138 International Relations Theory of War
Foreign Minister Prince Gortschakoff that the Russian ruler considered
Afghanistan to be a region outside Russia’s region of influence, and Rus-
sian offices would no longer be permitted to visit Afghanistan.^183
SUMMARY OF THE FIRST (1838–1842) AND SECOND (1878–1880)
ANGLO-AFGHAN WARS
In the 19th century, the competition between the two imperial powers,
Tsarist Russia in the north and British India in the south, turned Afghani-
stan into a battlefield between the two powers and something that was
later known as “the Great Game of Asia.”^184
The current study indicates systemic factors, primarily the polarity
of the system, as factors that led to the displacement of the British from
Afghanistan in the First and Second Anglo-Afghan Wars. According to
another explanation, all parts of Afghan society and all ethnic groups were
involved in the armed Afghan resistance to the British invaders. Accord-
ing to this explanation, it is important to recognize the important role of
clerics (ulama) in these two wars, not only as participants and those who
motivated the masses, but also as the individuals who led and directed
the war efforts. While the resistance to the foreign occupiers united the
divided Afghan forces by resisting the British, the religious leaders stood
at the front of the resistance as the defenders of Islam. The call for jihad
became the most effective incentive for defending the territorial integrity
and traditional culture of Afghanistan. As leaders of the jihad, the reli-
gious leaders gained considerable political power.^185
THE THIRD ANGLO-AFGHAN WAR (1919)
Why Did Britain Invade Afghanistan?The land route from Europe to India and the Indian Ocean is guarded
by a natural land fortress, Afghanistan. Along this route, Germany had
many strategic interests in both First and Second World Wars. Therefore, it
is unsurprising that Afghanistan was a significant component in German
geographic and strategic thinking. The German plans to conquer central
Asia started back in the First World War. A German expeditionary force,
were it to advance toward Afghanistan, could have allowed the German
high command, after the collapse of Russian resistance in 1917, to exploit
the advantages in the east without restricting them in other theaters. A
German force effectively made its way to Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1916.
Its goal was to incite the Afghan Muslim majority to join the war and to
form a diversion in the British backyard, on the northwestern border of
the Indian province. However, the German plans of action in central Asia
were prepared but never implemented. They were also part of Hitler’s
plans in the Second World War.^186