(A) Woodblock print only came to Europe after 1295 due to the following reasons:

• The earliest kind of print technology – system of hand printing – was developed in China, Japan and Korea.
• From AD 594 onwards, books in China were printed by rubbing paper – also invented there – against the inked surface of woodblocks.
• Marco Polo, a great explorer, had gone to China for exploration.
• In 1295 he returned to Italy and brought this knowledge with him.
• From Italy this technology spread to other parts of Europe.
• Religious preachers too were help in spreading print culture.
• However, it may be mentioned here luxury editions were still handwritten on vellum meant for aristocratic people and rich monastic libraries which scoffed at printed books as cheap vulgarities. Merchants and students in the university towns bought the cheaper printed copies.
• With the growing demand for books, woodblock printing gradually became more and more popular.
• By the early fifteenth century, woodblocks were being widely used in Europe to print textiles, playing cards and religious pictures with simple brief texts.

(B) Martin Luther was in favor of print and spoke out in praise of it. Because it was the printing press which gave him a chance to criticize many of the practices and rituals of the Roman Catholic Church.

(C) The Roman Catholic Church began keeping an Index of Prohibited books from the mid-sixteenth century. Print and popular literature encouraged many distinctive interpretations of religious faiths and ideas. In the 16th century, Manocchio, a miller in Italy began to read books available readily in his locality. He gave a new interpretation of the Bible and formulated a view of God, and creation that enraged the Roman Catholic Church.

As a result, Manocchio was hauled up twice, and ultimately executed when the Roman Church began its inquisition, and to repress the therapeutical ideas. After this several control measures were imposed on publishers and booksellers. In 1558, the Roman Church decided to maintain an Index of prohibited books.

(D) Gandhi said the fight for Swaraj is a fight for liberty of speech, liberty of the press, and freedom of association. Mahatma Gandhi uttered these words in 1922 during the Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-1922). Because according to him without the liberty of speech, the liberty of the press, and freedom of association, no nation can even survive. If the country was to get free from foreign domination, then these liberties were quite important. If there is no liberty of speech, liberty of the press, and freedom of association, then there is no nationalism. Nationalism requires these three prerequisites for its survival. Mahatma Gandhi fully knew the fact. That is why, he said so, particularly about these three freedoms.