Directory

1736 CE

A year defined by the Russo-Turkish War escalating, Nadir Shah's campaigns in the Caucasus, Euler's foundational contributions to mathematics, and growing religious revivalism in the American colonies.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • The preliminary peace agreement ending the War of the Polish Succession was reached in October, with Stanislaw Leszczynski ceding the Polish throne.
  • Under the preliminary terms, Stanislaw Leszczynski received the Duchy of Lorraine as compensation, which would revert to France upon his death.
  • Francis Stephen of Lorraine received the Grand Duchy of Tuscany in exchange for ceding Lorraine, as part of the broader European settlement.
  • The Qianlong Emperor began his reign in earnest in China, continuing the administrative reforms of his father the Yongzheng Emperor.
  • Nadir Shah of Persia launched a campaign to reclaim the Caucasus from Ottoman control, beginning with an invasion of Georgia.
  • Russia continued its war against the Ottoman Empire, with Empress Anna's commander Field Marshal Munnich leading campaigns toward the Black Sea.
  • The colony of Georgia received a steady stream of settlers, including Salzburg Lutherans who founded the town of Ebenezer.
  • British colonial authorities in India expanded their influence in Bengal through the East India Company's commercial activities.
  • Portuguese colonial governors in Goa maintained their trading network along the Indian coast and in Southeast Asia.
  • The Dutch Republic continued its policy of commercial neutrality, profiting from trade while avoiding direct involvement in European wars.

Conflict & Security

  • Russian forces under Field Marshal Munnich captured the Ottoman fortress of Azov in June, securing a strategic position on the Black Sea.
  • Austrian forces invaded Ottoman-controlled Bosnia and Serbia, opening a second front in the Russo-Turkish War.
  • Nadir Shah's Persian forces invaded the Caucasus, clashing with Ottoman garrisons and local Georgian and Armenian forces.
  • The War of the Polish Succession effectively ended with the preliminary peace, though the final Treaty of Vienna would not be signed until 1738.
  • The First Maroon War in Jamaica approached its conclusion, with the British government preparing to negotiate terms with the Maroon leaders.
  • French colonial forces launched a campaign against the Chickasaw Nation in the Mississippi Valley, suffering a defeat at the Battle of Ackia on May 26.
  • The Chickasaw defenders, aided by British-supplied weapons, repulsed the French and Choctaw assault on their fortified villages.
  • Corsican rebels continued to hold territory against Genoese forces, with the conflict becoming a protracted guerrilla war.
  • The Maratha Empire expanded its influence in central India, with Peshwa Baji Rao I conducting campaigns against Mughal governors.
  • Security concerns along the Georgia-Florida border prompted Oglethorpe to strengthen Fort Frederica on St. Simons Island.

Economy & Finance

  • The Witchcraft Act of 1735 was passed by the British Parliament, effectively ending the prosecution of witchcraft and treating it as fraud.
  • The indigo trade from the American colonies began to develop, with planters in South Carolina experimenting with the crop as a complement to rice.
  • French colonial trade from Saint-Domingue in sugar, coffee, and indigo made the colony the most valuable in the Caribbean.
  • The British linen industry expanded in Ireland and Scotland, producing cloth for domestic consumption and export.
  • Gold mining in Minas Gerais, Brazil, continued to produce substantial revenue for the Portuguese crown.
  • The Leipzig trade fairs attracted merchants from across Central Europe, facilitating the exchange of books, textiles, and manufactured goods.
  • The Salzburg emigrants who settled in Georgia brought skills in farming and craftsmanship that contributed to the colony's early economy.
  • Tea imports to Britain from China increased significantly, driving demand for porcelain teaware and silver tea services.
  • The construction trades in London and other growing European cities employed large numbers of craftsmen and laborers.
  • Russian fur exports continued to be a major source of state revenue, with pelts shipped to China and European markets.

Technology & Infrastructure

  • John Harrison completed his first marine chronometer, H1, and demonstrated it to the Board of Longitude in London.
  • Harrison's H1 was tested on a voyage to Lisbon aboard HMS Centurion, showing promising accuracy in determining longitude at sea.
  • The construction of the Rialto Bridge in Venice was maintained, while new architectural projects in the city continued in the Baroque style.
  • Improvements to textile spinning technology in England increased yarn production, though the flying shuttle had created demand that outpaced supply.
  • Fortress construction along the Russian southern frontier progressed as part of the war effort against the Ottoman Empire.
  • The construction of new wharves and warehouses in colonial American ports supported growing transatlantic trade.
  • Glass manufacturing technology advanced in Bohemia, producing high-quality crystal glassware for European markets.
  • The Jantar Mantar observatory in Jaipur was completed by Maharaja Jai Singh II, featuring the world's largest stone sundial.
  • Bridge and road construction in France continued under the Corps des Ponts et Chaussees, improving the kingdom's transportation network.
  • Copper mining in Cornwall expanded to meet growing demand for the metal in ship sheathing and manufacturing.

Science & Discovery

  • Leonhard Euler published Mechanica, his comprehensive treatment of analytical mechanics that reformulated classical mechanics using calculus.
  • The French geodesic expedition in Peru continued its work in the Andes, making astronomical observations and surveying the terrain under difficult conditions.
  • Pierre Louis Maupertuis led his expedition to Lapland, measuring a degree of latitude that confirmed Newton's prediction of an oblate Earth.
  • Linnaeus traveled to the Netherlands, where he would publish expanded editions of Systema Naturae and other foundational botanical works.
  • Leonhard Euler solved the Konigsberg bridge problem, laying the foundations for graph theory and topology in mathematics.
  • The transit of Mercury across the Sun was observed by European astronomers, contributing to calculations of planetary distances.
  • James Bradley's discovery of the aberration of light, announced in 1729, continued to influence astronomical observations and stellar catalogs.
  • Chemical investigations in European laboratories focused on the properties of gases, acids, and metals under the phlogiston theory.
  • The imperial cartographic surveys under the Qing Dynasty continued to map the vast territory of the Chinese Empire.
  • Natural history collections in European museums expanded as specimens from around the world were catalogued and studied.

Health & Medicine

  • Disease continued to ravage armies in the Russo-Turkish War, with typhus and dysentery killing more soldiers than combat.
  • The spread of gin consumption in London reached alarming levels, leading to public health concerns and calls for regulation.
  • Smallpox outbreaks in the American colonies prompted renewed interest in inoculation, particularly in the cities of Boston and Philadelphia.
  • The treatment of mental illness remained crude, with patients often confined in deplorable conditions in madhouses and poorhouses.
  • Herbal medicine and folk remedies continued to be the primary form of healthcare for most of the world's population.
  • European physicians debated the causes of epidemic diseases, with theories ranging from miasma to contagion.
  • The Guy's Hospital in London, founded in 1721, continued to expand its services and train new generations of medical practitioners.
  • Naval medicine advanced slowly as ships' surgeons developed practical experience treating injuries and tropical diseases.
  • The production and distribution of quinine from cinchona bark remained limited, leaving many malaria sufferers without effective treatment.
  • Childhood vaccination against smallpox through variolation remained controversial, with clergy and physicians debating its moral implications.

Climate & Environment

  • Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration was approximately 277 parts per million, as later confirmed by ice core analysis.
  • A severe winter in parts of Europe caused hardship in rural communities, with frozen rivers disrupting transportation and commerce.
  • The continued expansion of tobacco and rice plantations in the American colonies consumed additional forested land.
  • Drought conditions in parts of the Deccan plateau in India affected agricultural production and contributed to rural distress.
  • Overfishing in European waters, particularly in the North Sea, began to reduce catches of certain commercially important species.
  • The introduction of European crops and livestock to the Americas continued to alter indigenous ecological systems.
  • Air pollution from coal burning in London and other industrial cities worsened respiratory health among urban populations.
  • The extraction of peat from bogs in Ireland and the Netherlands provided fuel but also degraded wetland ecosystems.
  • Timber shortages in parts of England prompted increased reliance on imported wood from Scandinavia and the Baltic.
  • Flooding along the Yellow River in China caused significant damage to agricultural communities in the North China Plain.

Culture & Society

  • George Frideric Handel premiered Alexander's Feast at Covent Garden in London, an ode to music that was enthusiastically received.
  • The First Great Awakening gained momentum in the American colonies as itinerant preachers spread Evangelical Protestantism.
  • Giovanni Battista Tiepolo worked on large-scale frescoes in northern Italian churches and palaces, establishing himself as a leading Baroque painter.
  • The Gentleman's Magazine, founded by Edward Cave in 1731, continued to be widely read in England as a popular literary and news periodical.
  • Antonio Vivaldi remained active in Venice, composing concertos and operas, though his popularity was beginning to decline.
  • Freemasonry continued to grow across Europe, with lodges established in major cities in France, Germany, and the Netherlands.
  • The tradition of the literary salon flourished in Paris, with aristocratic women hosting gatherings of writers, philosophers, and scientists.
  • Japanese woodblock printing continued to produce popular illustrated books and prints for an increasingly literate urban population.
  • Colonial American culture increasingly reflected British tastes, with architecture, fashion, and literature following metropolitan trends.
  • The world population was approximately 728 million.