Welcome to Russian History Retold.

Episode 301, The Great Game Part 2.

Last time, we covered the years before the Great Game, also known to the Russians as the tournament of shadows and the tension between Russia and Great Britain, especially during the Napoleonic era.

Today we continue discussing the issues between two of Europe's great powers.

Before we go on, my pod-hoster, Buzz Sprout, has added a new feature.

You can now send me messages by clicking on a link in the episode's description.

Please tell me what you think about this episode or the

podcast, whether good or bad. You certainly won't hurt my feelings if you feel

something needs to be improved. Well let's review where we are with this lengthy quote

from the book The Soviet Afghan War written by the Russian general staff and

translated by Lester Groug and Michael Gress.

The book was review of the war that helped bring down the Soviet Union by military analysts in Russia. What was puzzling to them was how the Soviet military

leadership failed to do a comprehensive evaluation of an invasion and subsequent war in Afghanistan, given the historical knowledge they had at their fingertips due to the era of the Great Game. Russia expanded her empire into Central Asia beginning in 1734, and her interest in Afghanistan

was apparent by the late 1830s. The term the Great Game

describes the Russian and British struggle for influence along the northern

border of British India and in the entire region

between Russia and India. Afghanistan was central to this contested area between two expanding empires. Russia

described her motives in the region as a desire to abolish the slave trade and

to establish order and control over her southern border.

The British viewed the Russian expansion into the lands of the Caucasus, Georgia,

Kyrgyz, Turkmens, Kiva and Bukhara as a threat to her borders.

The British believed the Russian motives were to weaken British power and to gain access to a warm water southern port.

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