1860s

The 1860s (pronounced "eighteen-sixties") was a decade of the Gregorian calendar that began on January 1, 1860, and ended on December 31, 1869.

From top left, clockwise: Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell formulates the classical theory of electromagnetic radiation, bringing together for the first time electricity, magnetism, and light as different manifestations of the same phenomenon; the Meiji Restoration leads to enormous changes in Japan's political and social structure; the International Workingmen's Association is formed in 1864, aimed at uniting a variety of different left-wing socialist, communist and anarchist groups; the Battle of Avay, fought in 1868 during the Paraguayan War, the bloodiest inter-state war in Latin America's history; execution in 1867 of Maximilian I of Mexico, ruler of the Second Mexican Empire, established during the Second French intervention in Mexico; the Battle of Gettysburg, the turning point of the American Civil War, fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865, between the North (the Union) and the South (the Confederacy) as a result of the long-standing controversy over the enslavement of black people; the Suez Canal is inaugurated in 1869; Victor Emmanuel meets Garibaldi near Teano in 1860, at the end of the Expedition of the Thousand.
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The decade was noted for featuring numerous major societal shifts in the Americas. In the United States, the election of abolitionist Abraham Lincoln to the presidency in 1860 led to the secession of the southern states in the form of the Confederate States of America (CSA). The resulting American Civil War (1861-1865) would be among the first industrial wars, featuring advanced technology such as steel warships and machine guns. The victory of the Union and subsequent abolition of slavery would contribute to the decline of the global slave trade.

In Latin America, conflict in Mexico ensued after the French Empire installed Maximilian I as Emperor of Mexico; former President Benito Juárez would regain his position in 1867 after a power struggle. The Triple Alliance of Empire of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay in the Paraguayan War (1864-1870) would be among the bloodiest conflicts in South American history, leading to the death of almost 60% of the Paraguayan population.

The formation of the union of Austria-Hungary in 1867 and the ongoing campaign to unify Italy by Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia-Piedmont would effect the European balance of power. The United Kingdom would continue engaging in a series of conflicts known as the New Zealand Wars with the indigenous Māori, with the New Zealand land confiscations beginning in 1863.

In Asia, the Meiji Restoration of 1868 would begin the process of transforming Japan into a global imperial power. The Qing Dynasty of China would experience decline following its defeat to the British in 1860 in the Second Opium War. In 1864, the Russian Empire would embark upon the Circassian genocide in the Caucasus, leading to the deaths or expulsion of at least 75% of the Circassian people.

Politics and wars
Emperor Maximilian being executed (1867), marking the end of the Second Mexican Empire

Wars
  • French occupation of Mexico (1863–1867). Replacement of President of Mexico Benito Juárez (1861–1863) at first with Juan Nepomuceno Almonte (1863–1864) and then by Emperor Maximilian of Mexico (1864–1867) with the establishment of the Second Mexican Empire. Juárez eventually manages to recover his position (1867–1872).
  • On 18 October 1860, the first Convention of Peking formally ended the Second Opium War.
  • The American Civil War lasted from 1861 to 1865.[1]
  • The Paraguayan War (1864–1870) starts in South America, with the invasion of Paraguay by the Triple Alliance (Empire of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay). It will kill almost 60% of the country's population.
  • The main phase of the New Zealand Wars between British colonials and the Māori population begins with the First Taranaki War in 1860. The most significant campaign is the Invasion of the Waikato in 1863, which sees some 14,000 British and colonial troops engaged.
  • The Kingdom of Prussia under Bismarck invaded Denmark in 1864, which ended in the division of Schleswig, the location of a pro-German revolt, between Prussia and the Austrian Empire. Though Prussia and Austria had both fought side by side in this war, Prussia later attacked Austria in the Austro-Prussian war of 1866. The technological and logistical superiority of Prussia's armed forces obliterated Austria and its allies, the former also having to deal with Prussia's ally Italy in Venice. By the end of these conflicts, Prussia was seen as the most powerful state in Germany, and had total hegemony over the other German states. The NGF was formed after the Austro-Prussian war, uniting the states of north Germany, and Prussia soon led it into another conflict with France.
  • The Bhutan War between the British Empire and Bhutan lasted from 1864 to 1865. It ended in a British victory and the loss of some Bhutanese territory to British India.
  • The British Expedition to Abyssinia was a rescue mission and punitive expedition carried out in 1868 by the armed forces of the British Empire against the Ethiopian Empire.
  • Conclusion of the Russo-Circassian War (1763–1864) resulting in Russian victory and subsequent Circassian genocide and diaspora.

Internal conflicts
American Civil War: Battle of Antietam by Thure de Thulstrup

The Federal War was a civil war (1859–1863) in Venezuela between the Conservative party and the Liberal party over the monopoly the Conservatives held over government positions and land ownership, and their intransigence to granting any reforms. It was the biggest and bloodiest civil war that Venezuela had since its independence. Hundreds of thousands died in the violence of the war, or from hunger or disease, in a country with a population of just over a million people

Prominent political events

Assassinations and attempts

Prominent assassinations, targeted killings, and assassination attempts include:

Shown in the presidential booth of Ford's Theatre, from left to right, are assassin John Wilkes Booth, Abraham Lincoln, Mary Todd Lincoln, Clara Harris, and Henry Rathbone
  • President of the United States Abraham Lincoln is assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, April 14, 1865.
  • King of Madagascar Radama II is captured by soldiers and strangled to death.
  • Manuel Isidoro Belzu, President of Bolivia is assassinated.
  • Father of Canadian Confederation, Thomas D'Arcy McGee is assassinated by Patrick J. Whelan.
  • Sakamoto Ryōma, a prominent figure in the Bakumatsu era in Japan and part of the movement to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate, is assassinated along with Nakaoka Shintarō at a Kyoto inn in 1867.

Science and technology
Alfred Nobel invents dynamite in Sweden, patenting it in 1867
  • The Metropolitan Railway, the world's first underground railway, opens in London in 1863.[2]
  • The First Transcontinental Railroad in the USA is completed in 1869.
  • The Suez Canal in Egypt is opened in 1869.
  • The Plongeur, the first mechanically powered submarine in the world, is launched in 1863 after three years of construction.
  • Carl Wilhelm Borchardt discovers and proves Cayley's formula in graph theory in 1860.
  • The first transatlantic telegraph cable is successfully laid in 1866, enabling almost instant communication between America and Europe.
  • Alfred Nobel invents dynamite in Sweden, patenting it in 1867.
  • James Clerk Maxwell publishes his equations that quantify the relationship between electricity and magnetism, and shows that light is a form of electromagnetic radiation
  • Joseph Lister develops antiseptic methods for use in surgery in 1867, introducing carbolic acid as an antiseptic, turning it into the first widely used surgical antiseptic in surgery, and publishing Antiseptic Principle of the Practice of Surgery. As a result, deaths from infections due to surgery greatly decrease.[3]
  • Gregor Mendel formulates Mendel's laws of inheritance, the basis for genetics, in a two-part paper written in 1865 and published in 1866, although it is largely ignored until 1900.
  • Dmitri Mendeleev develops the modern periodic table
  • Helium was first detected during the total solar eclipse of August 18, 1868, in parts of India. It was the first eclipse expedition in which a spectroscope was used.
  • J. Norman Lockyer and Pierre Janssen are honored for their discovery of the nature of the Sun's prominences. They were the first to notice bright spectral emission lines when viewing the limb of the Sun without the aid of a total solar eclipse.
  • 1862 International Exhibition in London, England and 1867 International Exposition in Paris.

Establishments

Religion

Literature and arts

Sports

Fashion
  • The Victorian era and its culture largely thrived from 1860 until 1901.
  • The culture of the Victorian era comes to America and remains in place until around the turn of the 20th century, where the year it ends is disputed as to whether it ended with the rise of progressivism in 1896 or with the death of Queen Victoria in 1901.
  • The start of the bicycle craze of 1860–1900

People

Politics
  • Louis Curchod, Director International Telecommunication Union

Famous and infamous personalities

References
  1. "American Civil War". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  2. Lin, Luna (10 September 2014). "A short history of world metro systems – in pictures". the Guardian. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  3. Medical Advances Timeline

Further reading
Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1860s.
  • 1860s in fashion – Clothing, Hair Styles and Personal Appearance.
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