MNES - Lecture 2

Question 2

Why did Europeans begin sea voyages in the late 1400s?

Answer 2

New navigation technologies and strong markets encouraged them to explore the Pacific for silk and spices.

Question 3

What was the risk of individual sea voyages during this period?

Answer 3

Voyages could be very profitable, but if a ship sank or was captured, investors lost everything.

Question 4

How did investors reduce the risks of trade voyages?

Answer 4

By pooling money together in joint ‘adventures,’ spreading out potential losses.

Question 5

What were two of the most famous European trade companies of the 1600s?

Answer 5

The Dutch East India Company (VOC) and the British East India Company (BEIC).

Question 6

Besides the Dutch and British, which countries also created large trade companies?

Answer 6

France, Denmark, and others, often with government-backed monopoly protection.

Question 7

When did the Dutch first send expeditions to Java for spices?

Answer 7

In 1595, with a four-ship voyage to West Java.

Question 8

What was the outcome of the Dutch fleet to the Spice Islands in 1599–1600?

Answer 8

The voyages earned a massive 400% profit by cutting out middlemen.

Question 9

When was the Dutch East India Company (VOC) officially founded?

Answer 9

In 1602, by the Dutch Republic government.

Question 10

What unique powers were granted to the VOC?

Answer 10

Monopoly over Asian trade, ability to raise armies, enforce laws, and sell shares to Dutch citizens.

Question 11

Why were the Banda Islands so important to the Dutch East India Company?

Answer 11

They produced nearly all the world’s nutmeg, a valuable spice.

Question 12

How did the VOC force control over the Banda Islands?

Answer 12

By using military power and deceit, forcing the Bandanese to trade only with them.

Question 13

What happened during the Banda Besar campaign of 1621?

Answer 13

Dutch forces massacred the local population, reducing it from ~15,000 to only 1,000–2,000 survivors.

Question 14

What major change happened in the Banda Islands in 1982?

Answer 14

Locals took back nutmeg farming, divided groves among families, and formed cooperatives.

Question 15

What were the main causes of the VOC’s decline?

Answer 15

Local resistance, corruption, and especially losses from European wars with Britain.

Question 16

What eventually happened to the VOC in the late 1700s?

Answer 16

It went bankrupt and was absorbed by the Dutch government.

Question 17

What was the purpose of the Virginia Company (early 1600s)?

Answer 17

To establish tobacco plantations and settlements in Virginia.

Question 18

When was the Hudson’s Bay Company founded, and for what purpose?

Answer 18

Founded in 1670 to control the fur trade in Canada.

Question 19

What modern retailer traces its roots back to the Hudson’s Bay Company?

Answer 19

Hudson’s Bay, known today as ‘The Bay’ stores.

Question 20

What kind of companies were the VOC, BEIC, and similar firms?

Answer 20

Private joint-stock companies backed by investors.

Question 21

How did governments interact with these companies?

Answer 21

Governments granted charters, monopoly rights, and could step in to control them.

Question 22

Why are these companies important in world history?

Answer 22

They symbolized an early stage of European colonialism.

Question 23

Who founded Anglo-Swiss in 1866, and what product did it make?

Answer 23

Two Americans in Switzerland; they produced condensed milk.

Question 24

Who founded Nestlé in 1867, and what was his product?

Answer 24

Henri Nestlé, who sold baby formula made from milk and flour.

Question 25

When did Nestlé and Anglo-Swiss merge?

Answer 25

In 1905, combining into one company.

Question 26

What major innovation did Nestlé develop during the Depression?

Answer 26

Nescafé instant coffee, later sold in bulk to the U.S. Army during WWII.

Question 27

By when had Nestlé become the world’s largest food company by revenue?

Answer 27

Since 2014.

Question 28

What controversy involving baby formula damaged Nestlé’s reputation in the 1970s?

Answer 28

They promoted formula in Africa as a breastfeeding replacement, leading to infant deaths due to poor water quality and misuse.

Question 29

What did the 2016 U.S. Supreme Court decide about MNEs like Nestlé?

Answer 29

That multinational corporations could be held accountable in U.S. courts for human rights abuses abroad.

Question 30

What other major labor controversy has Nestlé faced?

Answer 30

Using cocoa harvested by forced child labor in Africa.

Question 31

Who founded Tata Group, and in what year?

Answer 31

Jamsheji Nusserwanji Tata in 1868.

Question 32

What industries did Tata initially expand into?

Answer 32

Steel, hydroelectric power, hotels, and education.

Question 33

When did Tata launch an airline, and what happened to it?

Answer 33

In 1932; the Indian government nationalized it in the 1950s, and Tata regained control in the 2000s.

Question 34

By 1988, how many enterprises did Tata operate?

Answer 34

95 companies in fields like chemicals, cosmetics, engineering, and tea.

Question 35

How big is Tata Group today?

Answer 35

India’s largest conglomerate, operating in 100+ countries with 29 listed companies worth ~$400 billion USD.