Students can read the important questions given below for The Making of a Global World Class 10 Social Science. All The Making of a Global World Class 10 Notes and questions with solutions have been prepared based on the latest syllabus and examination guidelines issued by CBSE, NCERT and KVS. You should read all notes provided by us and Class 10 Social Science Important Questions provided for all chapters to get better marks in examinations. Social Science Question Bank Class 10 is available on our website for free download in PDF.
Important Questions of The Making of a Global World Class 10
Question. Who popularised Rastafarianism?
Answer : Rastafarianism, reflecting Indian cultural links was made famous by the Jamaican reggae star Bob Marley.
Question. Name the first European country that conquered America?
Answer : Spain was the first European country that conquered America.
Question. What were Cowries used for?
Answer : Cowries were used for the trading purpose.
Question. During which year did the Great Depression occur?
Answer : The Great Depression occurred during the year 1929-1930s.
Question. Name the countries which were considered as Allied Powers.
Answer : Britain, France and Russia made Allied Powers.
Question. What is the difference between the Bretton Woods System and International Monetary System?
Answer : The Bretton Woods System was based on fixed exchange rates whereas the International Monetary system is the system linking national currencies and monetary system.
Question. The introduction of which crop led the European poor to eat better and live longer?
Answer : The introduction of Potato led the European poor to eat better and live longer.
Question. What is meant by Rinderpest?
Answer : Rinderpest was a deadly cattle disease. It spread in Africa in 1880s.
Question. Who adopted the concept of an assembly line to produce automobiles?
Answer : Henry Ford adopted the concept of an assembly line to produce automobiles.
Question. Identify the group of the countries, which was known as Axis powers during the Second World War?
Answer : Nazi Germany, Japan and Italy were known as Axis powers during the Second World War.
Question. Name the economist who thought that Indian gold exports during the Great Depression of 1929 promoted global economic recovery.
Answer : The economist that thought Indian gold exports promoted global economic recovery was John Maynard Keynes.
Question. Indian indentured workers came from which regions of India?
Answer : Most Indian indentured workers came from dry districts of Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Central India and Eastern Uttar Pradesh.
Question. Which crop was not known to our ancestors until about five centuries ago?
Answer : Potato was not known to our ancestors until about five centuries ago.
Question. What is ‘El Dorado’ in South America famous for?
Answer : In South America, ‘El Dorado’ was an imaginary land of great wealth. It was the fabled gold city.
Question. What do we call the law that allowed the British Government to restrict the import of corn?
Answer : The laws that allowed the British Government to restrict the import of corn were called Corn Laws.
Question. Which group of countries were known as the ‘Central Powers’ in Europe?
Answer : The countries known as the ‘Central Powers’ in Europe were Germany, AustriaHungary and Ottoman Turkey.
Question. Name a Noble Prize winning writer who is a descendant of indentured labour from India.
Answer : VS Naipaul is the Nobel Prize-winning writer who is a descendant of indentured labour from India.
Question. Which European country first conquered America?
Answer : The European country, Spanish first conquered America.
Question. What was the benefit of relocation of industries?
Answer : The relocation of industries stimulated capital flow and world trade.
Question. What was the most powerful weapon used by the Spanish to conquer America?
Answer : The most powerful weapon used by the Spanish to conquer America was the germs such as those of smallpox. Because of their long isolation, America’s original inhabitants had no immunity against these diseases that came from Europe.
Question. Explain any three effects of the Great Depression 1929-1930 on the United States.
Answer : The United States was adversely affected by the Great Depression of 1929-30.
i. With the fall in prices the US banks had also slashed domestic lending called bank loans.
ii. Many houses and businesses collapsed.
iii. Faced with falling income, many household were unable to repay their loans.
iv. They had to give up their houses, cars and other consumer durables.
v. Unemployed soared, people trudged long distances looking for work.
vi. Unable to recover investments, collect loans and repay depositors, thousands of banks went bankrupt and were forced to close. By 1933, over four thousand banks had closed and between 1929 and 1932 about 110,000 companies had collapsed.
Question. How did Rinderpest become instrumental in subjugating the Africans?
Answer : Rinderpest was a devastating cattle disease that not only affected the cattle but also the lives of the people by subjugating them to the Europeans in the following ways:
i. About 90% of the cattle were killed, which forced Africans to work for the Europeans in the plantations.
ii. Planters, mine owners and colonial governments now successfully monopolised what scarce cattle resources remained, to strengthen their power and forced Africans into the labour market.
iii. Control over the scarce resource of cattle enabled European colonisers to conquer and subdue Africa.
Question. The First World War was a war like no other before. Explain any three features about the war that supports the statement.
Answer : The First World War was regarded as a war like no other due important reasons which are as follows:
i. It involved the world’s leading Industrial nations. The major economies of the world like USA, UK, Russia and Germany fought the war with the might of all their industries and strength of the economy and defence.
ii. This war was the first modern industrial war. Machine guns, tanks, aircraft, chemical weapons, were used on a massive scale.
iii. Most of those who were maimed were men of working age. The scale of death and destruction was great. These deaths and injuries reduced the workforce.
iv. Industries during the war were restructured to produce war-related products.
v. The war led to the snapping of economic links between the world’s largest economic powers which were now fighting with each other to pay for them. The war transformed the US from being an international debtor to an international creditor.
Question. How can you say that ancient silk routes helped in spreading of the values of one place to another?
Answer : The ancient silk routes helped in spreading of the values of one place to another, since:
i. These routes helped in spreading science and technology.
ii. Spread of religious thoughts and religious practices.
iii. Spread of various clothing patterns.
iv. Spread of spiritual ideas and moral values.
Question. “The multinational companies (MNCs) choose China as an alternative location for investment?” Explain the statement.
Answer : i. Since the revolution in 1949, China gradually came in the field of the World economy. It attracted foreign MNC’s because of its lowest economic structure.
ii. Wages were relatively low in China. Thus, these became attractive destinations for investment by foreign MNCs competing to capture world markets.
iii. China had the largest population besides labour. They also formed a large consumer base.
Question. Explain the role of New International Economic Order (NIEO).
Answer : G-77 or the Group of 77 demanded a New International Economic Order (NIEO).
By the New International Economic Order (NIEO) they meant a system that would give them:
i. Real control on their own natural resources.
ii. More development assistance from advanced or western countries.
iii. The fairer price for raw material and better access for their manufactured goods in developed countries’ markets.
Question. The 19th century world of faster economic growth still brought misery for many. Explain.
Answer : Nineteenth-century was the world of faster economic growth as well as great misery, higher incomes for some and poverty for others, technological advances in some areas and new forms of coercion in others:
i. Hundreds of thousands of Indian and Chinese labourers went to work on plantations, in mines, and in road and railway construction projects around the world.
ii. In India, indentured labourers were hired under contracts which promised return travel to India after they had worked five years on their employer’s plantation.
iii. As a result, the cottage industry declined and land rents rose. Land and forest were cleared for mines and plantations.
iv. Increased indebtedness among poor became prevalent.
v. Living and working conditions for the indentured labour were harsh and with few legal rights.
Question. Why did most of the developing countries organise themselves as a group – the Group of 77 (G- 77)?
Answer : i. The developing countries came under the guidance of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank which was dominated by the former colonial powers in order to uplift their economies.
ii. Former colonial powers exploited the natural resources of developing nations through IMF and World Bank.
iii. The newly-independent nations felt that they are not benefiting from the growth of western economics and international financial institutions as they should.
iv. The developing nations organised themselves into G-77 so as to gain real control over their natural resources, to get more development assistance and fairer prices for raw materials.
v. They also wanted a better opportunity for their manufactured goods in the markets of developing nations.
Question. What were the main features of the First World War?
Answer : The main features of the First World War were as follows:
i. The First World War (1914-18) was mainly fought in Europe. But its impact was felt around the world.
ii. It was fought between two power blocs- the Allies (Britain, France and Russia) and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria – Hungary and Ottoman Turkey).
iii. This was the only war in the modern world which involved almost all countries in one or the other way.
iv. In this war, the weapons used had a deadly potential to kill and destroy whatever came in their way. It was the first modern industrial war as it saw the use of machine guns, tanks, aircraft, chemical weapons, etc., on a large scale.
v. To fight the war, millions of soldiers had to be recruited from around the world and most of them were men of working age.
vi. During the war, 9 million people were dead and 20 million were injured. This death and injuries reduced the able-bodied workforce in Europe.
vii. Industries were restructured to produce war-related goods.
viii. Economies of the countries around the world crashed beyond the level of recovery. The winners were the losers themselves.
Question. How far is it correct to say that the First World War was the first modern industrial war? Explain.
Answer : The First World War can be said to be the first modern industrial war because of the following reasons:
i. The fighting involved the world’s leading industrial nations which then harnessed the vast powers of modern industry to inflict the greatest possible destruction on their enemies.
ii. It saw the use of machineguns, tanks, aircrafts, and chemical weapons on a massive scale. These were all increasingly products of modern large-scale industry.
iii. The scale of death and destruction was vast, that is nine million dead and twenty million injured.
iv. Such a massive destruction was unthinkable before the industrial age, without the use of industrial arms.
v. During the war, industries were restricted to produce war-related goods.
Question. Explain the three types of flow or movements within international economic exchange.
Answer : The three types of flow or movements within international economic exchange were:
i. The first is the flow of trade which, in the nineteenth century, is referred largely to trade.
ii. The second is the flow of labour which referred to the migration of people in search of employment.
iii. The third is the movement of capital for short term or long term investments over long distance.
Question. Who were indentured labourers? How were they recruited? Explain condition of the indentured labourers who went to work in different parts of the world.
Answer : Indentured labourers were bonded labourers under contract to work for an employer for a specific amount of time, to pay off their passage to a new country or home. Recruitment was done by agents engaged by employers and was paid a small commission.
The condition of the indentured labourers in different parts of the world was very pathetic. It can be described as follows:
i. They were subjected to harsh, inhuman and unsympathetic conditions. They have very few legal rights.
ii. If they were unwilling to migrate, they were abducted by agents. If they were caught while escaping, they faced severe punishment.
iii. Employers could bring criminal charges against labourers and punish and jail them for non-fulfilment of contracts.
iv. They worked on plantations in unhygienic conditions and earned low wages.
v. If the work was found unsatisfactory, deductions were made from their wages.
Question. Define the term trade surplus. How was the income received from trade surplus with India used by Britain?
Answer : Trade surplus: When the value of exports is higher than value of imports, it called as trade surplus.
i. Britain used this surplus to balance its trade deficits with other countries – that is, with countries from which Britain was importing more than it was selling to.
ii. This is how a multi-lateral settlement system works – it allows one country’s deficit with another country to be settled by its surplus with a third country.
iii. By helping Britain balance its deficits, India played a crucial role in the late nineteenth-century world economy.
iv. Britain’s trade surplus in India also helped to pay the so-called ‘home charges’ that included private remittances home by British officials and traders, interest payments on India’s external debt, and pension of British officials in India.
Question. Explain any three factors responsible for the Great Depression of 1929.
Answer : The three factors responsible for the Great Depression of 1929 are:
i. Due to agricultural over production, prices slumped and income declined. Farmers expanded the production to maintain their overall income. This worsened the glut in the market.
ii. In the mid-1920s, US financed many countries through loans but in 1929 these countries faced an acute crisis. US loan withdrawal affected the whole Europe.
iii. Major banks collapsed along with currencies, such as British pound and sterling.
The US attempts to protect its economy in depression by doubling its import duties affected the world badly.
Question. Briefly explain the key lessons which economists and politicians drew out from interwar economic experiences.
Answer : The key lessons which economists and politicians drew out from inter-war economic experiences are:
i. An industrial society based on mass production cannot be sustained without mass consumption for which there was a need for stable incomes guaranteed by stable employment. This economic stability had to be ensured by the government.
ii. The goal of full employment could only be achieved if governments had power to control flows of goods, capital and labour.
iii. The main aim of the post war international economic system was to preserve economic stability and full employment in the industrial world.
Question. When was the Bretton Woods Conference convened? State the main aim of the conference.
Answer : The Bretton Woods Conference was convened in July 1944 at Bretton Woods in New Hampshire, USA.
The main aims of the conference were as follows:
i. To preserve economic stability and full employment in the industrial world.
ii. To control the influence of the outer world on the flow of capital, goods and labour.
iii. The conference established the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank).
Question. Explain the impact of the Great Depression of 1929-1934 on the world economy.
Answer : The impact of the Great Depression of 1929-1934 on the world’s economy was:
i. There was deterioration of the economic conditions of the capitalists.
ii. There had been great fall in the industrial production as the demand for goods of all types also fell.
iii. Unemployment soared very high.
iv. There was a great fall in the living standard of the people.
v. Agricultural prices fell disastrously.
Question. Describe the impact of food imports on Britain in the nineteenth century.
Answer : The impact of food imports on Britain in the nineteenth century are:
i. After the Corn Laws were abolished, food could be imported into Britain more cheaply than it could be produced within the country.
ii. British agriculture was unable to compete with imports.
iii. Vast areas of land were now left uncultivated, and thousands of men and women were thrown out of work.
iv. They flocked to the cities or migrated overseas.
Question. The silk routes are a good example of trade and cultural link between distant parts of the world. Explain with examples.
Answer : i. Christian missionaries, Muslim preachers, Buddhist monks, all used the silk routes and religions spread from one region to another. These routes were used to spread religions like Buddhism, Christianity and Islam.
ii. Historians have identified several silk routes over land and by sea. Now the vast regions of Asia could be connected. It also linked Asia with Europe and northern Africa through trade and culture.
iii. Silk routes are known to have existed since before the Christian Era. It continued to thrive almost till the fifteenth century. Chinese pottery also followed the same route, like textiles and spices from India and Southeast Asia. In return, precious metals like gold and silver flowed from Europe to Asia.
iv. Traders and travellers introduced new crops to the areas they travelled.
v. Along with this trade route ideas too travelled to distant places.
Question. What role did technology play in shaping the nineteenth-century world?
Answer : The role played by technology in shaping the nineteenth-century world is as follows:
i. The railways, steamships, the telegraphs were some important inventions without which the transformed 19th-century world could not be imagined.
ii. Colonization stimulated new investments and improvements in transport.
iii. Faster railways, lighter wagons and larger ships helped to move food more cheaply and quickly from far away farms to final markets.
Question. How did the global transfer of disease in the pre-modern world help in the colonization of the Americans?
Answer : i. America was not conquered and colonized by Europeans with the help of superior firepower alone. Germs, such as those of smallpox were helpful to a great extent.
ii. America was long isolated from the rest of the world. Its inhabitants had no knowledge and immunity against diseases of Europe.
iii. The Spanish conquerors used their instance to introduce germs of smallpox through their smallpox-infected person. It proved to be a deadly killer.
iv. Once introduced, the germs spread deep into the continent decimating whole communities and paving way for conquest.
Question. What was the impact of technology on food availability? Explain with the help of examples.
Answer : The impact of technology on food availability were:
i. Technology in the form of improvements in transport – faster railways, lighter wagons and larger ships helped to move food more cheaply and quickly from far away farms to final markets.
ii. Earlier, animals were shipped alive from America to Europe and then slaughter when they arrived there. Meat was hence an expensive luxury beyond the reach of the European poor.
iii. Then came a technology namely refrigerated ships, which enabled to transport perishable foods over long distances.
iv. Now animals were slaughtered for food and then transported to Europe as frozen meat. This reduced shipping cost and lowered meat prices in Europe.
v. To the earlier monotony of bread and potatoes many, though not all, could now add meat to their diet.
Question. After nineteenth century, how did the indentured labourers discover own ways of survival? Explain.
Answer : The nineteenth century indenture has been described as a ‘new system of slavery’. Migrants were provided false information about living and working conditions. On arrival at the plantations, labourers found conditions to be different from what they had imagined. Living and working conditions were harsh, and there were few legal rights. Therefore, the indentured workers discovered their own ways of surviving.
i. Many of them escaped into wilds, though if caught, they would face severe punishment.
ii. Others developed new forms of individual and collective self-expression, blending different cultural forms, old and new.
iii. In Trinidad, the annual Muharram procession was transformed into a riotous carnival, called Hosay in which workers of all races and religions joined.
iv. The protest religion of Rastafarianism is said to reflect social and cultural links with Indian migrants to Caribbean. Many cultural things from different places fused their original characteristics and to become something entirely new.
v. Most indentured workers stayed on after their contracts ended, or returned to their new homes after a short spell in India.
Question. In what ways did food items offer scope for long distance cultural exchange?
Answer : Food offers many examples of long distance cultural exchange. Traders and travellers introduced new crops to the lands they travelled. It is believed that noodles travelled to the West from China to become spaghetti. Arab traders took pasta in fifth century Sicily in Italy. Many of our common foods such as potatoes, soya, groundnuts, maize, tomatoes, chilies, and sweet potatoes and so on were not known to India until about five centuries ago. These foods were only introduced in Europe and Asia after Columbus accidently discovered America.
Question. What was Rinderpest? State any four effects of the coming of Rinderpest in Africa.
Answer : Rinderpest is a devastating cattle plague that affected the cattle of Africa. It arrived in Africa in the late 1880s. It was carried by infected cattle imported from British Asia to feed the Italian solders invading Eritrea in East Africa. Entering Africa in the east, rinderpest moved west ‘like forest fire’, reaching Africa’s Atlantic coast in 1892. It reached the Cape (Africa’s southernmost tip) five years later. Along the way rinderpest killed 90 per cent of the cattle.
Reason: In the late nineteenth century Europeans were attracted to Africa due to its vast resources of land and minerals and hoping to establish plantations and mines. But they faced a problem of shortage of labour willing to work for wages. Africans had livestock and were not ready and willing to work for wages.
Impact: Rinderpest had a terrifying impact on people’s livelihoods and the local economy, like:
i. The loss of cattle forced the Africans to come into the labour market and work in plantation and mines as it destroyed African livelihoods.
ii. Planters, mine owners and colonial governments now successfully monopolised what scarce cattle resources remained, to strengthen their power and to force Africans into the labour market.
iii. Control over the scarce resource of cattle enabled European colonisers to conquer and subdue Africa.
Question. Why did fixed exchange rate system collapsed in the 1960s?
Answer : The fixed exchange rate system collapsed in the 1960s because:
i. From the 1960s the rising costs of its overseas involvements weakened the US’s finances and competitive strength.
ii. The US dollar now no longer commanded confidence as the world’s principal currency. It could not maintain its value in relation to gold.
iii. This eventually led to the collapse of the system of fixed exchange rates and the introduction of a system of floating exchange rates.
Question. From where did Henry Ford draw inspiration, regarding the assembly line method? Describe the assembly line method in the industrial production sector.
Answer : Henry Ford was car manufacturer. He drew inspiration regarding the assembly line method from a Chicago slaughter house. He adapted this method to his new car plant in Detroit.
i. The assembly line forced workers to repeat a single task mechanically and continuously – such as fitting a particular part to the car – at a pace dictated by the conveyor belt
ii. This was way of increasing the output per worker by speeding up the pace of work as he could not afford to delay the motion or take a break.
iii. Standing in front of a conveyor belt no worker could afford to delay the motions, take a break or have even a friendly word with the workmate. As a result, Henry Ford’s cars came off the assembly line at a three-minute intervals.
Question. Highlight three main features of life of African people before the coming of Europeans.
Answer : The three main features of life of African people before the coming of Europeans are:
i. Africa had abundant land and a relatively small population.
ii. For centuries, land and livestock sustained African livelihoods. Agriculture and animal rearing was the main occupation of the people. Most of the villages and families were self-sufficient.
iii. People rarely worked for wages. There were only a few consumer goods that wages could buy.
Question. Examine the impact of First World War on European societies.
Answer : The impact of First World War on European societies are as follows:
i. The First World War cost mass scale death and destruction. More than nine million people were dead and about twenty million people were injured.
ii. During the war, industries were restructured to produce war-related goods.
iii. Entire societies were also reorganized for war related goods.
Question. Explain the effect of the death of men of working age in Europe because of the First World War?
Answer : The first world war created the following effect due to the death of men of working age in Europe:
i. Majority of the people killed in the First World War were the men of working age.
It reduced the able-bodied workforce in Europe.
ii. With fewer members within the family, household incomes declined.
iii. Entire societies were also reorganised for war–as men went to battle, women stepped in to undertake jobs that earlier only men were expected to do.
