The optical telegraph was an important but now largely forgotten means of communication. It was invented by the Frenchman Claude Chappe and quickly spread over much of Europe. It consisted of towers 5 to 20 kms apart with a mechanical semaphore system and a telescope. An operator would sit in the tower and simultaneously receive and send visual signals from an adjacent tower.
The first line of towers was built between Paris and Lille during the French revolution, close to the frontline. It was 230 kilometres long and consisted of 15 semaphore operators. The very first message – a military victory over the Austrians – was transmitted in less than half an hour. In less than 50 years time the French built a national infrastructure with more than 530 towers and a total length of almost 5,000 kilometres, see the map picture. Other countires quickly copied the system but they were not usually connected because Europe was a region that was often at war. In a little over 50 years the sytem was finished. The electrical telegraph with morse code was introduced and this proved to be more reliable, cheaper to construct and faster. It is interesting to remember that the optical system worked well without wires or energy. Something that can not be said for the internet.
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