Aadishesh/ncerts · Datasets at Hugging Face

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international economic exchanges. The first is the flow of trade which
in the nineteenth century referred largely to trade in goods (e.g.,
cloth or wheat). The second is the flow of labour – the migrationof people in search of employment. The third is the movement of
capital for short-term or long-term investments over long distances.
All three flows were closely interwoven and affected peoples’ lives
more deeply now than ever before. The interconnections could
sometimes be broken – for example, labour migration was often
more restricted than goods or capital flows. Yet it helps us understandthe nineteenth-century world economy better if we look at the
three flows together.
2.1 A World Economy Takes Shape
A good place to start is the changing pattern of food productionand consumption in industrial Europe. Traditionally, countries liked
to be self-sufficient in food. But in nineteenth-century Britain,self-sufficiency in food meant lower living standards and social
conflict. Why was this so?
Population growth from the late eighteenth century had increased
the demand for food grains in Britain. As urban centres expanded
and industry grew, the demand for agricultural products went
up, pushing up food grain prices. Under pressure from landedgroups, the government also restricted the import of corn. The
laws allowing the government to do this were commonly known as
the ‘Corn Laws’. Unhappy with high food prices, industrialists andurban dwellers forced the abolition of the Corn Laws.
After the Corn Laws were scrapped, food could be imported into
Britain more cheaply than it could be produced within the country.British agriculture was unable to compete with imports. Vast areas
of land were now left uncultivated, and thousands of men and
women were thrown out of work. They flocked to the cities ormigrated overseas.2 The Nineteenth Century (1815-1914)India and the Contemporary World
82As food prices fell, consumption in Britain rose. From the mid-
nineteenth century, faster industrial growth in Britain also led to higherincomes, and therefore more food imports. Around the world – in
Eastern Europe, Russia, America and Australia – lands were cleared
and food production expanded to meet the British demand.
It was not enough merely to clear lands for agriculture. Railways
were needed to link the agricultural regions to the ports. New
harbours had to be built and old ones expanded to ship the newcargoes. People had to settle on the lands to bring them under
cultivation. This meant building homes and settlements. All these
activities in turn required capital and labour. Capital flowed fromfinancial centres such as London. The demand for labour in places
where labour was in short supply – as in America and Australia –
led to more migration.
Nearly 50 million people emigrated from Europe to America and
Australia in the nineteenth century. All over the world some 150
million are estimated to have left their homes, crossed oceans andvast distances over land in search of a better future.
Fig. 6 – Emigrant ship leaving for the US, by
M.W. Ridley, 1869.
Fig. 7 – Irish emigrants waiting to board the ship, by Michael Fitzgerald, 1874.83
The Making of a Global WorldPrepare a flow chart to show how Britain’s
decision to import food led to increased
migration to America and Australia.ActivityThus by 1890, a global agricultural economy had taken shape,
accompanied by complex changes in labour movement patterns,capital flows, ecologies and technology. Food no longer came from
a nearby village or town, but from thousands of miles away. It was
not grown by a peasant tilling his own land, but by an agriculturalworker, perhaps recently arrived, who was now working on a large
farm that only a generation ago had most likely been a forest. It was
transported by railway, built for that very purpose, and by shipswhich were increasingly manned in these decades by low-paid
workers from southern Europe, Asia, Africa and the Caribbean.
Imagine that you are an agricultural worker who has arrived in
America from Ireland. Write a paragraph on why you chose to
come and how you are earning your living.Activity
Some of this dramatic change, though on a smaller scale, occurred
closer home in west Punjab. Here the British Indian governmentbuilt a network of irrigation canals to transform semi-desert wastesinto fertile agricultural lands that could grow wheat and cotton for
export. The Canal Colonies, as the areas irrigated by the new canals
were called, were settled by peasants from other parts of Punjab.
Of course, food is merely an example. A similar story can be told
for cotton, the cultivation of which expanded worldwide to feed
British textile mills. Or rubber. Indeed, so rapidly did regional
specialisation in the production of commodities develop, thatbetween 1820 and 1914 world trade is estimated to have multiplied25 to 40 times. Nearly 60 per cent of this trade comprised ‘primary
products’ – that is, agricultural products such as wheat and cotton,
and minerals such as coal.
2.2 Role of Technology
What was the role of technology in all this? The railways, steamships,
the telegraph, for example, were important inventions without
which we cannot imagine the transformed nineteenth-century world.But technological advances were often the result of larger social,political and economic factors. For example, colonisation stimulated
new investments and improvements in transport: faster railways,
lighter wagons and larger ships helped move food more cheaplyand quickly from faraway farms to final markets.India and the Contemporary World
84The trade in meat offers a good example of this connected process.
Till the 1870s, animals were shipped live from America to Europeand then slaughtered when they arrived there. But live animals took
up a lot of ship space. Many also died in voyage, fell ill, lost weight,
or became unfit to eat. Meat was hence an expensive luxury beyondthe reach of the European poor. High prices in turn kept demand
and production down until the development of a new technology,
namely, refrigerated ships, which enabled the transport of perishablefoods over long distances.
Now animals were slaughtered for food at the starting point – in
America, Australia or New Zealand – and then transported toEurope as frozen meat. This reduced shipping costs and lowered
meat prices in Europe. The poor in Europe could now consume
a more varied diet. To the earlier monotony of bread and potatoesmany, though not all, could now add meat (and butter and eggs)
to their diet. Better living conditions promoted social peace within
the country and support for imperialism abroad.
2.3 Late nineteenth-century Colonialism
Trade flourished and markets expanded in the late nineteenthcentury. But this was not only a period of expanding trade andincreased prosperity. It is important to realise that there was a
darker side to this process. In many parts of the world, the
expansion of trade and a closer relationship with the worldeconomy also meant a loss of freedoms and livelihoods. Late-
nineteenth-century European conquests produced many painful
economic, social and ecological changes through which thecolonised societies were brought into the world economy.
Fig. 8 — The Smithfield Club
Cattle Show, Illustrated London
News, 1851.
Cattle were traded at fairs, broughtby farmers for sale. One of theoldest livestock markets in Londonwas at Smithfield. In the mid-nineteenth century a huge poultryand meat market was establishednear the railway line connectingSmithfield to all the meat-supplyingcentres of the country.
Fig. 9 – Meat being loaded on to the ship,Alexandra, Illustrated London News , 1878.
Export of meat was possible only after shipswere refrigerated.85
The Making of a Global WorldLook at a map of Africa (Fig. 10). You
will see some countries’ borders runstraight, as if they were drawn using a
ruler. Well, in fact this was almost how
rival European powers in Africa drew upthe borders demarcating their respective
territories. In 1885 the big European
powers met in Berlin to complete thecarving up of Africa between them.
Britain and France made vast additions to
their overseas territories in the late nineteenthcentury. Belgium and Germany became new

international economic exchanges. The first is the flow of trade which

in the nineteenth century referred largely to trade in goods (e.g.,

cloth or wheat). The second is the flow of labour – the migrationof people in search of employment. The third is the movement of

capital for short-term or long-term investments over long distances.

All three flows were closely interwoven and affected peoples’ lives

more deeply now than ever before. The interconnections could

sometimes be broken – for example, labour migration was often

more restricted than goods or capital flows. Yet it helps us understandthe nineteenth-century world economy better if we look at the

three flows together.

2.1 A World Economy Takes Shape

A good place to start is the changing pattern of food productionand consumption in industrial Europe. Traditionally, countries liked

to be self-sufficient in food. But in nineteenth-century Britain,self-sufficiency in food meant lower living standards and social

conflict. Why was this so?

Population growth from the late eighteenth century had increased

the demand for food grains in Britain. As urban centres expanded

and industry grew, the demand for agricultural products went

up, pushing up food grain prices. Under pressure from landedgroups, the government also restricted the import of corn. The

laws allowing the government to do this were commonly known as

the ‘Corn Laws’. Unhappy with high food prices, industrialists andurban dwellers forced the abolition of the Corn Laws.

After the Corn Laws were scrapped, food could be imported into

Britain more cheaply than it could be produced within the country.British agriculture was unable to compete with imports. Vast areas

of land were now left uncultivated, and thousands of men and

women were thrown out of work. They flocked to the cities ormigrated overseas.2 The Nineteenth Century (1815-1914)India and the Contemporary World

82As food prices fell, consumption in Britain rose. From the mid-

nineteenth century, faster industrial growth in Britain also led to higherincomes, and therefore more food imports. Around the world – in

Eastern Europe, Russia, America and Australia – lands were cleared

and food production expanded to meet the British demand.

It was not enough merely to clear lands for agriculture. Railways

were needed to link the agricultural regions to the ports. New

harbours had to be built and old ones expanded to ship the newcargoes. People had to settle on the lands to bring them under

cultivation. This meant building homes and settlements. All these

activities in turn required capital and labour. Capital flowed fromfinancial centres such as London. The demand for labour in places

where labour was in short supply – as in America and Australia –

led to more migration.

Nearly 50 million people emigrated from Europe to America and

Australia in the nineteenth century. All over the world some 150

million are estimated to have left their homes, crossed oceans andvast distances over land in search of a better future.

Fig. 6 – Emigrant ship leaving for the US, by

M.W. Ridley, 1869.

Fig. 7 – Irish emigrants waiting to board the ship, by Michael Fitzgerald, 1874.83

The Making of a Global WorldPrepare a flow chart to show how Britain’s

decision to import food led to increased

migration to America and Australia.ActivityThus by 1890, a global agricultural economy had taken shape,

accompanied by complex changes in labour movement patterns,capital flows, ecologies and technology. Food no longer came from

a nearby village or town, but from thousands of miles away. It was

not grown by a peasant tilling his own land, but by an agriculturalworker, perhaps recently arrived, who was now working on a large

farm that only a generation ago had most likely been a forest. It was

transported by railway, built for that very purpose, and by shipswhich were increasingly manned in these decades by low-paid

workers from southern Europe, Asia, Africa and the Caribbean.

Imagine that you are an agricultural worker who has arrived in

America from Ireland. Write a paragraph on why you chose to

come and how you are earning your living.Activity

Some of this dramatic change, though on a smaller scale, occurred

closer home in west Punjab. Here the British Indian governmentbuilt a network of irrigation canals to transform semi-desert wastesinto fertile agricultural lands that could grow wheat and cotton for

export. The Canal Colonies, as the areas irrigated by the new canals

were called, were settled by peasants from other parts of Punjab.

Of course, food is merely an example. A similar story can be told

for cotton, the cultivation of which expanded worldwide to feed

British textile mills. Or rubber. Indeed, so rapidly did regional

specialisation in the production of commodities develop, thatbetween 1820 and 1914 world trade is estimated to have multiplied25 to 40 times. Nearly 60 per cent of this trade comprised ‘primary

products’ – that is, agricultural products such as wheat and cotton,

and minerals such as coal.

2.2 Role of Technology

What was the role of technology in all this? The railways, steamships,

the telegraph, for example, were important inventions without

which we cannot imagine the transformed nineteenth-century world.But technological advances were often the result of larger social,political and economic factors. For example, colonisation stimulated

new investments and improvements in transport: faster railways,

lighter wagons and larger ships helped move food more cheaplyand quickly from faraway farms to final markets.India and the Contemporary World

84The trade in meat offers a good example of this connected process.

Till the 1870s, animals were shipped live from America to Europeand then slaughtered when they arrived there. But live animals took

up a lot of ship space. Many also died in voyage, fell ill, lost weight,

or became unfit to eat. Meat was hence an expensive luxury beyondthe reach of the European poor. High prices in turn kept demand

and production down until the development of a new technology,

namely, refrigerated ships, which enabled the transport of perishablefoods over long distances.

Now animals were slaughtered for food at the starting point – in

America, Australia or New Zealand – and then transported toEurope as frozen meat. This reduced shipping costs and lowered

meat prices in Europe. The poor in Europe could now consume

a more varied diet. To the earlier monotony of bread and potatoesmany, though not all, could now add meat (and butter and eggs)

to their diet. Better living conditions promoted social peace within

the country and support for imperialism abroad.

2.3 Late nineteenth-century Colonialism

Trade flourished and markets expanded in the late nineteenthcentury. But this was not only a period of expanding trade andincreased prosperity. It is important to realise that there was a

darker side to this process. In many parts of the world, the

expansion of trade and a closer relationship with the worldeconomy also meant a loss of freedoms and livelihoods. Late-

nineteenth-century European conquests produced many painful

economic, social and ecological changes through which thecolonised societies were brought into the world economy.

Fig. 8 — The Smithfield Club

Cattle Show, Illustrated London

News, 1851.

Cattle were traded at fairs, broughtby farmers for sale. One of theoldest livestock markets in Londonwas at Smithfield. In the mid-nineteenth century a huge poultryand meat market was establishednear the railway line connectingSmithfield to all the meat-supplyingcentres of the country.

Fig. 9 – Meat being loaded on to the ship,Alexandra, Illustrated London News , 1878.

Export of meat was possible only after shipswere refrigerated.85

The Making of a Global WorldLook at a map of Africa (Fig. 10). You

will see some countries’ borders runstraight, as if they were drawn using a

ruler. Well, in fact this was almost how

rival European powers in Africa drew upthe borders demarcating their respective

territories. In 1885 the big European

powers met in Berlin to complete thecarving up of Africa between them.

Britain and France made vast additions to

their overseas territories in the late nineteenthcentury. Belgium and Germany became new