Afghanistan is located in Iran, Pakistan and Central Asia on the main road of transportation, is the core area of the Eurasian continent island, the strategic position is very important, in modern times has become the eyes of the imperialist powers in the eyes of the lamb, Britain, the Soviet Union, the United States and other superpowers of different eras to get involved here, but have suffered failures, so Afghanistan has also been sent to the reputation of imperial graveyard.
From the 1830s to the beginning of the 20th century, the British Empire, known as the Empire of the Rising Sun, launched three wars in Afghanistan, trying to seize this important land for itself, but all of them fell into the sand.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the maritime colonial forces represented by britain and the mainland forces of Tsarist Russia invaded Central Asia from the north and south.
After the British colonized India, they tried to control Afghanistan as a barrier to prevent Russia's expansion into the Indian Ocean, and Russia wanted to expand its power into the Indian Ocean through Afghanistan, and Afghanistan became the object of fierce competition between Britain and Russia.
In November 1838, the British used the Afghan ruler Mohammad Khan to ally with Tsarist Russia, sent 21,000 troops to Afghanistan, and in April of the following year, they occupied Kandahar and forced Kabul, and Mohammed Khan was forced to surrender to the British army, but the struggle of the Afghan people against the British invaders did not stop.
In November 1841, Akbar, known as the "Star of Afghanistan", led the Kabul Uprising, and the British invading army was in a desperate situation, coupled with the harsh natural environment in the area, the British had to agree to withdraw from Afghanistan.
In January 1842, the British army of 16,500 men retreated from Kabul, and along the way they were repeatedly intercepted, almost completely destroyed, and only a few people survived. Soon, the British regrouped and reoccupied Kabul to take bloody revenge on the peaceful inhabitants, but the British withdrew from Afghanistan for fear of repeating the mistakes of the past. Britain's first invasion of Afghanistan ended in failure.
In the 1870s, after Russia stepped up its struggle for colonies and occupied the three khanates of Bukhara, Kokand and Khiva in Central Asia, its power reached the banks of the Amu Darya River and stared at Afghanistan.
After the Conservative Party came to power in 1874, Britain actively pursued a policy of aggression against Afghanistan, and both Britain and Russia sent military delegations to Afghanistan to persuade King Hill Ali Khan to ally with it, but britain refused.
So in November 1878, the British sent 36,000 people to invade Afghanistan in three ways to start the Second Afghan War, and the pro-Russian Shel Ali Khan fled to the north after a little resistance, and after the russian request for help was refused, Hill Ali Khan was exhausted and died in early 1879.
His son Yakubu Khan gave up resistance and signed the Treaty of Gundamack with the British in May of the same year, which stipulated that Afghanistan's foreign relations would be controlled by the British, the British would set up a garrison in Kabul, and part of the territory of Afghanistan and several important mountain passes would be assigned to India.
In September 1879, a popular uprising broke out in Kabul, killing the British governor in Kabul, and in December, 100,000 Afghan rebels surrounded the British at Sherpur. The British army once again sent a large army to occupy Kabul and massacre the Afghan people. The atrocities of the British army have further aroused the indignation of the Afghan people, and the uprising has spread throughout the country.
Russia took the opportunity to create trouble for the British and supported Abdu Rahman Khan, the nephew of Sher Ali Khan, in returning to Afghanistan from northern Central Asia, organizing an army and advancing towards Kabul.
Britain, caught up in the encirclement of the Afghan rebels, negotiated with Abdul Rahman, recognized him as king, and promised to give him a lot of money and ammunition, while Abdul Rahman recognized the main terms of the Gundamack Treaty, namely that the Foreign Relations of Afghanistan were controlled by the British, but the heroic resistance of the Afghan people dealt a heavy blow to the British invaders, and Afghanistan's internal affairs remained in Afghanistan's control, and the British army withdrew from Afghanistan in 1881.
In 1919, Amanoura Khan succeeded him as King of Afghanistan and declared Afghanistan completely independent, both internally and externally, and wrote to the British Governor-General of India demanding that the British recognize Afghanistan's independence, which was unjustifiably rejected.
In May of the same year, war broke out and the Afghan military and civilians won on most fronts. Negotiations began a month later. At that time, due to the outbreak of the first non-violent non-cooperation movement in India, coupled with the fact that the First World War had just ended, Britain's vitality had not yet recovered, so it was eager to end the war.
In June 1919, the two sides concluded an armistice, in August, representatives signed a peace treaty in Rawalpindi, and in 1921 the two sides signed a treaty, which formally recognized the independence of Afghanistan by Britain. After forty years of heroic struggle, Afghanistan finally broke free from British control and regained its independence.
After three Anglo-Afghan wars, especially in the 20th century, the superpower Britain was no longer able to organize a colonial war.