27. Britain’s Afghan Debacle
Britain and Russia spent much of the nineteenth century jockeying for influence in Central Asia, in what came to be known as “The Great Game”. The Russians sought to pursue their version of Manifest Destiny by expanding into the region, while the British suspected the Russians of coveting India, and sought to keep Tsarist borders as far away as possible from Britain’s most prized imperial possession. When in the 1830s an Afghan ruler became too friendly with Russia for Britain’s tastes, the British invaded Afghanistan in 1839.
They deposed its Russophile ruler, replaced him in Kabul with a British puppet, and garrisoned the Afghan capital and key cities to keep their new pet ruler in power. Things initially went well, the British made themselves comfortable in Afghanistan, and it seemed only a matter of time before the country was annexed to British India. However, the Afghans proved obstreperous, and Britain’s puppet ruler proved incapable of controlling the country. It ended in catastrophe for the British.
