For Russia, the importance of Central Asia is self-evident.
In the time of Peter the Great, Tsarist Russia has always been expanding abroad, as a land power country, what they lack most is the sea, in order to obtain the sea, Tsarist Russia can only obtain through expansion.
Peter the Great knew that Tsarist Russia was besieged everywhere, and if he wanted to exert greater influence, he had to use the sea, but Tsarist Russia had a vast area and did not have an ideal outlet to the sea, which was like a giant bear trapped in the forest and could not find a way out. This is also why Peter the Great has been committed to expansion in his lifetime, the purpose is to find the sea mouth, but unfortunately, although Peter the Great made Tsarist Russia much stronger, but has never been able to open the passage to the sea.
On the deathbed of Peter the Great, he left the unfinished business of his life to future generations in the form of a will, the most important of which was to plan in detail three routes of expansion after Tsarist Russia:
The first is from the Black Sea through the Turkish Bosphorus To the Mediterranean Sea, and then through the Suez Canal into the Red Sea; the second is from the South Caucasus through the Iranian region to the Persian Gulf; the third is from the Central Asian region south, through Afghanistan, North India, into the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea.
It can be said that these three expansion routes planned by Peter the Great profoundly affected the direction of Tsarist Russia later. The later rulers of Tsarist Russia also followed suit and expanded along these three routes, which further expanded the territory of Tsarist Russia, but they still failed to achieve their desire to successfully reach the Mediterranean, the Persian Gulf, and the Indian Ocean.
Among them, in order to be able to smoothly enter the Mediterranean, Tsarist Russia and Turkey even launched 10 "Russo-Turkish Wars", only because the Bosphorus Strait from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea has always been in the hands of Turkey, and to this day, Turkey still uses the Bosphorus Strait to jam Russia, making it particularly uncomfortable.
In 1853, the British and French allied forces and the Tsarist Russia in Crimea began a contest for the right to rule the Near East, and in the end, the war ended with the defeat of Tsarist Russia, which was forced to agree to the neutralization of the Black Sea, and was not allowed to reserve fleets and establish military fortresses in the Black Sea, until 1871, when the restrictions of Tsarist Russia in the Black Sea were lifted.
After the defeat in the Crimean War, Tsarist Russia held its breath, and since the Road in the Black Sea was temporarily unworkable, it would adjust its direction and reopen the situation in Central Asia.
So in the 1860s, Tsarist Russia made up its mind to occupy the countries of Central Asia at all costs, open the way into India, and then use this to enter the Indian Ocean! By the 1870s, Tsarist Russia had conquered all of Central Asia.
One
In 1885, after occupying the countries of Central Asia, Russia pushed its sphere of influence southward until it reached the afghan border, and then stopped advancing.
The reason why Tsarist Russia did not continue to go south, in the final analysis, at this time the British have been the first to strike strong, they used British India as a springboard, in 1879 launched the second invasion of Afghanistan war, and soon occupied a large area of Afghanistan, in fact, at this time, Afghanistan also asked for help from Tsarist Russia, but Tsarist Russia did not pay attention, the main reason is that Tsarist Russia still put the strategic focus on Europe, they do not want to have a war with Britain in the complex terrain of Afghanistan. In this way, Afghanistan was invaded by the British, but Afghanistan has always had the title of "imperial cemetery", and they used the extremely complex terrain to launch a counterattack against the British, which also made the British suffer.
Of course, the reason why Tsarist Russia stopped at the Afghan border and did not continue to go south was actually two factors: on the one hand, the terrain of Afghanistan was too complicated, and Tsarist Russia was not necessarily able to fully control it; on the other hand, Britain had completely occupied the South Asian subcontinent, and if Tsarist Russia wanted to continue to go south into the Indian Ocean, it was necessary to pass through Britain. At this time, russia's position in Central Asia was not yet stable, unlike Britain's influence in the South Asian subcontinent, if the two sides completely tore their faces and launched a deadly struggle in Afghanistan, Tsarist Russia's chances of winning were not great. Therefore, in the long run, Tsarist Russia can only stop in the north of Afghanistan and abandon the plan to continue south.
Although Tsarist Russia failed to open the passage through India into the Indian Ocean, they still controlled Central Asia, which further strengthened their power and even triggered a reorganization of geopolitical power in Europe. Britain also had to go north, using India as a base, to intervene in the game in Central Asia.
After the October Revolution, The Soviet Union replaced Tsarist Russia and remained in control of Central Asia, and in the subsequent Soviet period, the five Central Asian states became members of the Soviet Union.
In fact, during the Tsarist period, Central Asia was their colony, while in the Soviet period, the value of Central Asia was different. Because at this time, the Soviet Union used Central Asia as its rear research and development base.
After the end of World War II, the trend of the United States and the Soviet Union for hegemony became more and more obvious, in order to seize territory, the United States and the Soviet Union launched a contest in Asia, and then successively broke out the Korean War and the Vietnam War, in fact, this is only a partial contest between the United States and the Soviet Union, and their main battlefield is still in Europe. So in Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union placed a large number of troops to confront NATO and engaged in an arms race, with both sides trying to bring the other to its knees. In fact, this kind of tough contest is extremely unfavorable to the Soviet Union, the Soviet Union's access to the sea has always been lacking, in order to contain the Soviet Union, NATO did not hesitate to attract Turkey to join, so that the Soviet Union's passage into the Mediterranean sea was fiercely pinched by the Western countries, and the Soviet Union was also difficult to break the situation.
There was no sea lane, which made the Soviet Union like a trapped beast, it was difficult to improve the domestic economic situation through international trade, so that the Soviet economy was completely supported by oil, coupled with their support for other countries, such as Vietnam, India and other countries, which also consumed a lot of their financial resources. In the 1970s, thanks to the rise in international oil prices, the Soviet Union earned a lot of foreign exchange, which greatly increased their strength, while the United States fell into the Vietnam War and the domestic economy was weak, so the Soviet Union was in an active situation during this period. However, in the 1980s, oil prices fell, the Soviet economy deteriorated sharply, and the arms race was like a bottomless pit, which made it difficult for the Soviet Union to support its ambitions, and the collapse of the Soviet Union became inevitable.
Of course, when the Soviet Union and the United States engaged in an arms race, the Soviet Union deployed a strong military force in Eastern Europe, and large scientific research institutions needed to have a place to resettle, although the Soviet Union was a vast territory, but the severe cold in Siberia was not suitable for development, and Europe was always in a tense situation, so the Soviet Union thought of Central Asia. Throughout the Soviet period, Central Asia covered 80 percent of the Soviet Union's missile and space equipment. The Soviet Union built satellite launch sites and missile ranges in Central Asia, and this move by the Soviet Union also made the five Central Asian countries an inseparable part of the Soviet map.
Two
The Soviet Union was placing missiles and space equipment in Central Asia, which also contributed to the development of Central Asia. After all, this also means that there will be a large number of scientific and technological personnel and troops stationed, thus laying the foundation for the rise of Central Asia.
With the Soviet Union's emphasis on Central Asia, Central Asia, which was extremely backward in development, naturally received subsidies from the Soviet Union, of course, this was also taken out of the financial revenue of the relatively developed member countries in Eastern Europe, especially the three Baltic countries, but the Soviet Union's move also caused dissatisfaction among the three Baltic countries. In their view, the Soviet Union was sacrificing their interests to relieve the backward regions, which also intensified their desire to break away from the Soviet Union, which is why the three Baltic states have been resolutely separated from the Soviet Union.
Since the Soviet Union was willing to transfuse blood to Central Asia, the five Central Asian countries were also content to enjoy the benefits brought by the Soviet Union, but this also made them form an all-round dependence on the Soviet Union, and when the Soviet Union disintegrated, they completely lost their direction, and even did not want to accept the disintegration of the Soviet Union.
In 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, the 10-year war also completely dragged down the economically impoverished Soviet Union, and in this period, the importance of the Central Asian region is particularly prominent, after all, the five Central Asian countries are close to Afghanistan, so the Central Asian region became the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan supply station, the Soviet Union not only built a large number of airports and barracks in the Central Asian Military Region, but also established a perfect border defense facilities and supply centers in the Soviet-Afghan border area.
It can be said that in the 1980s, the Soviet Union's military strength in Central Asia reached its peak, and the Soviet Union directly deployed 6 army divisions, 3 aviation divisions, 5 aviation regiments and 2 air defense divisions, with a total of 400,000 troops. It was not until the eve of the collapse of the Soviet Union that these troops withdrew from the five Central Asian countries.
Although during this period, Central Asia was dependent on the Soviet Union, and economic development was not bad, but it was the complete dependence on the Soviet Union that made the development of Central Asia too single, which made them face serious economic difficulties after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
In December 1991, the Collapse of the Soviet Edifice and the subsequent independence of the five Central Asian States became very dependent on the Soviet Union, and after the collapse of the Soviet Union, their relations with Russia were extremely close.
After all, in Central Asia, the Soviet Union left a large number of nuclear warheads and other equipment, but the five Central Asian countries completely lack the ability to independently develop and develop, so they handed over these equipment to Russia on the one hand, in exchange for Russia's economic assistance, but at that time, Russia's economic situation was also particularly bad, so Russia did not completely recover these equipment; on the other hand, these equipment was directly destroyed, after all, they did not have the technology and capabilities to develop, in their view, it is very likely to cause fire to keep these equipment.
After inheriting the Soviet Union's family foundation, Russia has also become a thorn in the eyes of Western countries, and their efforts to encircle Russia are no less than those of the Soviet Union, which also makes Russia's power range in Europe shrink continuously. With the eastward expansion of NATO, not only the three Baltic countries have completely defected to the West, even Ukraine has been wavering, and Ukraine is also Russia's bottom line, which is Russia's irreconcilable western barrier, so in the process of NATO's eastward expansion, Russia has been passive, and its sphere of influence in the west has been sharply reduced.
However, Russia has never given up the Caucasus region and Central Asia, after all, this is Russia's southward passage, so Russia also maintains close contact with Central Asia, in fact, the five Central Asian countries also have a certain dependence on Russia, after all, the soviet Union's impact on the five Central Asian countries is very profound, especially in terms of the industrial system, they all use the Soviet Union's set, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, their industry to operate normally still have to rely on Russia. This has led to a certain binding relationship between Central Asia and Russia, and Russia has also taken this opportunity to increase its influence in Central Asia.
In particular, Kazakhstan, the most influential country in Central Asia, has also maintained close diplomatic relations with Russia under the leadership of Nazarbayev, which has further promoted Russia's influence in Central Asia.
Three
The reason why Russia attaches importance to the Central Asian region is also from a strategic point of view, after all, the Central Asian region has a prominent strategic role in the whole of Asia:
First, Central Asia has a special geopolitical significance.
Central Asia is bordered by China in the east, Afghanistan and Iran in the south, and Russia in the north, so it can be said that any country around Central Asia has considerable influence in the world.
Afghanistan can be described as the center of the whole of Asia, and it is also known as the "graveyard of empires", and the former Soviet Union and the United States have planted big heels here, which also shows the importance of this place. But once Russia has influence in Central Asia, it can increase its influence in Afghanistan and then unite with Iran.
In fact, Iran's relationship with Russia is not ordinary, after all, Russia and Iran are the most resolute countries to resist the United States, and the reason why Iran can bankrupt the "Middle East strategy" of the United States is largely supported by Russia. Russia can then use its influence in Central Asia to connect Iran and Afghanistan, which can gradually change the situation in the Middle East and gradually weaken the US sphere of influence in the Middle East.
To the east of Central Asia is China, a rising power that has been implementing the Belt and Road Initiative in recent years, and Central Asia was the passage of the Silk Road in ancient times, so China's strategy can also promote the development of this region. With the strengthening of Sino-Russian relations, in the future, it is completely possible to build a Eurasian economic plate that radiates from the surrounding areas with Central Asia as the center, and the scope can be expanded to Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, which will inevitably make the United States extremely jealous.
In addition, Central Asia is also a barrier to the south of Russia.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia led the establishment of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, which currently has members including Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Armenia. Russia basically includes the national defense and security issues in Central Asia in its own name, mainly because once Central Asia is unstable, there is also a threat to Russia. As soon as a riot broke out in Kazakhstan, Russia reacted quickly and stabilized the situation in Kazakhstan, after all, Central Asia is also a place where Western countries try to intervene, and once it becomes the sphere of influence of Western countries, Russia also faces a great threat.
Therefore, in Russia's eyes, Central Asia cannot be lost, Western countries are pervasive and create disputes everywhere, and the Ukraine issue has contained a lot of Russia's energy, in this situation, Russia will never be able to let its rear be broken through by the United States.
Four
With the complication of the situation in Ukraine, the contest between Russia and the United States has entered a white-hot situation, and not long ago Russia also exerted further pressure on the United States, not only chen more than 100,000 troops on the russian border, but also directly demanded that NATO stop eastward expansion.
Russia's pressure also makes the United States feel tricky, after all, Russia is really going to be hard, Russia really if it is to use troops against Ukraine, NATO really does not dare to participate, like in August 2008, NATO sent Georgia to send troops to South Ossetia, completely angered Russia, and then Russia counterattacked strongly, directly hit Georgia can not find the north, and NATO, which has been promised to support Georgia before, is completely invisible. Therefore, even if war breaks out in Ukraine, NATO is not expected to intervene.
Since on the Ukrainian issue, Russia's pressure has made the United States somewhat unable to step down, the United States wants to shift the battlefield, so they exported a "color revolution" in Kazakhstan and used the contradictions in Kazakhstan to create riots, and Kazakh President Tokaev immediately turned to Putin for help.
Although the United States tried to put Russia into a two-sided war situation, so that the situation in Ukraine could be temporarily alleviated, the rebellion in Kazakhstan completely made the Central Asian countries realize the importance of Russia, and if they lost Russia's protection, the Western countries would inevitably let them fall into chaos. Therefore, this will inevitably further bind the five Central Asian countries to Russia.
Although Russia has been sanctioned by Western countries, but Russia has not fallen because of Western sanctions, in fact, Russia is also left and right, after all, Russia is also dependent on oil exports, even if there is China's strong support behind it, but Russia still has its own considerations, they also understand the importance of economic development.
Russia's military strength is obvious to all, but in recent years it has also strengthened its economic deployment, like the promotion of "Russian-Belarusian integration" is beneficial to Russia and Belarus, and Russia is not willing to be limited to Belarus, they definitely want to expand the scope, of which the five Central Asian countries they will certainly consider, if the five Central Asian countries into integration, this will also promote Russia's economic development.
It can only be said that at this stage, the competition between major powers in the Eurasian region is also becoming more prominent, and in this context, Russia has greater expectations for the "integration" process. Since Russia and Belarus have taken the first step, the next time is when they expand, if this scale continues to expand, although it will not reach the influence of the European Union, but in the face of Western sanctions, Russia does not have to worry at all.
Of course, the Western sanctions led by the United States are difficult to lift in the short term, and If Russia wants to promote the integration of the Eurasian region, it is bound to need China's help, after all, in terms of economic development, China is a very good set. As two global powers, cooperation between China and Russia is bound to be a win-win situation, even in Russia's old territory of Central Asia, they also support Chinese investment in this region, which is also to promote the formation of a large section of the Eurasian economy.
Therefore, Central Asia is bound to be the second step in the process of integration of Russia's economic scope, and whether the Ukrainian issue can be solved in the short term, Russia will increase the promotion of the integration process in Central Asia.
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