The Making of a Global World

Examples of pre-seventeenth-century global exchanges:
- From Asia: the Silk Routes linked China, India, Central Asia, West Asia, Europe and northern Africa. Chinese silk, pottery, textiles and spices travelled along them, while gold and silver came from Europe.
- From the Americas: crops such as potatoes, maize, tomatoes, chillies, soya and groundnuts moved from the Americas to Europe and Asia after Columbus’s voyage.

These show that long-distance exchange existed well before the seventeenth century.

The transfer of disease helped colonisation because the germs brought by Europeans, especially smallpox, spread rapidly among the original inhabitants of the Americas. Since the Americans had been isolated for millions of years, they had no immunity to these diseases. Smallpox killed and decimated whole communities even before Europeans reached many places. This weakened resistance, destroyed livelihoods and made conquest easier for the Spanish and Portuguese.

a) When the British government abolished the Corn Laws, food grains could be imported into Britain more cheaply. British agriculture could not compete with imported grain, so large areas of land were left uncultivated and many workers lost their jobs. Many people migrated to cities or overseas.

b) The coming of rinderpest to Africa destroyed about 90 per cent of the cattle. Since cattle were central to African livelihoods, this ruined people’s food supply and economy. Europeans then monopolised the remaining cattle and forced Africans into wage labour.

c) The death of men of working age in Europe during the First World War reduced the able-bodied workforce. Household incomes declined after the war, and many women had taken up jobs during the war when men went to battle.

d) The Great Depression badly hurt the Indian economy. India’s exports and imports nearly halved, agricultural prices crashed, wheat prices fell by 50 per cent, jute prices fell by more than 60 per cent, and peasants fell deeper into debt. Rural unrest increased.

e) When MNCs relocated production to Asian countries, they were drawn by low wages. This shifted industry to low-cost locations, stimulated world trade and capital flows, and transformed the economic geography of countries such as China, India and Brazil.

Two examples of the impact of technology on food availability are:
- Refrigerated ships: They made it possible to transport perishable meat over long distances. Meat could now be slaughtered in America, Australia or New Zealand and sent frozen to Europe, reducing costs and making meat cheaper.
- Railways and improved transport: Railways, lighter wagons and larger ships helped carry food from faraway farms to ports and markets more quickly and cheaply, increasing food supply in industrial Europe.

These technologies widened food availability and lowered prices.

The Bretton Woods Agreement was the post-war international economic arrangement decided at the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference in July 1944 at Bretton Woods, USA. It created the IMF and the World Bank, and was based on fixed exchange rates to ensure economic stability and full employment.