🖨️ Class 10 History Chapter 5 – Print Culture and the Modern World

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In this post, we’re covering Class 10 History Chapter 5 – Print Culture and the Modern World in detailed notes. This chapter explores how the invention of printing transformed societies, politics, and cultures globally — including in India.

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📜 I. The First Printed Books

📚 China, Japan, and Korea:

• China: Earliest print technology developed around 594 AD.

• Printed by hand using woodblocks.

• Printing became popular in Bureaucracy, scholar-officials, and civil services.

📖 Japan:

• Buddhist missionaries introduced printing from China.

• Books were printed on paper using woodblocks.

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📖 II. The Print Revolution in Europe

🕊️ Before Printing Press:

• Books were handwritten by scribes, expensive and rare.

• Literacy was limited to elites and clergy.

⚙️ Gutenberg and the Invention of the Printing Press:

• Johann Gutenberg (Germany) invented the printing press around 1440.

• First printed book: Bible (printed around 1455).

🔄 Features:

• Moveable metal type

• Mass production possible

• Books became cheaper, accessible, and widespread

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🌍 III. Impact of the Printing Revolution

📚 Expansion of Reading:

• Printed books became affordable.

• People began reading for knowledge, entertainment, and self-improvement.

🛐 Religious Reforms:

• Printing helped spread Reformation.

• Martin Luther's 95 Theses printed and widely circulated → challenged the Catholic Church.

🧠 Rise of Ideas:

• New ideas of science, reason, and humanism spread.

• Helped in the growth of Renaissance and Enlightenment.

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🧑‍🏫 IV. Print Culture and the French Revolution

• Print created a new public opinion.

• Ideas of equality, freedom, and justice were spread by thinkers like:

  • Voltaire

  • Rousseau

  • John Locke

📢 Role in Revolution:

• Exposed abuses of monarchy

• Inspired people to question authority

• Played a major role in the French Revolution (1789)

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🧵 V. The Nineteenth Century and Industrial Printing

🛠️ Technological Advancements:

• Steam-powered printing presses developed → faster, cheaper

• Introduction of rotary press, offset printing, and linotype machines

📘 Books for Everyone:

• Penny magazines, cheap novels, and serialized fiction available to poor

• Rise in literacy rates and education

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📖 VI. Print Comes to India

🧘‍♂️ Early Print:

• First printing press in India: 1556 in Goa by Portuguese.

• Early printed books were in Tamil and Konkani.

📚 Rise of Indian Language Printing:

• Bengali, Hindi, Urdu, Tamil books began printing in 19th century.

• Raja Ram Mohan Roy promoted English education and modern knowledge.

🗞️ Growth of Newspapers:

• Bengal Gazette (1780) – India’s first English newspaper

• Vernacular newspapers like Sudharak, Kesari, and Amrita Bazar Patrika raised social and political issues.

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🧑‍🎓 VII. Religious Reform and Print

• Print helped religious reformers spread new ideas:

  • Dayanand Saraswati – Satyarth Prakash

  • Ramakrishna Mission – published spiritual texts

• Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian groups used print to spread their version of truth

🔥 Debates and Controversies:

• Sharp religious debates between different communities

• Led to both reform and communalism

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✊ VIII. Print and Censorship

📜 Colonial Control:

• British feared that print could provoke rebellion

• Vernacular Press Act (1878):

  • Gave colonial government power to censor Indian-language newspapers

  • Suppressed freedom of expression

🔓 Demand for Freedom:

• Nationalists used print to demand freedom of speech and independence

• Newspapers became a key tool during the freedom movement

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📝 Conclusion

• The print culture revolutionized access to information and ideas.

• It enabled the spread of literacy, growth of modern thought, and questioning of tradition and authority.

• In India, it played a vital role in both social reform and the freedom struggle.

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📘 Key Terms and Personalities