1870s

The **1870s** continued the trends of the previous decade, as new empires, imperialism and militarism rose in Europe and Asia. The United States was recovering from the American Civil War. Germany unified in 1871 and began its Second Reich. Labor unions and strikes occurred worldwide in the later part of the decade, and continued until World War I. The Reconstruction era of the United States brought a legacy of bitterness and segregation that lasted until the 1960s.

## Politics and wars

### Wars

* Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871) resulted in the collapse of the Second French Empire and in the formation of both the French Third Republic and the German Empire.
* The Anglo-Zulu War lasted from 11 January 1879 to 5 July 1879.
* The Third Carlist War (1872–1876) was the last Carlist War in Spain.
* Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)
* In the United States, post-Civil War reconstruction continued until its conclusion under President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1877

### Colonization, decolonization and independence

* The British Empire continued to grow; this decade marked the beginning of the New Imperialism.
* Bulgaria and Romania declared independence following a war against the Ottoman Empire.
* The Sioux battled the United States Cavalry and resisted encroachment by white settlers on the Great Plains.
* Passive resistance was used to prevent the confiscation of Māori land at Parihaka in New Zealand.

### Prominent political events

* The German Empire and Alliance System emerged.
* Racial and economic politics in America's Reconstruction were bitter, pessimistic, and sometimes violent.
* The Gilded Age began in 1874, lasting until 1896.
* The First Spanish Republic rises and promptly ends (1873-1874).
* In 1876 the first Ottoman Constitution is promulgated, starting the First Constitutional Era (1876-1878).

## Science and technology

* The prototype telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876.
* The first version of the light bulb was invented by Thomas Edison in 1879 .
* The phonograph is invented in 1877 by Thomas Edison.
* The steam drill is invented in 1879.
* The 6.35mm headphone jack was invented in 1878 and is still widely used today.
* Ludwig Boltzmann statistically defined thermodynamic entropy.
* 1873 Weltausstellung in Vienna, 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia and 1878 Exposition universelle in Paris.

## Environment

* Atlas bear became extinct.
* Yellowstone National Park was established.

## Popular culture

### Literature and arts

* Jules Verne (France) publishes *Around The World in Eighty Days*
* Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, and Sisley organized the *Société Anonyme Coopérative des Artistes Peintres, Sculpteurs, Graveurs* ("Cooperative and Anonymous Association of Painters, Sculptors, and Engravers") for the purpose of exhibiting their artworks independently. Members of the association, which soon included Cézanne, Berthe Morisot, and Edgar Degas, were expected to forswear participation in the Salon. The organizers invited a number of other progressive artists to join them in their inaugural exhibition, including the slightly older Eugène Boudin, whose example had first persuaded Monet to take up *plein air* painting years before. Another painter who greatly influenced Monet and his friends, Johan Jongkind, declined to participate, as did Manet. In total, thirty artists participated in their first exhibition, held in April 1874 at the studio of the photographer Nadar. The group soon became known as the *Impressionists*.
* Jeanne Calment, born 1875, would eventually become the longest-living human being with a verified lifespan. She lived until 1997, at the age of 122. She still holds the record as of 2018.
* Lewis Carroll publishes *Through the Looking-Glass*.
* Henrik Ibsen releases *A Doll's House* in 1879