<P> The Ottoman Ministry of Post was established in Istanbul on 23 October 1840 . The first post office was the Postahane - i Amire near the courtyard of the Yeni Mosque . In </P> <P> The introduction of the first Ottoman paper banknotes (1840) and opening of the first post offices (1840); the reorganization of the finance system according to the French model (1840); the reorganization of the Civil and Criminal Code according to the French model (1840); the establishment of the Meclis - i Maarif - i Umumiye (1841) which was the prototype of the First Ottoman Parliament (1876); the reorganisation of the army and a regular method of recruiting, levying the army and fixing the duration of military service (1843--44); the adoption of an Ottoman national anthem and Ottoman national flag (1844); the institution of a Council of Public Instruction (1845) and the Ministry of Education (Mekatib - i Umumiye Nezareti, 1847, which later became the Maarif Nezareti, 1857); the abolition of slavery and slave trade (1847); the establishment of the first modern universities (darülfünun, 1848), academies (1848) and teacher schools (darülmuallimin, 1848); </P> <P> The Ottoman Ministry of Post was established in Istanbul on 23 October 1840 . The first post office was the Postahane - i Amire near the courtyard of the Yeni Mosque . </P> <P> Samuel Morse received his first ever patent for the telegraph in 1847, at the old Beylerbeyi Palace (the present Beylerbeyi Palace was built in 1861--1865 on the same location) in Istanbul, which was issued by Sultan Abdülmecid who personally tested the new invention . Following this successful test, installation works of the first telegraph line (Istanbul - Adrianople--Şumnu) began on 9 August 1847 . </P>

Which war during the mid 1800s weakend the economy of the ottoman empire