NCERT Solutions for Class 10 Social History Chapter 8 Novels, Society and History
Q.1. Explain the following :
(a) Social changes in Britain which led to an increase in women readers.
(b) What actions of Robinson Crusoe make us see him as a typical coloniser ? [CBSE Sept. 2011]
Or
“Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe made the readers feel that they were part of a superior community”. Support the statement. [CBSE 2013]
Or
What actions of Robinson Crusoe made him as a typical coloniser ? Explain. [CBSE 2013]
(c) After 1740, the readership of novels began to include poorer people.
(d) Novelists in colonial India wrote for a political cause.
Or
How does the novel Pariksha Guru reflect the inner and outer world of the newly emerging middle classes? [CBSE Sept. 2010]
Ans.
(a) Social changes in Britain which led to an increase in women readers were as mentioned below :
(b) The following actions of Robinson Crusoe make us see him as a typical colonizer:
(c) In the beginning, novels were so costly that the poor could not buy. For example, Henry Fielding’s Tom Jones (1749) was issued in six volumes priced at three shillings each – which was more than the income of a labourer in a week. But after 1740, the readership of novels began to include the poorer people due to the following reasons :
(d) Leading novelists of the nineteenth century wrote for a cause as mentioned below :
Q.2. Outline the changes in technology and society which led to an increase in the readers of the novel in the eighteenth century Europe. [CBSE Sept. 2013]
Ans.
The changes in technology and society which led to an increase in readers of the novel in eighteenth-century Europe were as follows :
Q.3. Write a note on :
(a) Hie Oriya Novel
(b) Jane Austen’s portrayal of women
(c) The picture of the new middle class which the novel Pariksha Guru portrays.
Ans. (a) The Oriya Novel : In 1877-78, ,Ramashankar Ray, a dramatist, began serialising the first Oriya novel Saudamani.
But he could not complete it. Within thirty years, however, Odisha produced a major novelist in Fakir Mohon Senapati (1843- 1918).
The title of his novel Chaa Maria Atha Guntha (1902) portrays six acres and thirty- two decimals of land. It announces a new kind of novel that will deal with the question of land and its possession. It is the story of Ramchandra Mangaraj, a landlord’s manager, who cheats his idle and drunken master and then eyes the plot of fertile land owned by Bhagia and Shariya, a childless ” weaver couple. Mangaraj fools this couple and puts them into his debt so that he can take over their land. This pathbreaking work showed that the novel could make rural issues an important part of urban Ans. preoccupations. In writing this, Fakir Mohon anticipated a host of writers .in Bengal and elsewhere.
(b) Jane Austen was an English novelist who gives us a glimpse of the world of women in the general rural society in the early 19th century. Her novels make us think about a society which encouraged women to look for ‘good’ marriages and find wealthy or propertied husbands. The first sentence of Jane Austen’s (1775-1817) Pride and Prejudice states: ‘It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.’ This observation allows us to see the behaviour of the protagonists, who are preoccupied with marriage and money, as typifying Austen’s society.
(c) Pariksha Guru reflects the inner and outer world of the newly emerging middle classes. The characters in the novel are caught in the difficulty of adapting to colonised society and at the same time, preserving their own cultural identity. The world of colonial modernity seems to be both frightening and irresistible to the characters. The novel clearly intends to teach the reader the ‘right way’ to live, and expects all ‘sensible men’ to be worldly-wise and practical, to remain rooted in the values of their own traditions and culture, and to live with, dignity and honour.
In the novel, we see the characters attempting to bridge two different worlds through their actions: they take to new agricultural technology, modernise trading practices, change the use of Indian language, making them capable to transmitting both Western sciences and Indian wisdom.
The young are urged to cultivate the ‘healthy habit’ of reading the newspapers. But the novel emphasises that all this must be achieved without sacrificing the traditional values of the middle-class household. With all its good intentions, Pariksha Guru could not win many readers, as it was perhaps too moralising in its style.
Q.4.Discuss some of the social changes in nineteenth-century Britain which Thomas Hardy and Charles Dickens wrote about.
Ans.
Charles Dickens was the foremost English novelist of the Victorian era. He wrote about the terrible effects of industrialization on people’s lives and characters. His novels Hard Times and Oliver Twist became world-famous,
(i) Hard Times: His novel Hard Times (1854) describes Coketown, a fictitious industrial town, as a grim place full of machinery, smoking chimneys, rivers polluted purple, and buildings that all looked the same. Here workers are known as ‘hands’, as if they had no identity other than as operators of machines. Dickens criticised not just the greed for profits but also the ideas that reduced human beings into simple instruments of production.
(ii) Oliver Twist: In other novels too, Dickens focused on the terrible conditions of urban. life under industrial capitalism. His Oliver Twist (1838) is the tale of a poor orphan who lived in a world of petty criminals and beggars. Brought up in a cruel workhouse, Oliver was finally adopted by a wealthy man and lived happily ever after.
Q.5.Summarise the concern in both nineteenth-century Europe and India about women reading novels. What does this suggest about how women were viewed?
Ans. (i) When women began writing and reading novels, many people feared that they would now neglect the traditional role as wives and mothers, and homes would be in disorder.
(ii) It is not surprising that many men were suspicious of women writing novels or reading them. This suspicion cut across communities. Hannah Mullens, a Christian missionary and the author of Karuna o Phulmonir Bibaran (1852), reputedly the first novel in Bengali, tells her readers that she wrote in secret.
In the twentieth century, Sailabala Ghosh Jaya, a popular novelist, could only write because her husband protected her. As we have seen in the case of the south, women and girls were often discouraged from reading novels.
Q.6. In what ways was the novel In colonial India useful for both the colonisers as well as the nationalists?
Ans. (i) Source of Information: Colonial administrators found the ‘vernacular’ novels a valuable source of information on native life and customs. Such information was useful for them in governing Indian society, with its large and a variety of communities and castes. As outsiders, the British knew little about life inside Indian households. The novels in Indian languages often had descriptions of domestic life.
(ii) Novels and colonialism: The novel originated in Europe at a time when it was colonizing the rest of the world. The early novel contributed to colonialism by marking the readers feel they were part of a superior community of fellow colonialists.
(iii) The novel and nation making: The history written by colonial historians tended to depict Indians as weak, divided, and dependent on the British. These histories could not satisfy the tastes of the new Indian administrators and intellectuals. Nor did the traditional Puranic stories of the past- peopled by gods and demons, filled with the fantastic and the supernatural- seem convincing to those educated and working under the English system. Such minds wanted a new view of the past that would show that Indians could be independent-minded and had been so in history. The novel provided a solution. In it, the nation could be imagined in a past that also featured historical characters, places, events, and dates.
(iv) Novels and struggle for freedom: The imagined nation of the novel was so powerful that it could inspire actual political movements. Banking’s Anandamath (1882) is a novel about a secret Hindu militia that fights Muslims to establish the Hindu Kingdom. It was a novel that inspired many kinds of freedom fighters.
(v) Novels and common sharing novelists included: Various classes in the novel in such a way that they could be seen to belong to a shared world. Premchand’s novels, for instance, are filled with all kinds of powerful characters drawn from all levels of society. In his novels, you meet aristocrats and landlords, middle-level peasants and landless labourers, middle-class professionals, and people from the margins of society. The women characters are strong individuals, especially those who come from the lower classes and are not modernised.
Q.7. Describe how the issue of caste was included in novels in India. By referring to any two novels, discuss the ways in which they tried to make readers think about the existing social issues.
Ans. (i) Novels like Indirabai and Indulekha were written by members of the upper castes and were primarily about the upper-caste characters. But all novels were not of this kind.
(ii) Potheri Kunjambu, a ‘lower-caste’ writer from north Kerala, wrote a novel called Saraswativijayam in 1892, mounting a strong blow on caste oppression. This novel shows a young man from an ‘untouchable’ caste, leaving his village to escape the cruelty of his Brahmin landlord. He converted himself to Christianity, obtained modem education, and returned as the judge in the local court. Saraswativijayam stressed the importance of education for the upliftment of the lower castes.
(iii) From the 1920s, in Bengal too a new kind of novel emerged that depicted the lives of peasants and ‘low’ castes. Advaita Malla Burmaris (1914-51) Titash Ekti Nadir Naam (1956) is an epic about the Mallas, a community of fisherfolk who live off fishing in the river, Titash.
(iv) While novelists before Advaita Malla had featured ‘low castes’ as their main character, Titash is special because the author is himself a ‘low caste’.
(v) The central character of Munshi Premchand’s novel Rangboomi, Surdas is. a visually impaired beggar from a so-called ‘untouchable caste.’
Q.8. Describe the ways in which the novels in India attempted to create a sense of pan- Indian belonging.
Ans.
(i) To create a sense of equality: Colonial rulers regarded the contemporary culture of India as inferior, On the other hand, Indian novelist wrote to develop modern literature of the country that could produce a sense of national belonging and cultural equality with their colonial masters.
(ii) To protect the values of India’s tradition and culture: Many novelists like that of Srinivas Das had expressed their fear and anger about the intermining of Indian and Western culture. The world of colonial modernity seems to be both frightening and irresistible to the characters. The novel tries to teach the reader the ‘right way’ to live and expects all ‘sensible men’ to be worldly-wise and practical, to remain rooted in the values of their own tradition and culture, and to live with dignity and honour.
(iii) Women novelists: But women did not remain mere readers of stories written by men; soon they also began to write novels. In some languages, the early creations of women were poems, essays or autobiographical pieces. In the early decades of the twentieth century, women in south India also began writing novels and short stories. A reason for the popularity of novels among women was that it allowed for a new conception of womanhood. Stories of love – which was a staple theme of many novels – showed women who could choose or refuse their partners and relationships. It showed women who could to some extent control their lives. Some women authors also wrote about women who changed the world of both men and women.
(iv) Novels for low castes and peasants: From the 1920s, in Bengal too a new kind of novel emerged that depicted the lives of peasants and ‘low’ castes. Advaita Malla Burman’s (1914-51) Titash Ekti Nadir Naam (1956) is an epic about the Mallas, a community of fisherfolk who live off fishing in the river Titash. The novel is about three generations of the Mallas, about their recurring tragedies, and the story of Ananta, a child born of parents who were tragically separated after their wedding night. Ananta leaves the community to get educated in the city. The novel describes the community life of the Mallas in great detail, their Holi and Kali Puja festivals, boat races, bhatiali songs, their relationships of friendship and animosity with the peasants, and the oppression of the upper castes.
(v) The novel and nation making: Many novelists wrote about Marathas and Rajputs. These novels produced a sense of a pan Indian belonging. The imagined nation of the novel was so powerful that it could inspire actual political movements. Bankim’s Anandamath (1882) is a novel about a secret Hindu militia that fights Muslims to establish a Hindu kingdom. It was a novel that inspired many kinds of freedom fighters.
NCERT Solutions for Class 10 Social History Chapter 7 Print Culture and the Modern World
Q.1. Give reasons for the following :
(a) Woodblock print only came to Europe after 1295. [CBSE 2013]
(b) Martin Luther was in favour of print and spoke out in praise of it.
(c) The Roman Catholic Church began keeping an Index of Prohibited books from the mid-sixteenth century.
(d) Gandhi said the fight for ‘Swaraj is a fight for the liberty of speech, liberty of the press, and freedom of association.
Ans. (a) (i) Paper reached Europe through the Silk Route in the 11th century.
(b)
(c) The Roman Catholic Church began keeping an Index of Prohibited Books from the mid-sixteenth century due to the following reasons :
(d) Gandhi said the fight for Swaraj is a fight for the liberty of speech, liberty of the press, and freedom of association due to the following reasons :
Q.2. Write short notes to show that you know about:
(a) The Gutenberg Press.
(b) The Erasmus’s idea of the printed book.
(c) The Vernacular Press Act. [CBSE Sept. 2011, 2012]
Ans. (a) Johann Gutenberg was a German goldsmith and inventor, credited with the inventing of the movable type printing in Europe.Gutenberg was the son of a merchant, and his childhood was spent on a large agricultural estate. From his childhood, he had seen wine and olive presses. By and by, he learnt the art of polishing stones, became a master goldsmith, and also acquired the expertise to create lead moulds used for making trinkets. (Trinket-A small item of jewellery that is cheap or of low quality). Using this knowledge, Gutenberg adapted the existing technology to design his innovation. The olive press became the base model for the printing press and moulds were used for casting the metal types for the letters of the alphabet. By 1448, Gutenberg perfected the system. In 1455, Gutenberg published his 42-lines Bible, commonly known as the Gutenberg Bible. About 180 copies were printed most on paper and some on vellum.
(b) Erasmus’s idea of the printed book: Erasmus, a Latin scholar, and a Catholic reformer, who criticized the excesses of Catholicism, but kept his distance from, Luther, expressed deep anxiety about printing. He wrote in Adages (1508) :
‘To what corner of the world do they not fly, these swarms of new books? It may be that one here and there contributes something worth knowing, but the very multitude of them is hurtful to scholarship because it creates a glut and even in good things, satiety is most harmful… [printers] fill the world with books, not just trifling things (such as I write, perhaps), but stupid, ignorant, slanderous, scandalous, raving, irreligious and seditious books and the number of them is such that even the valuable publications lose their value.’
(c) The Vernacular Press Act: The revolt of 1857 forced the government to curb the freedom of the press. After the revolt, enraged Englishmen demanded a clampdown on the ‘native’ press. As vernacular newspapers became assertively nationalist, the colonial government began debating measures of strict control.
In 1878, the Vernacular Press Act was passed, on the model of Irish Press Laws. It provided the government with extensive rights to censor reports and editorials in the vernacular press. The government started keeping regular track of the vernacular newspapers published in different provinces. When a report was judged as seditious, the newspapers were given a warning and if the warning was ignored, the press was liable to be seized, and the printing machinery could be confiscated.
Q.3. What did the spread of print culture in the nineteenth century India mean to :
(a) Women
(b) The poor
(c) Reformers
Ans. (a)Women :
(i) Women as readers : Lives and feelings of women began to be written in intense ways. So women became important as readers. Penny magazines were especially meant for women, as were manuals teaching proper behaviour and housekeeping.
(ii) Women as writers : Many women novelists like Jane Austin, Bronte Sisters, George Eliot wrote about women. Novels and other journals began exploring the world of women – their emotions, identities, their experiences and problems. The writings of woman became important in defining a new type of woman – a person with will, strength of personality, determination and the power to think.
(iii) Novels and books on women : As the readership of women was increasing publishers started producing novels and journals for women. Many journals began carrying writings by women, and explained why women should be educated.
(b) Poor workers and the print : Workers in factories were too overworked, and thus, lacked the education to write about their expectations and experiences. But Keshibaba, a Kanpur mill worker wrote and published Chhote Aur Bade Ka Sawal in 1938 to depict the links between caste and class exploitation. The poems of another Kanpur mill worker, who wrote under the name of Sudarshan Chakra between 1935 and 1955, were brought together, and published in a collection called Sacchi Kavitayain. By the 1930s, Bangaluru cotton mill workers set up libraries to educate themselves. By doing so, they were following the example of Bombay (Mumbai) workers. These libraries were sponsored by social reformers who tried to restrict excessive drinking among the poor, to bring literacy and, sometimes, to propagate the message of nationalism.
(c) Reformers: From the early nineteenth century there were intense debates around religious issues. Different groups differed on interpretations of the beliefs of different religions. Criticism and campaigns were going on. The coming of print made a lot of difference as mentioned below:
Q.4. Write about the different innovations in printing technology during the 19th century? [CBSE Sept. 2010]
Ans. (i) By the mid-nineteenth century, Richard M. Hoe of New York had perfected the power-driven cylindrical press. This was capable of printing 8,000 sheets per hour. This press was particularly useful for printing newspapers.
(ii) In the late nineteenth century, the offset press was developed which could print up to six colours at a time.
(iii) From the turn of the twentieth century, electrically operated presses accelerated printing operations.
Q.5. Why did some people in the eighteenth century Europe think that print culture would bring enlightenment and end despotism? [CBSE Sept. 2010, 2011]
Or
Assess the impact of print revolution on the European society. [CBSE 2013]
Ans. (i) Spreading of new ideas: After the coming of the print culture, the ideas of scientists and philosophers now became more accessible to the common people. Ancient and medieval scientific texts were compiled and published.
(ii) Scientific discoveries: Maps and more accurate scientific diagrams were widely printed. When scientists like Issac Newton began to publish their discoveries, they could influence a much wider circle of scientifically-minded readers.
(iii) Writings of scholars: The writings of thinkers such as Thomas Paine, Voltaire and Jean Jacques Rousseau were also widely printed, and could gain popularity. Thus, their ideas about science, reasoning and rationality found their way into popular literature.
(iv) Books as a medium of progress: By the mid-18th century, books became a medium of spreading progress and enlightenment which could change society and the world. It was also believed that the books could literate society from despotism and tyranny.
(v) Ideas of enlightened thinkers: The print popularised the ideas of the enlightened thinkers like that of Martin Luther who attacked the authority of the Church and the despotic power of the state, e.g., Voltaire and Rousseau.
(vi) A new culture of dialogue and debate: The print created a new culture of dialogue and debate and the public, became aware of reasoning and recognized the need to question the existing ideas and beliefs.
Q.6. Why did some people fear the effect of easily available printed books? Choose one example from Europe and one from India. [CBSE Sept. 2011]
Or
Explain the role played by print in bringing about a division in the Roman Catholic Church. [CBSE Sept. 2011]
Or
Explain the role played by print in the spreading of Protestant Reformation. [CBSE 2012, 2013]
Ans. Not everyone welcomed the printed books and those, who did, also had fear about them. Many were of the opinion that printed words and the wider circulation of books, would have a negative impact on people’s minds. They feared that if there was no control over what was printed and read, then rebellious and irreligious thoughts might gain importance. There was also fear in the minds of scholars that the authority of ‘valuable’ literature would be destroyed. The new print was criticized by religious authorities, monarchs, as well as by writers and artists.
Let us consider the implication of this in one sphere of life in early modern Europe, i.e., religion. Martin Luther was a German monk, priest, professor, and Church reformer. In 1517, he wrote Ninety Five Theses and openly criticised many of the practices and rituals of the Roman Catholic Church. A printed copy of this was pasted on a Church door in Wittenberg. It challenged the Church to debate his ideas. Luther’s writings were immediately copied in vast numbers and read widely. This led to a division within the Church and led to the beginning of the Protestant Reformation.
Manx; conservative FUndus believed that a literate girl would be widowed and Muslims believed that educated women could get corrupted by reading Urdu romances. There were many instances of women defying this prohibition.
Q.7. What were the effects of the spread of print culture for the poor people in the nineteenth century India ?
Ans. Poor workers and the print : Workers in factories were too overworked, and thus, lacked the education to write about their expectations and experiences. But Keshibaba, a Kanpur mill worker wrote and published Chhote Aur Bade Ka Sawal in 1938 to depict the links between caste and class exploitation. The poems of another Kanpur mill worker, who wrote under the name of Sudarshan Chakra between 1935 and 1955, were brought together, and published in a collection called Sacchi Kavitayain. By the 1930s, Bangaluru cotton mill workers set up libraries to educate themselves. By doing so, they were following the example of Bombay (Mumbai) workers. These libraries were sponsored by social reformers who tried to restrict excessive drinking among the poor, to bring literacy and, sometimes, to propagate the message of nationalism.
Q.8. Explain how the print culture assisted the growth of nationalism in India. [CBSE Sept. 2010, 2011]
Ans. (i) New ideas and debates : There were many who criticised the existing practices and campaigned for reforms, while others countered the arguments of the reformers. These debates were carried out openly in public and in print. Printed tracts and newspapers not only spread the new ideas, but they also shaped the nature of the debate. All this assisted the growth of nationalism.
(ii) Connecting various communities : Print did not only stimulate the publication of conflicting opinions amongst communities, but it also connected communities and people living in different parts of India. Newspapers conveyed news from one place to another, creating pan-Indian identities.
(iii) Print and newspaper : Despite repressive measures, nationalist newspapers grew in numbers in all parts of India. They reported on colonial misrule and encouraged nationalist activities. When Punjab revolutionaries were deported in 1907, Bal Gangadhar Tilak wrote with great sympathy about them in Kesari.
(iv) Various novels on national history: Many novels written by Indian novelists like Bankim’s Anandamath created a sense of pan-Indian belonging. Munshi Premchand’s novel, Godan highlighted how Indian peasants were exploited by the colonial bureaucrats.
(v) Various images of Bharatmata : Printers like Raja Ravi Verma and Rabindranath Tagore produced images of Bharatmata which produced a sense of nationalism among Indians. The devotion to mother figure came to be seen as evidence of one’s nationalism.
NCERT Solutions for Class 10 Social History Chapter 6 Work, Life and Leisure
Q.1. Give three reasons why the population of London expanded from the middle of the eighteenth century.
[CBSE 2008 ID). Sept. 2010. 2011]
Ans.
By 1750, the population of London was about 675,000. Its population, however, continued to expand. Between 1810 and 1880 it increased from 1 million to about 4 million. ”
The reasons for this increase were as given below :
Q.2. What were the changes in the kind of work available to women in London between the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries? Explain the factors which led to this change.
Ans.
(i) Employment in Factories: In the 18th and the 19th centuries, a large number of women were employed in the factories because, during that period, most of the production activities were carried with the help of the family.
(ii) Technological Developments and loss of jobs: But with technological advancement, women gradually lost their industrial jobs and were forced to do household work. They also tried to increase the family income by activities like tailoring, washing or matchbox making.
(iii) Employment during War: However, in the 20th century, women again started getting employed in wartime industries and offices because most of the male citizens were fighting at the front.
Q.3. How does the existence of a large urban population affect each of the following? Illustrate with historical examples.
(a) A private landlord.
(b) A Police Superintendent in charge of law and order.
(c) A leader of a political party.
Ans.
(a) A private landlord: The existence of a large urban population enables a private landlord to earn more and more money. For example, after the Industrial Revolution, the increase in the migrant population in London led to housing problems. Factory owners did not house the migrant workers. Under such conditions, private landlords took advantage of the situation. They put up cheap and usually unsafe tenements for the new arrivals to earn money quickly. A tenement was run-down and often overcrowded apartment house, especially in a poor section of a large city.
(b) A Police Superintendent in charge of law and order: The existence of a large urban population creates law and order problems for a Police Superintendent. For example, the population of London increased from 675,000 in 1750 to four million in 1880. At that time i.e., in the 1870s, there were about 20,000 criminals in the city. It was a great problem and the police was worried about this. Crime had become an object of widespread concern. Philanthropists were anxious about public morality, and industrialists wanted a hardworking and orderly labour force. In such a situation the job of the Police Superintendent incharge of law and order was tough.
Thus in order to control the situation, the population of criminals was counted. Their activities were watched, and their ways of life were investigated. Not only criminals, children of poor families too became thieves because crime was more profitable than labouring in small underpaid or low paid factories. Poor adults also resorted to petty thieving. Thus, the existence of large urban population creates many problems for a Superintendent of Police incharge of law and order and he has to work hard to control the situation.
(c) A leader of a political party: A large population affects a leader of a political party., because he is representative of the people and is supposed to protect their interests. A large 5 population means more problems and more and more involvement of leader in those problems. It is both a threat and an opportunity. It may lead to strikes and riots as had happened in London i in 1886 and 1888. Political leaders in the government or outside the government support or oppose the mass agitations in their own interest or in the interest of the people. The leaders have to see and save the interests of the people cautiously in order to remain popular among the population/voters of the constituency.
Q.4. Give explanations for the following :
(a) Why did the well off Londoners support the need to build housing for the poor in the nineteenth century?
(b) Why were a number of Bombay films about the lives of migrants?
(c) What led to the major expansion of Bombay’s population in the mid-nineteenth century?
Ans.
(a) Well-off Londoners supported the need to build housing for the poor in the nineteenth century due to the following reasons :
(b) A number of Bombay films were about the lives of migrants because most of the people in the film industry were themselves migrants who came from cities like Lahore, Calcutta and Madras. They contributed to the national character of the industry. Those who came from Lahore, then in Punjab, were especially important for the development of the Hindi film industry. Many famous writers like Ismat Chughtai and Saadat Hasan Manto, were associated with Hindi cinema. These migrants knew the problems of people coming to Bombay and tried to highlight the same in the films that dealt with their encounters with the real pressures of daily life as well as contradictory aspects of the city. For example, in the film CID (1956) the hero sings, ‘Ai dil hai muskil jeena yahan; zara hatke zara bachke, ye hai Bombay merijaan.’ It means ‘My heart, it is difficult to live here! Move over a little, take care of yourself! This is Bombay my love!’
The major expansion of Bombay’s population in the mid-nineteenth century was due to the following reasons:
Q.5. What forms of entertainment came up in the nineteenth century England to provide leisure activities for the people?
Ans. (i) London Season: For wealthy Britishers, there had long been an annual ‘London Season. Several cultural events, such as the opera, the theatre, and the classical music performances were organised for an elite group of 300-400 families in the late eighteenth century.
(ii) Pleasure gardens: Pleasure gardens came in the 19th century to provide facilities for sports, entertainment, and refreshments for the well-to-do.
(iii) Pubs for working-class: Working classes met in pubs to have a drink: exchange news and sometimes, also to organise for political action.
(iii) Libraries and museums: Libraries, art galleries, and museums were established in the nineteenth century to provide people with a sense of history and pride in the achievements of the British.
(iv) Music halls and cinemas: Music hails were popular among the lower classes and, by the early twentieth century, cinema became the great mass entertainment for the mixed audiences
(vi) Beaches: British industrial workers were increasingly encouraged to spend their holidays by the sea. so as to derive the benefits of the sun and the bracing winds.
Q.6. (a) Explain the social changes in London which led to the need for the Underground Railway.
[CBSE 2009 (O), Sept. 2010,2011] (b) Why was the development of the Underground Railway criticized?
[CBSE Sept. 2010, 2011]
Ans
(a) (i) Industrialisation was the most important factor responsible for the urbanisation in the modem period.
(ii ) London soon started emerging as a great industrial centre with a population of about 6,75,000. Over the 19th century, London continued to expand, and its population multiplied fourfold.
(iii) The city of London attracted people from all walks of life like clerks, shopkeepers, soldiers, servants, labourers, beggars, etc.
(iv) The living conditions in London changed dramatically when people started migrating from the countryside to the city in search of jobs. This was largely because accommodation was not provided to the labourers by the factory owners.
(v) The labourers had to live in cheap and unsafe tenements provided by the individual landowners.
(vi) Poverty was clearly visible in the city. In 1887, Charles Booth conducted a survey, and concluded that about one million landowners were very poor, and were expected to live only upto an average age of 29. These people were more likely to die in a workhouse, hospital or a lunatic asylum. Meanwhile, the city had extended beyond the range where people could walk to work. So the planners realised the need for a means of transport.
(b) (i) Many fell that the “iron monsters added to the mess and unhealthiness of the city.
(ii) To make approximately two miles of railway, about 900 houses had to be destroyed.
(iii) The London Tube Railway led to a massive displacement of the London poor.
Q.7. Explain what is meant by the Haussmannization of Paris. To what extent would you support or oppose this form of development? Write a letter to the editor of a newspaper, to either support or oppose this, giving reasons for your view.
Ans.
Haussmannization of Paris: It simply means that the new city o: Pahs was designed by the chief architect of the new Paris. At the instance of Napoleon 111 (a nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte). Haussmann built the new city of Paris for a continuous 17 years (between 1852 ro 1869). He designed straight, broad avenues (or boulevards), and open spaces and transplanted full-grown trees. By 1370. about one-fifth of the streets of Paris were the creation of Haussmann. In addition, night patrols were introduced, bus shelters were built, and tap water was introduced.
The opposition of Haussmannization: Many opposed this form o: development About 3.50.000 people were evicted from the centre of Paris. Some said that the city of Paris had been monstrously transformed. Some lamented the passing of an earlier way of life and the development of upper-class culture. Others believed that Haussmann had killed the street and its life to produce an empty boring city.
Arguments in Support of Haussmannization: The new Pans city soon got converted into a civic pride as the new capital became the toast of all of Europe. Paris became the hub of many new architectures. social and intellectual developments that were very influenced through the 20th century in many parts of the world.
Letter to the Editor to Self Explanatory.
Q.8. To what extent docs government regulations and new laws solve problems of pollution? Discuss one example each of the success and failure of legislation to change the quality of :
(a) public life
(b) private life
Ans.
The government regulations and new laws had a mixed history of the successes and failures:
(i) New legislations in London were not taken seriously by the factory owners. They were not ready to spend on technologies that would improve their machines.
(ii) The Smoke Abatement Acts of 1847 and 1853 failed to clean the air.
(iii) Calcutta (Kolkata) became the first Indian dry to get the smoke nuisance legislation.
(iv) In 1920. the nee mills of Tollygunge began to burn rice husk instead of coal, leading residents to complain that ’the air is filled up with black soot which falls like drilling rain from morning rill night, and it has become impossible to live’. The inspectors of the Bengal Smoke Nuisance Commission finally managed to control the industrial smoke.
