The world today is globalized. All the countries have become so interdependent that no nation today can survive in isolation. The world was not always connected this way. When people began to migrate in search of work or an even better lifestyle, it marked the beginning of the process of globalization. The greatest gift of globalization to mankind is that it has made it easy for us to connect even if we stay in two different countries.
The Making of the Global World : Till the Nineteenth Century
The internet has now helped us all to connect. The internet has connected the world in this millennium. However, have you ever wondered how life was many years ago? All through history, people have been interlinked for various reasons.
The Pre-Modern World
Before the beginning of the nineteenth century, travellers, traders, scholars had travelled across different continents for gaining knowledge, for collecting religious text, or for various other reasons. The three things that will help us to understand the making of a global world in the pre-Modern era is:
Silk Route
Food Travels
Diseases and Trade
Silk Route
The Silk Route was a historic trade route that stretched from Asia to the Mediterranean traversing China, India, Persia, Arabia, Greece, and Italy. The route was called the silk route due to a large amount of silk trading that used to take place from the second century B.C. until the 14th century A.D.The silk routes are a good example of vibrant pre-modern trade and cultural links between distant parts of the world. These routes were used to trade various types of goods ranging from Chinese pottery, silk, silver etc. Not only did the silk route provide a link between countries for importing and exporting goods but it also became important for the export of art, literature, and philosophies.
Food Travels – Spaghetti and Potato
Food is another way to understand how a worldwide world existed in pre-modern times since traders or travellers introduced a new food to the place they visited. Indians, five centuries ago, were not aware of potatoes, maize, groundnut, etc. All these food items were only introduced to Europe and Asia after Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas.
Another interesting story is about noodles or Spaghetti. According to many historians, noodles travelled from China to Europe and became spaghetti. However, this points to the very fact that there was an extended cultural contact within the pre-modern world.
Diseases and Trade
European traders in the sixteenth century found a sea-route to Asia and an ocean-route to America. Countries like Peru and Mexico, in South America, were full of mines with precious metals like silver which helped Europe finance its trade. Portuguese and Spaniards colonized South America by the mid-sixteenth century.
What was unique in their conquest was that they did not use conventional military weapons; rather they used Biological warfare. Hunger and poverty in the 18th century were so common in the whole of Europe. Diseases like smallpox were widespread too.
The Americans never had strong immunity so when they would go for battles they would carry the germs of such diseases and thus fall sick and also transmit these germs to other Americans.
Until the Mid-eighteenth century, the world's two richest countries were China and India. Asia was the center of trade and commerce for the entire world. However, China slowly reduced its international contacts and retreated into isolation. Also, America was a rising power. This led to a shift in trade and Europe became the center of world trade.
The Nineteenth Century
In the nineteenth century, three sorts of flow existed within international economic exchanges. They were:
Trade flow
Labour flow
Capital flow
Formation of the World Economy
Towards the end of the eighteenth century, Britain's population began to rise and so was the demand for food grains. This led to an overall increase in the price of food grains. Corn laws that restricted the import of corn into Britain had been abolished due to tremendous pressure from the industrialists and the local people. This encouraged cheaper import of food items, much cheaper than the cost of production within Britain. This led to vast areas of land being left uncultivated and those who were engaged in agriculture, now moved to cities for employment opportunities. Britain at the same time experienced rapid Industrial growth which led to higher income for locals as well as higher consumption of food. Countries like Australia, America, Russia, and Eastern Europe began to grow food items to export them to Britain. However, there was no connectivity to export these goods. Eventually, Britain started to provide capital to these countries and the people from Europe began to migrate to America due to the requirement of high Labour. Products other than food items also began to be produced because of the rising demands in the British Markets.
Significance of Technology
New and Modern Technology was required to transport edible and perishable products from one country to another. There was a need for a faster medium of transportation and also new advancements for the delivery of fresh goods. Technology ensured that the trains were faster, wagons were lighter and ships were larger to accommodate the increasing demands.
Another problem that was being faced was the shipment of meat from America and Australia to Europe. The meat was considered a luxury in Britain. However, live animals were difficult to transport as they took up a lot of space and many also fell ill. The invention of ships with cold storage stepped in to solve this problem. Meat could easily be transported now.
Colonialism in Late Nineteenth Century
A Lot of Colonialism was taking place towards the end of the 19th century. European countries like Britain, France, Portugal were colonizing countries in Africa and Asia for increasing their trade. These countries would provide them with cheap raw material which then would be exported to their native countries and finally, the finished products would have been sold at high prices in these colonized countries.
Indentured Labor Migration from India
Thousands of Indian Labourers migrated to work in Mines, Plantations, and other construction projects. When the cotton industry declined it became difficult for the labourers to meet their expenses. Thus they migrated in search of better living conditions and work. But that was not the case. They were asked to sign a 5-year contract on the completion of which they could return to India and the living conditions were also not what they were told. While some of them escaped into the jungles, a few stayed back and adapted to the new culture leading to a fusion of cultures.
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Indian Trade
Due to the Industrial Revolution, Britain now began to produce cotton which they used to earlier export from India. This led to a decline in the demand for Indian cotton. There has been constant importing and exporting of various goods between India and Britain. But the export of Indian goods to Britain remained extremely low as compared to the British export to India. Thus Britain had a ‘trade surplus’ with India.
Did You Know?
Indentured labour means a bonded labourer who had to work on a contract basis for free for his employer for a certain period because of any unpaid loan or for transportation cost to a job location.
FAQs on The Making of a Global World
1. What were the Silk Routes and why were they significant in the pre-modern world?
The Silk Routes were a vast network of ancient trade paths that connected Asia with Europe and North Africa. Their significance extends beyond commerce; while they were crucial for trading goods like Chinese silk, pottery, and Indian spices, they also served as a major channel for the exchange of culture, knowledge, and religious ideas, such as the spread of Buddhism from India to other parts of Asia.
2. How did food travel contribute to the making of a global world?
Food travel was a key element of globalisation as traders and travellers introduced new crops to different continents, transforming diets and ways of life. For instance, common foods like potatoes, tomatoes, maize, and chillies were unknown in Europe and Asia until Christopher Columbus's discovery of the Americas. This exchange highlights the long-distance cultural connections that existed even in the pre-modern era.
3. What were the 'Corn Laws' in Britain and why were they abolished?
The 'Corn Laws' were British tariffs that restricted the import of corn and other food grains to protect domestic producers. They were abolished in the mid-19th century due to immense pressure from industrialists and urban populations who wanted cheaper food. The abolition led to an influx of low-cost agricultural goods, which reshaped British farming and spurred further urbanisation and industrial growth.
4. What was the role of technology in the economic development of the nineteenth century?
Technology was a critical factor in shaping the 19th-century global economy. Key innovations included:
- Railways and Steamships: These made it faster and cheaper to transport raw materials and finished goods across vast distances.
- The Telegraph: This allowed for instant communication, facilitating global financial transactions.
- Refrigerated Ships: This invention revolutionised the food trade by enabling the transport of perishable goods like meat from Australia and America to European markets.
5. What is meant by 'indentured labour' in the context of the nineteenth century?
Indentured labour was a system of bonded labour where individuals from countries like India and China were recruited to work on plantations, mines, and construction projects in European colonies. These labourers worked under a strict contract for a specific period (typically five years) to pay for their passage. Living and working conditions were often harsh, and the system was described by many as a 'new system of slavery'.
6. How did the discovery of the Americas transform trade and warfare in the sixteenth century?
The discovery of the Americas had a profound impact on the world. In terms of trade, the vast reserves of silver and other precious metals from mines in Peru and Mexico funded Europe's expanding trade with Asia. In terms of warfare, the Europeans' most powerful weapon was not conventional; it was the germs of diseases like smallpox. The native Americans had no immunity, leading to epidemics that wiped out entire communities and made European conquest significantly easier.
7. What was Rinderpest and what was its impact on Africa?
Rinderpest, also known as the cattle plague, was a highly contagious viral disease that arrived in Africa in the late 1880s. It had a catastrophic impact, killing about 90% of the cattle on the continent. This loss of livestock destroyed African livelihoods, weakened their economies, and ultimately made it easier for European imperial powers to colonise the continent and control its land and resources.
8. Why is the nineteenth-century global economy often described in terms of three 'flows'?
Historians describe the 19th-century global economy through three types of international movement or 'flows':
- The flow of trade: Primarily the trade of goods like cloth or wheat.
- The flow of labour: The migration of people in search of employment, such as Europeans moving to America or Australia.
- The flow of capital: The movement of money for short-term or long-term investments over long distances, such as capital from London financing railways in America.
9. How did colonialism in the late nineteenth century create a world economy that was unequal?
Late nineteenth-century colonialism established an unequal economic structure. European powers colonised territories in Asia and Africa to secure a steady supply of cheap raw materials like cotton and rubber. These materials were then shipped to Europe for manufacturing. The finished industrial products were subsequently sold back to the markets in the colonies at high prices. This system enriched the imperial powers while actively hindering the industrial development of the colonised nations.
10. Explain the concept of Britain's 'trade surplus' with India and its global significance.
Britain's 'trade surplus' with India meant that the value of British exports to India was far greater than the value of British imports from India. This surplus was significant because it played a crucial role in balancing Britain's overall finances. Britain often had trade deficits with other countries (importing more than it exported). The profit earned from the Indian market was used to pay for these deficits, effectively making India the financial pivot of the British Empire's global economic system.
