CBSE Class 10 SST History Ch 3 The Making of a Global World Question Bank with Solutions

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Class 10 SST · History · Chapter 3 · Question Bank + Solutions

CBSE · NCERT

SOCIAL SCIENCE (HISTORY) – CHAPTER 3 : THE MAKING OF A GLOBAL WORLD

Chapter-wise Question Bank (CBSE Board + Competitive · Moderate to HOTS Level)

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Class : XSubject : Social Science (History)Name : ..................

Questions : 200Total Marks : 500

General Instructions

1. This question bank is based on NCERT Class X India and the Contemporary World – I (History), Chapter 3 (The Making of a Global World), and follows the CBSE board pattern with competitive (HOTS) questions mixed in.
2. Section A: Q.1 to Q.50 are MCQs of 1 mark each (50 marks). Section B: Q.51 to Q.100 are Assertion–Reason questions of 1 mark each (50 marks).
3. Section C: Q.101 to Q.150, Short Answer, 3 marks each (150 marks), about 60–80 words. Section D: Q.151 to Q.200, Long Answer, 5 marks each (250 marks), about 120–150 words.
4. Complete solutions with marking points are given after the questions.

SECTION – A (Multiple Choice Questions · 1 Mark each)

Q.1 – Q.50 Choose the correct option.50 × 1 = 50

1. The Silk Routes linked which parts of the world in the pre-modern period?

(a) Asia with Europe and northern Africa(b) Africa with America(c) America with Australia(d) Europe with America

2. The Silk Route got its name from –

(a) Indian silk only(b) the Chinese silk cargoes that travelled along it(c) silk produced in Europe(d) silk traded by the British

3. Which of the following travelled along the Silk Routes?

(a) Only gold from America(b) Only machines(c) Only newspapers(d) Textiles, spices, Buddhist monks and Christian missionaries

4. Which of the following was used as a form of currency in the Indian Ocean trade?

(a) Cowries(b) Dollars(c) Gold coins of Britain(d) Paper notes

5. Which of the following food items travelled from China to the West and may have become spaghetti?

(a) Potato(b) Maize(c) Tomato(d) Noodles

6. Which of these foods was introduced to Europe and Asia after Columbus ‘discovered’ the Americas?

(a) Noodles and spices(b) Silk and tea(c) Wheat and barley(d) Potatoes, maize and tomatoes

7. The introduction of potato in Europe –

(a) increased hunger(b) was rejected by all Europeans(c) gave the poor an improved diet and a longer life(d) was banned by the Church

8. The potato famine in Ireland occurred in the –

(a) 1740s(b) 1840s(c) 1920s(d) 1990s

9. Until the mid-sixteenth century, the Americas had remained cut off from the rest of the world. Which of the following contributed MOST to the European conquest of America?

(a) Superior guns only(b) Germs such as smallpox, to which the natives had no immunity(c) Superior ships only(d) Treaties

10. Silver from which mines in the Americas enriched Europe and financed Europe’s trade with Asia?

(a) The mines of Kimberley(b) The coal mines of Britain(c) The gold mines of the Klondike(d) The silver mines of Potosí (Peru/Bolivia)

11. The legend of El Dorado referred to –

(a) a city of silk(b) a port city(c) a fabled city of gold(d) a famous Silk Route trader

12. By the seventeenth century, the Dutch and Europeans had acquired sources of labour in America through –

(a) the slave trade from Africa(b) Chinese migration(c) voluntary migration from India(d) the use of machines

13. The world in the nineteenth century changed due to –

(a) Only economic factors(b) Only wars(c) economic, political, social, cultural and technological factors(d) Only religion

14. The three types of ‘flows’ within international economic exchanges noted by economists are –

(a) trade, war and religion(b) trade, labour migration and capital movement(c) gold, silver and copper(d) railways, roads and ships

15. The Corn Laws in Britain were –

(a) laws encouraging corn exports(b) laws banning potato(c) laws for sharing land(d) laws allowing the British government to restrict the import of corn

16. The Corn Laws were abolished in Britain because –

(a) farmers wanted them abolished(b) Britain no longer had landlords(c) a new king ordered it(d) industrialists and urban dwellers forced the government to do so, as food prices were high

17. Which of the following was a consequence of the abolition of the Corn Laws?

(a) Food could be imported into Britain more cheaply than it could be produced within the country(b) Food prices increased(c) Industrialisation stopped(d) Cultivation of corn increased in Britain

18. Which technological development made it possible to transport meat from distant countries to Europe?

(a) The telephone(b) The aeroplane(c) The refrigerated ship(d) The sailing ship

19. The Berlin Conference of 1885 was held to –

(a) end the First World War(b) set up the IMF(c) complete the carving up of Africa between European powers(d) start the Silk Route

20. Rinderpest, a fast-spreading disease of cattle plague, arrived in Africa in the late 1880s through –

(a) slaves from America(b) Indian merchants(c) Spanish ships(d) infected cattle imported from British Asia to feed Italian soldiers invading Eritrea

21. What was one effect of rinderpest in Africa?

(a) It helped Africans become rich(b) It destroyed the livelihoods of Africans and forced them to work for wages(c) It ended the slave trade(d) It stopped colonisation

22. The system of indentured labour was –

(a) a bonded labour contract under which a worker agreed to work for an employer for a fixed term to pay off the cost of passage(b) free migration of labourers(c) a system of paying cash wages in advance(d) a trade union scheme

23. Indian indentured labourers were taken to which of the following regions?

(a) Canada and the USA(b) The Caribbean islands, Mauritius and Fiji(c) Japan and Korea(d) Egypt and Arabia

24. Why did many poor Indians agree to become indentured labourers?

(a) They wished to travel the world(b) Poverty, unemployment, high rents and decline of cottage industries pushed them(c) The British gave them lands(d) They were excited by wages of gold

25. When was the system of indentured labour abolished?

(a) 1857(b) 1947(c) 1900(d) 1921

26. ‘Hosay’ in Trinidad is a –

(a) carnival-like festival derived from the Muharram procession(b) Hindu temple(c) type of tea(d) cricket match

27. Which of the following groups of Indian entrepreneurs financed export agriculture in Central and Southeast Asia?

(a) Parsi merchants(b) Shikaripuri shroffs and Nattukottai Chettiars(c) Marwari bankers of Calcutta(d) Bohra traders

28. What was the effect of the British industrial growth on Indian cotton cloth exports?

(a) Exports of Indian cotton cloth declined and raw cotton exports increased(b) Indian cotton cloth exports rose(c) India stopped growing cotton(d) India imported raw cotton

29. India’s trade surplus with Britain was used to –

(a) balance Britain’s trade deficits with other countries(b) pay Indian debts(c) build railways in India(d) support Indian industries

30. Which of the following was NOT one of the Allied Powers in the First World War?

(a) Britain(b) France(c) Germany(d) Russia

31. Which feature distinguished the First World War from earlier wars?

(a) It was fought only on sea(b) It was fought without weapons(c) It was fought on an industrial scale with machine guns, tanks, aircraft and chemical weapons(d) It was fought only in Europe

32. After the First World War, the USA became –

(a) a debtor nation(b) a British colony(c) a defeated power(d) an international creditor, as Britain borrowed from US banks

33. Who pioneered the assembly-line method of production in Detroit?

(a) Thomas Edison(b) Henry Ford(c) Karl Marx(d) Adam Smith

34. Which of the following made mass production of consumer goods like refrigerators and washing machines possible in the 1920s USA?

(a) Assembly-line production and hire-purchase(b) Telegraph and telephone(c) Slave labour(d) Colonial taxes

35. The Great Depression began around –

(a) 1914(b) 1939(c) 1929(d) 1945

36. Which factor was among the causes of the Great Depression?

(a) Under-production of food(b) Over-production in agriculture and a fall in agricultural prices(c) A rise in prices(d) The abolition of the Corn Laws

37. The Wall Street Crash occurred in –

(a) July 1944(b) March 1930(c) October 1929(d) December 1931

38. The US banks cut back on loans and demanded repayment of loans from overseas; this resulted in –

(a) a rise in exports(b) the end of the depression(c) a worldwide spread of the depression(d) the independence of colonies

39. Between 1928 and 1934, the value of India’s exports and imports –

(a) doubled(b) remained the same(c) nearly halved(d) increased by 25 per cent

40. During the Great Depression, which of the following products of India suffered a steep price fall?

(a) Gold(b) Raw jute and wheat(c) Silver(d) Spices only

41. During the Great Depression, India became –

(a) an exporter of silk(b) an exporter of gold(c) an importer of gold(d) a rich country

42. The Bretton Woods Conference was held in –

(a) July 1944, in New Hampshire, USA(b) July 1914, in London(c) November 1929, in New York(d) March 1946, in Geneva

43. The two Bretton Woods institutions are –

(a) the IMF and the World Bank (IBRD)(b) the UN and WTO(c) the EU and NATO(d) the Red Cross and WHO

44. The Bretton Woods system was based on –

(a) flexible exchange rates(b) barter trade(c) free colonial rule(d) fixed exchange rates

45. The IMF and World Bank began financial operations in –

(a) 1947(b) 1929(c) 1939(d) 1957

46. The post-war international economic system is also called the –

(a) Silk Route system(b) Bretton Woods system(c) Corn Law system(d) Berlin system

47. The G-77 countries demanded –

(a) a New International Economic Order (NIEO)(b) a return to colonial rule(c) closure of the IMF(d) a new world war

48. Multinational corporations (MNCs) are companies that –

(a) operate in one country only(b) are owned by the government(c) do not make profit(d) operate in several countries at the same time

49. The end of the Bretton Woods system in the 1970s led to –

(a) a return to fixed rates(b) the end of the IMF(c) stopping of trade(d) flexible exchange rates and increased capital flows to developing countries

50. Which of the following was an effect of the First World War on the world economy?

(a) Europe’s economy flourished(b) Colonies became powerful(c) Europe’s economy was weakened, war debts increased and the US emerged as a major power(d) Britain became a debtor-free nation

SECTION – B (Assertion (A) – Reason (R) · 1 Mark each)

Q.51 – Q.100 Choose: (a) Both A and R true, R explains A; (b) Both true, R does not explain A; (c) A true, R false; (d) A false, R true.50 × 1 = 50

51. Assertion (A): The Silk Routes were important for the cultural exchange between Asia and Europe.
Reason (R): Along the routes travelled not only goods but also missionaries, preachers, pilgrims and ideas.

52. Assertion (A): Noodles and similar foods are believed to have reached the West from China.
Reason (R): Goods and food items travelled along the trade routes along with traders.

53. Assertion (A): Potato became an important food for the poor of Europe.
Reason (R): It was introduced from the Americas and was easy to grow and nutritious.

54. Assertion (A): The Irish potato famine of the 1840s caused great suffering.
Reason (R): The Irish poor depended heavily on potatoes and a blight destroyed the crop.

55. Assertion (A): The Americas were conquered by Europeans in the sixteenth century.
Reason (R): The natives had no immunity to diseases such as smallpox, which the Europeans carried.

56. Assertion (A): Silver from Potosí enriched Europe.
Reason (R): It financed Europe’s trade with Asia.

57. Assertion (A): The Corn Laws were abolished in Britain.
Reason (R): Industrialists and urban dwellers wanted cheaper food and forced the government.

58. Assertion (A): Food could be imported into Britain more cheaply after the Corn Laws were abolished.
Reason (R): Food was produced on large farms in America, Russia and Australia at low cost, transported by rail and ship.

59. Assertion (A): Rinderpest devastated African cattle in the 1890s.
Reason (R): It was carried by infected cattle imported from British Asia into Eritrea.

60. Assertion (A): The loss of cattle to rinderpest helped European colonisers conquer Africa.
Reason (R): African livelihoods were destroyed and people were forced to work for wages.

61. Assertion (A): Many poor Indians became indentured labourers.
Reason (R): Cottage industries declined, rents rose, and people in drought-hit regions sought work.

62. Assertion (A): Indian indentured workers often ran away from plantations.
Reason (R): Working and living conditions were harsh and the legal system favoured the employers.

63. Assertion (A): Hosay in Trinidad became a multi-religious carnival-like festival.
Reason (R): Indian migrants adapted the Muharram procession to their new surroundings.

64. Assertion (A): Henry Ford introduced the assembly line in the 1920s.
Reason (R): It reduced the cost of production and the price of cars, so more people could buy them.

65. Assertion (A): The Great Depression hit the agricultural sector severely.
Reason (R): Over-production of agricultural goods led to falling prices.

66. Assertion (A): The Great Depression spread from the USA to many other countries.
Reason (R): US banks recalled loans from Europe and cut back lending abroad.

67. Assertion (A): India’s rural economy was badly hit during the Great Depression.
Reason (R): Prices of agricultural goods fell sharply while the colonial government refused to reduce the revenue demand.

68. Assertion (A): The IMF and World Bank were set up in 1944.
Reason (R): The Bretton Woods agreement aimed at post-war stability and reconstruction.

69. Assertion (A): The Silk Routes existed even before the Christian era.
Reason (R): Buddhism emerged from eastern India.

70. Assertion (A): Cowries were used as currency in the Indian Ocean trade.
Reason (R): Spaghetti is believed to have travelled from China to the West.

71. Assertion (A): Columbus reached the Americas in 1492.
Reason (R): Potatoes, tomatoes and maize became widely eaten in Europe later.

72. Assertion (A): Africans were captured and sold as slaves in the seventeenth century.
Reason (R): Columbus reached the Americas in 1492.

73. Assertion (A): European powers met in Berlin in 1885.
Reason (R): The telegraph, railways and steamships advanced in the nineteenth century.

74. Assertion (A): Indian traders and moneylenders financed export agriculture in Central and Southeast Asia.
Reason (R): Nattukottai Chettiars and Shikaripuri shroffs were prominent among them.

75. Assertion (A): Indian indentured labour was abolished in 1921.
Reason (R): Many Indian indentured workers were taken to Fiji and Mauritius.

76. Assertion (A): The First World War began in 1914.
Reason (R): Britain borrowed heavily from US banks during the war.

77. Assertion (A): The Wall Street Crash occurred in October 1929.
Reason (R): The Great Depression lasted till the mid-1930s.

78. Assertion (A): The Bretton Woods Conference was held in New Hampshire, USA.
Reason (R): The IMF and the World Bank began financial operations in 1947.

79. Assertion (A): The G-77 countries demanded a New International Economic Order.
Reason (R): Many of them had recently gained independence from colonial rule.

80. Assertion (A): Silk Routes took their name from the importance of Chinese silk.
Reason (R): Silk was produced only in India and exported to China.

81. Assertion (A): The Americas had been cut off from the rest of the world until the sixteenth century.
Reason (R): The Indian Ocean connected the Americas to Asia in ancient times.

82. Assertion (A): Potato was introduced into Europe after the discovery of the Americas.
Reason (R): Potatoes were first grown in Europe and exported to America.

83. Assertion (A): The Corn Laws restricted the import of corn into Britain.
Reason (R): They were introduced to lower the price of corn for city workers.

84. Assertion (A): Rinderpest was a disease of cattle.
Reason (R): It arrived in Africa in the 1890s through infected cattle imported from Europe.

85. Assertion (A): Indian indentured labourers were taken to the Caribbean islands.
Reason (R): Their contract was for a period of fifty years.

86. Assertion (A): Henry Ford was a pioneer of the assembly line.
Reason (R): He produced his cars in a workshop where each car was built by a single craftsman.

87. Assertion (A): Agricultural prices fell in the Great Depression.
Reason (R): The demand for agricultural goods rose sharply.

88. Assertion (A): The Great Depression began in the United States.
Reason (R): It started in 1914 with the First World War.

89. Assertion (A): India became an exporter of gold during the Great Depression.
Reason (R): Indian peasants sold their gold because of high agricultural prices.

90. Assertion (A): The Bretton Woods system was based on fixed exchange rates.
Reason (R): It required currencies to float freely against each other.

91. Assertion (A): The Silk Routes were ocean routes only.
Reason (R): They were land and sea routes linking Asia with Europe and Africa.

92. Assertion (A): The Corn Laws were passed to reduce the price of grain in Britain.
Reason (R): The Corn Laws restricted the import of corn into Britain.

93. Assertion (A): The Berlin Conference was held to end the First World War.
Reason (R): European powers met there to complete the carving up of Africa in 1885.

94. Assertion (A): Rinderpest increased African cattle numbers.
Reason (R): It killed about 90 per cent of the cattle in Africa.

95. Assertion (A): Indian indentured workers moved to Africa as free migrants.
Reason (R): They worked under contract, often under harsh conditions.

96. Assertion (A): The USA was a debtor nation after the First World War.
Reason (R): Britain had borrowed heavily from US banks during the war.

97. Assertion (A): The Great Depression had no impact on India.
Reason (R): India’s exports and imports nearly halved between 1928 and 1934.

98. Assertion (A): The Bretton Woods institutions were set up in 1929.
Reason (R): The IMF and the World Bank came out of the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944.

99. Assertion (A): The IMF was designed to finance post-war reconstruction in Europe.
Reason (R): The World Bank was set up to finance post-war reconstruction.

100. Assertion (A): MNCs focus on only one country at a time.
Reason (R): Multinational corporations operate in several countries at the same time.

SECTION – C (Short Answer · 3 Marks each)

101. What were the Silk Routes? Why were they important?(3)

102. How did food items travel across the world in the pre-modern period? Give two examples.(3)

103. Why were the Irish dependent on potatoes? What happened in the 1840s?(3)

104. How did the discovery of the Americas affect the world’s trade?(3)

105. Why was disease the most powerful weapon of the Europeans in the conquest of America?(3)

106. What are the three types of flows that characterised the world economy in the nineteenth century?(3)

107. What were the Corn Laws? Why were they abolished?(3)

108. What was the effect of the abolition of the Corn Laws on Britain?(3)

109. Explain the role of technology in the nineteenth-century world economy.(3)

110. What was the impact of the carving up of Africa by European powers?(3)

111. What was rinderpest? How did it affect Africa?(3)

112. What was the system of indentured labour? Why did it develop?(3)

113. Why did poor Indians agree to go as indentured labourers?(3)

114. Describe the working conditions of indentured labourers.(3)

115. How did indentured migrants create new cultures in the Caribbean? Give two examples.(3)

116. Describe the role of Indian entrepreneurs in the world economy.(3)

117. How did colonial rule change the pattern of Indian trade?(3)

118. What was the effect of the First World War on the world economy?(3)

119. How did the First World War differ from earlier wars?(3)

120. Explain the contribution of Henry Ford to mass production.(3)

121. How did mass production and consumption lead to prosperity in the USA in the 1920s?(3)

122. What were the causes of the Great Depression? Mention any three.(3)

123. Describe the Wall Street Crash of 1929.(3)

124. How was the Great Depression felt in the USA?(3)

125. How did the Great Depression affect India’s economy?(3)

126. Why were Indian peasants hit hard by the Great Depression?(3)

127. What was the impact of the Great Depression on the Indian industrial classes and nationalists?(3)

128. What was the Bretton Woods Conference? What did it set up?(3)

129. What was the Bretton Woods system of exchange rates?(3)

130. What were the aims of the post-war settlement after the Second World War?(3)

131. Why were the IMF and the World Bank called the ‘Bretton Woods twins’?(3)

132. What was the role of decolonisation in the post-war world economy?(3)

133. What was the New International Economic Order (NIEO)?(3)

134. Who are multinational corporations (MNCs)? How did they grow after the 1950s?(3)

135. Why did the Bretton Woods system end?(3)

136. What was the post-1970s effect on developing countries?(3)

137. How did the Soviet collapse and China’s opening-up affect the world economy?(3)

138. What was the effect of Britain’s Corn Laws on global trade in the nineteenth century?(3)

139. How did the migration of labour in the nineteenth century help in the growth of economies?(3)

140. What is meant by globalisation? Give any two features.(3)

141. What was the role of the telegraph, railways and steamships in the 19th-century world economy?(3)

142. Describe the impact of colonialism on the economy of the colonies in the nineteenth century.(3)

143. What was the role of Indian trade in Britain’s multilateral trade system?(3)

144. How did the First World War change the role of the USA in world affairs?(3)

145. What are the lessons learned from the Great Depression?(3)

146. Why did people migrate from Europe to America and Australia in the nineteenth century?(3)

147. Explain the role of cowries and the Indian Ocean in the pre-modern trade.(3)

148. What was the El Dorado legend? How did it influence Europeans?(3)

149. How was the slave trade linked with the colonisation of the Americas?(3)

150. What were the ‘canal colonies’ and how did they help the colonial government?(3)

SECTION – D (Long Answer · 5 Marks each)

151. Describe the importance of the Silk Routes in the pre-modern world.(5)

152. Explain how the discovery of the Americas changed the world economy.(5)

153. How did the potato change the lives of European poor? Describe the Irish famine.(5)

154. Explain the three flows of international economic exchanges in the nineteenth century.(5)

155. How did the abolition of the Corn Laws change Britain’s economy and the world’s agriculture?(5)

156. Explain how technology influenced the world economy in the nineteenth century.(5)

157. Describe the impact of colonisation on Africa in the late nineteenth century.(5)

158. What was rinderpest? Explain its impact on Africa.(5)

159. Describe the indentured labour system with reference to Indian migrants.(5)

160. ‘Indentured labour was a new system of slavery.’ Do you agree? Give reasons.(5)

161. How did Indian indentured migrants create new cultures in their new homes?(5)

162. Describe the role of Indian entrepreneurs in the nineteenth-century world economy.(5)

163. How did the colonial government use India to meet Britain’s economic needs?(5)

164. Describe the decline of Indian cotton textile exports in the nineteenth century.(5)

165. Explain how the First World War changed the world economy.(5)

166. Describe the changes brought by the war in the Indian economy.(5)

167. Explain the contribution of Henry Ford and mass production to the economy of the 1920s.(5)

168. Describe the causes of the Great Depression.(5)

169. Explain the effects of the Great Depression on the US economy.(5)

170. Describe the impact of the Great Depression on India.(5)

171. ‘The Great Depression of 1929 affected the rural economy of India more than the urban.’ Justify.(5)

172. What were the main features of the Bretton Woods agreement?(5)

173. Explain the role of the IMF and World Bank in the post-war period.(5)

174. How did decolonisation and the Cold War shape the post-war world economy?(5)

175. What was the New International Economic Order? Why did the developing countries demand it?(5)

176. Explain the growth of multinational corporations (MNCs) after the 1950s.(5)

177. Why did the Bretton Woods system collapse? What was its effect?(5)

178. Examine the role of the Soviet collapse and China’s reforms in the globalisation of the 1990s.(5)

179. ‘The nineteenth-century world economy was strongly influenced by colonial rule.’ Explain.(5)

180. Discuss the impact of the nineteenth century on food supply and migration in Europe.(5)

181. Describe the changes in Europe and the world after the First World War and the 1920s boom.(5)

182. How did mass consumption and credit contribute to the boom and bust of the American economy?(5)

183. What lessons were drawn from the Great Depression for the post-war world?(5)

184. Examine how the Indian Ocean trade connected different regions before the nineteenth century.(5)

185. Explain how Europe’s industrialisation and colonial expansion in the nineteenth century were linked.(5)

186. Describe the economic and cultural consequences of the Great Depression and the war on India’s nationalist movement.(5)

187. How was the world economy rebuilt after the Second World War?(5)

188. Compare the world economy before the First World War and after the Second World War.(5)

189. Why did Indian indentured workers experience hardship abroad? Describe their living conditions.(5)

190. Explain the term ‘globalisation’. How did nineteenth-century globalisation differ from the later one?(5)

191. Describe the role of the IMF and the World Bank in developing countries after the 1970s.(5)

192. Explain the relationship between food, trade and migration in the global economy of the nineteenth century.(5)

193. Describe the impact of the abolition of slavery and the arrival of indentured labour on the plantation economy.(5)

194. How did the First World War and the Great Depression affect Europe and Asia’s colonies?(5)

195. Explain why the world economy needed new institutions after the Second World War.(5)

196. Describe how the American economy dominated the world after 1945.(5)

197. ‘The making of a global world was not without costs.’ Discuss with examples.(5)

198. Describe the role of Indian and Chinese labour in the plantation economy of the nineteenth century.(5)

199. Explain how global economic crises, such as the Great Depression, show the interdependence of nations.(5)

200. Describe the major turning points in the making of a global world, from the Silk Routes to the 1990s.(5)

********

CBSE · NCERT

SOCIAL SCIENCE (HISTORY) – CHAPTER 3 : COMPLETE SOLUTIONS

The Making of a Global World · Answer Key with Solutions

www.careerinformationportal.in

Class : XSubject : Social Science (History)Total Marks : 500

SECTION – A (MCQ Solutions)

Quick Answer Key – MCQ (Q.1 – Q.50)

1. (a)	2. (b)	3. (d)	4. (a)	5. (d)	6. (d)	7. (c)	8. (b)	9. (b)	10. (d)
11. (c)	12. (a)	13. (c)	14. (b)	15. (d)	16. (d)	17. (a)	18. (c)	19. (c)	20. (d)
21. (b)	22. (a)	23. (b)	24. (b)	25. (d)	26. (a)	27. (b)	28. (a)	29. (a)	30. (c)
31. (c)	32. (d)	33. (b)	34. (a)	35. (c)	36. (b)	37. (c)	38. (c)	39. (c)	40. (b)
41. (b)	42. (a)	43. (a)	44. (d)	45. (a)	46. (b)	47. (a)	48. (d)	49. (d)	50. (c)

Quick Answer Key – Assertion–Reason (Q.51 – Q.100)

51. (a)	52. (a)	53. (a)	54. (a)	55. (a)	56. (a)	57. (a)	58. (a)	59. (a)	60. (a)
61. (a)	62. (a)	63. (a)	64. (a)	65. (a)	66. (a)	67. (a)	68. (a)	69. (b)	70. (b)
71. (b)	72. (b)	73. (b)	74. (b)	75. (b)	76. (b)	77. (b)	78. (b)	79. (b)	80. (c)
81. (c)	82. (c)	83. (c)	84. (c)	85. (c)	86. (c)	87. (c)	88. (c)	89. (c)	90. (c)
91. (d)	92. (d)	93. (d)	94. (d)	95. (d)	96. (d)	97. (d)	98. (d)	99. (d)	100. (d)

Solutions with Explanation

1. Ans. (a) Asia with Europe and northern Africa

The Silk Routes linked Asia with Europe and northern Africa; they existed even before the Christian era and thrived until the fifteenth century.

2. Ans. (b) the Chinese silk cargoes that travelled along it

The name points to the importance of West-bound Chinese silk cargoes.

3. Ans. (d) Textiles, spices, Buddhist monks and Christian missionaries

Goods, ideas, missionaries, preachers and pilgrims all moved along the routes; Buddhism spread from eastern India through them.

4. Ans. (a) Cowries

Cowries from the Maldives were used as a form of currency in much of Asia and parts of Africa.

5. Ans. (d) Noodles

Noodles travelled west from China, or Arab traders carried pasta to Sicily.

6. Ans. (d) Potatoes, maize and tomatoes

Many of our common foods – potatoes, soya, groundnuts, maize, tomatoes, chillies, sweet potatoes – were unknown before the Americas were discovered.

7. Ans. (c) gave the poor an improved diet and a longer life

Potatoes were a staple for the poor in Europe; the poor became healthier and lived longer.

8. Ans. (b) 1840s

In the mid-1840s, a potato blight destroyed the crop; about a million people died of starvation and thousands migrated to America.

9. Ans. (b) Germs such as smallpox, to which the natives had no immunity

Smallpox in particular proved a deadly killer; the natives had no immunity to such diseases.

10. Ans. (d) The silver mines of Potosí (Peru/Bolivia)

Precious metals, particularly silver from the mines of Peru and Mexico, enriched Europe.

11. Ans. (c) a fabled city of gold

Many Europeans came to the Americas in search of ‘El Dorado’, the fabled city of gold.

12. Ans. (a) the slave trade from Africa

Plantations in the Americas used African slaves, who were captured and sold to European traders.

13. Ans. (c) economic, political, social, cultural and technological factors

Many factors interacted in the transformation of the world in the nineteenth century.

14. Ans. (b) trade, labour migration and capital movement

The first flow was trade in goods, the second the movement of people (labour) and the third the movement of capital.

15. Ans. (d) laws allowing the British government to restrict the import of corn

Britain’s landed groups were worried about the fall in food prices and forced the government to restrict corn imports.

16. Ans. (d) industrialists and urban dwellers forced the government to do so, as food prices were high

With high food prices, industrialists and urban dwellers forced the abolition of the Corn Laws.

17. Ans. (a) Food could be imported into Britain more cheaply than it could be produced within the country

British agriculture could not compete with imports; large areas of land were left uncultivated, and people migrated to cities.

18. Ans. (c) The refrigerated ship

Faster railways, lighter wagons and larger ships, including refrigerated ships, helped transport meat and perishables over long distances.

19. Ans. (c) complete the carving up of Africa between European powers

In 1885, European powers met in Berlin to finalise the partition of Africa.

20. Ans. (d) infected cattle imported from British Asia to feed Italian soldiers invading Eritrea

It reached Africa’s Atlantic coast in 1892 and killed about 90 per cent of the cattle.

21. Ans. (b) It destroyed the livelihoods of Africans and forced them to work for wages

Loss of cattle undermined African livelihoods; planters and mine owners could then force them to work for wages.

22. Ans. (a) a bonded labour contract under which a worker agreed to work for an employer for a fixed term to pay off the cost of passage

Indentured labourers were bound by an agreement, typically for five years, to work for an employer abroad.

23. Ans. (b) The Caribbean islands, Mauritius and Fiji

They were taken to the Caribbean islands (Trinidad, Guyana, Surinam), Mauritius and Fiji; also to Ceylon, Malaya and Assam.

24. Ans. (b) Poverty, unemployment, high rents and decline of cottage industries pushed them

Cottage industries declined, land rents rose, and the poor in Bihar, eastern UP and Tamil Nadu looked for work.

25. Ans. (d) 1921

It was abolished in 1921.

26. Ans. (a) carnival-like festival derived from the Muharram procession

Indian migrants’ cultural fusion produced Hosay (from Imam Hussain), the chutney music and Rastafarianism in the Caribbean.

27. Ans. (b) Shikaripuri shroffs and Nattukottai Chettiars

Shikaripuri shroffs and Nattukottai Chettiars used their own funds or borrowed from European banks to finance export agriculture.

28. Ans. (a) Exports of Indian cotton cloth declined and raw cotton exports increased

With cheap British machine-made goods flooding India, cotton textile exports fell, while raw cotton and indigo were exported to Britain.

29. Ans. (a) balance Britain’s trade deficits with other countries

Britain’s trade surplus with India helped balance its deficits with other countries, a system of multilateral settlements.

30. Ans. (c) Germany

Germany, Austria-Hungary and Ottoman Turkey were the Central Powers.

31. Ans. (c) It was fought on an industrial scale with machine guns, tanks, aircraft and chemical weapons

It was the first modern industrial war; about 9 million people were killed and 20 million injured.

32. Ans. (d) an international creditor, as Britain borrowed from US banks

Britain borrowed heavily from US banks; the US and its public became overseas lenders.

33. Ans. (b) Henry Ford

Henry Ford adopted the assembly-line system, copying the slaughterhouses of Chicago, to produce the Model T cars cheaply.

34. Ans. (a) Assembly-line production and hire-purchase

Mass production led to lower costs; consumer durables were bought through easy loans (instalment payments).

35. Ans. (c) 1929

It started in 1929 and lasted till the mid-1930s.

36. Ans. (b) Over-production in agriculture and a fall in agricultural prices

Agricultural over-production, falling prices and the collapse of the US stock market were main factors.

37. Ans. (c) October 1929

On 24 October 1929 the stock market crashed; panic set in and the US banking system collapsed.

38. Ans. (c) a worldwide spread of the depression

As US lenders recalled loans, it impacted Europe and its colonies, spreading the depression.

39. Ans. (c) nearly halved

Prices of wheat fell by 50 per cent, and rural India was hit hard.

40. Ans. (b) Raw jute and wheat

Agricultural prices fell more sharply than industrial prices; jute growers of Bengal were badly hit.

41. Ans. (b) an exporter of gold

From 1931, India became a gold exporter, which helped Britain’s recovery.

42. Ans. (a) July 1944, in New Hampshire, USA

It established the framework to preserve economic stability and full employment in the industrial world.

43. Ans. (a) the IMF and the World Bank (IBRD)

The IMF deals with external surpluses and deficits of member nations; the World Bank handled post-war reconstruction.

44. Ans. (d) fixed exchange rates

National currencies were pegged to the dollar at a fixed exchange rate; the dollar was linked to gold at $35 an ounce.

45. Ans. (a) 1947

The institutions commenced financial operations in 1947; they came to be known as the Bretton Woods institutions.

46. Ans. (b) Bretton Woods system

It was based on fixed exchange rates and the dominant role of the US dollar.

47. Ans. (a) a New International Economic Order (NIEO)

Developing countries organised as the Group of 77 and demanded a NIEO, with control over their natural resources and fairer prices.

48. Ans. (d) operate in several countries at the same time

MNCs became more powerful after the 1950s and 1960s, taking advantage of low wages in developing countries.

49. Ans. (d) flexible exchange rates and increased capital flows to developing countries

Industrial countries turned to developing countries for loans; the Soviet collapse and opening of China further integrated the world.

50. Ans. (c) Europe’s economy was weakened, war debts increased and the US emerged as a major power

Europe was devastated; Britain lost its financial strength while the US rose as a creditor.

SECTION – B (Assertion – Reason)

51. Ans. (a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.

Both true; R explains A.

52. Ans. (a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.

Both true; R explains how foods spread.

53. Ans. (a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.

Both true; R explains A.

54. Ans. (a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.

Both true; R explains A – a million died and many emigrated.

55. Ans. (a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.

Both true; R explains A – germs proved the most powerful weapon.

56. Ans. (a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.

Both true; R explains how the wealth was used.

57. Ans. (a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.

Both true; R explains A.

58. Ans. (a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.

Both true; R explains A.

59. Ans. (a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.

Both true; R explains how the disease entered Africa.

60. Ans. (a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.

Both true; R explains A.

61. Ans. (a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.

Both true; R explains A.

62. Ans. (a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.

Both true; R explains A.

63. Ans. (a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.

Both true; R explains A.

64. Ans. (a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.

Both true; R explains A.

65. Ans. (a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.

Both true; R explains A.

66. Ans. (a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.

Both true; R explains A.

67. Ans. (a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.

Both true; R explains A.

68. Ans. (a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.

Both true; R explains A.

69. Ans. (b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.

Both true; the second statement does not explain the first.

70. Ans. (b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.

Both true, but they are different examples of exchange; R does not explain A.

71. Ans. (b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.

Both true; R is a result of contact but it does not explain why Columbus reached the Americas.

72. Ans. (b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.

Both true; R is a separate historical fact and does not explain A.

73. Ans. (b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.

Both true; R is not the explanation of the Berlin meeting, which was held to carve up Africa.

74. Ans. (b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.

Both true; R names the groups but does not explain why they financed agriculture.

75. Ans. (b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.

Both true; R does not explain the abolition.

76. Ans. (b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.

Both true; the second does not explain the year of the beginning of the war.

77. Ans. (b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.

Both true; R is not the explanation of the date of the crash.

78. Ans. (b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.

Both true; the location and the date of the beginning of operations are separate facts.

79. Ans. (b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.

Both true; the context is given, but R does not directly explain the demand for fair economic terms.

80. Ans. (c) A is true but R is false.

A is true. R is false: silk was produced in China.

81. Ans. (c) A is true but R is false.

A is true. R is false: the Americas were isolated and had no contact with the Old World.

82. Ans. (c) A is true but R is false.

A is true. R is false: potatoes originated in the Americas.

83. Ans. (c) A is true but R is false.

A is true. R is false: they were introduced to protect landowners, keeping food prices high.

84. Ans. (c) A is true but R is false.

A is true. R is false: it came through cattle imported from British Asia.

85. Ans. (c) A is true but R is false.

A is true. R is false: contracts were usually for five years.

86. Ans. (c) A is true but R is false.

A is true. R is false: Ford used assembly-line production with workers performing repetitive tasks.

87. Ans. (c) A is true but R is false.

A is true. R is false: over-production and falling demand resulted in a price fall.

88. Ans. (c) A is true but R is false.

A is true. R is false: the Great Depression began around 1929.

89. Ans. (c) A is true but R is false.

A is true. R is false: prices were low and peasants were in distress; they sold gold to survive.

90. Ans. (c) A is true but R is false.

A is true. R is false: flexible rates came after the 1970s.

91. Ans. (d) A is false but R is true.

A is false: they included both land and sea routes. R is true.

92. Ans. (d) A is false but R is true.

A is false: they were passed to protect landowners’ profits. R is true.

93. Ans. (d) A is false but R is true.

A is false: it was held to partition Africa. R is true.

94. Ans. (d) A is false but R is true.

A is false: rinderpest destroyed cattle. R is true.

95. Ans. (d) A is false but R is true.

A is false: they were bound labourers, not free migrants. R is true.

96. Ans. (d) A is false but R is true.

A is false: the USA became an international creditor. R is true.

97. Ans. (d) A is false but R is true.

A is false: India was badly hit. R is true.

98. Ans. (d) A is false but R is true.

A is false: they were set up in 1944. R is true.

99. Ans. (d) A is false but R is true.

A is false: the IMF deals with external surpluses and deficits of member nations; reconstruction was the task of the World Bank. R is true.

100. Ans. (d) A is false but R is true.

A is false: MNCs operate in many countries. R is true.

SECTION – C (Short Answer · 3 Marks each)

101. Ans.

• The Silk Routes were land and sea trade routes linking Asia with Europe and northern Africa; they existed before the Christian era. [1]
• They carried Chinese pottery, Indian textiles and spices, and precious metals. [1]
• They were also routes of cultural exchange: Christian missionaries, Muslim preachers and Buddhist monks travelled along them. [1]

102. Ans.

• Traders and travellers introduced new crops to the lands they travelled. [1]
• Noodles travelled west from China and may have become spaghetti; Arab traders may have taken pasta to Sicily. [1]
• After the discovery of the Americas, potatoes, maize, tomatoes and chillies reached Europe and Asia. [1]

103. Ans.

• Potatoes were a cheap and nutritious food for the poor in Europe, including Ireland. [1]
• In the mid-1840s a disease (blight) destroyed the potato crop in Ireland. [1]
• About a million people died of starvation, and thousands migrated to America. [1]

104. Ans.

• Precious metals, especially silver from the mines of Potosí, enriched Europe and financed its trade with Asia. [1]
• Europeans came in search of El Dorado, and colonised the Americas. [1]
• Food crops such as potato and maize spread, and the demand for labour led to the transport of slaves from Africa. [1]

105. Ans.

• Until the sixteenth century, the Americas were cut off from the rest of the world. [1]
• The Europeans carried germs such as smallpox to which the natives had no immunity. [1]
• Smallpox killed millions of natives and made conquest easier. [1]

106. Ans.

• Trade in goods, for example cloth or wheat. [1]
• Migration or movement of people in search of employment. [1]
• Movement of capital for short-term or long-term investments over long distances. [1]

107. Ans.

• The Corn Laws were laws that allowed the British government to restrict the import of corn. [1]
• Landowners had forced the government to pass them to prevent a fall in grain prices. [1]
• They were abolished because industrialists and urban dwellers, facing high food prices, forced the government to do so. [1]

108. Ans.

• Food could now be imported into Britain more cheaply than it could be produced within the country. [1]
• British agriculture was unable to compete; vast areas of land were left uncultivated. [1]
• Many farm workers lost their jobs and migrated to cities or overseas. [1]

109. Ans.

• Railways, steamships and the telegraph transformed transport and communication. [1]
• Refrigerated ships enabled the transport of perishable food like meat over long distances. [1]
• These made trade cheaper and faster and linked the markets of the world. [1]

110. Ans.

• In 1885, European powers met in Berlin and divided Africa among themselves. [1]
• Africa’s resources – land, minerals and labour – were exploited for Europe’s benefit. [1]
• Africans were forced to work in mines and plantations, and borders were drawn without regard to local societies. [1]

111. Ans.

• Rinderpest was a fast-spreading cattle disease that arrived in Africa in the late 1880s. [1]
• It came via infected cattle imported from British Asia to feed Italian soldiers in Eritrea. [1]
• It killed about 90 per cent of the cattle, and Africans lost their livelihoods, so they were forced to work for wages. [1]

112. Ans.

• Indentured labour was a bonded contract under which workers agreed to work for an employer for a fixed term, usually five years. [1]
• In return, they received passage to the place of work. [1]
• It developed because plantations in the colonies needed labour after the abolition of slavery. [1]

113. Ans.

• Cottage industries declined and land rents rose in India, leaving the poor without work. [1]
• Debts, droughts and unemployment, particularly in Bihar, eastern UP, central India and Tamil Nadu, pushed many to migrate. [1]
• Agents recruited them with false promises of work and wealth. [1]

114. Ans.

• Workers found that the living and working conditions were harsh. [1]
• There were few legal rights, and the employers often punished them. [1]
• Many ran away to escape; others survived and created new cultures. [1]

115. Ans.

• The annual Muharram procession was transformed into the festival ‘Hosay’ in Trinidad, in which people of all religions participated. [1]
• Chutney music emerged in Trinidad and Guyana, a creative blend of Indian and Caribbean traditions. [1]
• The Rastafarian movement in Jamaica is also said to reflect links with Indian migrants. [1]

116. Ans.

• Shikaripuri shroffs and Nattukottai Chettiars financed export agriculture in Central and Southeast Asia. [1]
• They used their own funds or borrowed from European banks. [1]
• Hyderabadi Sindhi traders established emporia at busy ports around the world. [1]

117. Ans.

• Britain’s industrialisation led to the decline of Indian cotton textile exports. [1]
• India became an exporter of raw materials such as raw cotton and indigo, and an importer of British manufactured goods. [1]
• Britain’s trade surplus with India helped balance its deficits with other countries. [1]

118. Ans.

• The war was fought on an industrial scale, killing about 9 million and injuring 20 million; it devastated Europe. [1]
• Britain borrowed from US banks, and the US emerged as an international creditor. [1]
• The war debts, loss of markets and unemployment created difficulties in the post-war recovery. [1]

119. Ans.

• It involved industrial weapons such as machine guns, tanks, aircraft and chemical weapons. [1]
• It was fought across the world, and economies were geared to war production. [1]
• Armies were large, and casualties were massive. [1]

120. Ans.

• Henry Ford was a leading American car manufacturer who adopted the assembly line in Detroit. [1]
• This made production faster and cheaper; Ford Model T became an affordable car. [1]
• Workers were paid higher wages, and mass production spread to other industries. [1]

121. Ans.

• Mass production lowered costs, increased sales and produced profits. [1]
• Consumer goods, such as refrigerators, washing machines, radios and gramophones, were bought on easy loans. [1]
• The boom led to a demand for jobs and housing, and increased the prosperity of America. [1]

122. Ans.

• Over-production, especially in agriculture, led to a fall in prices. [1]
• US overseas lending was cut back in 1928, and the stock market crashed in 1929. [1]
• Falling demand, unemployment and the collapse of banks spread the crisis. [1]

123. Ans.

• In October 1929, share prices on the New York stock exchange fell sharply. [1]
• Investors panicked and sold shares; the share market collapsed. [1]
• Thousands of banks closed, savings were wiped out, and unemployment soared. [1]

124. Ans.

• Thousands of banks collapsed and were forced to close. [1]
• Farmers’ incomes and prices fell; industries closed and unemployment reached about one-fourth of the workforce. [1]
• Many families lost their homes and savings, and people queued for food. [1]

125. Ans.

• India’s exports and imports nearly halved between 1928 and 1934. [1]
• Agricultural prices fell more sharply than industrial prices; wheat prices fell 50 per cent. [1]
• The government refused to reduce revenue demands, and peasants’ debts increased; India became an exporter of gold. [1]

126. Ans.

• Prices of agricultural goods (jute, wheat) fell sharply. [1]
• The colonial government’s revenue demand remained the same, making it difficult for peasants to pay. [1]
• Cash-crop growers, like jute growers of Bengal, fell into heavy debt. [1]

127. Ans.

• Indian businessmen and industrialists lost profits as prices and demand fell. [1]
• They were angered by the colonial economic policy and joined the nationalist movement. [1]
• The Civil Disobedience Movement received support from peasants and merchants, as they were hit by the depression. [1]

128. Ans.

• It was held in July 1944 at Bretton Woods in New Hampshire, USA. [1]
• It set up the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to deal with external surpluses and deficits of member countries. [1]
• It also set up the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank) to finance post-war reconstruction. [1]

129. Ans.

• National currencies were pegged to the US dollar at a fixed exchange rate. [1]
• The dollar was anchored to gold at a fixed price of $35 an ounce. [1]
• This made international trade stable and predictable. [1]

130. Ans.

• To preserve economic stability and full employment in the industrial world. [1]
• To avoid the mistakes made after the First World War and the Depression. [1]
• To create a framework for international trade and finance, through the IMF and the World Bank. [1]

131. Ans.

• Both were created at the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944. [1]
• They commenced financial operations in 1947. [1]
• The IMF handles monetary stability, whereas the World Bank handles reconstruction and development lending. [1]

132. Ans.

• Many Asian and African countries became independent in the post-war decades. [1]
• They were poor, and had been tied to the colonial economy; the IMF and World Bank were not designed for their needs. [1]
• They organised themselves as the G-77 and demanded a New International Economic Order. [1]

133. Ans.

• It was a demand made by the G-77 developing countries. [1]
• They wanted real control over their natural resources, more development assistance and fairer prices for raw materials. [1]
• They also wanted better access for their manufactured goods in developed countries’ markets. [1]

134. Ans.

• MNCs are large companies that operate in several countries at the same time. [1]
• From the 1950s and 1960s they spread widely in developing countries, taking advantage of low wages. [1]
• They produced goods worldwide, so that cheaper labour and resources could be used. [1]

135. Ans.

• In the 1960s the US faced growing costs and a decline in its financial and competitive strength. [1]
• By the early 1970s the system of fixed exchange rates collapsed, and flexible exchange rates were introduced. [1]
• The industrial countries then turned to developing countries for loans and investments. [1]

136. Ans.

• Developing countries were increasingly free to borrow from international banks and lenders. [1]
• Lenders imposed conditions, and debt crises emerged in Latin America and Africa. [1]
• The incomes of developing countries fell, and poverty rose in the 1980s. [1]

137. Ans.

• Soviet collapse ended the communist bloc and many countries joined the world market. [1]
• China adopted economic reforms and opened up to foreign investment from the 1980s. [1]
• Low-wage labour entered the global economy and MNCs moved production to such countries. [1]

138. Ans.

• With the abolition of the laws, food imports increased. [1]
• Food producers in America, Russia and Australia expanded production for the European market. [1]
• This led to a flow of capital and labour to these regions, and railways and ports were developed. [1]

139. Ans.

• Millions of Europeans migrated to America and Australia to find jobs. [1]
• Indian and Chinese indentured workers worked on plantations and mines. [1]
• Their labour produced cheap food and raw materials for the world market. [1]

140. Ans.

• Globalisation is the process of rapidly increasing economic interaction between countries through trade, migration and capital flows. [1]
• It involves movement of goods, people and capital across borders. [1]
• It integrates markets and cultures of different regions. [1]

141. Ans.

• Railways connected the interior of countries with ports and facilitated transport of crops and goods. [1]
• Steamships made the sea transport of goods faster and cheaper. [1]
• The telegraph allowed rapid communication, helping traders know about prices and orders. [1]

142. Ans.

• Colonies were made suppliers of raw materials and buyers of manufactured goods. [1]
• Indigenous industries, such as Indian textiles, declined. [1]
• Land and labour were exploited, as in Africa and in plantations in Asia. [1]

143. Ans.

• Britain had a trade deficit with other countries such as the USA. [1]
• Britain had a trade surplus with India, because it exported manufactured goods to India and took raw materials. [1]
• Through this surplus, Britain was able to balance its deficits and settle its debts. [1]

144. Ans.

• The USA became a creditor country, as Europe borrowed from its banks. [1]
• Its industries expanded to supply war material. [1]
• After the war, the US became the leading economic power of the world. [1]

145. Ans.

• Economies are closely linked, and a crisis in one region spreads to others. [1]
• Governments must regulate banks and markets to avoid collapse. [1]
• International institutions were needed to maintain stability after the war; this led to Bretton Woods. [1]

146. Ans.

• Poverty, unemployment and hunger in Europe pushed people out. [1]
• New land and jobs in America and Australia pulled them. [1]
• Faster transport made the journey possible; around 50 million emigrated from Europe. [1]

147. Ans.

• The Indian Ocean was an important highway of trade linking Asia, Africa and Europe. [1]
• Cowries (shells from the Maldives) were used as a form of currency in much of Asia and parts of Africa. [1]
• Traders and travellers carried goods, ideas and faiths across the ocean. [1]

148. Ans.

• El Dorado was a fabled city of gold, in the Americas. [1]
• The legend attracted Europeans in search of wealth. [1]
• Spanish and Portuguese colonisers conquered and plundered the Americas in the sixteenth century. [1]

149. Ans.

• Plantations of cotton and sugar in the Americas needed large numbers of workers. [1]
• Africans were captured, sold as slaves and shipped across the Atlantic. [1]
• Slave labour produced goods for the European market and enriched European traders. [1]

150. Ans.

• The colonial government built a network of irrigation canals in Punjab to turn semi-desert wastes into fertile agricultural land. [1]
• These areas were called canal colonies and grew wheat and cotton for export. [1]
• Colonial rulers aimed to increase export of raw produce and boost their income. [1]

SECTION – D (Long Answer · 5 Marks each)

151. Ans.

• The Silk Routes were a network of land and sea routes that linked Asia with Europe and northern Africa; they existed before the Christian era and thrived until the fifteenth century. [1]
• They were named after the Chinese silk cargoes that travelled westward. [1]
• Chinese pottery, textiles and spices from India, and precious metals from the Americas travelled along them. [1]
• Christian missionaries, Muslim preachers and Buddhist monks travelled along the routes, spreading ideas and faith; Buddhism spread from eastern India. [1]
• Foods such as noodles also moved, and trade and cultural exchange linked distant regions. [1]

152. Ans.

• Until the sixteenth century the Americas had been cut off from the rest of the world; after Columbus’s voyages they were conquered and colonised by Spain and Portugal. [1]
• Silver from the mines of Potosí and gold enriched Europe and financed trade with Asia. [1]
• Food crops such as potato, maize and tomato spread to Europe and Asia, improving diets. [1]
• Smallpox and other germs killed millions of natives, leaving land and labour available to the colonisers. [1]
• The demand for plantation labour led to the slave trade from Africa. [1]

153. Ans.

• Potato was introduced to Europe from the Americas and became the staple food of the poor. [1]
• It gave the poor an improved diet and increased life expectancy. [1]
• In Ireland, many poor families depended on potatoes entirely. [1]
• In the mid-1840s, a blight destroyed the potato crop; about a million people died of hunger. [1]
• Thousands of Irish migrated to America in search of food and employment. [1]

154. Ans.

• Trade in goods: the trade in cloth, wheat, meat, etc., grew with advances in transport. [1]
• Labour migration: millions moved from Europe to America and Australia, and Indian and Chinese workers migrated as indentured labour. [1]
• Capital flows: investments over long distances financed railways, ports and plantations. [1]
• These flows were linked: migrant labour produced crops and goods that were traded and financed by capital. [1]
• Colonial powers controlled many such flows for their own benefit. [1]

155. Ans.

• The Corn Laws had restricted the import of corn to protect British landowners; food prices remained high. [1]
• Industrialists and urban dwellers forced the government to abolish them. [1]
• Food became cheaper to import than to produce; British agriculture declined and large areas lay uncultivated. [1]
• Farmers in America, Russia and Australia produced wheat for Europe; railways and ports were built to export it. [1]
• Many British farm workers migrated to cities or overseas; capital and labour flowed to the food-exporting regions. [1]

156. Ans.

• Railways linked the inland farms with ports and made the transport of goods faster and cheaper. [1]
• Steamships replaced sailing ships and reduced the time and cost of ocean voyages. [1]
• The telegraph enabled rapid communication of information about prices and orders. [1]
• Refrigerated ships allowed meat and dairy products to be transported from distant lands. [1]
• These developments integrated markets and allowed migration and colonial expansion. [1]

157. Ans.

• In 1885 the European powers met at Berlin and divided Africa among themselves, drawing borders without regard to local societies. [1]
• Africa was valued for its minerals (gold, diamonds) and land for plantations. [1]
• Rinderpest, which arrived in the 1890s, killed about 90 per cent of the cattle, destroying African livelihoods. [1]
• Europeans used the shortage to force Africans into wage labour in mines and plantations. [1]
• Thus colonial control was strengthened, and the resources of Africa were exploited for Europe. [1]

158. Ans.

• Rinderpest was a fast-spreading cattle plague that reached Africa in the late 1880s. [1]
• It came with infected cattle imported from British Asia to feed Italian soldiers invading Eritrea. [1]
• It moved west across Africa and reached the Atlantic coast in 1892. [1]
• About 90 per cent of the cattle were killed, which destroyed African livelihoods. [1]
• The colonisers used this to capture scarce cattle and force Africans to work for wages on mines and plantations. [1]

159. Ans.

• Indentured labour was a bonded contract in which workers promised to work for an employer for a fixed period, usually five years, in return for passage. [1]
• Most Indian indentured workers came from eastern UP, Bihar, central India and dry districts of Tamil Nadu. [1]
• They were taken to the Caribbean islands, Mauritius, Fiji, Ceylon, Malaya and Assam’s tea plantations. [1]
• Poverty, unemployment, debts and decline of cottage industries pushed them to migrate; agents recruited them with false promises. [1]
• Conditions were harsh; many were exploited, and the system was abolished in 1921. [1]

160. Ans.

• Workers were recruited by agents with false promises about the work and the location. [1]
• They were bound by contracts and could not leave; those who ran away were punished. [1]
• Living and working conditions were harsh, with little legal protection. [1]
• Many failed to complete the contract and had no means to return. [1]
• The system was abolished in 1921, following protest by Indian nationalists; some workers settled abroad and created new cultures. [1]

161. Ans.

• Many migrants stayed on after the end of their contract, forming new communities. [1]
• The Muharram procession was transformed into ‘Hosay’ in Trinidad, a carnival in which people of all faiths participated. [1]
• Chutney music, a blend of Indian and Caribbean traditions, developed in Trinidad and Guyana. [1]
• The Rastafarian movement of Jamaica is said to reflect links with Indian migrants. [1]
• Such creative adaptations reveal the cultural fusion of globalisation. [1]

162. Ans.

• Shikaripuri shroffs and Nattukottai Chettiars financed export agriculture in Central and Southeast Asia. [1]
• They used their own funds or borrowed from European banks. [1]
• They set up a sophisticated banking system and transferred money across vast regions. [1]
• Hyderabadi Sindhi traders set up emporia at busy ports around the world selling local and imported curios. [1]
• Indian traders also worked in East and Central Africa, linking India with the world trade. [1]

163. Ans.

• India was made an exporter of raw materials such as raw cotton, indigo, and wheat, and a market for British manufactured goods. [1]
• Indian cotton textile exports declined as British goods flooded the market. [1]
• Britain’s trade surplus with India helped to balance its deficits with other countries. [1]
• The colonial government built canal colonies in Punjab to grow wheat and cotton for export. [1]
• Indian revenue paid for Britain’s administration and wars. [1]

164. Ans.

• Before industrialisation, Indian fine cotton goods were exported to Europe. [1]
• With the growth of cotton industries in Britain, industrialists pressured the government to restrict textile imports and to expand markets overseas. [1]
• British cotton goods flooded the Indian market, and Indian weavers lost buyers. [1]
• India’s share of cotton goods exports fell, while raw cotton and indigo exports rose to feed British mills. [1]
• As a result, Indian handloom weavers faced unemployment and distress. [1]

165. Ans.

• The war was fought on an industrial scale and killed about 9 million and injured 20 million people. [1]
• Europe was devastated, industries were directed to war production, and there were huge war debts. [1]
• Britain borrowed from US banks, and the USA became an international creditor. [1]
• Post-war Europe found it hard to recover; the economy suffered from unemployment and loss of markets. [1]
• The war led to the political and economic rise of the USA, and the decline of Britain. [1]

166. Ans.

• India was drawn into the war, supplying soldiers and war materials. [1]
• The Indian economy was burdened with higher taxes and war loans. [1]
• Industries like jute, cotton and steel expanded to supply the war. [1]
• Prices doubled between 1913 and 1918, which brought hardship to common people. [1]
• After the war, British goods returned to the Indian market, and Indian industries were left to face competition. [1]

167. Ans.

• Henry Ford borrowed the idea of assembly-line production from the Chicago slaughterhouses. [1]
• The assembly line made workers perform repetitive tasks, speeding up production. [1]
• The cost of cars fell, so that more Americans could afford them. [1]
• Other industries copied the method and produced consumer goods like refrigerators, radios and washing machines. [1]
• Consumers bought on credit, and the US economy boomed. [1]

168. Ans.

• After the First World War, agricultural over-production led to a fall in prices and in farmers’ incomes. [1]
• US banks lent heavily to Europe, but when the US cut back lending in 1928, Europe faced a crisis. [1]
• The collapse of the Wall Street stock market in October 1929 caused panic. [1]
• Thousands of banks failed and industrial production fell, leading to unemployment. [1]
• The crisis spread across the world through trade and loans. [1]

169. Ans.

• Share prices crashed in 1929, wiping out the savings of many people. [1]
• Thousands of banks failed; those who had deposits lost their money. [1]
• Farmers lost income and industry reduced production. [1]
• Unemployment reached about one-fourth of the American workforce. [1]
• The depression ended only with the later economic recovery programmes and the war economy. [1]

170. Ans.

• India’s exports and imports nearly halved between 1928 and 1934. [1]
• Agricultural prices fell sharply; wheat prices fell by 50 per cent. [1]
• The peasants’ debts increased as the colonial government refused to cut the revenue demand. [1]
• Jute growers of Bengal were badly hit, as raw-jute prices fell sharply. [1]
• India became an exporter of gold, which helped Britain’s recovery; urban India was relatively less affected, but Indian businessmen supported the national movement. [1]

171. Ans.

• Agricultural prices fell much more sharply than the prices of manufactured goods. [1]
• The revenue demand did not fall, so peasants’ burden increased. [1]
• Cash-crop farmers, like the jute growers, suffered heavily. [1]
• Many peasants sold gold and jewellery and fell into debt. [1]
• Urban dwellers with fixed incomes were better off as prices of goods fell, and industrial production was relatively protected. [1]

172. Ans.

• The agreement was reached in July 1944 at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, USA. [1]
• The International Monetary Fund (IMF) was set up to deal with external surpluses and deficits of members. [1]
• The World Bank was set up to finance post-war reconstruction. [1]
• The exchange rate system was based on fixed rates, with currencies pegged to the dollar and the dollar linked to gold at $35 an ounce. [1]
• The system aimed to preserve economic stability and full employment in the industrial world. [1]

173. Ans.

• The IMF and the World Bank were set up at the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944. [1]
• They started financial operations in 1947. [1]
• The IMF helped countries with balance-of-payments problems and maintained stability of exchange rates. [1]
• The World Bank financed reconstruction of war-ravaged Europe and Japan. [1]
• They were dominated by the Western industrial countries, particularly the USA; developing countries had little say. [1]

174. Ans.

• After the Second World War, many Asian and African countries became independent but were poor. [1]
• The IMF and World Bank did not meet their needs because they were designed for industrial countries. [1]
• The developing countries formed the G-77 and demanded the New International Economic Order. [1]
• The Cold War divided the world into rival blocs: capitalist (USA) and communist (Soviet Union). [1]
• The newly independent states sought development with aid from either bloc or by non-alignment. [1]

175. Ans.

• The G-77 developing countries demanded a NIEO in the 1950s–60s. [1]
• They wanted real control over their natural resources. [1]
• They wanted more development assistance and fairer prices for raw materials. [1]
• They sought better access for their manufactured goods in developed countries’ markets. [1]
• This was because the Bretton Woods system had mainly benefited the industrial countries. [1]

176. Ans.

• MNCs are companies that operate in several countries at the same time. [1]
• From the 1950s and 1960s they spread across developing countries, taking advantage of cheap labour and resources. [1]
• They produced goods in places where costs were lowest and sold them across the world. [1]
• Developing countries sometimes tried to regulate them. [1]
• They played an important role in globalisation by linking economies of the world. [1]

177. Ans.

• In the 1960s the USA faced increased costs and a fall in its financial and competitive strength. [1]
• By the early 1970s the fixed exchange rate system collapsed and the floating exchange rates system began. [1]
• After the 1970s, industrial countries turned to developing countries for loans and investments. [1]
• Developing countries became indebted and suffered a debt crisis in the 1980s. [1]
• The collapse of the Soviet Union and opening up of China later integrated these into the world economy. [1]

178. Ans.

• The USSR’s collapse ended the Cold War and brought former communist countries into the market economy. [1]
• China opened up to foreign investment and reform from the 1980s. [1]
• The low wages in China and India attracted MNCs, which relocated production. [1]
• Trade barriers were removed and capital flowed freely. [1]
• This created a new wave of globalisation, with benefits and problems for different countries. [1]

179. Ans.

• Colonies supplied raw materials and food, and served as markets for the manufactured goods of the colonisers. [1]
• Africa’s resources and labour were exploited under European control. [1]
• Indian cotton textile exports declined and India became a supplier of raw materials. [1]
• Indentured labour from India and China filled the demand for cheap labour in plantations. [1]
• Colonial trade patterns benefited Britain’s multilateral trade system. [1]

180. Ans.

• Food prices fell and people could afford more as food imports increased. [1]
• Cheap meat and wheat were shipped from America and Australia. [1]
• British farm workers and others in Europe lost jobs and migrated to cities. [1]
• About 50 million Europeans migrated to America and Australia in the nineteenth century. [1]
• Migration provided labour for new farms and industries. [1]

181. Ans.

• After the war, Europe struggled with debts, unemployment and loss of markets. [1]
• The USA emerged as the leading economic power and a creditor. [1]
• The 1920s saw a boom in the USA built on mass production and consumer goods. [1]
• The prosperity was based on credit, and the economy was unstable. [1]
• The boom ended in the Wall Street Crash and the Great Depression. [1]

182. Ans.

• Mass production made goods like cars and refrigerators cheaper. [1]
• Consumers bought on credit through instalments. [1]
• Industry made large profits and people invested in shares. [1]
• When agricultural prices fell and credit tightened, people could not repay loans. [1]
• The stock market crashed and the economy collapsed, leading to the Depression. [1]

183. Ans.

• Economic crises in one country spread to the world. [1]
• Governments needed to intervene to ensure stability and full employment. [1]
• International institutions like the IMF and World Bank were created to monitor and stabilise the world economy. [1]
• Fixed exchange rates were adopted for stability. [1]
• The Bretton Woods agreement was designed to avoid a repeat of the 1930s. [1]

184. Ans.

• The Indian Ocean linked Asia, Africa and Europe through sea routes. [1]
• Traders carried spices, textiles and other goods across the ocean. [1]
• Cowries from the Maldives were used as currency in many places. [1]
• Missionaries and travellers carried religions like Islam and Buddhism. [1]
• This trade and exchange created a shared cultural and economic world. [1]

185. Ans.

• Industrialisation created a need for raw materials and markets. [1]
• Britain and other European powers sought colonies to supply cotton, indigo and food. [1]
• Railways and steamships helped in the colonisation of Africa and Asia. [1]
• Colonial governments forced local people into wage labour and altered local economies. [1]
• The profits of colonial trade helped finance further industrialisation in Europe. [1]

186. Ans.

• Falling prices and rising debt caused peasants’ distress, which fuelled the Civil Disobedience Movement. [1]
• Indian businessmen and industrialists, angry with colonial policy, supported the nationalists. [1]
• The war and the Depression exposed the weaknesses of the colonial economy. [1]
• Gold exports helped Britain but drained India. [1]
• Nationalist leaders argued that colonial policies were harming Indian economic interests. [1]

187. Ans.

• Western Europe and Japan recovered from war devastation with the help of the World Bank and US assistance. [1]
• The Bretton Woods system provided a stable framework of fixed exchange rates. [1]
• Trade barriers were gradually reduced, and international trade grew rapidly. [1]
• Industrial countries enjoyed high growth and employment for about two decades. [1]
• Decolonisation brought new countries into the world economy but they lagged behind. [1]

188. Ans.

• Before 1914, trade, migration and capital flows were linked with colonial rule and the gold standard. [1]
• After 1945, the Bretton Woods system and institutions managed the economy. [1]
• Colonies became independent after 1945, changing the political basis of trade. [1]
• Capital flows and MNCs grew strongly after the 1950s. [1]
• Government intervention became more common after the Great Depression. [1]

189. Ans.

• Workers were often deceived about the nature of work and their destination. [1]
• On the plantations, the workload was heavy and wages were low. [1]
• Living quarters were cramped and unhygienic. [1]
• Employers had legal power to punish workers, who had few rights. [1]
• Many workers could not return home even after the contract ended. [1]

190. Ans.

• Globalisation is the increasing economic interconnection of the world through trade, migration and capital flows. [1]
• In the nineteenth century, it was dominated by European colonial powers and linked to the gold standard. [1]
• Transport and communication advances (railways, steamships, telegraph) drove it. [1]
• The late twentieth-century globalisation involved MNCs, flexible exchange rates and the IMF–World Bank system. [1]
• Later globalisation also included China, India and former communist countries, with new technology like computers and the Internet. [1]

191. Ans.

• After the collapse of Bretton Woods, they began lending to developing countries. [1]
• Loans came with conditions, such as cutting government spending. [1]
• Many developing countries faced a debt crisis in the 1980s. [1]
• Incomes fell and poverty increased in many African and Latin American countries. [1]
• The role of these institutions has been criticised for ignoring local needs. [1]

192. Ans.

• Industrial Britain imported cheap food from America, Russia and Australia. [1]
• Railways and ships carried the produce to ports and then to Europe. [1]
• Farmers and labourers migrated to the food-producing regions to work on new farms. [1]
• Capital from Europe financed the railways and farms. [1]
• Food trade thus linked trade, migration and capital flows. [1]

193. Ans.

• After the abolition of slavery, plantations in the Caribbean needed cheap labour. [1]
• Indentured workers from India and China were brought under contract. [1]
• They worked on sugar, cotton and tea plantations and in mines. [1]
• Their labour kept production and profits high for planters. [1]
• The system was a form of controlled labour and was abolished in 1921. [1]

194. Ans.

• Colonies were forced to supply raw materials and soldiers for the war effort. [1]
• Prices of agricultural exports fell sharply during the Depression, hurting colonial farmers. [1]
• The colonial governments continued to collect heavy taxes. [1]
• Colonial economies became unstable as demand for raw materials fell. [1]
• These hardships fuelled nationalist movements in Asia and Africa. [1]

195. Ans.

• The Great Depression and the war showed the dangers of unregulated economies. [1]
• Countries needed a system to finance trade and stabilise currencies. [1]
• The IMF and World Bank were created at Bretton Woods in 1944. [1]
• Exchange-rate stability and full employment were seen as key goals. [1]
• These institutions provided loans for reconstruction and development. [1]

196. Ans.

• The USA emerged from the war with its economy undamaged and strong. [1]
• The dollar was the main currency in the Bretton Woods system, linked to gold. [1]
• US-led institutions such as the IMF and World Bank shaped the world economy. [1]
• US companies spread worldwide as MNCs. [1]
• The USA gave aid to rebuild Western Europe and Japan. [1]

197. Ans.

• Colonial conquest of the Americas and Africa devastated native populations through disease and exploitation. [1]
• Slavery and indentured labour caused suffering to millions. [1]
• The abolition of the Corn Laws hurt British farmers. [1]
• The Great Depression showed how crises spread globally. [1]
• Developing countries faced indebtedness and inequality, though globalisation also brought trade, growth and cultural exchange. [1]

198. Ans.

• Indian and Chinese labourers were recruited as indentured workers. [1]
• They worked on sugar plantations in the Caribbean and tea plantations in Assam. [1]
• They also worked on rubber plantations in Malaya and mines. [1]
• Wages were low and conditions difficult. [1]
• Their labour supplied cheap raw materials to world markets. [1]

199. Ans.

• The crisis began in the US stock market and spread to Europe through the recall of loans. [1]
• Falling demand reduced exports from Asia, Africa and Latin America. [1]
• Prices of agricultural goods collapsed in colonies like India. [1]
• Unemployment rose worldwide. [1]
• It showed the need for international cooperation, leading to Bretton Woods. [1]

200. Ans.

• Silk Routes: trade and cultural exchange between Asia, Europe and Africa before the fifteenth century. [1]
• The discovery of the Americas: conquest, silver, new foods, slave trade. [1]
• The nineteenth century: Corn Laws abolished, railways, migration, colonial expansion and indentured labour. [1]
• The inter-war years: First World War, 1920s boom and the Great Depression. [1]
• After 1945: Bretton Woods, decolonisation, MNCs, end of fixed exchange rates and the 1990s integration of China and the former Soviet bloc. [1]

QUICK REVISION · KEY POINTS (CBSE / COMPETITIVE)

1. Silk Routes: Asia–Europe–N. Africa trade and cultural exchange; cowries as currency; noodles, potato, maize, tomato travelled. Irish potato famine of the 1840s.
2. Americas: conquered in the sixteenth century; smallpox, silver of Potosí, El Dorado, slave trade from Africa.
3. Nineteenth century: three flows – trade, migration, capital. Corn Laws (restricted corn imports) abolished; food imports; railways, steamships, telegraph, refrigerated ships.
4. Berlin Conference 1885: Africa carved up. Rinderpest (1890s) killed about 90% of African cattle and forced Africans into wage work.
5. Indentured labour: contract of about five years; taken to Caribbean, Mauritius, Fiji; Hosay, chutney music; abolished in 1921. Shikaripuri shroffs and Nattukottai Chettiars financed agriculture.
6. Indian trade: cotton textile exports fell; raw cotton and indigo exported; Britain’s trade surplus with India balanced its deficits elsewhere; canal colonies in Punjab.
7. First World War: industrial scale, 9 million dead; USA became creditor. Ford’s assembly line; 1920s boom on credit. Wall Street Crash, October 1929; Great Depression till the mid-1930s.
8. Great Depression in India: exports and imports nearly halved (1928–34); wheat prices fell 50%; India exported gold.
9. Bretton Woods (July 1944, New Hampshire): IMF and World Bank, operations from 1947; fixed exchange rates, dollar tied to gold at $35 an ounce; G-77 demanded NIEO; MNCs; fixed rates ended in the early 1970s.

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