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18th century

The 18th century lasted from 1701 to 1800 in the Gregorian calendar, in accordance with the Anno Domini/Common Era numbering system.

However, historians sometimes specifically define the 18th century otherwise for the purposes of their work. For example, the "short" 18th century may be defined as 1715-1789, denoting the period of time between the death of Louis XIV of France and the start of the French Revolution with an emphasis on directly interconnected events.^[1]^[2] To historians who expand the century to include larger historical movements, the "long" 18th century may run from the Glorious Revolution of 1688 to the battle of Waterloo in 1815^[3] or even later.^[4]

Storming of the Bastille, July 14, 1789, an iconic event of the French Revolution

Washington crossing the Delaware, Dec. 25, 1776, an iconic event of the American Revolution

Events

1700s

John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, English general

1712-21: Russia supplants Sweden as the dominant Baltic power after the Great Northern War.
1701-1714: War of the Spanish Succession was a conflict which involved most of Europe.^[5]
1702-1715: Camisard Rebellion in France.
1703: Saint Petersburg founded by Peter the Great. Russian capital until 1918.
1703-1711: The Rákóczi Uprising against the Habsburg Monarchy.
1707: Act of Union passed merging the Scottish and the English Parliaments, thus establishing The Kingdom of Great Britain.^[6]
1707: After Aurangzeb's death, the Mughal Empire enters a long decline.
1708-1709: Famine killed one-third of East Prussia's population.

1710s

1714 Accession of George I, Elector of Hanover, to the throne of Great Britain.
1715: First Jacobite Rebellion breaks out
1715: Louis XIV died leaving France deep in debt.
1718: City of New Orleans founded by the French in North America
1718: Blackbeard is killed by Robert Maynard in a North Carolina inlet on the inner side of Ocracoke Island

1720s

1720: The South Sea Bubble
1720-1721: The Great Plague of Marseille
1721: Robert Walpole became the first Prime Minister of Great Britain (de facto).
1721: Treaty of Nystad signed, ending the Great Northern War.
1722-23: Russo-Persian War
1722: Afghans conquered Iran, ending the Safavid dynasty.
1722: Kangxi Emperor of China died.
1722: Bartholomew Roberts is killed in a sea battle off the African coast.
1723: Slavery abolished in Russia. Peter the Great converted the household slaves into house serfs.^[7]
1723-1730: The "Great Disaster" - an invasion of Kazakh territories by the Dzungars.
1725: The Fulani nomads took complete control of Fuuta Jallon and set up the first of many Fulani jihad states to come.^[8]
1726: The enormous Chinese encyclopedia Gujin Tushu Jicheng of over 100 million written Chinese characters in over 800,000 pages is printed in 60 different copies using copper-based Chinese movable type printing.

1730s

Qianlong Emperor

1732-1734: Crimean Tatar raids into Russia.^[9]
1733-38: War of the Polish Succession.
1735-39: Russo-Turkish War.
1735-99: The Qianlong Emperor of China oversaw a huge expansion in territory.
1736: Nadir Shah assumed title of Shah of Persia and founded the Afsharid dynasty. Ruled until his death in 1747.
1736: Qing Dynasty Chinese court painters recreate Zhang Zeduan's classic panoramic painting, Along the River During Qingming Festival.
1738-1756: Famine across the Sahel, half the population of Timbuktu died.^[10]
1739: Nadir Shah defeated the Mughals and sacked Delhi.

1740s

1740: Frederick the Great comes to power in Prussia.
1740-1741: Famine in Ireland killed ten per cent of the population.
1740-48: War of the Austrian Succession
1741: Russians began settling the Aleutian Islands.
1744: The First Saudi State is founded by Mohammed Ibn Saud.^[11]
1745: Second Jacobite Rebellion began in Scotland.
1747: Ahmed Shah Durrani founded the Durrani Empire in modern day Afghanistan.

1750s

1750: Peak of the Little Ice Age
1754?1763, The French and Indian War, Fought in the U.S. and Canada mostly between the French and French allies and the English and English allies. The North American chapter of the Seven Years' War.
1755: The Lisbon earthquake
1756-63: Seven Years' War fought among European powers in various theaters around the world.
1757: Battle of Plassey signaled the beginning of formal British rule in India after years of commercial activity under the auspices of the East India Company.