The Making of Global World VBQ CBSE Class 10 Social Sciences
Q.1. “Food offers many examples of long distance cultural exchange.” Explain. [CBSE Sept. 2011]
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Assess with examples the contribution of food to the process of globalisation of the early periods. [CBSE 2012]
Ans. (i) Many of our common foods, such as potatoes, soya, groundnuts, maize, tomatoes, chillies, sweet potatoes, etc. were not known to our ancestors. These food items reached our country through travellers. It is believed that noodles travelled west from China to , become spaghetti. Or, perhaps the Arab traders took pasta to the 5th century Sicily, an island in Italy.
(ii) Many of the food items which are consumed by us today were introduced by travellers and explorers. In fact, many of our common foods came from America’s original inhabitants as our continent was discovered by Columbus, who came from America.
(iii) Europeans poor began to eat better and live longer with the introduction of the potatoes.
Q.2. ‘The Portuguese and Spanish used all ethical and unethical methods to colonise America”. Justify.
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How were the germs used as a powerful weapon by the Portuguese and the Spanish for the colonisation of America ?
Ans. (i) The Portuguese and the Spanish had a strong firepower and army.
(ii) But along with these, they also used germs and viruses for conquering parts of America.
(iii) As America was isolated, so the original inhabitants had no immunity against these dreadful germs and viruses.
(iv) Smallpox proved a deadly killer. Once introduced, it spread deep into the continent killing several communities, and paving the way for conquests.
(v) These germs were more dangerous as compared to guns and firearms because guns could be brought or captured, but there was no answer for these germs.
Q.3. “European conquests produced many painful economic, social and ecological changes through which the colonised societies were brought into the world economy.” Explain. [CBSE 2015]
Ans. (i) In 1885 the big European powers met in Berlin to complete the carving up of Africa between them.
(ii) Rinderpest a cattle disease arrived in Africa in the late 1880s. It was carried by infected cattle imported from British Asia to feed the Italian soldiers invading Eritrea in East Africa. Entering Africa in the east, rinderpest moved west ‘like forest fire’, reaching Africa’s Atlantic coast in 1892. It reached the Cape (Africa’s southernmost tip) five years later. Along the way rinderpest killed 90 per cent of the cattle. The loss of cattle destroyed African livelihoods. Planters, mine owners and colonial governments now successfully monopolised what scarce cattle resources remained, to strengthen their power and to force Africans into the labour market. In the era of conquests even a disease affecting cattle reshaped the lives and fortunes of thousands of people and their relation with the rest of the world.
(iii) The example of indentured labour migration from India also illustrates the two-sided nature of the nineteenth-century world. It was a world of faster economic growth as well as great misery, higher incomes for some and poverty for others, technological advances in some areas and new forms of coercion in others.
Q.4. What were the social advantages of invention of refrigerated ships ?
Ans. (i) This reduced the shipping costs, and lowered meat prices in Europe.
(ii) The poor in Europe could now consume a more varied diet.
(iii) To the earlier, monotony of bread and potatoes many, not all, could add meat, butter or eggs.
(iv) Better living conditions promoted social peace within the country, and support for imperialism abroad.
Q.5. What was the impact of the spread of rinderpest or the cattle plague on the African people ? Explain. [CBSE 2009 (O)]
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How did rinderpest change .the economy of the African society ? [CBSE Sept. 2010, 2011]
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Explain the social impact of introduction of rinderpest in Africa.
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Describe briefly the effects of rinderpest in Africa in the 1890’s. [CBSE Sept. 2011, 2012, 2014]
Ans. (i) Arrival of rinderpest : Rinderpest arrived in Africa in the late 1880s. Within two years, it spread in the whole continent reaching Cape Town (Africa’s southernmost tip) within five years.
(ii) Loss of Cattle : The germs of the disease were carried by infected cattle imported from British Asia to feed the Italian soldiers invading Eritrea in Eastern Africa. The rinderpest killed about 90 per cent of the cattle.
(iii) Loss of livelihood : As cattle was the main wealth of the people so the loss of cattle destroyed the African livelihoods.
(iv) African into labour market : Planters, mine owners and colonial governments now successfully monopolised what scarce cattle resources remained, to strengthen their power, and to force the Africans into the labour market.
(v) Subdue of Africa : Control over scarce resource of cattle enabled the European colonisers to conquer and subdue Africa.
Q.6. Explain the social and economic impacts of the First World War. Suggest any two ways to save the world from the Third World War.
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“The First World War was mainly fought in Europe but its impact was felt around the world.” Explain by giving examples.
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What was the impact of the First World War on the socio-economic conditions of the world ? Write four points. [CBSE Sept. 2010, 2011]
Ans. (i) A Total War : The First World War was totally different from the previous wars. The fighting involved the world’s leading industrial nations, who now harnessed the vast powers of modern industry to inflict the greatest possible destruction on their enemies.
(ii) Modem industrial war : This war was thus the first modem industrial war. It saw the use of machine guns, tanks, aircraft, submarines, liquid fire, chemical weapons, etc., on a massive scale. These were all increasingly products of modern large-scale industry.
(iii) Reduction In the workforce : Most of the killed and maimed were men of working age. These deaths and injuries reduced the able-bodied workforce in Europe. With fewer numbers within the family, household incomes declined after the war.
(iv) New social set-up: The war was responsible for reorganising the whole society and economy. During the war, industries were restructured to produce war-related goods. So, there was a shortage of consumer goods. The entire societies were also reorganised for war, as men went to battle, women stepped into to undertake jobs that earlier only men were expected to do.
(v) Emergence of America as a Super World Power : The United States of America (USA) became a Super World Power after the war. American companies and the people had floated huge loans to the Allies during the war. As a result of it, her economic supremacy was established. Thus, the war transformed the US from being an international debtor to an international creditor.
Suggestions :
(i) The membership of the Security Council (UNO) should be expanded.
(ii) International exchange programmes
