Home · Schooling · CBSE · Class 10 · Social Science · The Making of a Global World · Exercises: Write in brief

NCERT Class 10 Social Science The Making of a Global World: Write in brief Solutions

Point-by-point answers for every question of Exercises: Write in brief in NCERT's Class 10 Social Science book, chapter “The Making of a Global World”, written by Shishya. Each question is in our own short words; open the NCERT chapter for the exact wording and figures.

1. Write in brief Q1

   Give two examples of different kinds of global exchange before the seventeenth century, one from Asia and one from the Americas.

   1. Asia: along the silk routes, Chinese silk and pottery, and textiles and spices from India and Southeast Asia, went west, while precious metals such as gold and silver flowed from Europe to Asia; ideas and religion travelled too.
   2. Americas: after their discovery, many foods unknown elsewhere, such as potatoes, maize, tomatoes, chillies and sweet potatoes, travelled from the Americas to Europe and Asia; precious metals, especially silver from mines in present-day Peru and Mexico, also flowed out to enrich Europe.

   Answer: Asia: trade in silk, textiles and spices along the silk routes, paid for with gold and silver; the Americas: the spread of food crops such as potatoes, maize and tomatoes, and of American silver, to the rest of the world.

   Report an error in this solution

2. Write in brief Q2

   Explain how the global transfer of disease in the pre-modern world helped the colonisation of the Americas.

   1. European explorers and colonizers carried germs and diseases to the Americas during their voyages.
   2. The indigenous people of the Americas had no immunity to these new diseases, leading to massive population decline.
   3. This drastic reduction in the native population weakened local resistance and made it easier for Europeans to establish control.

   Answer: The transfer of diseases from Europe to the Americas killed a large portion of the indigenous population, which facilitated European colonization by reducing local opposition.

   Report an error in this solution

3. Write in brief Q3(a)

   Explain the effects of the British government's decision to abolish the Corn Laws.

   1. Food became cheaper to import than to produce locally in Britain.
   2. British farmers could not compete with these cheap imports.
   3. Large areas of land were left uncultivated.
   4. Thousands of men and women lost their jobs.
   5. Displaced workers moved to cities or migrated overseas.
   6. Lower food prices led to increased consumption in Britain.

   Answer: The abolition of the Corn Laws made food cheaper, hurt British agriculture, caused mass unemployment, and increased food consumption.

   Report an error in this solution

4. Write in brief Q3(b)

   Explain the effects of the coming of rinderpest to Africa.

   1. Rinderpest arrived in Africa in the late 1880s via infected cattle from British Asia destined for Italian soldiers in Eritrea.
   2. The disease spread westward like a forest fire, reaching the Atlantic coast in 1892 and the Cape five years later.
   3. It killed ninety percent of the cattle, which destroyed the livelihoods of African people who relied on livestock.
   4. European colonizers, planters, and mine owners monopolized the remaining scarce cattle resources to strengthen their power.
   5. This control over cattle forced Africans into the labour market, enabling European powers to conquer and subdue Africa.

   Answer: Rinderpest devastated African cattle populations, destroying livelihoods and allowing European colonizers to monopolize resources and force Africans into wage labour.

   Report an error in this solution

5. Write in brief Q3(c)

   Explain the effects of the deaths of working-age men in Europe in the World War.

   1. The massive loss of men in their prime working years significantly reduced the available workforce in Europe.
   2. With fewer able-bodied men in households, family incomes dropped after the war ended.
   3. Women had to take up jobs that were traditionally performed by men to keep societies functioning during the conflict.

   Answer: The deaths of working-age men shrank Europe's workforce, lowered household incomes, and forced women into the labor market.

   Report an error in this solution

6. Write in brief Q3(d)

   Explain the effects of the Great Depression on the Indian economy.

   1. India's exports and imports nearly halved between 1928 and 1934, and as world prices crashed, prices in India plunged too: wheat prices fell by 50 per cent.
   2. Peasants and farmers suffered most, because the colonial government refused to reduce revenue demands even though farm prices fell; those producing for the world market, like the jute growers of Bengal, were the worst hit.
   3. Peasants fell deeper into debt; they used up their savings, mortgaged land and sold their jewellery and precious metals, so India became an exporter of gold.
   4. Urban India was hit less hard: people with fixed incomes, such as town landowners and salaried middle-class employees, were better off as prices fell.
   5. Rural India was full of unrest when Mahatma Gandhi launched the civil disobedience movement in 1931.

   Answer: The Depression halved India's trade, crashed farm prices, drove peasants into debt and the sale of land and gold, while urban salaried people suffered less; rural unrest grew.

   Report an error in this solution

7. Write in brief Q3(e)

   Explain the effects of MNCs deciding to move production to Asian countries.

   1. MNCs moved production to Asian countries because wages there were relatively low.
   2. This shift made these countries attractive destinations for foreign investment aimed at capturing world markets.
   3. The relocation of industry to low-wage regions stimulated global trade and capital flows.
   4. As a result, the world's economic geography was transformed over the last two decades.
   5. Countries like India, China, and Brazil underwent rapid economic transformation due to this shift.

   Answer: MNCs relocated to Asia for low wages, stimulating trade, capital flows, and rapid economic transformation in countries like India and China.

   Report an error in this solution

8. Write in brief Q4

   Give two examples from history of the impact of technology on food availability.

   1. Railways, bigger ships and the telegraph made it cheaper and faster to move food from farms in distant places to the ports and markets; Britain, for example, came to import grain grown far away in America and Australia.
   2. Refrigerated ships allowed perishable food like meat to be carried over long distances: animals were slaughtered at the starting point and shipped to Europe as frozen meat, which cut transport costs and lowered meat prices.
   3. As a result poor people in Europe could eat a more varied diet, with meat, butter and eggs added to the earlier bread and potatoes.

   Answer: Faster transport by railways and ships brought distant grain to Britain cheaply, and refrigerated ships made frozen meat cheap enough for poor Europeans to add to their diet.

   Report an error in this solution

9. Write in brief Q5

   What is meant by the Bretton Woods Agreement?

   1. The Bretton Woods Agreement was the framework for the post-war international economic system agreed in July 1944.
   2. It aimed to preserve economic stability and full employment in the industrial world.
   3. The agreement established the IMF and the World Bank to manage external balances and reconstruction.
   4. It created a system of fixed exchange rates where currencies were pegged to the dollar and gold.

   Answer: The Bretton Woods Agreement established the post-war economic framework, creating the IMF and World Bank and a fixed exchange rate system to ensure stability and full employment.

   Report an error in this solution

← The Making of a Global World: notes, practice and all exercises