Directory

1720 CE

A year defined by catastrophic financial speculation as the South Sea Bubble and Mississippi Bubble burst across Europe, reshaping attitudes toward public finance and corporate enterprise.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • The Quadruple Alliance of Britain, France, Austria, and the Dutch Republic forced Spain to accept the Treaty of The Hague on February 17, ending the War of the Quadruple Alliance.
  • Philip V of Spain joined the Quadruple Alliance under the Treaty of The Hague, abandoning his territorial ambitions in Italy and Sardinia.
  • The Duchy of Savoy exchanged Sicily for Sardinia under the terms agreed at The Hague, with Victor Amadeus II becoming King of Sardinia.
  • Sweden and Prussia signed the Treaty of Stockholm on February 1, ceding Swedish Pomerania south of the Peene River and the city of Stettin to Prussia.
  • Sweden and Denmark-Norway signed the Treaty of Frederiksborg on July 3, with Sweden ceding its exemption from Sound Dues and paying an indemnity.
  • The Great Northern War continued as Russia maintained military pressure on Sweden in the Baltic, occupying Finnish and Baltic territories.
  • The Spanish government dismissed Cardinal Giulio Alberoni as chief minister in December 1719, a condition demanded by the Quadruple Alliance for peace.
  • France's Regent Philippe d'Orleans navigated the collapse of the Mississippi Company while maintaining France's diplomatic commitments to the Quadruple Alliance.
  • Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden abdicated the throne on March 24 in favor of her husband, who was elected King Frederick I by the Swedish Riksdag.
  • The Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah ascended to the throne on September 27, beginning a reign that would see the gradual decline of Mughal central authority in India.

Conflict & Security

  • Spanish forces withdrew from Sicily and Sardinia following the Treaty of The Hague, ending the military campaigns of the War of the Quadruple Alliance.
  • Russian naval forces raided the Swedish coast during the summer, burning towns and villages along the eastern shore of Sweden to pressure Stockholm into peace.
  • The Yakut revolt against Russian colonial rule erupted in eastern Siberia, as indigenous communities resisted Russian tax collection and forced labor.
  • Pirates remained active in the Caribbean and along the American coast, with Bartholomew Roberts beginning his prolific career of piracy off the coast of West Africa.
  • Calico Jack Rackham and his crew, including Anne Bonny and Mary Read, were captured by a Royal Navy sloop off Jamaica in October.
  • The colony of South Carolina launched a military expedition against the Yamassee people, pushing them further south toward Spanish Florida.
  • Pirate captain Christopher Condent captured a large Moorish merchant vessel in the Indian Ocean, seizing a fortune in gold and goods.
  • Qing dynasty forces continued to consolidate control over Tibet following the expulsion of Dzungar invaders in 1720, installing a new Dalai Lama.
  • The Villasur expedition from Spanish New Mexico was defeated by Pawnee and Otoe warriors near the Platte River in Nebraska in August, ending Spanish attempts to expand into the central Plains.
  • Bandit activity and local unrest persisted across the Ottoman Empire's Balkan provinces as central authority weakened under Sultan Ahmed III.

Economy & Finance

  • The South Sea Bubble reached its peak in the summer as shares in the South Sea Company surged from around 100 pounds to over 1,000 pounds before collapsing catastrophically.
  • The South Sea Company's share price crashed in September and October, ruining thousands of British investors and triggering a severe financial crisis.
  • The British Parliament launched an investigation into the South Sea Company directors and government officials complicit in the fraudulent stock scheme.
  • The Mississippi Bubble collapsed in France as John Law's Banque Royale was overwhelmed by demands for specie, leading to the devaluation of paper banknotes.
  • John Law fled France in December after the failure of his Mississippi Company and banking system, leaving the French economy in disarray.
  • The Bubble Act was passed by the British Parliament on June 11, prohibiting the formation of joint-stock companies without a royal charter to prevent future speculation.
  • Dutch investors who had speculated in both the South Sea Company and other windhandel schemes suffered significant losses as the speculative mania subsided.
  • The British government appointed Robert Walpole to help manage the financial crisis resulting from the South Sea Bubble, boosting his political stature.
  • Trade between Europe and the Ottoman Empire continued to expand, with French and British merchants competing for commercial privileges in Levantine ports.
  • The East India Company maintained its profitable trade in Indian textiles and spices, largely insulated from the speculative bubbles affecting European stock markets.

Technology & Infrastructure

  • The city of Karlsruhe was formally established as the new capital of the Margraviate of Baden-Durlach, built on a radial plan centered on the palace.
  • Jethro Tull continued to refine his seed drill and horse-drawn hoe, promoting mechanized agriculture in England.
  • Road construction across France advanced under the corvee system, which required peasants to contribute unpaid labor to royal highway projects.
  • Shipbuilding innovations continued in the Dutch Republic and Britain, with improved hull designs increasing the cargo capacity of merchant vessels.
  • The Lombe brothers' silk-throwing mill on the River Derwent in Derby, England, began operations, becoming one of the earliest factories powered by a waterwheel.
  • Canal construction continued in France along the Canal du Midi system, facilitating inland trade between the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts.
  • Lighthouse construction expanded along European coastlines, with improvements in reflector technology increasing the range of warning lights.
  • The technique of coke smelting for iron production, pioneered by Abraham Darby at Coalbrookdale, continued to develop in the English Midlands.
  • Clock-making advanced in England and Switzerland, with improved escapement mechanisms increasing the precision of domestic and nautical timepieces.
  • Urban water supply systems in London and Paris underwent incremental improvements, with new pumping stations serving growing populations.

Science & Discovery

  • Edmond Halley was appointed the second Astronomer Royal of England, succeeding John Flamsteed at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich.
  • The French Royal Academy of Sciences continued its program of publishing detailed astronomical observations and natural history studies.
  • Hermann Boerhaave at the University of Leiden advanced clinical teaching methods in medicine, attracting students from across Europe.
  • The thermometer designs of Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit gained wider use, with his improved mercury thermometers providing more consistent temperature readings.
  • Natural historians continued cataloguing plant and animal species brought back from colonial expeditions to the Americas, Africa, and Asia.
  • Cotton Mather in Boston corresponded with the Royal Society about inoculation practices against smallpox observed in Africa and the Ottoman Empire.
  • Georg Ernst Stahl continued to promote his phlogiston theory of combustion, which dominated European chemistry despite its eventual disproval.
  • Dutch microscopist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek continued to submit observations of microscopic organisms to the Royal Society in London.
  • Astronomical observations of Jupiter's moons were used to refine calculations of longitude, aiding navigational accuracy for European maritime powers.
  • The study of electrical phenomena advanced incrementally, with experimenters across Europe investigating the properties of static electricity and sparks.

Health & Medicine

  • The Great Plague of Marseille began in May when the merchant ship Grand-Saint-Antoine arrived carrying plague-infected goods from the Levant.
  • Plague spread rapidly through the city of Marseille during the summer, eventually killing an estimated 50,000 of the city's 90,000 inhabitants.
  • French authorities established a cordon sanitaire around Marseille and Provence to contain the plague, deploying troops to enforce quarantine lines.
  • The Plague Wall, the Mur de la Peste, was constructed in Provence to prevent the spread of the epidemic into the rest of France.
  • The Bishop of Marseille, Henri de Belsunce, gained widespread admiration for remaining in the city to minister to plague victims while many officials fled.
  • Smallpox remained endemic across European cities, causing significant child mortality and disfigurement among survivors.
  • Lady Mary Wortley Montagu continued to advocate for the Ottoman practice of variolation against smallpox after observing it during her time in Constantinople.
  • Hospital care in European cities relied primarily on charitable institutions run by religious orders, with limited capacity during epidemic outbreaks.
  • Herbal remedies and traditional medicines remained the primary treatments available to most of the population, as formal medical training was scarce outside major cities.
  • Infant and child mortality remained high across Europe, with diseases such as dysentery, measles, and whooping cough contributing to low life expectancy.

Climate & Environment

  • Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration was approximately 277 parts per million, as later confirmed by ice core analysis.
  • Deforestation accelerated across the British Isles as timber was consumed for shipbuilding, construction, and fuel, prompting early concerns about forest depletion.
  • Severe flooding struck parts of central Europe during the spring, damaging crops and settlements along major river valleys.
  • The Little Ice Age continued to affect European agriculture, with cooler growing seasons reducing crop yields in northern regions.
  • Colonial expansion in the Americas drove deforestation along the eastern seaboard as settlers cleared land for tobacco, rice, and sugar plantations.
  • Overhunting of beavers in North America for the European fur trade significantly altered waterway ecosystems across the continent.
  • Volcanic activity in the Mediterranean region produced minor eruptions, depositing ash over surrounding areas but causing no major climatic effects.
  • Soil exhaustion from tobacco cultivation in Virginia and Maryland forced planters to clear new forests and move westward to maintain production.
  • Fisheries in the North Atlantic, particularly the Newfoundland cod fishery, remained heavily exploited by English, French, and Portuguese fleets.
  • Wetland drainage projects in the Low Countries and eastern England continued to reclaim land for agriculture, altering local ecosystems.

Culture & Society

  • The first serialized novel in English, Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, published in 1719, continued to be widely read and discussed across Britain.
  • Giovanni Battista Tiepolo began his rise as a leading Venetian painter, receiving commissions for large-scale frescoes in churches and palaces.
  • The theatrical traditions of the commedia dell'arte remained popular across Italy and France, influencing European dramatic arts.
  • Handel continued composing for the Royal Academy of Music in London, producing operas for the King's Theatre in the Haymarket.
  • The coffeehouse culture flourished in London, serving as centers for political debate, literary discussion, and commercial transactions.
  • The construction of the Belvedere Palace complex in Vienna advanced under the direction of architect Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt for Prince Eugene of Savoy.
  • Jonathan Swift continued his literary career in Dublin, writing political pamphlets and satires critical of British policy toward Ireland.
  • Chinese porcelain remained highly prized in European markets, inspiring the development of European porcelain manufacturing at Meissen in Saxony.
  • The transatlantic slave trade continued at a large scale, with tens of thousands of enslaved Africans transported to the Americas by European powers.
  • The world population was approximately 664 million.