In 1839 the period of civil war called the Guerra Grande began. This continued until 1851, and throughout this time the entire country was dominated by revolutionaries, with only the city of Montevideo remaining in government hands. This situation had a very serious impact on the postal service within the country, while the service between Montevideo and abroad continued to operate regularly. During this period, the activities of the Montevideo Chamber of Commerce began to take on great importance. This institution was founded in 1835 by Jorge Tornquist, and operated as a sorting office for last minute mail, receiving commercial correspondence after the official mailbags had been sealed.