Making of the Global World: Till the Nineteenth Century
We often refer to an economic system that has arisen in the last 50 years or so when we say "globalisation." However, as you will see in this chapter, the creation of the global world has a lengthy history - one of trade, migration, people looking for work, capital movement, and much more. We need to think about the phases through which the world in which we live has formed as we consider the dramatic and visible signs of global interconnectedness in our lives now.
Let's take a look at what happened in the pre-modern world and during and till the nineteenth century.
The Pre Modern World
In this millennium, the internet has brought the entire world together. Have you ever wondered what life was like hundreds of years ago? People have been linked throughout history for many reasons.
The pre modern world details on different religions before and till the 19th century is discussed here.
Travellers, traders, religious torch-bearers, and a variety of other people travelled across countries and continents before the nineteenth century for a variety of reasons, including knowledge, opportunities, and other factors. Let's have a look at three items that can help us understand how the making of the global world in pre-modern times:
Silk Route
Food Travels
Diseases and Trade
Silk Routes
(Image)
The Silk Route
The Silk Routes, which were known to exist even before the Christian period and lasted until almost the fifteenth century, connected Asia with Europe, Africa, and the rest of the world. Historians have discovered a number of silk routes, both on land and at sea. The Silk Route got its name from the west-bound Chinese silk cargoes that passed along these routes.
Trade, as well as the interchange of art, literature, and ideas, took place along these routes. These routes were also used by many religious preachers to spread their beliefs.
Food Travels – Spaghetti and Potato
Another method to understand how a global world existed in pre-modern times is through food, which was introduced to new places by traders or travellers. Potatoes, soya, groundnuts, maize, tomatoes, chilies, and sweet potatoes were unknown to Indians five centuries ago. Only when Christopher Columbus found the Americas were these dishes introduced to Europe and Asia.
Noodles or spaghetti are another example. Many historians believe that noodles made their way from China to Europe and were eventually renamed spaghetti. It's also thought that Arab traders brought pasta to Sicily (an island tonne in Italy). It's possible that these foods originated in India or Japan, but this is impossible to say. This, on the other hand, indicates that in the pre-modern era, people had long-distance cultural contact.
Diseases and Trade
European traders discovered a sea route to Asia and an ocean route to the Americas in the sixteenth century. South America's Peru and Mexico had a multitude of mines containing valuable metals such as silver, which helped Europe fund its commerce with Asia. Because of the existence of these rich metals, many legends developed regarding the prosperity of South America. By the mid-sixteenth century, the Portuguese and Spaniards had colonised the Americas.
Interestingly, the Spanish conquerors did not utilise guns or any other traditional military weapon in their conquest of South American settlements. Biological warfare was utilised! Hunger and poverty were frequent throughout Europe until the nineteenth century. Smallpox and other deadly diseases were also common.
The Americas, on the other hand, lack immunity to these diseases due to their long isolation, whereas the Spanish were mostly immune. When they went to conquer a nation, they would bring illness germs with them and spread them throughout the Americas. The infections would then spread and claim lives, making conquest much easier.
Moreover, until the mid-eighteenth century, China and India were among the world's richest countries. This was primarily owing to Asia's position as the international trade and commerce hub. China, on the other hand, gradually decreased its foreign contacts and retreated into isolation. In addition, the Americas were becoming increasingly important. As a result, trade shifted, and Europe became the world trade hub.
The Nineteenth Century
Within international economic exchanges in the nineteenth century, three forms of flow existed.
They were:
Trade flow
Labour flow
Capital flow
Let's look at all of these flows at the same time to better understand the global globe of the nineteenth century.
Formation of a World Economy
From the late eighteenth century forward, Britain's population increased, creating a demand for food grains. As a result, prices have risen. Corn laws were common in the United Kingdom, restricting corn imports. The Corn Laws were eventually abolished, thanks to pressure from manufacturers and locals.
As a result, food imports into the United Kingdom are much cheaper than the cost of production within the country. As a result, enormous areas of land were left uncultivated, and locals who had previously worked in agriculture moved to cities in search of work. A decrease in food prices also resulted in an increase in consumption. In Britain, industries were expanding at a rapid rate, resulting in more income for people and increased food consumption.
Eastern Europe, Russia, the United States, and Australia all cleared land to grow food and export it to the United Kingdom. They did, however, need to build railways to connect these agricultural fields to the ports. To ship the increased cargoes, they needed to build newer and larger harbours. People who would cultivate also required housing and villages. All of this required both capital and labour.
Financial centres such as London provided the capital, while individuals from Europe and other countries moved to places such as the Americas and Australia, where labour was in great demand, in pursuit of a brighter future. As a result, by the nineteenth century's close, a worldwide agricultural economy had developed. Complex labour patterns, capital flows, ecologies, and technology accompanied this.
Aside from food grains, demand in the British market boosted the production of other products like cotton, rubber, and other fabrics.
Significance of Technology
Fast transportation is required when transporting edible and perishable goods from one country to another. It also necessitates technological progress in order to offer fresh goods. To meet the growing demand, technology meant that trains were faster, wagons were lighter, and ships were larger.
Furthermore, because live animals were shipped from America and Australia to Europe and slaughtered upon arrival, meat was a costly luxury in Britain. Live animals, on the other hand, took up a lot of room, and many of them were ill during the journey, rendering their meat inedible. This always resulted in an increase in meat costs in the United Kingdom.
Eventually, technology entered, resulting in the development of refrigerated ships. Perishable food products might now be transported without fear of spoilage. Animals were now slaughtered near their natural habitats and their meat was transferred to Europe. This resulted in lower shipping costs and, as a result, lower meat prices in the United Kingdom. So, we can say that there is a key role in the significance of technology.
Cattle Plague or Rinderpest
Many Europeans migrated to Africa in the late nineteenth century to construct plantations and mines. However, few Africans were willing to work for a living. They were content to raise cattle and farm for themselves.
Rinderpest, a devastating cattle plague, struck Africa in the late 1880s. Within five years, it had swept across the continent, killing around 90% of the cattle. Infected cattle sent from British Asia to feed Italian soldiers attacking Eritrea in East Africa spread the virus. The plague destroyed out most Africans' livelihoods. Owners of farms and mines, as well as Colonial administrations, controlled what little natural resources left and forced Africans into the labour market.
Indentured Labour Migration from India
Let us understand the indentured labour migration from India in this section.
Thousands of Indian labourers worked on plantations, mines, and other building projects all across the world during the nineteenth century. This was due to a drop in cottage industries and an increase in land rents. People in rural areas were having a hard time keeping track of their costs. All of these workers were required to sign contracts. These contracts stated that they may only travel to India after completing five years of service.
When reaching there, the living conditions were not as promised; in fact, they were extremely harsh, with few/no legal rights. While some of them escaped to the jungles, others stayed and adapted to the new culture, resulting in a cultural fusion.
Indian Trade
There are many details on the Indian trade considering the nineteenth century. Let us understand them in detail.
Britain was in the midst of an Industrial Revolution, and while they were importing cotton from India, local cotton production began to expand. They eventually began exporting cotton, and Indian exports fell from 30% in the early 1800s to 3% in the 1870s. To compensate for the drop in exports, India began exporting raw resources.
Over time, the United Kingdom began exporting some things to India and importing others. The value of British exports to India, on the other hand, was significantly more than the value of British imports from India. As a result, the United Kingdom had a "trade surplus" with India. This surplus was used to balance Britain's trade deficits with other countries, i.e., countries from which Britain imported more than it sold. The ‘Multilateral Settlement System' is the name of this system.
Did You Know?
Let us look at some interesting facts about the Nineteenth Century considering the making of a global world and Rinderpest here.
The Silk Route, food transit across countries and continents, diseases, and trade all contribute to our understanding of how the global world came to be.
Rinderpest was an African cattle plague that struck in the late 1880s. Within five years, it had killed nearly 90% of the cattle.
Conclusion
Thus, in this article, we have talked about the making of the global world till the nineteenth century in which we see the contribution of the people and migration, searching for work, food and diseases, industrialization and trade etc. Silk routes and presence of religion and travel for food and trade etc; all played a vital role until the nineteenth century. These things helped the Europeans to fix their economic issues and to colonise the other parts of the world.
FAQs on Till the Nineteenth Century
1. What period does the nineteenth century cover, and what is it commonly called?
The nineteenth century spans the years from January 1, 1801, to December 31, 1900. It is often referred to as the 1800s. A significant part of this period, particularly in the context of the British Empire, is also known as the Victorian Era, which corresponds with the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901) and was a time of major industrial, cultural, and political change.
2. What does the term 'the making of a global world' mean in the context of the pre-twentieth century?
The term 'the making of a global world' refers to the long-term historical process where different parts of the world became increasingly interconnected. Until the nineteenth century, this was driven by several key factors, including ancient trade routes, the migration of people searching for new opportunities, the movement of capital for investment, and the spread of ideas, cultures, technologies, and unfortunately, diseases like the plague.
3. What were the three main 'flows' that economists identified as driving the world economy in the nineteenth century?
In the nineteenth century, economists identified three fundamental types of movement or 'flows' that were crucial in shaping the international economy. These were:
- The flow of trade: This primarily referred to the trade in goods, such as the export of wheat from America or cotton from India to Britain.
- The flow of labour: This described the migration of people, such as Europeans moving to America or Australia in search of work.
- The flow of capital: This involved the movement of money for short-term or long-term investments over vast distances, for example, capital from London financiers funding railways in America.
4. Why were the British 'Corn Laws' abolished, and what was the immediate impact on the economy?
The 'Corn Laws' were protectionist tariffs that restricted food imports into Britain to keep domestic grain prices high for local farmers. They were abolished because industrialists and urban dwellers, who formed a growing part of the population, protested against high food prices. The immediate impact of abolishing the laws was that food could be imported more cheaply than it could be grown in Britain. This led to large areas of agricultural land being left uncultivated and forced thousands of farm workers to migrate to cities or overseas in search of a livelihood.
5. How did British industrialisation in the nineteenth century affect India's traditional economy?
British industrialisation fundamentally altered India's economic role in the world. While India had long been a major exporter of fine textiles, British machine-made cloth began flooding the Indian market, leading to a steep decline for local weavers. At the same time, Britain's industries demanded more raw materials. Consequently, India's exports shifted from finished goods to raw materials, becoming a major supplier of raw cotton, indigo, opium, and wheat to Britain and other nations. This transformed India into a classic colonial economy dependent on the industrial needs of the coloniser.
6. What was the role of Indian entrepreneurs and bankers like the Shikaripuri shroffs in the nineteenth-century global economy?
Indian entrepreneurs and bankers were vital players in the nineteenth-century global financial system, especially in Asia. Groups like the Shikaripuri shroffs and Nattukottai Chettiars financed export agriculture in Central and Southeast Asia. They developed sophisticated systems for transferring money over long distances and extended credit to farmers and traders, often using their own funds or capital they borrowed from European banks. They were a crucial link in the chain of global trade and investment.
7. What were the key features of European colonialism in the late nineteenth century?
Late nineteenth-century colonialism was characterised by aggressive expansion and control. Its key features included:
- Economic Exploitation: Colonies were primarily seen as sources of cheap raw materials and captive markets for the coloniser's industrial goods.
- Political Domination: European powers imposed their administrative and legal systems, undermining or destroying local political structures.
- The 'Civilising Mission': Colonialism was often justified by the racist idea that Europeans were on a mission to civilise 'backward' societies, imposing their culture, religion, and language.
8. How was disease used as a non-military tool for conquest in the nineteenth century? Provide an example.
Disease often proved to be a more effective tool of conquest than military force. Europeans carried germs of diseases like smallpox, to which other populations had no immunity. A prime example from the late nineteenth century is the spread of rinderpest, or the cattle plague, in Africa in the 1890s. The disease, brought by infected cattle from Asia, wiped out up to 90% of the cattle stock in some regions. This destroyed African livelihoods, which were heavily dependent on livestock, thereby weakening their societies and making it far easier for European powers to conquer and control them.
9. What is the main difference between an immigrant and an indentured labourer in the nineteenth century?
The primary difference relates to freedom and compulsion. An immigrant, such as a European moving to America, generally travelled by their own choice, paid their own passage, and was free to work and live where they wanted upon arrival. An indentured labourer, often from India or China, was recruited to work on plantations or in mines under a strict contract for a fixed period (e.g., five years). Their journey was paid for, but they had very few rights, faced harsh living and working conditions, and could not leave their employer, leading many historians to describe it as a 'new system of slavery'.
