The failure of the Greek Revolution (1821-1822) to bring independence to Macedonia and the ensuing violence checked the prospects for development that had emerged at the start of the 19th century.
The abandonment of the towns (especially the steep drop in the Greek population of Thessaloniki and other Greek centers in northern Greece) injured trade, while having equally damaging effects on the rural economy. The Ottoman state's continuing lamentable administration perpetuated this situation for more than 20 years.
In the middle of the century, the Crimean War (1853-1856) and the American Civil War (1861-1865) created considerable prospects for agricultural growth, as the traffic in grain from the Black Sea and cotton exports from America both plummeted. Industry, however, did not manage to follow suit and take advantage of the growth in agriculture; it was still in a rudimentary stage owing to the as yet unsolved acute transportation problems.
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