All
 
|
 
 


Central Asia in Soviet and British Strategy, 1918
 
PIIS013038640018263-7-1
DOI10.31857/S013038640018263-7
Publication type Article
Status Published
Authors
Evgeny Sergeev 
Affiliation:
Institute of World History, RAS
State Academic University for the Humanities
Russian State University for the Humanities
Address: Russian Federation, Moscow
Journal nameNovaia i noveishaia istoriia
EditionIssue 1
Pages122-134
Abstract

The author analyses Soviet Russia and Great Britain’s strategies for Central Asia, a crucial geopolitical region, the control of which allowed both Moscow and London to safeguard their state interests at the final stage of the Great War. The development of these plans was accompanied by intense internal political struggles in Britain over the 'Bolshevik menace' to British possessions in Asia and the crisis in the Ottoman Empire, Persia, and Afghanistan, which spawned ethno-confessional movements of various stripes. The author compares the role and place of Central Asia in Moscow's and London's foreign policy: while the former sought to use the situation to implement plans for a 'world revolution', the latter sought to strengthen its position in countering the national movements that sought support from the powers of the Quadruple Alliance. The relevance of the study stems from the persistence and even exacerbation of tensions in the region of interest to the author, which necessitates a study of the historical experience of dispute resolution. The novelty of the study is determined by the introduction into academic discourse of several official diplomatic documents together with the sources from private collections which are examined in a complex, comparative way making it possible to stipulate strategic goals of leading geopolitical actors at the final stage of the First World War. As the article elucidates, despite the existing domestic and foreign scholarship on the subject, various scenarios of military-political steps of Moscow and London in Central Asia require clarification while considering the German-Turkish projects of relying upon nationalistic movements under Islamic slogans.

KeywordsFirst World War, Central Asia, Soviet-British relations, strategic plans, great powers, national movements
Received18.10.2021
Publication date25.01.2022
Number of characters33435
Cite  
100 rub.
When subscribing to an article or issue, the user can download PDF, evaluate the publication or contact the author. Need to register.

Number of purchasers: 1, views: 489

Readers community rating: votes 0 

1. Besedovskii G.Z. Na putiakh k Termidoru (iz vospominanii byvshego sovetskogo diplomata) [On the Ways to Termidor (From the Memoirs of the Former Soviet Diplomat]. Vol. 1. Paris, 1930. (In Russ.)
2. Dokumenty vneshnei politiki SSSR (DVP SSSR) [Documents of the USSR Foreign Policy (DVP SSSR)] / ed. A.A. Gromyko. Vol. 1. Moskva, 1957. (In Russ.)
3. Fomin A.M. Politicheskaia deiatel’nost’ T.E. Lawrence posle Pervoi mirovoi voiny (1918–1922 gg.) [Political Activity of T.E. Lawrence after the First World War (1918–1922) // Novaia i noveishaia istoriia [Modern and Contemporary History]. 2015. № 3. S. 195–206. (In Russ.)
4. Fomin A.M. Voina s prodolzheniem. Velikobritaniia i Frantsiia v bor’be za “Osmanskoe nasledstvo”. 1918–1923 [War on Continuation. Great Britain and France in the Struggle for the “Ottoman Legacy”. 1918–1923]. Moskva, 2010. (In Russ.)
5. Gurko-Kriazhin V.A. Angliiskaia interventsiia v Zakspii I Zakavkaz’e (na osnovanii sledstvennykh materialov Verkhovnogo suda SSSR) [English Intervention in Transcaspia and Transcaucasia (Based on the Investigative Materials of the USSR Supreme Court)] // Istorik-Marxist [Historian -Marxist]. 1926. № 2. S. 115–139. (In Russ.)
6. Lavrov S.V. Politika Anglii na Kavkaze i v Srednei Asii v 1917–1921 gg. [England’s Policy on the Caucasus and in Central Asia in 1917–1921] // Voprosy istorii [History issues]. 1979. № 5. S. 78–92. (In Russ.)
7. Panin S.B. Sovietskaia Rossiia i Afghanistan 1919–1929 [Soviet Russia and Afghanistan 1919–1929]. Moskva; Irkutsk, 1998. (In Russ.)
8. Persits M.A. Revoliutsionery Indii v Strane Sovetov. U istokov indiiskogo kommunisticheskogo dvizheniya [Revolutionaries of India in the Land of the Soviets. At the Origins of the Indian Communist Movement]. Moskva, 1973. (In Russ.)
9. Said Je. Orientalizm. Zapadnye koncepcii Vostoka / per. s angl. [Orientalism. Western Concepts of the East / translated from English]. Sankt-Peterburg, 2006. (In Russ.)
10. Sergeev E.Ju. Bol'shaja Igra, 1856–1907: mify i realii rossijsko-britanskih otnoshenij v Central'noj i Vostochnoj Azii [The Big Game, 1856–1907: Myths and Realities of Russian-British Relations in Central and East Asia]. Moskva, 2012. (In Russ.)
11. Sergeev E.Yu. George Nathaniel Curzon – poslednii rytsar’ Britanskoi imperii [George Nathaniel Curzon – The Last Knight of the British Empire]. Moskva, 2015. (In Russ.)
12. Sokolov V.V. Na boevykh postakh diplomaticheskogo fronta: zhizn’ i deiatel’nost’ L.M. Karakhana [On the Combatant Posts of the Diplomatic Front: The Life and Activity of L.M. Karakhan]. Moskva, 1983. (In Russ.)
13. Troyanovskii K.M. Vostok i revoliutsiia. Popytki postroeniia novoi politicheskoi programmy dlia tuzemnykh stran Vostoka – Indii, Persii i Kitaia [Orient and Revolution. Trying to Build a New Political Program for the Native Countries of the East – India, Persia and China]. Moskva, 1918. (In Russ.)
14. Ulunian Ar.A. Britanskii komitet po vostochnym delam i turkestanskaia problema (1918) [British Eastern Committee and the Problem of Turkestan (1918)] // 1917 god: novye vzgliady i novye podkhody: materialy Mezhdunarodnoi letnei shkoly molodykh uchenykh-istorikov stran SNG, Baltii i Evropy. Sankt-Peterburg, 4–10 ijunja 2017 g. / red. L.A. Sadova, M.S. Jakovlev [1917: New Visions and New Approaches: Proceedings of the International Summer School of Young Historians of the Commonwealth of Independent States, Baltia and Europe. Saint-Petersburg, 4–10 July 2017 / eds L.A. Sadova, M.S. Yakovlev]. Moskva, 2017. S. 132–146. (In Russ.)
15. Ulunian Ar.A. Turkestanskii platsdarm. 1917–1922: britanskoe razvedyvatel’noe soobstchestvo i britanskoe pravitel’stvo [The Turkestan Bridgehead. 1917–1922: the British Intelligence Community and the British Government]. Moskva, 2019. (In Russ.)
16. Volodarskii M.I. Sovety i ikh juzhnye sosedi Iran i Afghanistan (1917–1933) [The Soviets and Their Southern Neighbour-States Iran and Aphganistan (1917–1933)]. London, 1983. (In Russ.)
17. Bush B. Britain, India, and the Arabs (1914–1921). Berkeley (Ca.); London, 1971.
18. Curzon G. The Place of India in the Empire. London, 1909.
19. Darwin J. Britain, Egypt and the Middle East. Imperial Policy in the Aftermath of the War 1918–1922. London; Basingstoke, 1981.
20. Dmitriev G.L. Indian Revolutionaries in Central Asia. Calcutta, 2002.
21. Figes O. A People’s Tragedy: The Russian Revolution 1891–1924. London, 1997.
22. Fisher J. “On the Glacis of India”: Lord Curzon and the British Policy in the Caucasus, 1919 // Diplomacy and Statecraft. 1997. Vol. VIII. № 2. Р. 50–82.
23. Fisher J. Curzon and the British Imperialism in the Middle East, 1916–19. London, 1999.
24. Fisher J. Interdepartmental Committee on Eastern Unrest and British Responses to Bolshevik and Other Intrigues against the Empire during the 1920s // Journal of Asian History. 2000. Vol. XXXIV. № 1. P. 1–34.
25. Friedman I. British Miscalculations. The Rise of Muslim Nationalism, 1918–1925. New Brunswick; London, 2012.
26. Gilmor D. Curzon. London, 1995.
27. Goekay B. A Clash of Empires: Turkey between Russian Bolshevism and British Imperialism, 1918–1923. London; New York, 1997.
28. Goldstein E. Winning for Peace. British Diplomatic Strategy, Peace Planning, and the Paris Peace Conference, 1916–1920. Oxford, 1991.
29. Haithcox J. Communism and Nationalism in India. V.N. Roy and Comintern Policy, 1920–1939. Princeton (N.J.), 1971.
30. Hopkirk P. Setting the East Ablaze. On Secret Service in Bolshevik Asia. London, 1984.
31. Imam Z. Colonialism in East-West Relations. A Study of Soviet Policy towards India and Anglo-Soviet Relations, 1917–1947. New Delhi, 1969.
32. Kapur H. Soviet Russia and Asia. 1917–1927. A Study of Soviet Policy towards Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan. Geneva, 1966.
33. Kaye C. Communism in India. Delhi, 1926.
34. Lenczowski G. Russia and the West in Iran, 1918–1948. A Study in Big-Power Rivalry. Ithaka; New York, 1949.
35. Lowe C., Dockrill M. The Mirage of Power: British Foreign Policy, 1902–1922. Vol. 2. London, 1972.
36. Mackay R. Balfour: Intellectual Statesman. Oxford; New York, 1985.
37. Popplewell R. Intelligence and Imperial Defence. British Intelligence and the Defence of the Indian Empire. London, 1995.
38. Ramnath M. Haj to Utopia. How the Ghadar Movement Charted Global Radicalism and Attempted to Overthrow the British Empire. Berkeley, 2011.
39. Roy M. Memoirs. Bombay, 1964.
40. Sabahi H. British Policy in Persia 1918–1925. London, 1990.
41. Samra C. India and Anglo-Soviet Relations, 1917–1947. Bombay, 1959.
42. Sergeev E. The Great Game 1856–1907: Russo-British Relations in Central and East Asia. Washington (D.C.); Baltimore (M.D.), 2013.
43. Ullman R. Anglo-Soviet Relations, 1917–1921. Vol. 2–3. Princeton (N.J.), 1969–1972.

Система Orphus

Loading...
Up