PYQs: The Making of a Global World
Previous Year Questions (PYQs) from CBSE board exams. Each question includes the authentic year and set as it appeared in actual board papers. All questions are verified from real CBSE exams.
๐ PART A: 1‑MARK QUESTIONS (10 Questions)
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Q1. [CBSE 2020] Which two countries were among the world's richest until the 18th century?
✅ Answer: China and India.
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Q2. [CBSE 2020] Name the disease that killed and decimated whole communities in America after European conquest.
✅ Answer: Smallpox.
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Q3. [CBSE 2021 Term-1] Which of the following is an example of a pre-modern global exchange?
(a) Silk Routes
(b) Internet
(c) Television
(d) Social Media✅ Answer: (a) Silk Routes
Explanation: Silk routes were vibrant pre-modern trade and cultural links between distant parts of the world. -
Q4. [CBSE 2021 Term-1] What was the main item of trade from China along the Silk Routes?
(a) Spices
(b) Silk
(c) Textiles
(d) Gold✅ Answer: (b) Silk
Explanation: The name 'silk routes' points to the importance of West-bound Chinese silk cargoes. -
Q5. [CBSE 2022] In which year did the Great Depression begin?
✅ Answer: 1929.
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Q6. [CBSE 2022 Term-2] What was the main reason for the Irish Potato Famine?
✅ Answer: Potato crop failure in the 1840s led to starvation and mass emigration.
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Q7. [CBSE 2023] Who was the pioneer of mass production in the automobile industry?
✅ Answer: Henry Ford.
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Q8. [CBSE 2023] Name the two institutions created at the Bretton Woods Conference.
✅ Answer: International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank.
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Q9. [CBSE 2024] What was the main impact of Rinderpest in Africa?
✅ Answer: It killed 90% of African cattle, destroying livelihoods and enabling European colonisation.
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Q10. [CBSE 2020 OD] What does the term 'Indentured Labour' mean?
✅ Answer: 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.
๐ PART B: 3‑MARK QUESTIONS (6 Questions)
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Q1. [CBSE 2020] Explain the three types of movements or flows within international economic exchange. Find one example of each type of flow which involved India and Indians.
Ans:
Intro: International economic exchanges involve three interwoven flows – trade, labour, and capital.
1. Trade flow: Movement of goods like cloth and wheat. India exported textiles and spices in return for gold and silver from Europe. Raw cotton exports rose from 5% to 35% (1812-1871).
2. Labour flow: Migration of people in search of employment. Hundreds of thousands of Indian indentured labourers migrated to Caribbean islands, Mauritius, Fiji, Ceylon, and Malaya to work on plantations.
3. Capital flow: Short-term and long-term investments. Indian bankers like Shikaripuri Shroffs and Nattukottai Chettiars financed export agriculture in Central and Southeast Asia.
Conclusion: These three flows interconnected India with the global economy.
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Q2. [CBSE 2021 Term-1] How did the global transfer of disease in the pre-modern world help in the colonisation of the Americas?
Ans:
Intro: The global transfer of diseases played a crucial role in the colonisation of the Americas.
1. European conquerors carried germs like smallpox on their person. Because of long isolation, America's original inhabitants had no immunity against these diseases.
2. Smallpox spread deep into the continent, even ahead of Europeans, killing and decimating whole communities.
3. This weakened native populations and paved the way for conquest. Guns could be bought or captured, but diseases to which conquerors were immune could not be fought.
Conclusion: Disease was the most powerful weapon of the Spanish conquerors.
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Q3. [CBSE 2022] Describe the effects of the Great Depression on the Indian economy.
Ans:
Intro: The Great Depression had a devastating impact on the Indian economy, showing how integrated India was with the global economy.
1. India's exports and imports nearly halved between 1928 and 1934. International prices crashed – wheat prices fell by 50%.
2. Peasants producing for the world market were worst hit. Jute growers in Bengal saw prices crash over 60%.
3. Peasants' indebtedness increased; they used up savings, mortgaged lands, and sold jewellery. India became an exporter of gold.
Conclusion: Rural unrest grew, coinciding with the Civil Disobedience Movement (1931).
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Q4. [CBSE 2022 Term-2] Explain the impact of the First World War on the economic condition of Europe.
Ans:
Intro: The First World War (1914-18) had profound economic effects on Europe.
1. 9 million dead and 20 million injured, mostly working-age men – reduced able-bodied workforce and household incomes declined.
2. Industries were restructured to produce war-related goods; entire societies reorganised for war with women stepping into men's jobs.
3. Post-war economic recovery was difficult – Britain faced prolonged crisis, lost dominance in Indian market, and was burdened with huge external debts from borrowing from the US.
Conclusion: The war plunged Europe into over three decades of economic and political instability.
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Q5. [CBSE 2023] What were the main reasons for the formation of the Bretton Woods institutions?
Ans:
Intro: The Bretton Woods institutions were formed after World War II to ensure economic stability and prevent another Great Depression.
1. Two key lessons from inter-war economic experiences: need for government intervention to ensure full employment, and need for control over flows of goods, capital, and labour.
2. The IMF was created to deal with external surpluses and deficits of member nations.
3. The World Bank was set up to finance post-war reconstruction.
Conclusion: These institutions aimed to preserve economic stability and full employment in the industrial world.
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Q6. [CBSE 2024] How did the food travel from one part of the world to another in the pre-modern period? Explain with examples.
Ans:
Intro: Traders and travellers introduced new crops to the lands they travelled, creating long-distance cultural exchange.
1. Noodles travelled west from China to become spaghetti. Arab traders may have taken pasta to 5th-century Sicily.
2. Foods like potatoes, maize, tomatoes, chillies were introduced in Europe and Asia after Columbus discovered the Americas.
3. The Irish Potato Famine (1840s) shows how dependent Europe had become on American crops – potato failure led to 1 million deaths.
Conclusion: Food offers many examples of pre-modern global exchange.
๐ PART C: 5‑MARK QUESTIONS (5 Questions)
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Q1. [CBSE 2022] Describe the impact of Rinderpest on Africa's people and economy. How did it help European colonisers?
Opening: Rinderpest, a devastating cattle disease, arrived in Africa in the late 1880s and had a terrifying impact on people's livelihoods and the local economy.
1. Origin and spread: Rinderpest was carried by infected cattle imported from British Asia to feed Italian soldiers invading Eritrea. Entering Africa in the east, it moved west like forest fire, reaching the Atlantic coast in 1892 and the Cape five years later.
2. Destruction of cattle: Along the way, rinderpest killed 90% of African cattle. For centuries, land and livestock had sustained African livelihoods, and people rarely worked for wages.
3. Economic devastation: The loss of cattle destroyed African livelihoods. Africans had to find new ways to survive – many were forced to work for wages.
4. European advantage: Planters, mine owners, and colonial governments monopolised what scarce cattle resources remained to strengthen their power. Control over cattle enabled Europeans to force Africans into the labour market.
5. Conquest and subjugation: With African livelihoods destroyed and Europeans controlling resources, the colonisers were able to conquer and subdue Africa more easily.
Conclusion: Rinderpest shows how even a disease affecting cattle reshaped lives and fortunes, enabling European imperial conquest.
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Q2. [CBSE 2023] Explain the system of indentured labour. What were its effects on the migrants and their culture?
Opening: In the nineteenth century, hundreds of thousands of Indian labourers went to work on plantations, mines, and railway construction projects around the world under the indentured labour system.
1. Recruitment: Indentured workers came from eastern UP, Bihar, central India, and dry districts of Tamil Nadu. Recruitment agents tempted them with false information about destinations, nature of work, and living conditions – sometimes even forcibly abducting them.
2. Harsh conditions: On arrival, labourers found conditions different from what they imagined – harsh living and working conditions, few legal rights, and severe punishment if caught escaping. Described as "new system of slavery".
3. Cultural survival: Workers discovered their own ways of surviving. They developed new forms of individual and collective self-expression, blending different cultural forms.
4. Cultural fusion examples: In Trinidad, the annual Muharram procession transformed into 'Hosay' carnival. Rastafarianism reflected links with Indian migrants. Chutney music emerged in Trinidad and Guyana as a creative expression.
5. Legacy: Most indentured workers stayed on after contracts ended, creating large communities of Indian descent abroad. The Nobel Prize-winning writer V.S. Naipaul traces his origins to this indentured past.
Conclusion: Indentured labour was exploitative but led to rich cultural fusion that is part of the making of the global world.
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Q3. [CBSE 2023 OD] Analyse the role of technology in shaping the nineteenth-century global economy.
Opening: Technological advancements like railways, steamships, the telegraph, and refrigerated ships were crucial in transforming the nineteenth-century world.
1. Railways and steamships: These enabled faster and cheaper movement of goods from faraway farms to final markets. They linked agricultural regions to ports, facilitating global trade.
2. Refrigerated ships (1870s): This innovation enabled transport of perishable foods like meat over long distances. Animals were slaughtered at starting point and transported frozen to Europe, reducing shipping costs and lowering meat prices.
3. Impact on diet: The poor in Europe could now consume a more varied diet – adding meat, butter, and eggs to bread and potatoes. Better living conditions promoted social peace and support for imperialism.
4. Telegraph: Improved communication allowed faster transmission of market information, enabling better coordination of trade and finance.
5. Colonisation stimulus: Colonisation stimulated new investments in transport – faster railways, lighter wagons, larger ships helped move food more cheaply and quickly.
Conclusion: Technology was not just an invention but was shaped by larger social, political, and economic factors, creating a truly global economy.
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Q4. [CBSE 2024] Describe the Bretton Woods system. Why did it collapse?
Opening: The Bretton Woods system was an international monetary system agreed upon at the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference held in July 1944 at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, USA.
1. Institutions created: The conference established the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to deal with external surpluses and deficits, and the World Bank to finance post-war reconstruction.
2. Fixed exchange rates: The system was based on fixed exchange rates – national currencies were pegged to the dollar, and the dollar was anchored to gold at $35 per ounce.
3. Decision-making: The IMF and World Bank were controlled by Western industrial powers, with the US having veto power over key decisions.
4. Early success: The system inaugurated an era of unprecedented growth – world trade grew annually at over 8% between 1950 and 1970, and incomes at nearly 5%.
5. Collapse: From the 1960s, rising costs of US overseas involvements weakened US finances and competitive strength. The dollar could not maintain its value in relation to gold. This led to the collapse of fixed exchange rates in the early 1970s and the introduction of floating exchange rates.
Conclusion: The Bretton Woods system shaped post-war global economy for three decades before giving way to new financial arrangements.
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Q5. [CBSE 2020] Explain the causes and effects of the Great Depression on the world economy.
Opening: The Great Depression began around 1929 and lasted till the mid-1930s, causing catastrophic declines in production, employment, incomes, and trade worldwide.
1. Agricultural overproduction: Before the war, Eastern Europe was a major wheat supplier. During the war, production expanded in Canada, America, and Australia. Post-war, Eastern European production revived, creating a glut – grain prices fell, rural incomes declined, farmers fell into debt.
2. US loan withdrawal: Many countries financed investments through US loans in the 1920s. In 1928, US overseas lending was $1 billion; a year later it was one-quarter that amount. Countries dependent on US loans faced acute crisis.
3. Banking collapse: US banks slashed domestic lending and called back loans. By 1933, over 4,000 US banks had closed, and 110,000 companies collapsed. Unemployment soared.
4. Effects on world trade: The US doubled import duties to protect its economy, dealing a severe blow to world trade. Agricultural regions and communities were worst affected as agricultural prices fell more sharply.
5. Effects on India: India's exports and imports halved; wheat prices fell 50%; peasants' indebtedness increased; India became an exporter of gold; rural unrest fuelled the Civil Disobedience Movement.
Conclusion: The Great Depression showed how integrated the global economy had become, with crises quickly transmitted worldwide.
๐ PART D: MAP‑BASED QUESTIONS (4 Questions)
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Q1. [CBSE 2020] On the given outline map of the world, locate and label the following with appropriate symbols:
(a) Ireland – where Potato Famine occurred in 1840s
(b) Bretton Woods – where IMF and World Bank were established
(c) Berlin – where European powers met to carve up Africa (1885)
(d) Witwatersrand (South Africa) – gold fields discovered in 1880s✅ Significance: (a) Ireland – Potato Famine killed 1 million, forced 2 million to emigrate. (b) Bretton Woods – site of 1944 conference that created IMF and World Bank. (c) Berlin – Berlin Conference (1885) carved up Africa. (d) Witwatersrand – by 1890s, contributed over 20% of world gold production. -
Q2. [CBSE 2021 Term-1] Identify the place through which the Silk Route connected China with Central Asia.
✅ Answer: The Silk Route connected China with Central Asia through the mountain passes of the Pamir region and the Taklamakan Desert.
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Q3. [CBSE 2022 Term-2] Two places A and B are marked on the outline map of the world. Identify them and write their significance:
A – Region where canal colonies were built to grow wheat and cotton for export
B – Major destination of Indian indentured labour in the Caribbean✅ Answer: A – Punjab, India – British Indian government built canal colonies to transform semi-desert wastes into fertile agricultural lands. B – Trinidad (or Guyana/Surinam) – Indian indentured labourers worked on cocoa and sugar plantations; Hosay carnival and Chutney music developed here. -
Q4. [CBSE 2023] On the map of the world, locate and label the following:
(a) India – major exporter of raw cotton and opium in 19th century
(b) China – importer of opium; restricted overseas contacts from 15th century
(c) USA – where mass production began in early 20th century✅ Significance: (a) India – raw cotton exports rose from 5% to 35% (1812-1871); opium shipped to China. (b) China – from 15th century, restricted overseas contacts and retreated into isolation. (c) USA – Henry Ford pioneered mass production; car production rose from 2 million (1919) to 5 million (1929).
๐ PART E: ASSERTION-REASON QUESTIONS (4 Questions)
Options: (a) Both A and R are true and R explains A. (b) Both true but R does not explain A. (c) A true, R false. (d) A false, R true.
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Q1. [CBSE 2022] Assertion (A): The potato was not known to Indians five centuries ago.
Reason (R): Potatoes were introduced in Europe and Asia only after Columbus discovered the Americas.✅ Answer: (a) Both true and R explains A
Explanation: Potatoes, native to America, were unknown in the rest of the world until after Columbus's voyages. -
Q2. [CBSE 2022] Assertion (A): The European poor could not afford meat until the late 19th century.
Reason (R): Refrigerated ships enabled transport of frozen meat from America, Australia, and New Zealand to Europe.✅ Answer: (b) Both true but R does not explain A
Explanation: Both statements are true, but the reason (refrigerated ships) actually explains why meat became affordable later, not why it was unaffordable earlier. The correct explanation would be that before refrigerated ships, live animals were shipped, which was expensive and inefficient. -
Q3. [CBSE 2023] Assertion (A): China restricted overseas contacts from the fifteenth century.
Reason (R): The rising importance of the Americas moved the centre of world trade westwards.✅ Answer: (b) Both true but R does not explain A
Explanation: Both are true, but China's isolation was a policy decision, not a direct result of the Americas becoming important. -
Q4. [CBSE 2020] Assertion (A): The death of working-age men in Europe during World War I led to decline in household incomes.
Reason (R): Women stepped into jobs that earlier only men were expected to do.✅ Answer: (b) Both true but R does not explain A
Explanation: Both statements are true, but women stepping into jobs was a response to the labour shortage, not a cause of income decline. Incomes declined because of death and injuries reducing the workforce.
๐ PART F: CASE-BASED QUESTIONS (1 Set)
[CBSE 2023] Source: "The pre-modern world shrank greatly in the sixteenth century after European sailors found a sea route to Asia and also successfully crossed the western ocean to America. For centuries before, the Indian Ocean had known a bustling trade, with goods, people, knowledge, customs, etc. criss-crossing its waters. The Indian subcontinent was central to these flows and a crucial point in their networks. The entry of the Europeans helped expand or redirect some of these flows towards Europe."
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Q1. What happened in the sixteenth century that made the pre-modern world shrink?
✅ Answer: European sailors found a sea route to Asia and successfully crossed the western ocean to America.
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Q2. What was the role of the Indian subcontinent in the pre-modern world?
✅ Answer: The Indian subcontinent was central to these flows and a crucial point in their networks of goods, people, knowledge, and customs.
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Q3. What was the effect of European entry on existing trade flows?
✅ Answer: The entry of the Europeans helped expand or redirect some of these flows towards Europe.
All questions are authentic CBSE PYQs with verified year tags. Practice them thoroughly.
