Discuss why the colonial government in India brought in the following laws. In each case, explain how the law changed the lives of pastoralists:
! Waste Land rules
! Forest Acts
! Criminal Tribes Act
! Grazing Tax
Waste land rules: This law was brought to take control of the land that was not under the cultivation and also to increase in land could be used to increase the area under cultivation and also to increase land revenue. This rule shrunk the pastureland which was available earlier.
Forest act: These acts changed the life of pastoralists. They were now prevented from entering many forests that had provided the valuable forage for their cattles earlier. They issued permits which monitored their entry and exit into the forests at the particular time. Moreover these acts were also utilised to collect some revenue from the pastoralists.
Criminal Tribes Act: The British government eyed nomadic people with suspicion and disregard on the account of their continuous movement. They could not be tracked down or placed in one particular place not like the rural people in villages who were easy to identify and control. Hence, the colonial power represented nomadic tribes as criminal. This act trainshed the image of nomadic tribes which disturbed their relationship with peasants and other mainstream communities. It also badly affected their pastoralists.
Grazing tax: This was introduced in order to widen the tax net and to put a new burdern on the pastoralists. It was implied by the colonial government to expand its income. Pastoralists had to pay a tax on every animal that they grazed on the pastures. This right was now auctioned out to the contractors. They extracted as high tax as they could to recover the money that they had paid to the state and earn as much profit as they could.
Explain why nomadic tribes need to move from one place to another. What are the advantages to the environment of this continuous movement?
Give reasons to explain why the Maasai community lost their grazing lands.
There are many similarities in the way in which the modern world forced changes in the lives of pastoral communities in India and East Africa. Write about any two examples of changes which were similar for Indian pastoralists and the Maasai herders.
Describe the circumstances leading to the outbreak of revolutionary protest in France.
What were the social, economic and political conditions in Russia before 1905?
Describe the problems faced by the Weimar Republic.
Discuss how the changes in forest management in the colonial period affected the following groups of people:
! Shifting cultivators
! Nomadic and pastoralist communities
! Firms trading in timber/forest produce
! Plantation owners
! Kings/British officials engaged in shikar
Which groups of French society benefited from the revolution? Which groups were forced to relinquish power? Which sections of society would have been disappointed with the outcome of the revolution?
In what ways was the working population in Russia different from other countries in Europe, before 1917?
Discuss why Nazism became popular in Germany by 1930.
What are the similarities between colonial management of the forests in Bastar and in Java?
Describe the legacy of the French Revolution for the peoples of the world 4during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Why did the Tsarist autocracy collapse in 1917?
Explain what role women had in Nazi society. Return to Chapter 1 on the French Revolution. Write a paragraph comparing and contrasting the role of women in the two periods.
Why are forests affected by wars?
Make two lists: one with the main events and the effects of the February Revolution and the other with the main events and effects of the October Revolution. Write a paragraph on who was involved in each, who were the leaders and what was the impact of each on Soviet history.
What were the social, economic and political conditions in Russia before 1905?
How would you explain the rise of Napoleon?
Describe the problems faced by the Weimar Republic.
Between 1880 and 1920, forest cover in the Indian subcontinent declined by 9.7 million hectares, from 108.6 million hectares to 98.9 million hectares. Discuss the role of the following factors in this decline:
! Railways
! Shipbuilding
! Agricultural expansion
! Commercial farming
! Tea/Coffee plantations
! Adivasis and other peasant users
Explain why Nazi propaganda was effective in creating a hatred for Jews.
Draw up a list of democratic rights we enjoy today whose origins could be traced to the French Revolution.
Write a few lines to show what you know about:
! kulaks
! the Duma
! women workers between 1900 and 1930
! the Liberals
! Stalinís collectivisation programme.