Source/Case Based Questions Class IX History (India and the Contemporary World Part-1)
1. Read the source given below and answer the questions that follow.
Maximilien Robespierre is remembered as a radical democrat during the French Revolution. For a short time, he headed the political club known as the Jacobin Club. There was another influential political club of the time known as the Girondin Club. It was dominated by Republicans and tilted towards the right. Robespierre suppressed the Girondists. The statesman Robespierre is held responsible for a "Reign of Terror" partly caused due to rivalry between his club and the Girondists. He considered ex- nobles and clergy, members of parties other than his own, and members of his party who had different views than his as "enemies" of France. He arrested and imprisoned them and they were tried by a revolutionary tribunal on an urgent basis. Most of them were executed through the guillotine. He oversaw the Reign of Terror as a leading member of the Public Safety Committee of France. It is alleged that he oversaw the execution of around 17000 "enemies" of which were mostly done by guillotine. Robespierre did all this in the name of defending the ideals of the French Revolution. In the end, Robespierre and a few of his followers were executed by guillotine in front of a cheering crowd.
(A) Who all did Robespierre consider as enemies of France? 1
(B) What kind of democracy was followed by maximilien Robespierrel? 1
(C) Write briefly about Robespierre. 2
2. Read the source given below and answer the question that follows.
Napoleon Bonaparte was such a personality of the West that he is taught in history books around the world. His contributions to modern societies are many. He reformed military organization and training. His Napoleonic Code was truly revolutionary which later developed into Civil Law Codes across the world. He also reorganized the education system. His reforms left a prominent effect not only on France's institutions but also on Europe. Since he was a military commander earlier, the moving force behind his zeal to conquer was military expansion. He supported the Jacobins which were a popular and quite progressive party post the French Revolution in France. The Jacobins are known for the "Reign of Terror" In 1796 he was made the commander of the Italian army; Italy was France's client state back then. He led the army to victory against Austria. After becoming emperor of France, he did legal, educational, military, religious, social, and economic reforms. His Napoleonic code abolished the privileges based on birth, and made merit the only criterion in getting government jobs, and provided freedom of religion.
(A) Explain the term 'Reign of Terror'? 1
(B) Which party was Napoleon a supporter of? 1
(C) Explain Napoleonic Code. 2
3. Read the source given below and answer the question that follows.
Some of the basic rights set forth in Olympe de Gouges' Declaration.
1. Woman is born free and remains equal to man in rights.
2. The goal of all political associations is the preservation of the natural rights of woman and man: These rights are liberty, property, security, and above all resistance to oppression.
3. The source of all sovereignty resides in the nation, which is nothing but the union of woman and man.
4. The law should be the expression of the general will; all female and male citizens should have a say either personally or by their representatives in its formulation; it should be the same for all. All female and male citizens are equally entitled to all honours. and public employment according to their abilities and without any other distinction than that of their talents.
5. No woman is an exception; she is accused, arrested, and detained in cases determined by law. Women, like men, obey this rigorous law.
(a) How did Olympe de Gouges, view women?
(b) What should be the goal of all political associations according to her?
(c) What was her opinion about law?
Chapter 2 Socialism In Europe And The Russian Revolution
1. Read the source given below and answer the question that follows.
As is well known, the forced collectivisation torpedoed all the plans. It was based in the winter 1929-30 on the massive use of force against the peasants. Collectivisation is no longer aimed at creating well-structured large-scale agrarian enterprises. Rather, with the "struggle for grain," it sought solely to subjugate the peasants, who supposedly were sabotaging Socialist construction. The "dwarf kolkhozes" that arose in the transition to the 1930s usually brought together only a small number of peasant communities, and with approximately 400 hectares of land, had only one tenth of the minimal land area originally planned for the large-scale enterprises at their disposal. In addition, the kolkhozes only possessed equipment for small-scale farming, since mechanised technology from 1930 on was supplied exclusively to state farms or machine-tractor stations. The ambitious projects of individual planners such as Nikulikhin thus came to nought. In view of the striking lack of agricultural technology and the necessity of concentrating the available means for investment in industry, beginnings were made locally to establish some "kolkhoz giants" and to sell off the inventory of the peasants. But since the state did not provide any funding, the enterprises existed solely on paper, and already in the spring of 1930 they reverted once farmsteads. more into individual
(A) Who among the following introduced Collectivisation of Agriculture? 1
(B) What is the meaning of the word 'Kolkhoze'? 1
(C) Why did the enterprises established by the distribution of land among farmers fail? 2
2. Read the source given below and answer the question that follows.
Marx and Engels were principally concerned with the anatomy and dynamics of capitalism. The political praxis of the move to socialism, the vehicle of change, was undeveloped in their thinking. It was assumed that workers' parties, the social-democratic party in particular, would be the instrument of change. However, Russia lacked a civil society in which political parties could form and challenge for political power.
Lenin called for a centralised party of committed Socialist Revolutionaries. In his path breaking pamphlet, What is to be done?, he contended that, 'Class consciousness can be brought to the workers only from outside. The history of all countries shows that the working class exclusively by its own effort is able to develop trade union consciousness. That is, the conviction that it is necessary to combine in unions, fight the employers and strive to compel the government to pass necessary legislation. Lenin here called for the formation of a revolutionary Marxist party to lead the working class.
The most innovative feature of Lenin's approach is the way he combined theory and proxis on national and international levels. Lenin was primarily concerned with 'changing the world' rather than interpreting it. As the influential French philosopher, Louis Althusser, has cogently put it: in Lenin's political and economic works, we can study Marxist philosophy at work ... in the "practical" state, Marxist philosophy which has become politics, political action, analysis and decision'.
(A) Define the political ideology of Socialism. 1
(B) Who was the leader of a Socialist group called Bolsheviks in Russia? Write briefly about him. 1
(C) There was a social disruption in a chaotic society with with internal and external conflicts. How did the socialist's idea help with these emerging conflicts? 2
4. Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow:
Rabindranath Tagore wrote from Russia in 1930
'Moscow appears much less clean than the other European capitals. None of those hurrying along the streets look smart. The whole place belongs to the workers... Here the masses have not in the least been put in the shade by the gentlemen those who lived in the background for ages have come forward in the open today... I thought of the peasants and workers in my own country. It all seemed like the work of the Genii in the Arabian Nights. [here] only a decade ago they were as illiterate, helpless and hungry as our own masses Who could be more astonished than an unfortunate Indian like myself to see how they had removed the mountain of ignorance and helplessness in these few years'.
(i) How does the author of the above passage portray Moscow? 1
(ii) What is the condition of the mass there? 1
(iii) Why does the author call himself unfortunate? 2
5. Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow:
This is a letter written by a peasant who did not want to join the collective farm. To the newspaper Krestianskaia Gazeta (Peasant Newspaper):
"... I am a natural working peasant born in 1879 ...there are 6 members in my family, my wife was born in 1881, my son is 16, two daughters 19, all three go to school, my sister is 71. From 1932, heavy taxes have been levied on me that I have found impossible. From 1932, heavy taxes have been levied on me that I have found impossible. From 1935, local authorities have increased the taxes on me... and I was unable to handle them and all my property was registered: my horse, cow, calf, sheep with lambs, all my implements, furniture and my reserve of wood for repair of buildings and they sold the lot for the taxes. In 1936, they sold two of my buildings... the kolkhoz bought them. In 1937, of two huts I had, one was sold and one was confiscated..."
Afanasii Dedorovich Frebenev, an independent cultivator. From: V. Sokolov (ed), Obshchestvo I Vlast, v 1930-ye gody.
(I) Why did the peasant not want to join the collective farm? 1
(ii) What were the reasons that made the conditions of the Russian peasants so deplorable? 2
Chapter 3 Nazism And The Rise Of Hitler
1. Read the source given below and answer the questions that follow.
Political Radicalization was only heightened by the economic crisis of 1923. Germany had fought the war largely on loans and had to pay war reparations in Gold. This depleted gold reserves at a time when resources were scarce. In 1923 Germany refused to pay, and the French occupied its leading Industrial area, Ruhr, to claim their coal. Germany retaliated with passive resistance and printed paper currency recklessly. With too much printed money in circulation, the value of the German Mark fell. In April the US Dollar was equal to 24,000 Marks, in July 353,000 Marks, on August 4,621,000 Marks and at 98,860,000 Marks by December, the figure had run into trillions. As the value of the Mark collapsed, prices of goods soared. The image of Germans carrying cartloads of currency notes to buy a loaf of bread was widely publicized, evoking worldwide sympathy. This crisis came to be known as hyperinflation, a situation when prices rise phenomenally high.
(A) Which country occupied Ruhr in Germany to claim their coal? 1
(B) What term is used for a situation which prices rise phenomenally high? 1
(C) What is the currency of Germany called after war? 2
2. Read the source given below and answer the questions that follow.
All boys between the ages of six and ten went through a preliminary training in Nazi ideology. At the end of the training they had to take the following oath of loyalty to Hitler:
In the presence of this blood banner which represents our Fuhrer I swear to devote all my energies and my strength to the saviour of our country, Adolf Hitler. I am willing and ready to give up my life for him, so help me God.'
From W. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
(1) Who were supposed to get a preliminary training in Nazi ideology? 1
(ii) What did they do at the end of the training? 1
(iii) What oath did they take? 2
3.Read the source given below and answer the questions that follow.
In an era when the earth is gradually being divided up among states, some of which embrace almost entire continents. we cannot speak of a world power in connection with a formation whose political mother country is limited to the absurd area of five hundred kilometers.'
Hitler, Mein Kampf, p. 644.
(i) Where has the above-mentioned source been taken from? 1
(ii) What is the imperial ambition of Hitler expressed in the above extract? 3
Chapter 4 Forest Society And Colonialism
1. Read the source given below and answer the questions that follow.
While the forest laws deprived people of their customary rights to hunt, hunting of big game became a sport. In India, hunting of tigers and other animals had been part of the culture of the court and nobility for centuries. Many Mughal paintings show princes and emperors enjoying a hunt. But under colonial rule the scale of hunting increased to such an extent that various species became almost extinct. The British saw large animals as signs of a wild, primitive and savage society. They believed that by killing dangerous animals the British would civilize India. They gave rewards for the killing of tigers, wolves and other large animals on the grounds that they posed a threat to cultivators. Over 80,000 tigers, 150,000 leopards and 200,000 wolves were killed for reward in the period 1875-1925. Gradually, the tiger came to be seen as a sporting trophy. The Maharaja of Sarguja alone shot 1,157 tigers and 2,000 leopards up to 1957. A British administrator, George Yule, killed 400 tigers.
(A) Which animals were primarily hunted in India? 1
(B) What were the provisions regarding hunting in the forest laws? 1
(C) What was the view of Britishers regarding the hunting of dangerous animals. Comment. 2
2. Read the source given below and answer the questions that follows.
People began to gather and discuss these issues in their village councils, in bazaars and at festivals or wherever the headmen and priests of several villages were assembled. The initiative was taken by the Dhurwas of the Kanger forest, where reservation first took place. Although there was no single leader, many people speak of Gunda Dhur, from village Nethanar, as an important figure in the movement. In 1910, mango boughs, a lump of earth, chillies and arrows, began circulating between villages. These were actually messages inviting villagers to rebel against the British. Every village contributed something to the rebellion expenses. Bazaars were looted, the houses of officials and traders, schools and police stations were burnt and robbed, and grain redistributed. Most of those who were attacked were in some way associated with the colonial state and its oppressive laws. William Ward, a missionary who observed the events, wrote: From all directions came streaming into Jagdalpur, police, merchants, forest peons, schoolmasters and immigrants.
(A) What do you mean by the reservation of forests? 1
(B) How did production take place before the forest laws were implemented? 1
(C) The British envisioned India as a vast producer of timber for supply. Comment. 2
3.Read the source given below and answer the questions that follows.
Rubber extraction in the Putumayo:
'Everywhere in the world, conditions of work in plantations were horrific.
The extraction of rubber in the Putumayo region of the Amazon, by the Peruvian Rubber Company (with British and Peruvian interests) was dependent on the forced labour of the local Indians, called Huitotos. From 1900-1912, the Putumayo output of 4,000 tons of rubber was associated with a decrease of some 30,000 among the Indian population due to torture, disease and flight. A letter by an employee of a rubber company describes how the rubber was collected. The manager summoned hundreds of Indians to the station:
He grasped his carbine and machete and began the slaughter of these defenceless Indians, leaving the ground covered with 150 corpses, among them, men, women and children. Bathed in blood and appealing for mercy, the survivors were heaped with the dead and burned to death, while the manager shouted, "I want to exterminate all the Indians who do not obey my orders about the rubber that I require them to bring in.
Michael Taussig. Culture of Terror- Space of Death', in Nicholas Dirks, ed., Colonialism and Culture, 1992.
(1) What was the condition of the plantation workers throughout the world?1
(i) What was called Huitotos? 1
(ii) What did the manager do with the Indian labourers? 2
Chapter 5- Pastoralists in the Modern World
1. Read the source given below and answer the questions that follows.
British officials were suspicious of nomadic people. They distrusted mobile craftsmen and traders who hawked their goods in villages, and pastoralists who changed their places of residence every season, moving in search of good pastures for their herds The colonial government wanted to rule over a settled population. They wanted the rural people to live in villages, in fixed places with fixed rights on particular fields. Such a population was easy to identify and control. Those who were settled were seen as peaceable and law-abiding: those who were nomadic were considered to be criminal. In 1871, the colonial government in India passed the Criminal Tribes Act. By this Act, many communities of craftsmen, traders and pastoralists were classified as Criminal Tribes. They were stated to be criminal by nature and birth. Once this Act came into force, these communities were expected to live only in notified village settlements. They were not allowed to move out without a permit. The village police kept a continuous watch on them.
(A) Why was the 1871 Criminal Tribal Act imposed? 1
(B) When did the colonial government pass the Criminal Tribes Act? 1
(C) Who monitored and kept a continuous watch on criminal tribes? 2
2.Read the source given below and answer the questions that follows.
In the 1920s, a Royal Commission on Agriculture reported:
'The extent of the area available for grazing has gone down tremendously with the extension of area under cultivation because of increasing population, extension of irrigation facilities, acquiring the pastures for Government purposes, for example, defence, industries and agricultural experimental farms. [Now] breeders find it difficult to raise large herds. Thus their earnings have gone down. The quality of their livestock has deteriorated, dietary standards have fallen and indebtedness has increased.'
The Report of the Royal Commission of Agriculture in India, 1928.
The quality of their livestock has deteriorated, dietary standards have fallen and indebtedness has increased." The Report of the Royal Commission of Agriculture in India, 1928-
(i) When was the Royal Commission Report on agriculture presented in India? 1
(ii) What was it about? 1
(iii) What problems did the breeders face?2
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