BUKHARA STATE UNIVERSITY, FACULTY OF HISTORY, COURSE 2, STUDENT OF 5-10 ENGLISH GROUP, WRITTEN BY PARMONOV ASLBEK “ ANGLO RUSSIAN RIVALRY IN CENTRAL ASIA AND THE REASONS FOR ITS ESCALATION”
COURSE WORK
2022 YEAR
INTRODUCTION
The history of the emergence of competition between Russia and England
MAIN PART
1) The escalation of the conflict between Britain and Russia over Central Asia in the 19th century
1.1 Expeditions and ambassadors sent by Russia to Central Asia
1.2 Expeditions and ambassadors sent by England to Central Asia
2) Achieving an agreement between Britain and Russia on Central Asia in the second half of the 19th century
2.1 Reasons for the rapprochement of Russia and England
CONSLUCSION
INTRODUCTION The history of the emergence of competition between Russia and England We’ve all probably heard a little bit about the geostrategic concept of the “Great Game”. Because the “Great Game” is a geopolitical competition between Russia and the United Kingdom, the great empires of its time, to take over the territories in which we live. The origins of this situation have a long history and stages, and its consequences have had a profound impact on the political structure not only of Central Asia but of the entire world. Even now, this geostrategic game continues under the name "New Great Game", and although the ratio of historical actors and forces has changed, the territory under consideration is still the same, ya ' corresponds to the Central Asian regions in which we live. I will try to give more details in the next article about the “New Great Game” and today about the geopolitical discovery of Central Asia and the beginning of the “Great Game”.
Although the main reason for the beginning of the Great Game was the attempt of the two great empires of the world to take control of their colonies, as I mentioned in a previous article, Mackinder's Heartland theory further strengthened the British Empire's desire to colonize central Eurasia. enhanced The rise of Napoleon Bonaparte, the heavy losses of Great Britain, such as the declaration of U.S. independence, made it clear that his domination of the maritime world was not enough. As a result, after the independence of the United States, the British Empire made major changes to its colonial system. If in the past the British used the colonies only to occupy resources, after this event they also intensified the development and Britishization within the colonies. At the same time, there was fierce competition among the great empires for the division of the world.
On the one hand, at a time when the western world was colonizing the southern parts of America, Africa, and Asia by sea, the Russian state in the east grew stronger and gradually continued its rise almost without strong competitors. The Russian tsars sent several expeditions to Siberia and Central Asia and gradually began to establish the world's largest state by relocating Slavic peasants to these places. It is safe to say that the Russian emperor Peter I made the greatest contribution to this rise. As a result of the “Long Russian-Swedish War” of the early 18th century, Sweden was defeated and retreated, which finally opened the way for the Russian Empire to the Baltic Sea. Peter I quickly tried to emphasize that the Russian Empire was a European country by changing the capital of the empire to the city of St. Petersburg. But for Europe’s powerful states, Russia’s rise could only pose a threat. Moreover, the Russian Empire could not have been a European state, and both geographically and historically traversed stages reflect Russia’s Eurasian statehood. There is another important historical reason why the Russian Empire could not be a European state. As we all know, the weakening of the ancient Roman state into two resulted in the emergence of the ancient Western Roman and Byzantine states.
On November 12, 1472, as a result of the marriage of Russian Prince Ivan III to Sophia, Queen of the Byzantine Empire, and later the complete disappearance of the Byzantine Empire, the Russian kings began to call themselves Caesars as successors to the Byzantine Empire. Although the title was temporarily used by the Mongol-Tatar peoples as a result of their occupation of Russia, later with the reorganization of the Russian state, the Russian kings continued to call themselves "Caesar", "Tsar". . Moreover, the fact that the Russian Empire belonged to the Christian Orthodox Church and the Western European countries to the Catholic Church had a great influence on their foreign policy, suffice it to recall the influence of the church on the state apparatus at that time.
Although the “Great Game” was a competition largely driven by economic and geopolitical interests, these states sought to justify these conflicts with their religion and history. We are not mistaken in comparing this geopolitical phenomenon to the Cold War of the 20th century. We can even say without fear that the Cold War was the result of the distance between the two civilizations that resulted from these clashes. Although the main competitors in the Great Game were the Russian Empire and the United Kingdom, the role of other powerful states in this geostrategic game was also great. In particular, France, the Ottoman Empire, Iran, China and Japan had a strong influence on the geopolitical balance.
The political map of that period is very complex. On the one hand, the Ottoman Empire was beginning to disintegrate, on the other hand, Britain and France were determined to conquer the whole world, while at the same time they were enemies of each other. The Russian Empire, on the other hand, continued its foreign policy in isolation, fearing both the Ottomans and Napoleon's troops, as well as Britain's incursion into Central Asia. After Napoleon invaded Egypt and Syria, rumors spread that he was going to march on India. As a result, Russia, fearful of this, is strengthening its southern territories, including along the Black Sea. The defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte by Russian troops in 1812 helped Britain emerge from the economic blockade, but Russian-British relations remained cold. Thus, after the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte, the Russian and British empires stood out among the most powerful states in the world. Although the rest of the empires were not yet in crisis, their conquests were much weaker. As the Russians began to invade Central Asia from the north, British troops began to build their bases in the northern parts of the Indian subcontinenti.