Class X
History
Unit IV – The Making of a Global World
Notes
Globalization: This term refers to the process of formation
of an economic system that has emerged, roughly, in the last 50 years.
Dissenter: is one who refuses to accept established beliefs
and practices
Americas: This term includes North America, South America
and the Caribbean.
El
Dorado: An imaginary city of gold in South
America
Smithfield: An area in London well known for livestock trade
Canal Colonies: Areas in west Punjab which were irrigated by
a network of canals built by the then British government in India
David Livingstone (1813 – 73): Scottish missionary and
explorer in Africa
Henry Morton Stanley: Welsh-born American journalist and
explorer sent to Africa to search for Livingstone; his explorations helped the
conquest of Africa by the European powers.
Rinderpest: Cattle plague that killed 90% of the cattle in
Africa in the late 19th century; it forced Africans into the labour
market.
Indentured labour: A bonded labourer under contract to work
for an employer for a certain period of time to pay off his passage to a new
country; it is described as a new system of slavery; abolished in 1921
(V S Naipaul, Nobel Prize-winning writer, and West Indies
cricketers Shiv Narayan Chanderpaul and Ram Naresh Sarwan are all descendants
of indentured labour migrants from India.)
Hosay: A Shia Muslim celebration in Trinidad and Tobago (in
the Caribbean); similar to Muharram
Rastafarianism or Rastafari Movement: A religious and social
movement of blacks that started in Jamaica in the 1930s
Bob Marley: Jamaican singer, song-writer and musician who
made Rastafarianism famous
Chutney music: It is a form of music indigenous to the
southern Caribbean. It originated in Trinidad and derives elements from
traditional Indian music.
Indian bankers and traders who financed export agriculture:
Shikaripuri shroffs, Nattukottai Chettiars, Hyderabadi Sindhis
Cotton textile export from India:
1800: 30%
1815: 15%
1870: 3%
Raw cotton export from India:
1812: 5%
1871: 35%
India’s single largest export after 1820s: Opium (to China)
India played a crucial role in the late 19th
century world economy by helping Britain balance its trade deficit.
Home charges: Private remittances home by British officials
in India, interest payments on India’s external debt, pensions of British
officials
(During 1931 – 35, India exported gold worth Rs. 2,330
million to pay off home charges.)
World War I: Fought during 1914 – 18 between the Allies
(Britain, France, Russia, the US) and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary,
Turkey); the first modern industrial war using machine guns, tanks, aircraft,
chemical weapons etc. on a large scale; 9 million dead and 20 million injured;
transformed the US from an international debtor to an international creditor;
in 1923, the US became the world’s largest overseas lender
World War II: 1939 – 45; between the Axis Powers (Germany,
Italy and Japan) and the Allies (Britain, France, the US and the USSR); 60
million deaths
T-Model Ford: The world’s first mass produced car
Fordist industrial practice: Assembly line method of mass
production in which each worker would repeat a single task mechanically and
continuously at a pace dictated by the conveyor belt
Car production in the US:
1919: 2
million
1929: 5
million
Causes of the Great Depression:
Agricultural
overproduction and falling agricultural prices
Withdrawal of
US loans and collapse of banks and currencies
Collapse of US banking system (4000 banks and 110,000
companies in the US were closed during 1929 – 32)
India’s exports and imports nearly halved and wheat prices
fell by 50% during 1928 – 34.
The USSR made rapid economic development and became a world
power while the rest of the world was caught in the Great Depression.
Lessons from inter-war economic experiences:
An industrial society based on mass production cannot be
sustained without mass consumption.
To ensure mass consumption, peoples’ incomes must be stable.
Economic stability cannot be ensured without government
intervention.
The goal of full employment cannot be realized unless
governments control flow of goods, capital and labour
The Post-War International Economic System (or the Bretton
Woods System:
Goal: To preserve economic stability and full employment in
the industrial world
Framework: Finalized at the United Nations Monetary and
Financial Conference, Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, USA; July 1944
Measures: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) was
established to deal with external surpluses and deficits of its member nations;
the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (or the World Bank)
was set up to finance post-war reconstruction
The Bretton Woods institutions (or the Bretton Woods twins):
The IMF and the World Bank (which commenced operations in 1947)
NIEO: New International Economic Order demanded by G-77 (developing
countries)
Demands of NIEO:
Control over
natural resources
Development
assistance
Fair prices
for raw materials
Better access
for manufactured goods in developed markets
Multi-National Corporations (or MNCs): Large companies that
operate in several countries at the same time
Tariff: Tax imposed on a country’s imports
Exchange rates: Relative values of national currencies in
international trade
Fixed exchange rate: Governments intervene to maintain exchange
rates
Floating exchange rate: Rates fluctuate depending on demand
and supply of currencies in the international markets
The roots of globalization lay in the history of the world
through the centuries, from the perspectives of trade, migration, movement of
people and capital etc.
The history of globalization explains how, in the course of
time, lives of human communities in different parts of the world have gradually
become more and more interlinked.
Who were the people that moved?
Travellers, traders, priests, pilgrims etc.
What did the people carry with them when they moved?
Goods, money, values, traditions, knowledge, skills, ideas,
inventions and even germs and diseases.
What were the causes that motivated the movement of people?
Acquiring knowledge, spreading knowledge, search for
opportunities of work, employment or business, spiritual fulfillment,
propagation of religion, escaping persecution etc.
5000 years ago (in 3000 BC) the people of the Indus Valley
Civilization had trade links with the people of west Asia.
Long ago, cowries or seashells were used as a form of
currency in the Maldives.
Silk routes: The routes along which trade flourished between
Asia and Europe
(Early Christian missionaries and Muslim preachers also
reached Asia along the silk route.)
Items of trade in the silk route from Asia to Europe:
Silk and pottery of China; textiles and spices from India
and south-east Asia
Items of trade in the silk route from Europe to Asia: Gold
and silver
Spaghetti: Italian name for Chinese noodles
Pasta was introduced in Italy (first in Sicily) by Arab
traders in the 5th century.
It was only 5 centuries ago that many of our common foods
such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, chillies, soya, groundnut, maize
etc. were introduced in Asia and Europe (after the discovery of the Americas by
Christopher Columbus). We owe it to the Red Indians or the American Indians,
America’s original inhabitants.
The world began to shrink in the 16th century
because of the discovery of sea routes to America and India.
Cotton and sugar plantations came up in America in the 18th
century in which African slaves were used as labourers.
Until the 19th century, poverty, hunger, crowded
cities, deadly diseases, religious conflicts and persecution of religious
dissenters were common in Europe, because of which people in large numbers
migrated to America.
About 50 million (5 crore) people migrated from Europe to
America / Australia in the 19th century. All over the world, about
150 million (15 crore) people emigrated to other places.
Potato made the poor man’s food in Europe. Meat was a luxury
for the poor, till frozen meat began to be transported in the late 19th
century.
Precious metals (particularly silver) from mines in Peru and
Mexico greatly enriched Europe.
In the Portuguese and Spanish conquest and colonization of
America, the main weapon used was smallpox.
In 1885, the big European powers met in Berlin to discuss
the ‘scramble’ of Africa.
The US became a colonial power in the last decade of the 19th
century by taking over some former Spanish colonies.
Until the 18th century, China and India were
among the world’s richest countries.
After China’s self-imposed isolation in the 15th
century and India’s colonization, the center of world trade shifted to Europe.
In the mid 19th century India, decline of cottage
industries, debt and rising land rents forced the poor to become indentured
labour, mainly in eastern UP, Bihar, central India and dry districts of Tamil
Nadu.
The three flows of trade in the 19th century:
Flow of goods
Flow of
labour
Flow of
capital
During 1820 – 1914, the volume of world trade multiplied 25
– 40 times. About 60% of it comprised primary products (agricultural
commodities like wheat and cotton; minerals like coal).
The US economy in the 1920s was based on mass production.
