Source: Thomas Oldham, Director of the Geological Survey of India, annual report, 1859.
"The native iron-smelting industry of India, which was once so widely distributed and of such high repute, is now rapidly disappearing. The primary cause of this decay is the competition of English iron, which is imported at a price so low that the native smelters, working with their rude and inefficient furnaces, cannot compete. Furthermore, the colonial government’s forest conservancy regulations have heavily restricted the cutting of timber for charcoal, which was the traditional fuel for local furnaces."
The developments described in the passage best illustrate which of the following processes in the nineteenth century?
- The decline of traditional, non-mechanized manufacturing in Asian societies faced with competition from Western industrial economiesCevap
- BThe transition of Asian manufacturing centers from coal-based power to the chemical and steel technologies of the Second Industrial Revolution
- CThe persistence of mercantilist economic policies designed to prevent European manufactured goods from entering colonial markets
- DThe reliance of European powers on economic imperialism rather than direct political control to dominate regional resources
Cevap
The decline of traditional, non-mechanized manufacturing in Asian societies faced with competition from Western industrial economies
The correct answer is correct because the import of cheap, factory-made British iron combined with colonial environmental regulations undermined the traditional, non-mechanized Indian iron-smelting industry, reflecting the broader global trend of Western industrial dominance displacing local manufacturing in Asia and Africa.
Adım Adım Çözüm
Anahtar Kavram
During the Industrial Revolution, the global share of manufacturing shifted as Western factory production grew, leading to the decline of traditional, non-mechanized manufacturing (such as iron works and textile production) in Asian and Middle Eastern regions.