HISTORY(X) LESSON- 4
THE MAKING OF
GLOBAL WORLD
(LESSON NOTES)
____________________________________________________________
v INTRODUCTION
Ø Globalisation refers as the interlinking of the countries. This
term refers to an economic system that has emerged since the last 50 years or
so.
Ø But as we will see in this chapter that the making of the global
world has a long history – of trade, of migration, of people in search of work,
the movement of capital, and much else.
v INTERLINKING OF WORLD IN PRE-MODERN WORLD
Ø
In pre modern world travelers,
merchants, priests and pilgrims travelled to far off distances for knowledge,
opportunity and spiritual fulfilment.
Ø
These people used to carry
along goods, money, values, skills, ideas, inventions and sometimes diseases
also.
Ø
Not only this, they also took
various foods and cultural habits with them to the different places that
resulted in the diversity of culture.
Ø This interlinked can be traced around 3000 B.C when Indus valley
civilization connected with the present-day West Asia. The currency which was
used for trade activities was cowries or seashells.
v SILK ROUTES LINK THE WORLD
Ø The silk routes serve as a good example of the pre modern trade
and cultural links between the different parts of the world.
Ø Historians have found out various silk routes over land and through the sea. These routes were linked with the vast regions of Asia, Europe and Northern Africa. These routes existed since before the Christian era.
Ø This route was used not only for silk but the Chinese pottery, the
textiles and spices from India and Southeast Asia went to different parts of
world. In return the expensive metals like gold and silver moved from Europe to
Asia.
Ø Just like trade, there was cultural exchange also. Various Christian, Muslim and Buddhist preachers went to different parts and spread into different parts of the Asia.
v
FOOD TRAVELS: SPAGHETTI AND POTATO
Ø Food is a great
example of cultural exchange. Many
crops
were introduced in different places and reached in different places by traders
and travellers.
Ø Take for example
spaghetti and noodles. The belief about the noodles is that it travelled from
China to west and became spaghetti. Some even say that pasta was taken to
Sicily (island in Italy) by the Arabs.
Ø Our common foods
such as potatoes, soya, groundnuts, maize, tomatoes, chillies, sweet potatoes
were introduced in Europe and Asia after the discovery of vast continent
Americas made by Christopher Columbus.
Ø So, we can say
that most of our common foods came from America’s original inhabitants- the
American Indians.
Ø Sometimes the new
crops could make the difference between life and death. Potatoes being cheap
became an essential food for the poor of Europe. Ireland’s poorest peasants
became so dependent on them that most of them died when the crop failed in the
mid1840s.
v
DISCOVERY OF SEA ROUTES AND CONQUEST
Ø The
European sailors found a sea route in 16TH century and succeeded to
cross the western ocean to reach America and Asia.
Ø Before
this, for many centuries, the Indian Ocean was a famous trading centre. The
Indian subcontinent was the centre of the exchange of goods, people, knowledge,
customs etc.
Ø America
remained unknown to the world for millions of years. Its discovery in the
sixteenth century led to the beginning of trade of its minerals and crops.
Ø Valuable
metals, especially silver from mines of present-day Peru and Mexico increased
the wealth of Europe that financed its trade with Asia.
Ø
As these expeditions gained popularity in
order to explore more trade and wealth centres, rumours and imaginations also
became common. So, in the seventeenth century many expeditions set off in
search of El Dorado, the fabled city of gold.
v
CONQUEST AND COLONISATION OF AMERICA
Ø The Portuguese and the Spanish started colonizing America in order to
enhance their trade and increase their wealth.
Ø But conquering was not always done with the use of arms and ammunition
but it also happened because of the spread of disease.
Ø Spanish conquerors who took germs of small
pox with them to America. The natives were not immune to deadly disease. This
resulted in the death of a large number of the Native Americans and found the
way of establishing Spanish control over the place.
v PROBLEM IN EUROPE UNTIL 19TH
CENTURY
Ø Poverty and hunger became a common problem
in Europe until 1ith century.
Ø The cities became crowded and there was an
outbreak of deadly diseases.
Ø Religious disputes became common and
people were persecuted. Various people left Europe for America.
Ø During the eighteenth century, African
slaves were captured to work in the sugar and cotton plantations to be sold
into the European markets.
v ASIA UNTIL 18TH CENTURY
Ø If we talk about Asian countries like China
and India during the eighteenth century, both of these countries were the
richest countries in the world.
Ø They were the leading countries in the
Asian trade.
Ø But during the fifteenth century China restricted
its overseas trade which resulted in decline of its importance in the trade
world.
Ø America gradually gained an important
position in the trade market and this led to the moving of the centre of the
world trade westwards.
Ø Europe soon rose to be the centre of world
trade.
So, now that we know about the pre modern time in which the trades
began within the different continents, let’s see what new changes were
experienced in the nineteenth century.
v THE NINETEENTH CENTURY (1815-1914)
v TYPES OF MOVEMENT OR ‘FLOWS
Ø During the nineteenth century various
economic, political, social and cultural factors led to the change of the
societies and the external relations.
Ø In the nineteenth century three types of
flow between the international economies were noticed. These were: -
§ Movement of goods-Trade
§ Movement of people: -Migration of people
in search of work
§ Movement of capital: -Investments over
long distances.
Ø These three flows were interconnected in a
way that affected the life of people in a deeper way than before. These flows
resulted in the shaping of the world economy.
v A WORLD ECONOMY TAKES SHAPE
Ø Traditionally, countries liked to be
self-sufficient in food. But in 19th Britain, self-sufficiency in
food meant lower living standards and social conflicts.
Ø In the 18th century the demand
for the food grains increased in Britain. due to the huge population of Britain
which raise price of the food grains.
Ø At the same time British government put
restrictions on the import of goods due to the pressure by the various landed
groups. These laws came to be known as the Corn Laws.
Ø This led to the increase in food prices.
The industrialists and the urban residents were unhappy because of this and
hence forced the government to abolish the Corn Laws. So, the government
abolished the Corn Laws in Britain. It creates a great impact on Britain.
Ø GLOBAL AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY
§ Scrapped of corn law led to the import of
cheap corn into the country creating a tough competition for the corn growers.
§ The lands were left uncultivated because
growing corn in Britain was not profitable business any more.
§ This led to the unemployment of laborers
as they were thrown out of the work. Hence, these people were forced to move to
the cities or to different countries for work.
§ The food prices fell and the consumption
of the same increased in Britain. From the mid nineteenth century, the rapid
industrial growth increased the income of Britain. So, now Britain could import
more food.
§ Around the world-
in Eastern Europe, Russia, America and Australia lands were cultivating food to
export it into Britain.
§ The railway lines
were also laid and new harbours were built to link the agricultural regions.
§ Soon people had
to get settled on lands in order to cultivate them. Therefore, the need of
building homes and settlements arose.
§ For this, there
was a huge need for finance and labour. This led to flow of capital from London
and supply of labour in America and Australia.
§ Such a situation
led to the migration of about 50 million people from Europe to America and
Australia in the nineteenth century. It is estimated that about 150 million
people around the world left their homes for a better future.
§ So, by 1890, a
global agricultural economy came into being. It was accompanied by the various
types of labour movement patterns, capital flows, ecologies and technology.
§ So, now food
didn’t come from a nearby village or town but from a far-off distance.
§ The agricultural
workers started working on the land and all the agricultural regions were
linked by the railways, ports etc.
§ The ships which
took the food grains were generally manned by low paid workers from southern
Europe, Asia, Africa and the Caribbean.
Ø AGRICULTURAL
ECONOMY AND INDIA
§ All
these changes were also observed in the west Punjab but on a smaller scale.
§ The
British government developed the canal system in order to transform a semi
desert area into fertile lands. It was done so in order to grow cotton and
wheat in order to export it.
§ The
Canal Colonies, as the areas irrigated by the new canals were called, were
settled by peasants from other parts of Punjab
Ø All
these changes shape the new global economy. The world trade during 1820-1914
was estimated to have multiplied from 25 to 40 times. Around 60 percent of the
trade comprised of primary products i.e. the agricultural products such as
wheat, cotton and mineral like coal.
Ø In
this way we can say that the role of agricultural products in shaping the world
economy. Let’s talk about the role of technology in shaping up the world
economy which we see today.
v ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY
Ø Technology
plays an important role in the growth of the world economy.
Ø The
invention of railways, steamships and telegraph played an important role in
transforming the nineteenth century world.
Ø The
advancement in technology was due to the various social, political and economic
factors. The colonization increased the demand of improved transportation such
as faster railways, larger ships and so on as this would facilitate the quick
and cheap movement of agricultural products to distant places.
Ø The
meat trade is one of the finest examples of this connected process. Earlier,
the animals were shipped alive from America to Europe. This was not a
profitable venture for most of the time for the following reasons:
§ The
livestock used to take up more space
§ Most
of them died, fell ill or caught diseases which resulted in their being unfit
to be consumed.
§ This
resulted in the rise in price of meat.
Ø This
problem sorted with the introduction of ships with refrigerators. It had the
following benefits.
§ The
meat could be shipped in large quantities resulting in the cost cutting of the
transportation.
§ Now,
it was easy to handle the perishable meat for a longer time.
§ The
price of the meat reduced; this allowed the poor to consume meat as their daily
diet.
Ø But
as the world was shrinking due to the improved transportation the growth of
imperialism was also experienced during this time. Various European powers were
establishing their colonies in different countries which would serve their
businesses in the home country.
v LATE NINETEENTH–CENTURY
COLONIALISM
Ø During
the nineteenth century, trade flourished and markets also expanded. But this
period is not remembered for the expansion of trade and economic prosperity
only, but also for the darker side to this process.
§ In
many parts of the world, the growth and expansion of trade brought some of the
disadvantages such as loss of freedoms and livelihoods.
§ During
this century Europeans gained control over various territories of the world and
formed their colonies.
§ In
1885 the European powers met in Berlin to control over Africa to complete the
division process of Africa among them.
· Britain
and France were the ones that had established their control over vast overseas
territories in the late nineteenth century.
· Belgium
and Germany rose as the new colonial powers.
· Later
in 1890, US became a colonial power by gaining control over the territories
held by Spain.
Ø This
colonization by the European powers led to a destructive impact on the lives of
the people who were the residents of these colonies.
v RINDERPEST OR THE CATTLE PLAGUE
Ø Rinderpest
was a cattle disease which spread in Africa in the 1890s leading to a deep
impact on the lives and livelihood of the Africans.
Ø Africa-before
Colonialism
§ Africa
had vast land and a relatively small population. For centuries, the African
people were dependent on the land and livestock.
§ As
their needs were fulfilled with the land and livestock, none of them had ever
worked for wages.
§ So,
when Europeans entered Africa, they were unable to get laborers for themselves
because no one was ready to work for the wages.
Ø So,
in order to get laborers, they started using forceful methods as-
§ By
increase in tax that could be paid only if the Africans work for wages.
§ Later
on, the ownership rights of land were limited up to only one member, as a
result other members were pushed into the labour market.
§ Mineworkers
were kept confined in the compounds and were not allowed to move freely.
Ø Spread
Of Rinderpest
§ The
cattle plague or the Rinderpest arrived in Africa in the 1880s.
§ It
came with the infected cattle that were imported from British Asia in order to
feed the Italian Soldiers invading Eritrea in East Africa.
§ The
Rinderpest disease very soon moved towards west from east then towards Atlantic
coast in 1892.
§ It
reached the Cape five years later. It is estimated that Rinderpest killed 90
percent of the cattle.
Ø Effect
Of Rinderpest
§ Rinderpest
killed the 90 percent of the animals of Africa.
§ It
destroyed the livelihoods of the Africans.
§ So,
they started to work in the planters, mine owners and colonial government who
can now monopolized the scarce cattle resource to strengthen their power.
v INDENTURED LABOR MIGRATION FROM
INDIA
Ø A
bonded labourer under contract to work for an employer for a specific amount of
time, to pay off his passage to a new country or home is known as Indentured
labour. The story of indentured or the bonded labour also serves as a best
example to explain the two-sided nature of the nineteenth-century world.
§ On
one side it shows the fast-growing economies and on the other, it shows the
great misery.
§ Some
were becoming wealthier and other poorer, there was technological advancement
in some areas and new forms of coercion in other areas.
Ø PROCESS
OF INDENTURED LABOUR
§ In
the nineteenth century a large number of Indian and Chinese laborers went to
work on plantations, mines and rails and roads construction projects around the
world.
§ The
Indian indentured laborers were hired under contracts with the condition of
return travel to India after the completion of five years at the employers’
plantation.
§ Most
of these workers belonged to areas like east Uttar Pradesh, Central India,
Bihar and dry districts of Tamil Nadu. The people of these areas were forced to
indentured labour for number of reasons:
· Decline
of cottage industries
· Rise
in rent of lands
·
Most of the lands were cleared for mines
and plantations.
§ All
the above things affected the lives of people so badly that they become deeply
indebted and hence were forced to leave their home in search of work.
§ Most
of Indian indentured migrants visited places like Caribbean islands like
Trinidad, Guyana and Surinam or Mauritius and Fiji, Ceylon and Malaya.
§ The
recruitment was generally carried on by various agents.
Ø INDENTURED
LABOUR NEW SYSTEM OF SALAVERY
§ The
Indian indentured laborers were hired under contracts with the condition of
return travel to India after the completion of five years at the employers.
§ It
was done by the agents who tried to tempt the workers by showing them non real
dreams about the good working conditions and good wages.
§ The
workers saw these jobs as an opportunity to come out of poverty and misery.
§ But
they were generally unaware about the real truth of harsh working conditions
and low wages in these places of work.
§ In
some cases the workers were forcefully abducted to work by these agents. Some
of them escaped from these places. Those who were caught were severely punished.
v NEW
WAY OF SURVIVING
Ø Many
Indentured labour have discovered their own ways of surviving as; -
§ Many
workers decided to be a part of the new culture prevailing at these places.
§ For
Example, In Trinidad the annual Muharram procession started receiving
participation by the people of all races and religions.
§ Likewise,
the protest religion of Rastafarianism is also said to reflect the cultural
links with Indian migrants to the Caribbean.
§ Not
only this, the popular chutney music of Trinidad and Guyana is another creative
contemporary expression of the post indenture experience.
§ So,
many did not come back to India .That is why we still found people from Indian
origin residing at these places.
· V.S.
Naipaul-Nobel prize winner.
· West
Indies cricketers Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan
Ø Though
they had started relating themselves with the new culture but still know that
their lives were full of hardships. So, in order to protect the rights of such
workers Indian nationalist leaders began opposing the system of indentured
labour migration as abusive and cruel. It was abolished in 1921.
v INDIAN ENTREPRENEURS ABROAD
Ø As
we have known that food and crops were exported, which required capital. Large
plantations could borrow it from banks and markets.
Ø The
poor peasants used to borrow money from Indian bankers. Shikaripuri Shroffs and
Nattukottai Chettiars were the important bankers or money lenders who provide
money for export agriculture.
Ø The
funds provided by them were either their own or borrowed funds from European
banks. They had a sophisticated system to transfer money over large distances
and even developed indigenous forms of corporate organization.
Ø The
Indian traders also followed the European colonizers into Africa. So, from 1860’s
Indian traders were able to establish their shops at busy ports worldwide
through which they sell local and imported products to tourists and others. For,
example Hyderabadi Sindhi traders developed safe and comfortable passenger
vessels.
v TRANSITION OF INDIAN TRADE
Ø Historically,
the fine Indian cotton was in huge demand in Europe but with the development of
technology and growth of industries, British cotton manufacture began to
expand.
Ø As
British industrialists were facing tough competition from the Indian cotton so
they forced the government to impose restrictions on the import of cotton in
Britain. This resulted in the decline of the Indian cotton export.
Ø In
the beginning of the nineteenth century, British traders started exporting
their products into various countries. This led to a tough competition for the
Indian textiles or cotton producers as there were no taxes for the British
producers.
Ø This
led to a decline in the trade share of the Indian textile. For instance, there
was some 30 percent of share of Indian cotton in the trade market during 1800
which declined to 15 percent by 1815. By the 1870s this proportion dropped
below 3 percent.
Ø When
India was experiencing decline in the export of furnished products it also saw
the increase in export of raw materials.
Ø So,
between 1812 and 1871 the share of raw cotton exports rose from 5 percent to 35
percent.
Ø Indigo
used for dying cloth was another such product that was exported for many
decades. The export of opium to China grew rapidly in 1820.
Ø Britain
grew opium in India and exports it to China in order to earn income. This
income was then used to import tea and other products from China.
v TRADE
SURPLUS AND ITS USES
Ø In
the nineteenth century Britishers were importing products from India at low
cost and exporting finished products at very high cost. Thus, Britain had a
trade surplus, which means that its income was higher than its expenses.
Ø So,
Britain started using this surplus in order to cover its trade deficit with
other countries.
Ø Britain’s
trade surplus also helped in paying off the home charges such as
remittances, debts and pensions.
Ø So,
now we know how the world trade grew and took a new shape. Its association with
forced labour and colonialization gave it a new shape. But soon this led to the
war between various economies as now everyone wants to earn more and wants to
have more share in the world trade.
v FIRST
WORLD WAR
Ø The First World War (1914-18) was fought in Europe. The war which
was supposed to end within a few months lasted up to 4 years. It was fought
between two powers:
§ Allies and the central power: - Britain, France and Russia. They
were later joined by the US.
§ Central powers: - Germany, Austria- Hungary, and Ottoman Turkey.
§ But it impacted the whole world.
v IMPACT OF FIRST WORLD WAR
Ø This war proved to be very destructive as it saw the use of
machine guns, tanks, aircraft, chemical weapons etc. on a large scale. All
these were the products of modern large-scale industry.
Ø To fight the war, millions of soldiers were recruited from around
the world and were taken to the actual place. The war took the lives of around
9 million people and 20 million were injured.
Ø Those who were killed or injured were generally men of working
age. These deaths reduced the workforce in Europe. So, women stepped out to
undertake jobs.
Ø As the war had increased expenditure so the Britain borrowed money
from US banks as well as from the US public. This led to a change in the
position of the US from the debtor to creditor and also a prosperity of the US
citizens.
Ø The war had generated a situation of economic crisis in various
countries which had led to huge loss of men and money.
v POST WAR ECONOMY
Ø Post-war economic recovery was not an easy task. Britain that was
once a prosperous economy before the war was now in a situation of crisis.
Ø This was because when Britain was busy in war. The industries in
Japan and India developed.
Ø So, after the war, Britain found it difficult to regain its
control over the Indian market and also it was unable to compete with Japan in
the international market.
Ø Moreover, Britain had taken huge amounts of loans from the US at
very high rates of interest which resulted in the huge external debts on the economy.
Ø After the war huge population became unemployed due to decrease in
demand, production and employment.
Ø The government also reduced its public expenditure after the war to
cover up its losses. So, the situation during post war time was worse.
Ø The agricultural economies also went into crisis after the war.
Before war Eastern Europe was the major supplier of wheat in the world market.
But when the supply was disrupted during war many countries like Canada,
America and Australia increased their wheat production. So, when the war was
over, there was a huge supply of wheat from various parts of the world leading
to fall in the price of wheat and rendering farmers into debts.
v RISE OF MASS PRODUCTION
Ø As we know that war helped in boosting the US economy therefore
after a short period of difficulty the US economy resumed a strong growth in
the early 1920s due to the concept of mass production in the 1920s.
Ø It was first used by a famous car manufacturer Henry Ford. He took
this idea from the assembly line of a Chicago slaughterhouse where the
slaughtered animals were picked apart by butchers as they came down a conveyor
belt.
Ø Henry ford applied this concept of assembly line to his new car
plant in Detroit. His view was that the assembly line method will allow quicker
and cheaper way of producing vehicles by expertise in a particular task.
Ø As it was assumed the production increased, Ford’s cars came off
the line at a gap of three minutes.
Ø But the problem arose when workers refused to work as this was
impossible for them to match the pace of the work. To encourage them Ford
doubled their daily wage.
Ø Though it was a risky decision made by him that could lead him to
the losses but it proved to be a profitable venture for him. He forced his
workers to work hard. This resulted in high production which in return cut down
its cost of production and Ford was able to earn huge profits.
v IMPACT OF MASS PRODUCTION
Ø The industrial practice used by Ford became an inspiration for
other production houses in the US and Europe in the 1920s.
Ø Mass production led to lowering down of the cost of production.
Ø Due to higher wages the living standard of the workers also
improved. They could even buy cars now.
Ø This led to more sales of cars and so the car production in the US
increased from 2 million in 1919 to more than 5 million in 1929.
Ø Similarly, there was an increase in the demand of refrigerators,
washing machines, radios, gramophone players by the hire purchase system. Hire
purchase system means when you buy a product on weekly or monthly instalments.
Ø The increase in demand for houses and consumer goods brought the
boom in the economy and led to the prosperity of the US.
Ø The demand and investment in housing and consumer goods created
more chances of employment and income. So, in 1923 the US grabbed the largest
share of overseas lending.
Ø Though US export triggered the European recovery and world trade
and income growth for next few years, it could not last longer.
v THE GREAT DEPRESSION
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