WBBSE Class 9 Fundamentals Of History Chapter 4 Industrial Revolution: Colonialism And Imperialism Short Answer Questions
Question 1. What do you understand by the term Industrial Revolution?
Answer:
Industrial Revolution
A major change took place in the method of production and transportation in the 18th Century as a result of several scientific inventions. This unprecedented growth and development in the quality and quantity of manufactured goods produced by machines instead of human labour ushered in the age of industrial expansion. The French philosopher Auguste Blanqui first used the term Industrial Revolution in 1837.
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Question 2. Why did the Industrial Revolution start in England and then spread over the Continent?
Answer:
The Industrial Revolution started in England and then spread over the rest of the Continent due to some of the advantages it enjoyed.
- Many scientific inventions like the Flying Shuttle, Water Frame, and Steam Engine paved the ground for industrialization.
- The two important requisites of industrialization the supply of raw materials and the market were available from their colonies like India and America.
Moreover, England enjoyed more political and administrative stability in the 18th Century and the English were influenced by the Puritan and Calvinist religious leaders for developing their industries. Several other factors like the availability of cheap labour, capital, natural resources and the agricultural revolution also contributed to the industrial expansion.
Question 3. What are the prerequisites for the Industrial Revolution?
Answer:
The Industrial Revolution that took place in Europe from the middle to the end of the 18th Century was possible due to the availability of certain necessary conditions.
The pre-requisites for the Industrial Revolution to be successful were
- Availability of cheap labour and raw materials
- Sufficient capital resources and political stability
- Favourable government policy and efficient administration
- Conducive climatic conditions and enterprising people.

Question 4. How did the Industrial Revolution help in the development of new cities?
Answer:
- In the period before the Industrial Revolution, a vast majority of the population lived in rural areas and were engaged in agriculture, handicrafts or cottage industries.
- This scenario changed completely with the advent of the Industrial Revolution when more and more people thronged in the places where various commercial activities were undertaken. This resulted in the growth of cities and in England, the cities of London and Edinburgh had more than 50000 population in 1750.
WBBSE Class 9 History Chapter 4 SAQs With Answers Industrial Revolution
Question 5. What do you understand by the second phase of the Industrial Revolution?
Answer:
The Industrial Revolution can be divided into two phases
- The period between 1750 to 1850 or the first phase of the Industrial Revolution
- The period between 1850 to 1914 was the second phase of the Industrial Revolution.
The second phase of the Industrial Revolution saw great technological advancements and the use of electrical power and the telephone came in vogue.
The first phase of the Industrial Revolution took place in England in the 18th Century while France, Belgium, Germany, and Russia witnessed the Second phase of the Industrial Revolution in the 19th Century.
Question 6. Why is the Industrial Revolution termed as a ‘Revolution’?
Answer:
The Industrial Revolution brought about a qualitative and quantitative expansion in industries from the middle to the end of the 18th Century. This resulted in a drastic change in the social political and economic life of the people leading to the rise in cities, an urban way of life and culture etc.
Thus it revolutionized the entire system that hitherto existed and prompted scholars like Professors A. Birnie and C. Beard to use the term ‘Revolution’ for the Industrial Revolution.
Question 7. Why did industrialization in France take time to succeed? Or, Why did industrialization start rather late in France?
Answer:
The Industrial Revolution started in England first and then spread over the rest of the countries of Europe like France. Industrialization in France was late due to several factors like-
- The French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars created instability in the socio-political life of France and hindered the expansion of industrialization
- The French monarchs depended on the wealthy section or the aristocratic section of the population who were averse to the idea of industrialization
- Also, France had a scarcity of natural resources like coal which was an essential item for industrial production
- The control of guilds prevented innovation in France.
- There was no Central Bank in France till 1800.
Question 8. What are the differences between the Industrial Revolution in England and in the Continent?
Answer:
The differences between the Industrial Revolution in England and in the Continent
There were a considerable amount of differences between the Industrial Revolution in England and the rest of the Continent. The First Industrial Revolution started in England in the second half of the 18th Century and gradually spread over the other countries of Europe like France, Germany, Holland, Belgium etc.
And thus became a model to those countries. The British Government did not provide any direct encouragement to the Industrial Revolution while in the other countries of the Continent like France, Russia and Germany the Government had played a significant role in their industrialization process. States used to promote heavy industries like railways.
Moreover, the British goods that were produced through industrialization were cheap and superior in quality compared to the other countries of Europe and naturally, they were more in demand.
Question 9. Name some of the scientific inventions that helped in the Industrial Revolution in England.
Answer:
18th Century England witnessed a major change in the process of production as a result of scientific inventions. England was the first country where industrialization took place. This was largely possible because of certain scientific inventions that took place there during that time like -The Flying Shuttle by John Kay in 1733, the Water Frame by Richard Arkwright in 1769 and the Steam Engine by James Watt by 1769.
Question 10. Mention the places in Europe where industrialization took place.
Answer:
The places in Europe where industrialization took place
A major change in the process of production was witnessed in Europe in the middle of the 18th Century as a result of scientific inventions. The application of those inventions led to a change and growth in the industries from the middle to the end of the 18th Century and ushered in the Age of Industrial Revolution. The main places where industrialization in Europe took place were England, France, Holland, Belgium, Russia, Germany and later in Spain, Sweden, Saxony, Austria, Bohemia and elsewhere.
WBBSE Class 9 Fundamentals Of History Chapter 4 Question 11. What were the characteristic features of the industrial cities or towns of England?
Answer:
The Industrial Revolution in England led to the influx of a large population of rural England to the regions where industries were formed.
As a result, several cities or urban centres developed which had certain characteristic features
- A large number of people dwelt in cities like Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle etc.
- Most of the workers lived in small family houses which had only one window at the front
- The living conditions were deplorable – the houses being airless and unhygienic
- There were dingy lanes.
However, there were some signs of development in the transport and communication systems in the cities.
WBBSE Class 9 Fundamentals of History SAQs Chapter 4 Factory System
Question 12. What was the ‘Factory System’?
Answer:
The concept of the ‘Factory System’ came into being in the course of the Industrial Revolution that began in Europe in the 18th Century.
In the ‘Factory System’ large-scale production was executed in a big space under one roof and this involved huge capital investments. The capitalist class not only made investments to expedite production they introduced the division of labour, organized raw materials, used newly invented machines and employed workers on payment of wages.
Question 13. Who are called ‘Utopian Socialists’?
Answer:
Utopian Socialists
The term Utopian Socialism was put forward by Friedrich Engels when he mentioned the early 19th-century social theories and movements that criticized capitalism and contrasted it with the idea of an ideal society of harmony and plenty.
The noteworthy Utopian Socialists were Robert Owen, Charles Fourier, Louis Blanc, Henri de Saint Simon and Proudhan. These exponents of this theory criticized the exploitative system that was prevalent at that time but failed to offer a realistic solution to this issue.
Class 9 History Chapter 4 SAQs PDF Download WBBSE Robert Owen
Question 14. Who was Robert Owen?
Answer:
Born in 1771, Robert Owen introduced the term ‘Socialism’ and was regarded as the ‘Father of British Socialism’. He was an industrialist and in 1800 he established a model factory in New Lanark where he provided many benefits and welfare measures to improve the condition of the labourers. He believed that other industrialists would be inspired by his work but in reality, it did not happen.
Question 15. Who was Louis Blanc?
Answer:
Louis Blanc
Louis Blanc was a French politician and historian who was born in Spain in 1811 and died in France in 1882. He was a Utopian Socialist and advocated for reforms against the exploitation by the capitalists of the workers. He wanted to ensure employment for the urban poor by creating cooperatives.
Question 16. When was the First International Working Men’s Union formed and under whose leadership?
Answer:
In 1847, the First International Working Men’s Union was formed. This organization was formed under the able leadership of Karl Marx.
Question 17. Write the names of the books that contain the political ideals of Karl Marx.
Answer:
Karl Marx who is regarded as the ‘Father of modern scientific Socialism’ was born on 5th May 1818.
The books that contain the political ideals of Karl Marx are _
- Critique of Political Economy
- Communist Manifesto
- Poverty of Philosophy
- Das Kapital or Capital.
History Chapter 4 Short Questions For Class 9 WBBSE Board Paris Commune
Question 18. What is the Paris Commune?
Answer:
The French Emperor Napoleon III was captured after his defeat in the Franco-Prussian War in September 1870. In the wake of the collapse of the Second Empire and the beginning of the Third Republic, the Commune of Paris also known as the Paris Commune launched an insurrection against the French Government of Paris from March 18 to May 28, 1871. The Paris Commune was formed by the revolutionary workers from Paris.
WBBSE Class 9 Fundamentals Of History Chapter 4 Question 19. What is known as ‘Bloody May Week’?
Answer:
Bloody May Week
In the wake of the collapse of the Second Empire and the beginning of the Third Republic the Commune of Paris also known as the Paris Commune launched an insurrection against the French Government of Paris from March 18 to May 28, 1871.
The Commune of Paris governed Paris for two months after that the soldiers of the French Government started firing on the revolutionary workers and a week-long struggle continued from May 22 to May 29 killing about 12000 people.
Historians call this week ‘Bloody May Week’ and though the Paris Commune was destroyed its democratic reforms were of great importance.
Question 20. Name the closest associate of Karl Marx and also write the name of the booklet published by them.
Answer:
In Paris, Karl Marx came across a person named Friedrich Engels who became his dear friend and closest associate. Together they discarded all the unscientific theories of Socialism and introduced their Socialist theory from a completely scientific angle.
In 1848, they published a booklet called ‘Communist Manifesto’.
Question 21. What is imperialism?
Answer:
Imperialism
- Imperialism refers to the way through which the powerful government increases its strength by using force and political influence on the people of other countries that are outside its boundaries.
- This control over the subordinate country or the colony was actually to make them vulnerable from both the strategic and political points of view. The sole intention of imperialism was exploitation.
WBBSE Chapter 4 History SAQs Important Questions Colonialism
Question 22. What is colonialism?
Answer:
- The term colonialism refers to the concept of establishment, exploitation and acquiring territories by a group of people or governments in regions that were outside their territorial limits.
- The relationship between the colonial power and the indigenous population is never formed based on equality. India was a colony of the British for about 200 years. (1757 to 1947).
Question 23. What was ‘Plassey Plunder’?
Answer:
Plassey Plunder
The young Nawab of Bengal, Siraj-ud-daula and his French allies were defeated by the English East India Company on June 23rd,1757 in the Battle at Plassey. The company appointed Mir Jafar as the new Nawab and extracted a sum of rupees 17700000 as compensation and this marked the beginning of the plundering of wealth from Bengal.
This systematic drainage of wealth from Bengal in the post-Plassey period completely ruined the economy of Bengal and this was known as the ‘Plassey Plunder’.
Question 24. What is ‘Hard Times’?
Answer:
Hard Times
The Industrial Revolution brought a complete metamorphosis in the socio-economic lives of the people in Europe with the village economy giving way to an industrial or urban economic order.
More and more people left villages thronged in the cities worked under moneyed masters with meagre wages and lived in unhygienic and inhuman conditions. Charles Dickens the great English writer wrote about the impact of the Industrial Revolution on poor workers in his famous novel, ‘Hard Times’.
Question 25. When and how many wars were fought by the English to gain control over Mysore?
Answer: The English fought four wars to gain control over Mysore.
They were –
- First Anglo -Mysore War in 1767-1769
- Second Anglo -Mysore War in 1780 -1784
- Third Anglo -Mysore War 1790 -1792
- Fourth Anglo -Mysore War 1799.
Question 26. How many wars were fought by the English to establish their control over the Marathas?
Answer:
The English fought three wars to establish their control over the Marathas.
They were –
- First Anglo-Maratha War 1775 to 1882
- Second Anglo-Maratha War 1803 to 1805
- Third Anglo-Maratha War in 1818.
WBBSE Class 9 Fundamentals Of History Chapter 4 Question 27. Name the instruments that were invented at the time of the Industrial Revolution that helped in the expansion of textile industries.
Answer:
There was a major change in the system of production during the time of the Industrial Revolution as a result of a number of scientific inventions.
The inventions that particularly helped in the expansion of the textile industries were –
- The Flying Shuttle by John Kay in 1733
- The Spinning Jenny by James Hargreaves in 1764-1765
- Water Frame by Richard Arkwright in 1769
- Spinning Mule by Samuel Crompton in 1779
- Power Loom by Edmund Cartwright in 1787
- The Steam Engine was patented by James Watt in 1769.
Question 28. What was the contribution of Napoleon III towards industrialization in France?
Answer:
The contribution of Napoleon III towards industrialization in France
- Napoleon 3, the nephew of the great Napoleon Bonaparte made certain significant contributions in the industrialization process of France.
- He established two semi-government banking organizations to provide credit facilities to expand industrial growth, railroads also developed greatly during his rule. During his reign, France made progress in the iron, coal and textile industries.
Question 29. What was the result of the Industrial Revolution?
Answer:
The result of the Industrial Revolution
- The Industrial Revolution in Europe brought a great change in the socio-political and economic life of the people and the world at large.
- Two new social classes came into existence as a result of the Industrial Revolution — the Capitalist masters and the exploited workers. It also marked the beginning of imperialism, colonialism, the growth of cities and factories and also the concepts of Socialism and Trade Union.
WBBSE Class 9 Fundamentals Of History Chapter 4 Question 30. How were the women and children affected by the Industrial Revolution?
Answer:
The Industrial Revolution led to the employment of women and children in different factories. Both of them received meagre wages and were greatly exploited by their capitalist masters. Several child workers died in this period due to hunger and inhuman working conditions.
Question 31. When and where was the ‘Factory Law’ passed?
Answer:
Factory Law
One of the important aspects of the Industrial Revolution was the emergence of the ‘Factory System’. These factories became such an organization of exploitation that William Blake called them the ‘dark satanic mills’. However, in 1833, it was Great Britain that passed the Factory Law’ to restrict working hours etc.
Question 32. What do you know about the ‘Luddite Riot’?
Answer:
Luddite Riot
The Luddite movement in Nothingan was led by Ned Ludd a worker, in England and it lasted from 1811 to 1817. The Luddites were comprised of textile workers who realized that the introduction of machines was the primary cause of their sufferings and as a protest destroyed the textile machinery. They complained that poor-quality raw materials were provided to them to produce stockings.
They also presented their demands like minimum wages, the right to form trade unions etc but their movement was crushed with legal and military aid by the mill and factory owners.
WBBSE Class 9 Fundamentals Of History Chapter 4 Question 33. What do you understand by the term, ‘Division of Labour’?
Answer:
Division of Labour
The concept of ‘Division of Labour’ was an important aspect of the Industrial Revolution. By application of this theory, the task of performing the different parts of a manufacturing process is assigned to different individuals who are specialized for that particular work and this resulted in the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the entire system of production. However, in this process, the labourer remains unaware of the entire system of production.
Question 34. what was the Chartist Movement?
Answer:
The Chartist Movement
Chartism was started in England in 1836 as a movement of the working class people. This movement also known as the Chartist Movement became most active between 1838 and 1848 and the workers put forward their demands through this movement. The Chartists wanted to achieve political rights and influence for the working class people like Universal Suffrage of men, annual elections, secret ballots etc.
Question 35. What is known as the ‘March of the Blanketeers’?
Answer:
March of the Blanketeers
- The three working-class radicals namely John Johnson, John Bagguley and Samuel Drummond organized a protest march in March 1817 from Manchester to the Parliament House in London to draw attention to the helpless condition of the unemployed weavers and spinners of Lancashire.
- The organizers made the workers carry their blankets on their shoulders for the dual cause of keeping them warm at night as well as to display their identity as weavers. As a result, this demonstration came to be known as the ‘March of the Blanketeers’.
Question 36. When and between whom was the First Balkan War fought? When did it end?
Answer:
The Balkan League was formed to free the Balkans from the Ottoman rule. In 1912 a war was fought between Turkey and the members of the Balkan League namely Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro, This was known as the First Balkan War. The First Balkan War ended in 1913 with the signing of the Treaty of London.
Question 37. What were the terms of the Treaty of Nanking?
Answer:
The terms of the Treaty of Nanking
- The weak Manchu rulers of China had to sign the humiliating Treaty of Nanking on August 29, 1842, with the British after their defeat in the First Opium War. It was an unequal treaty in which China had to pay heavy war indemnity to the British and ceded the territory of Hong Kong.
- China had to legalize the opium trade and open five ports including the Canton for foreign trade lastly it was also decided that the English subjects in China would not abide by Chinese law.
Question 38. What were the terms of the Treaty of Tientsin?
Answer:
The terms of the Treaty of Tientsin
The Treaty of Tientsin was signed between England, France and China in June 1858. By the terms of the treaty a nother 11 ports became accessible to the French and British traders, the residence was to be provided in Beijing for foreign envoys, war indemnities had to be paid and the right to freedom of movement of the foreigners in the interior of China had to accede.
Further, the Christian missionaries were granted the freedom of movement and the foreigners residing in China would not be subject to Chinese laws.
WBBSE Class 9 Fundamentals Of History Chapter 4 Question 39. What was the ‘Open Door Policy ‘ in China?
Answer:
Open Door Policy ‘ in China
The US Foreign Secretary John Hay drafted and announced the ‘Open Door Policy’ in China in 1899. This policy ensured that every country trading with China would enjoy equal privileges-trade rights, payment of equal port and trade duties. The policy also reaffirmed the sovereignty of China and its territorial and administrative integrity.
Question 40. State any two importance of the invention of the Telegraph.
Answer:
Two importance of the invention of the Telegraph
The invention of the Telegraph by Samuel Morse was an event of great importance. This allowed communications over long distances and so England, Russia, and Asia. Africa and America got technologically connected. The invention of the Telegraph also helped in expanding trade and commerce and it also helped at the time of war by enabling to sending of messages to the front in a shorter time.
Question 41. What does the term, ‘Scramble for Africa’ imply?
Answer:
Scramble for Africa’ imply
European powers like Britain, Belgium, France, Germany, and Italy tried to colonize the African territories to gain control over their natural resources. This competition to acquire and colonize the African territories by various means like invasion is called the Partition of Africa or Scramble for Africa. (1885 to 1814).
Question 42. What was the ‘Sarajevo Incident?
Answer:
Sarajevo Incident
In 1914, Austrian Prince, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie visited Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia. On 28th June 1914, Gavrilo Princip, a Slav terrorist belonging to the ‘Black Hand murdered the royal couple in broad daylight. Austria held Serbia for this, branded the Slavs as a ‘Race of Assassins’ and attacked Serbia thus leading to the outbreak of the First World War on 28th July 1914.