The world in
What happened in 1798?
12 events across 4 world regions, each with its sources.
Europe
French RevolutionFrom 1789 to 1799, France experienced a profound political and social transformation, beginning with the Estates General and ending with Napoleon Bonaparte's Coup of 18 Brumaire. The revolution ended the Ancien Régime, and its liberal democratic ideas had a lasting impact.
SourcesWikipedia ↗Image: Isidore Stanislas Helman / After Charles Monnet / Public domain ↗
- Industrial Revolution
A transition in manufacturing processes that began in Great Britain around the 1760s and spread to continental Europe and the United States by about 1840. It was marked by the replacement of human and animal power with machinery and of handicraft with factory production, signaling a historic shift from agrarian to industrial society.
SourcesWikipedia ↗
French Revolutionary WarsFrom 1792 to 1802, revolutionary France fought successive coalitions of European powers in two phases, the First and Second Coalitions. The wars ended in French victory: France annexed the Left Bank of the Rhine and Piedmont, controlled the Netherlands, Switzerland, and northern Italian states, and Napoleon became First Consul.
War of the Second CoalitionThe War of the Second Coalition (1798–1802) was a major conflict between the French First Republic and a coalition of European monarchies led by Britain, Austria, and Russia. France initially faced severe setbacks but turned the tide with victories in Switzerland and the Netherlands, and decisively won in Italy and Germany in 1800. The war concluded with the Treaties of Lunéville and Amiens.
SourcesWikipedia ↗Image: Louis-François, Baron Lejeune / Public domain ↗
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Caucasian WarThe Caucasian War was a 19th-century conflict of conquest by the Russian Empire against various peoples of the North Caucasus, lasting from 1817 to 1864. Imam Shamil led fierce resistance, repeatedly repelling Russian attacks, until the fall of Gunib and his capture in 1859. The war ended with the final subjugation of the Circassians and the annexation of the region in 1864.
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Outbreak of the Russo-Circassian WarIn 1763, the Russian Empire invaded Circassia and occupied Mozdok, prompting the Circassian people to organize a resistance movement to preserve their independence, marking the beginning of the Russo-Circassian War. This conflict became the longest war in the history of the Caucasus and of Russia, ending in 1864 with the defeat of Circassian forces.
SourcesWikipedia ↗Image: Heinrich Ambros Eckert / Public domain ↗
North Africa
Battle of the NileIn early August 1798, the British fleet under Horatio Nelson decisively defeated the French fleet at Aboukir Bay, Egypt. This was the climax of the Mediterranean campaign during Napoleon's Egyptian expedition, cutting French naval support and reinforcing British maritime dominance.
French invasion of Egypt and SyriaThe French invasion of Egypt and Syria (1798–1801) was a military expedition led by Napoleon Bonaparte, aiming to undermine British trade routes and expand French influence in Egypt. The campaign later extended to Syria, and ultimately failed under pressure from British and Ottoman forces, leading to Napoleon's secret return to France and the surrender of remaining French troops.
SourcesWikipedia ↗Image: Antoine-Jean Gros / Public domain ↗
Battle of the PyramidsOn 21 July 1798 near Embabeh in Egypt, Bonaparte led the Armée d’Orient against Mamluk forces. Using infantry squares, the French routed their opponents in a decisive engagement of the Egyptian campaign. Napoleon later named it after the distant Great Pyramid of Giza. The battle occurred during the French invasion of Egypt.
SourcesWikipedia ↗Image: François-Louis-Joseph Watteau / Public domain ↗
Central & South America
Haitian RevolutionThe Haitian Revolution was a slave uprising in the French colony of Saint-Domingue from 1791 to 1804, overthrowing French colonial rule and establishing the first independent republic ruled by Black people.
SourcesWikipedia ↗Image: January Suchodolski / Public domain ↗
Outbreak of the Quasi-WarIn 1798, an undeclared naval conflict (the Quasi-War) broke out between the United States and the French First Republic, fought mainly in the Caribbean and off the U.S. East Coast. It stemmed from U.S. refusal to repay Revolutionary War debts to post-monarchy France and French anger over the Jay Treaty between the U.S. and Britain. France began seizing American ships, triggering a two-year sea war.
SourcesWikipedia ↗Image: Rear Admiral John William Schmidt (Ret.) (1906–1981) / Public domain ↗
South Asia
Fourth Anglo-Mysore WarThe Fourth Anglo-Mysore War was a conflict in South India between the Mysore State and the East India Company, the Maratha Empire, and the Hyderabad State in 1798–99.
SourcesWikipedia ↗Image: No machine-readable author provided. Miljoshi assumed (based on copyright claims). / CC BY 2.5 ↗
Around 1798
These are known only to the century, not to the year. They are listed separately so a rough date is never mistaken for an exact one.
- Founding of Kew Gardens
- Establishment of the British Convict System in Australia
- Completion of the Jantar Mantar observatory complex
- Emergence of the Enlightenment
- Creation of the Dessau-Wörlitz Garden Realm
- Construction of Hwaseong Fortress Begins
- Construction of the Palace of Mafra begins
- Founding of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew