Directory

1746 CE

A year defined by the crushing defeat of the Jacobite rising at Culloden, French military advances in the Low Countries, and the establishment of the College of New Jersey.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • The Battle of Culloden on April 16 ended the Jacobite rising, with the Duke of Cumberland's government forces decisively defeating Bonnie Prince Charlie's Highland army.
  • The Treaty of Dresden in December ended the Second Silesian War, with Austria confirming Prussia's possession of Silesia.
  • Ferdinand VI succeeded Philip V as King of Spain in July, bringing a more cautious approach to Spanish foreign policy.
  • Bonnie Prince Charlie fled Scotland after Culloden, beginning months as a fugitive before escaping to France in September.
  • French dominance in the Austrian Netherlands grew as Marshal Saxe captured Brussels and other key cities.
  • Maria Theresa accepted the loss of Silesia to Prussia at Dresden, allowing her to concentrate forces against France.
  • The British government launched a harsh crackdown on the Scottish Highlands, banning tartans, weapons, and the clan system.
  • The Dutch Republic increasingly feared French expansion toward its borders in the southern Netherlands.
  • Diplomatic efforts to end the War of the Austrian Succession began, though fighting continued on multiple fronts.
  • Russia under Empress Elizabeth maintained its alliance with Austria while consolidating its Baltic territorial gains.

Conflict & Security

  • The Battle of Culloden was the last pitched battle fought on British soil, lasting less than an hour before the Jacobite army was routed.
  • The brutal aftermath of Culloden saw government forces conduct widespread reprisals against Highland communities suspected of Jacobite sympathies.
  • French forces won the Battle of Rocoux in October, defeating an allied army in the Austrian Netherlands.
  • The Battle of Piacenza in June was an Austrian victory over Franco-Spanish forces in northern Italy.
  • The siege of Namur by French forces resulted in the capture of the strategically important fortress city in the Austrian Netherlands in September.
  • British naval forces continued to dominate Atlantic sea lanes, intercepting French supply convoys.
  • French forces in India under Joseph François Dupleix expanded their influence in the Carnatic region.
  • King George's War continued in North America, with frontier raids between British, French, and Native American forces.
  • The pacification of the Scottish Highlands involved the disarming of clans and destruction of Jacobite estates.
  • Corsican rebels continued their resistance movement against Genoese rule.

Economy & Finance

  • The British economy stabilized after the financial panic caused by the Jacobite invasion threat of 1745.
  • French military success in the Low Countries disrupted trade through the key commercial ports of Flanders.
  • The cost of suppressing the Jacobite rising and maintaining Highland garrisons added to British military expenditures.
  • Prussian economic recovery began as the Second Silesian War ended, with Silesian industries contributing to growth.
  • The transatlantic slave trade continued to expand, with hundreds of voyages transporting enslaved Africans annually.
  • Dutch banking houses continued to provide credit to European governments financing the ongoing war.
  • Spanish colonial silver continued to flow from the Americas to Europe, sustaining the Spanish economy.
  • The fishing industry off Newfoundland and Nova Scotia remained a contested economic resource between Britain and France.
  • Agricultural improvements in England, including better crop rotation, gradually increased yields.
  • The linen industry in Ireland grew in importance, providing a major export commodity.

Technology & Infrastructure

  • The Leyden jar became widely known across Europe, enabling new experiments in the study of electricity.
  • Road building in the Scottish Highlands expanded after Culloden as the British government sought to control the region.
  • Fort construction in Scotland intensified, with Fort Augustus and Fort George serving as military bases.
  • Naval shipbuilding continued at a rapid pace in British, French, and Spanish dockyards.
  • The Newcomen engine continued to be the primary steam-powered device used in mining operations.
  • Improvements in glassmaking technology produced clearer optical glass for scientific instruments.
  • Printing press technology remained largely unchanged, though the volume of printed material grew steadily.
  • Bridge construction across the Scottish Highlands improved access for military patrols and commerce.
  • Agricultural drainage continued in the English Fens, expanding farmland through land reclamation.
  • The manufacture of scientific instruments became an increasingly specialized trade in London and Paris.

Science & Discovery

  • Jean-Étienne Guettard presented the first mineralogical map of France to the French Academy of Sciences.
  • Experiments with the Leyden jar proliferated across Europe, advancing the understanding of electrical phenomena.
  • Leonhard Euler continued his mathematical work in Berlin, contributing to celestial mechanics and number theory.
  • Andreas Marggraf discovered that sugar could be extracted from beets, a finding with future economic significance.
  • Colin Maclaurin died in June, having contributed significantly to mathematics and the defense of Edinburgh during the Jacobite rising.
  • The French Academy of Sciences continued to sponsor research and publish findings in its annual proceedings.
  • Botanical collections expanded at Kew and other European gardens, cataloging plants from global expeditions.
  • Natural philosophers debated the nature of electricity, with competing theories about its fundamental properties.
  • Geological observations in the Alps contributed to early understanding of mountain formation processes.
  • Swedish chemist Axel Fredrik Cronstedt began systematic studies of minerals using blowpipe analysis.

Health & Medicine

  • Wounded Jacobite soldiers after Culloden received little medical care, with many killed on the battlefield or left to die.
  • Smallpox continued to be the most feared disease in Europe, with epidemics occurring regularly in major cities.
  • Military medical services across European armies remained poorly organized and underfunded.
  • The study of anatomy continued at leading medical schools in Edinburgh, Leiden, and Paris.
  • Typhus spread through overcrowded prisons where Jacobite prisoners were held after the rising's defeat.
  • The use of forceps in childbirth became more common among trained male accoucheurs in major cities.
  • Epidemic diseases including cholera and plague continued to affect populations in the Ottoman Empire and Asia.
  • Patent medicines were widely advertised in British newspapers, promising cures for all manner of ailments.
  • The medical treatises of Hermann Boerhaave continued to influence clinical practice across Europe after his death in 1738.
  • Clean water remained unavailable to most urban populations, contributing to high rates of waterborne disease.

Climate & Environment

  • Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration was approximately 277 parts per million, as later confirmed by ice core analysis.
  • Weather conditions during the Battle of Culloden featured heavy rain and sleet that hampered the Highland charge.
  • The Little Ice Age continued to affect European climate, with unpredictable growing seasons challenging farmers.
  • Highland land clearances began in Scotland, altering the traditional relationship between people and the landscape.
  • Whaling expeditions to the Arctic increased, as European demand for whale oil and baleen grew.
  • Forest management in German-speaking lands emphasized sustainable harvesting to maintain timber supplies.
  • The draining of marshlands continued in various European countries, converting wetlands to farmland.
  • Volcanic ash from minor eruptions in Iceland periodically affected weather patterns in northern Europe.
  • River pollution from urban and early industrial sources increased in areas near growing cities.
  • The introduction of European agricultural practices to colonial territories altered local ecosystems.

Culture & Society

  • The College of New Jersey, later Princeton University, was founded, becoming a major center of education in the American colonies.
  • The destruction of Highland culture following Culloden profoundly altered Scottish society and identity.
  • The Act of Proscription banned Highland dress, bagpipes, and the bearing of arms in Scotland.
  • Francisco Goya was born on March 30 in Fuendetodos, Spain, a future master of Spanish painting.
  • Denis Diderot began planning the Encyclopédie, a monumental project to compile all human knowledge.
  • Musical life in London flourished with concerts, operas, and performances at pleasure gardens.
  • The development of the novel as a literary form continued in England with works exploring social themes.
  • Masonic lodges expanded their membership across Europe, promoting fraternal bonds and Enlightenment ideals.
  • Colonial American architecture developed a distinctive style blending English Georgian influences with local materials.
  • The world population was approximately 768 million.