1820s

The 1820s was a decade of the Gregorian calendar that began on January 1, 1820, and ended on December 31, 1829.

It saw the rise of the First Industrial Revolution. Photography, rail transport, and the textile industry were among those that largely developed and grew prominent over the decade, as technology advanced significantly. European colonialism began gaining ground in Africa and Asia, and trade with the Qing Dynasty began to open up more towards foreign traders, particularly those from Europe. As European imperialism gained momentum, opposition from affected/exploited societies resulted, with wars such as the Java War and the Greek War of Independence. Resistance in the form of separatism and nationalism (particularly in the Spanish American wars of independence) led to the independence of many countries around the world, such as Brazil, Peru, and Bolivia.

Politics and wars

The Greek War of Independence and the Russo-Turkish War were two of the decade's more important conflicts. Meanwhile, colonialism in Africa had just begun to accelerate, and global trade between Asian powers (e.g. the Qing Dynasty) with European powers (mainly the British and French empires) increased substantially. In South America, states such as Bolivia, Peru, and Brazil gained independence from the Spanish Empire and Portuguese Empire.

Global 1820: Anchor coinage is issued for use in some British colonies.

East Asia Indonesia

1824 – The Dutch sign the Masang Agreement, temporarily ending hostilities in the Padri War in West Sumatra.

Java War

The Java War (also known as the "Diponegoro War") was fought in Java between 1825 and 1830. It started as a rebellion led by Prince Diponegoro after the Dutch decided to build a road across a piece of his property that contained his parents' tomb.

The troops of Prince Diponegoro were very successful in the beginning, controlling the middle of Java and besieging Yogyakarta. Furthermore, the Javanese population was supportive of Prince Diponegoro's cause, whereas the Dutch colonial authorities were initially very indecisive. As the Java war prolonged, Prince Diponegoro had difficulties in maintaining the numbers of his troops. Prince Diponegoro started a fierce guerrilla war and it was not until 1827 that the Dutch army gained the upper hand. The Dutch colonial army was able to fill its ranks with troops from Sulawesi, and later on from the Netherlands.

The rebellion finally ended in 1830, after Prince Diponegoro was tricked into entering Dutch custody near Magelang, believing he was there for negotiations for a possible cease-fire. It is estimated that 200,000M. C. RicKlefs: A History of modern Indonesia since 1300, p. 117. died over the course of the conflict, 8,000 being Dutch.

Malaysia

November 1821 - Siamese invasion of Kedah – The Siamese forces of King Rama II achieved a rapid victory against those of Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin Halim Shah II of Kedah, in what is now northern Malaysia. The campaign initiated a period of two decades in which Kedah resisted Siamese control. The Sultan took refuge on Penang Island, then under British control. By 1822 there was a rise in the population of the British territories caused by an influx of Malays displaced by the invasion. 1826 – The Burney Treaty allowed the Siamese view of their rights to prevail in Kelah.Frank Athelstane Swettenham, Map to Illustrate the Siamese Question (1893) p. 62; archive.org. 1826 – The British crown colony of the Straits Settlements is established in what is now Malaysia and Singapore.

Vietnam

February 14, 1820 – Minh Mang starts to rule in Vietnam. 1825 – Minh Mang outlaws the teaching of Christianity in Vietnam.

Laos

1827: King Anouvong of Vientiane declares war on Siam and successfully attacks Nakhon Ratchasima. 1828 Siamese-Lao War: The Siamese invade and sack the city of Vientiane. November 12, 1828: Anouvong is deposed and his kingdom is annexed by Siam. Large forced population transfers are made from Laos to the more securely held area of Isan, and the Lao mueang is divided into smaller units to prevent another uprising.

Burma

1824–1826: The First Anglo-Burmese War ended in a British victory, and by the Treaty of Yandabo, Burma lost territory previously conquered in Assam, Manipur, and Arakan. The British also took possession of Tenasserim with the intention to use it as a bargaining chip in future negotiations with either Burma or Siam.

Brunei

1826–1828: The Bruneian Civil War of 1826 began in 1826, ending in 1828 with the garrote of Muhammad Alam.

Siam (Thailand)

1824–1826 - Rattanakosin Kingdom (Siam): Rama II died in 1824 and was peacefully succeeded by his son Jessadabodindra (Rama III). In 1825 the British sent another mission to Bangkok led by East India Company emissary Henry Burney. They had by now annexed southern Burma and were thus Siam's neighbours to the west, and they were also extending their control over Malaya. The King was reluctant to give in to British demands, but his advisors warned him that Siam would meet the same fate as Burma unless the British were accommodated. In 1826, therefore, Siam concluded its first commercial treaty with a western power, the Burney Treaty. Under the treaty, Siam agreed to establish a uniform taxation system, to reduce taxes on foreign trade and to abolish some of the royal monopolies. As a result, Siam's trade increased rapidly, many more foreigners settled in Bangkok, and western cultural influences began to spread. The kingdom became wealthier and its army better armed.

Australia 1824 – The name Australia, recommended by Matthew Flinders in 1804, is finally adopted as the official name of the country once known as New Holland. September 13, 1824 – With his crew and 29 convicts aboard the Amity, John Oxley arrives at and founds the Moreton Bay Penal Settlement at what is now Redcliffe in Queensland, Australia, after leaving Sydney. December 25, 1826 – Major Edmund Lockyer arrives at King George Sound to take possession of the western part of Australia, establishing a settlement near Albany. June 3, 1829 – The Swan River Colony (later to become the cities of Perth and Fremantle) is founded in Western Australia. This secures the western 'third' of the Australian landmass for the British. August 12, 1829 – Mrs. Helen Dance, wife of the captain of the ship Sulphur, cuts down a tree to mark the day of the founding of the town of Perth, Western Australia.

Central Asia Caucasian War (1817–1864) 1826 – Britain annexes Assam.

South Asia Siege of Bharatpur – India (9 December 1825 – 18 January 1826) ended in British victory. December 4, 1829 – India: In the face of fierce opposition, British Lord William Bentinck carries a regulation declaring that all who abet sati in India are guilty of culpable homicide.

Western Asia October 1, 1827 – Russo-Persian War, 1826–1828: The Russians under Ivan Paskevich storm Yerevan, ending a millennium of Muslim domination in Eastern Armenia. February 22, 1828 –Treaty of Turkmenchay: Russian-Persian peace treaty: Russia captures Eastern Armenia from Persia.

Europe

Eastern Europe April 6 1821 – The Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire is proclaimed officially in South Greece. June 19, 1821 – The Philikí Etaireía are decisively defeated by the Ottomans at Drăgăşani (in Wallachia). December 1825 – The Decembrist Revolt breaks out in Russia, but is thoroughly suppressed. December 1, 1825 – Nicholas I of Russia succeeds his older brother Alexander I. June 14–June 15, 1826 – The Auspicious Incident: Mahmud II, sultan of Ottoman Empire, crushes the last mutiny of janissaries in Istanbul. September 29, 1828 – Russo-Turkish War, 1828–1829: Varna is taken by the Russian army. July 2, 1829 – Russo-Turkish War, 1828–1829: Russian Field-Marshal Hans Karl von Diebitsch launches the Transbalkan offensive, which brings the Russian army within 68 km of Istanbul. September 16, 1829 – Russo-Turkish War, 1828–1829: The Treaty of Adrianople gains for Russia some territory at the mouth of the Danube and along the eastern coast of the Black Sea.

Northern Europe February 3, 1825 – Vendsyssel-Thy, once part of the Jutland peninsula that formed westernmost Denmark, becomes an island after a flood drowns its 1 km wide isthmus. September 27, 1825 - The world's first modern railway, the Stockton and Darlington Railway, opens with engineer George Stephenson driving the first public train pulled by the steam engine Locomotion No 1. September 4, 1827 – Finland: The Great Fire of Turku destroys 3/4 of the city, with many human casualties.

Central Europe October 25, 1820 –November 20 – The Congress of Troppau (Opava) is convened between the rulers of Russia, Austria and Prussia. October–December, 1822 – Congress of Verona: Russia, Austria and Prussia approve French intervention in Spain. July 6, 1825 – The Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck gains possession of Glücksburg and changes his title to Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. The line of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg later becomes the royal house of Greece, Denmark and Norway.

Southern Europe January 1, 1820 – A constitutionalist military insurrection at Cádiz leads to the summoning of the Spanish Parliament (March 7) (see Mid-nineteenth century Spain). March 9, 1820 – King Ferdinand VII of Spain accepts the new constitution, beginning the Liberal Triennium ("Trienio Liberal"). July 1820 – A Constitutionalist revolution occurs in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. August 24, 1820 – A Constitutionalist insurrection breaks out at Oporto, Portugal. September 15, 1820 – A revolution breaks out in Lisbon (see Portugal's crises of the Nineteenth Century). September 22, 1822 – Portugal approves its first Constitution. January 4, 1825 – King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies is succeeded by his son Francis I of the Two Sicilies. May 28, 1826 – Pedro I of Brazil abdicates as King of Portugal. June 23, 1828 – Portugal: King Miguel I overthrows his niece Queen Maria II, beginning the Liberal Wars.

Greek War of Independence

At the start of the decade, most of Greece was under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, as it had been since 1453, despite frequent revolts.Woodhouse, A Story of Modern Greece, 'The Dark Age of Greece (1453–1800)', p. 113, Faber and Faber (1968) In early 1821, a secret organization called the Filiki Eteria instigated several battles that, together with the blessing of a Greek flag and proclamation of uprising by Bishop Germanos of Patras on March 25, marked the beginning of the revolution. The uprising successfully established a foothold in the Peloponnese, seizing Tripolitsa in September 1821, and had some success in Crete, Macedonia and Central Greece.

Between 1821 and 1824, first and second national assemblies were held, and the constitutions of 1822 and of 1823 were established. However, revolutionary activity was fragmented, resulting in the civil wars of 1824–1825. The Greek side withstood the Turkish attacks because, during this period, the Ottoman military campaigns were periodic and uncoordinated.

That changed when the Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II negotiated with Mehmet Ali of Egypt, who agreed to send his son Ibrahim Pasha to Greece with an army to suppress the revolt in return for territorial gain. Ibrahim landed in the Peloponnese in February 1825 and secured most of the peninsula by the end of 1825. He then helped break the siege of Missolonghi. Although Ibrahim was defeated in Mani, he had succeeded in suppressing most of the revolt in the Peloponnese and Athens had been retaken.