This worsened the glut (an excessive supply) in the market, pushing down prices even further. (iv) Though agricultural prices fell sharply, the colonial government refused to reduce revenue demands. Peasants producing for the world market were the worst hit. Give two examples of different types of global exchanges which took place before the seventeenth century, choosing one example from Asia and one from the Americas.

Food has an important role in long-distance cultural exchange. Traders and travellers introduced new crops to the lands they travelled. Other common foods such as potatoes, soya, groundnuts, etc. were only introduced in Europe and Asia after Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas. From the sixteenth century, its vast lands, abundant crops and minerals began to transform trade and lives everywhere. Precious metals from mines enhanced Europe’s wealth and financed its trade with Asia. All three flows were closely interwoven and affected peoples lives more deeply now than ever before.

(ii) In the nineteenth century, colonial India had become an exporter of agricultural goods and importer of manufactures. These deaths and injuries reduced the able-bodied workforce in Europe, with fewer numbers within the family, household incomes declined after the war. (v) Higher incomes and decline in food prices led to the increase in food consumption and therefore more food imports. Countries like Russia, America and Australia began to export food grains to meet the British demand. (b) The coming of rinderpest (a disease of cattle plague), led to the loss of cattle on the continent; also the livelihood of the Africans leading them to join the labour market as slaves.

The Bretton Woods agreement established a currency exchange regime system in 1944, following years of negotiations among 44 nations. This system required a currency peg to the U.S. dollar which was in turn pegged to the price of gold. The Bretton Woods system ultimately would go on to collapse in the 1970s. Though the Bretton Woods conference itself took place over just three weeks, the preparations for it had been going on for several years.

What Is the Difference Between the Gold Standard and the Bretton Woods System?

Imagine that you are an indentured Indian labourer in the Caribbean. Drawing from the details in this chapter, write a letter to your family describing your life and feelings. Give two examples from history to show the impact of technology on food availability.

Countries were required to monitor and maintain their currency pegs which they achieved primarily by using their currency to buy or sell U.S. dollars as needed. The Bretton Woods system, therefore, minimized international currency exchange rate volatility which helped international trade relations. More stability in foreign currency exchange was also a factor in the successful support of loans and grants internationally from the World Bank. The Bretton Woods agreement and system were central to these goals. The agreement also created two important organizations—the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

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(c) The death of men of working-age in Europe because of the World War reduced the able-bodied workforce in Europe, thereby reducing household income. Due to this the women stepped in to undertake the jobs that earlier only men were expected to do. It increased the role of women that led to a demand for their equal status in the society.

(b) (i) Rinderpest, a devastating cattle disease, arrived in Africa in the late 1880s. It was carried by infected cattle imported from British Asia to feed the Italian soldiers invading Eritrea in East Africa. (iii) Because of their long isolation, America’s original inhabitants had no immunity against these diseases that came from Europe. Today, the U.S. dollar isn’t backed by anything, other than the U.S. government’s own ability to generate revenue.

The Bretton Woods Agreement and System Explained

In 1971, concerned that the U.S. gold supply was no longer adequate to cover the number of dollars in circulation, President Richard M. Nixon devalued the U.S. dollar relative to gold. After a run on gold reserve, he declared a temporary suspension of the dollar’s convertibility into gold. Countries were then free to choose any exchange arrangement for their currency, except pegging its value to the price of gold. The Bretton Woods agreement created two institutions, the IMF and the World Bank. Formally introduced in December 1945, both institutions have withstood the test of time, globally serving as important pillars for international capital financing and trade activities.

1. India’s exports and imports nearly halved between 1928 and 1934.
2. So countries depending crucially on US loans faced an acute crisis disturbing world trade.
3. (e) The respective governments of the MNCs imposed heavy import tariffs.
4. Within two years, it spread in the whole continent reaching Cape Town within five years.

(iv) The Bretton Woods system was based on fixed exchange rates. In this system, national currencies were pegged to the dollar at a fixed exchange rate. The dollar itself was anchored to gold at a fixed price of $35 per ounce of gold. (v) By establishing control over the scarce resources of what is meant by the bretton woods agreement class 10 cattle the European colonisers easily sub-dued Africa which they wanted from the day they came to this continent. Thus, rinderpest played an important role in making Africa a puppet in the hands of colonisers.

Class 10 History Chapter 4 NCERT Intext Activity Questions and Answers

(c) Conditions created by the War were also responsible for the Great Depression, during expansion to fulfil the increasing demand for war-related goods. But after the war, the sharp decrease in demands for military and war products gave birth to economic depression. (e) From the late 1970s MNCs began to shift production operations to Asian countries because of the low wages.

NCERT Solutions for Class 10 Social Science History Chapter 3 The Making of a Global World: Download in PDF

(iii) The loss of cattle on such a large scale destroyed African livelihoods. Planters, mine owners and colonial governments took advantage of this situation. (ii) As soon as rinderpest entered Africa in the east, it moved west fast and reached Africa’s Atlantic coast in 1892. It reached the Cape, Africa’s southern most tip, five years later.

But the US withdrew giving loans if there was any kind of trouble. So countries depending crucially on US loans faced an acute crisis disturbing world trade. (i) Historically, fine cottons produced in India were exported to Europe. With industrialisation, British cotton manufacture began to expand and industrialists pressurised the government to restrict cotton imports and protect local industries. As a result, the inflow of fine Indian cotton began to decline.

The Bretton Woods agreement remains a significant event in world financial history. The two Bretton Woods institutions it created in the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank played an important part in helping to rebuild Europe in the aftermath of World War II. Subsequently, both institutions have continued to maintain their founding goals while also transitioning to serve global government interests in the modern-day. (b) Another cause of the Depression was shortage of loans. In the mid 1920s, the US gave loans to many countries so that they could finance their investments.