The 1870s (pronounced "eighteen-seventies") was a decade of the Gregorian calendar that began on January 1, 1870, and ended on December 31, 1879. The trends of the previous decade continued into this one, as new empires, imperialism and militarism rose in Europe and Asia. The United States was recovering from the American Civil War, though the Reconstruction era introduced its own legacies of bitterness and racial segregation in the country. Germany unified as a nation in 1871 and became the German Empire. Changing social conditions led workforces to cooperate in the form of labor unions in order to demand better pay and working conditions, with strikes occurring worldwide in the later part of the decade and continuing until World War I. The decade was also a period of significant technological advancement; the phonograph, telephone, and electric light bulb were all invented during the 1870s, though it would take several more decades before they became household items. Politics and wars Wars Dungan Revolt (1862–1877), Hui uprising against the Qing Empire which resulted in 20 million deaths and a Qing victory 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 Third Anglo-Ashanti War, also known as the "First Ashanti Expedition" (1873–1874), ended with the destruction of the royal palace at Kumasi and the signing of the Treaty of Fomena, which secured British trading rights in the area The Third Carlist War (1872–1876), the last of the Carlist Wars in Spain Ethiopian–Egyptian War (1874–1876), a resource conflict over access to the Nile River basin between the Ethiopian Empire and the Khedivate of Egypt, resulting in an Ethiopian victory Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878), resulted in Serbia, Romania, and Montenegro becoming completely independent from the Ottoman Empire, while Bulgaria became autonomous In the United States, post-Civil War Reconstruction continued until its conclusion under President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1877 Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878–1880), fought between the British Raj and the Emirate of Afghanistan Anglo-Zulu War (11 January – 5 July 1879) War of the Pacific (1879–1884), fought over resource-rich territory along the Pacific coast between Chile and an alliance of Bolivia and Peru Colonization, decolonization, and independence The British Empire continued to grow, with the 1870s marking the beginning of the New Imperialism. Bulgaria and Romania declared independence following a war against the Ottoman Empire. The Sioux battled the