined, farmers tried to expand production, and bring a larger volume of produce to the market to maintain their overall income. This worsened the glut in the market, pushing down prices even further. The farm produce rotted for lack of buyers.
(iii) Shortage of loans : In the mid 1920s, many countries financed their investments through loans from the US. While it was often very easy to raise loans in the US during the boom period, but the US overseas lenders panicked at the first sign of trouble.
(iv) Multiple effect : The withdrawal of lenders from the market had a multiple effect. In Europe, it led to the failure of some major banks, and the collapse of currencies such as the British pound and the sterling.
In Latin America and elsewhere, it intensified the slump in agricultural and raw material prices. The US attempt to protect its economy in the depression by doubling import duties also dealt another severe blow to the world trade.

Q.16. How did Henry Ford revolutionise mass production in the US ? Explain. [CBSE 2012]
Ans. (i) Henry Ford adopted the assembly line of a Chicago slaughterhouse to his new car plant in Detroit.
(ii) The assembly line allowed a faster and cheaper way of producing vehicles. It forced workers to repeat a single task mechanically and continuously.
(iii) This increased their efficiency in the single task and the speed of production too.
(iv) Standing in front of the conveyer belt, no worker could delay the motion or take a break.
(v) In the beginning many workers quit, since they could not cope up with the stress of work.
(vi) Henry Ford doubled their ‘wages and against that he not only increased the speed of the conveyer belt but also banned trade unions.

Q.17. Explain the impact of the Great Depression on the Indian economy. [CBSE Sept. 2010, 2014]
Or
Explain the impact of the Great Depression on Indian farmers in the early twentieth century. [CBSE 2009 (F), Sept. 2012]
Ans. (i) Impact on trade : The depression immediately affected Indian trade. India’s exports and imports nearly halved between 1928 and 1934. As international prices crashed, prices in India plunged. Between 1928 and 1934 wheat prices in India fell by about 50 per cent.
(if) Impact on farmers : The fall in prices had a deep impact on the poor farmers. Though agricultural prices fell sharply, but the colonial government refused to give any relief to the farmers in taxes. Peasants producing tor the world market were the worst hit.
(iii) Impact on Urban India : The depression proved less grim for urban India. Because of falling prices those with fixed income- say town-dwelling landowners, who received rents and middle-class salaried employees now found themselves better off. Every thing low cost.
(iv) High Industrial investment : Industrial investment also grew as the government extended tariff protection to industries, under the pressure of nationalist opinion.
(v) Political Impact : The Great Depression paved way for Gandhiji to launch the Civil Disobedience movement.

Q.18. G-77 can be seen as a reaction to the activities of Bretton Woods Twins. Explain the statement with five arguments. [CBSE 2013]
Ans. (i) The Bretton Woods Twins — the IMF and the World Bank were dominated by the former colonial powers As a result, most developing countries did not benefit from the fast growth that the western economies experienced in die 1950s and 1960s. So. they organised themselves as a croup — the group of 77 of G-77 to demand a new International economic order.
(ii) Former colonial powers exploited the natural resources for developing nations through the IMF and the World Bank.
(iii) The developing nations organised themselves into G-77 so as to gain real control over then natural resources.
(iv) They wanted to get more development assistance and fairer prices tor raw materials.
(v) They also wanted a better opportunity for their manufactured goods in the markets of developed nations.

Q.19. What were the factors which were responsible for the end of the Bretton Woods system ?
Ans. (i) The Decline of US Currency: After 1960s, the US was no longer the dominant economic power as it had been for more than two decades The US dollar now no longer commanded confidence as the world’s principal currency. Tire dollar could not maintain is value in relation to gold.
(ii) New powers : By the mid-1960s, the E E C and Japan had become international economic powers in their own right. With total reserves exceeding those of the US. with higher levels of growth and trade, and with per capita income approaching that of the US. Europe and Japan were narrowing the gap between themselves and the United States.
(iii) Rise of Western Commercial Banks :
From the mid-1970s, the International financial system also changed in important ways. Earlier, developing countries could turn to international institutions for loans and development assistance. But now. they were forced to borrow from Western commercial banks and private lending institutions- This led to periodic debt crises in the developing world and lower income along with increased poverty, especially in Africa and Latin America.
(iv) Problem of unemployment : The industrial world was also hit by unemployment that began rising from the mid-1970s, and remained high until the early 1990s. From the late 1970s, MNCs also began to shift production operations to low-wage Asian countries.
(v) Rise of China and Soviet Union: China had been cut off from the post-war world economy since its revolution in 1949. But new economic policies in China and the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Soviet* style communism in Eastern Europe brought many countries back into the fold of the world economy.
(vi) Low cost structure in China : The Chinese economy emerged ns a new super power due to low cost structure. Wages were relatively low- in countries like China. Thus they became attractive destinations for investment by foreign MNCs competing to capture the world markets.

Q.20. What were the main sources of attraction for Europeans to come to Africa in the late nineteenth century ? How did they exploit their resources ? [CBSE 2010 (F)]
Ans: (i) Europeans were attracted to Africa due to its vast resources of land and minerals.
(ii) Europeans came to Africa hoping to establish plantations and mines to produce crops and minerals for export to Europe. (iii) Inheritance laws were changed so that peasants were displaced from land: only one member of a family was allowed to inherit land, as a result of which the others were pushed into the labour market.
(iv) Europeans divided different regions of Africa among themselves.
Q.21. Explain any four measures adopted by America for postwar (First World War) recovery. [CBSE Sept. 2010]
Ans. (i) USA moved towards mass production which lowered the cost of production.
(ii) Due to lower cost of production producers started giving higher wages to the worker.
(iii) The demand for common household products boomed the housing sector
(iv) The housing and consumer boom of the 1920s created the basis of prosperity in the US. Large investments in housing and household goods seemed to create a cycle of higher employment and incomes, rising consumption demand, more investment, and yet more employment and incomes.
(v) In 1923. the US resumed exporting capital to the rest of the world and became the largest overseas lender.