Russia was once nothing more than a small, humble principality with no say in Europe at all. However, since getting rid of the control of the Mongols, it has a bit of a tiger returning to the mountains and embarked on the road of external expansion. Because of Russia's special geographical location, the only way to expand is to the west, south and east. If you want to open the mouth of the Indian Ocean to the south, you will encounter the Ottoman Empire and the Persian Empire.
Russia and the Ottomans were a bitter enemy, and for more than two hundred years, there were constant wars and small wars. So how did Russia invade another empire, Persia?
Persia has also been vast in history, and even once was a large empire spanning three continents: Asia, Europe and Africa. But since the destruction of Sassanid Persia by Arabia, the Persian region began to be invaded by foreign tribes several times, and it was not until a thousand years later that it was reunified and revived again, which was the Safavid Empire, also known as the Persian Third Empire.
However, at this time, the world has undergone tremendous changes, the era of great navigation has long arrived, portugal has opened up the Indian Ocean route, began colonial expansion. The Ottoman Empire and the Mughals of India were on the rise, although Persia, led by Abbas the Great, had changed its past in the face of the Ottomans. But the long war, coupled with internal instability, led to the decline of Persia step by step.
The Russians could not wait to pursue the outlet to the Indian Ocean, but the goal was easy to set, but to open this route, they encountered the resistance of Persia. The Caucasus, bordered by the Ottoman Empire and Persia to the south and Russia to the north, is a natural corridor to West asia and South Asia. Before Russia moved south, the Caucasus was divided between the Ottomans and Persia, of which Persia indirectly controlled Azerbaijan, Dagestan, Eastern Georgia, and Eastern Armenia.
In fact, Russia began to attack the North Caucasus as early as the middle of the 16th century, and was also in a state of war with Persia, but at that time, Russia was not strong enough, but the Cossacks wanted to establish a stronghold. After Peter the Great seized the mouth of the Baltic Sea, he set his sights on the south. Between 1722 and 1723, Peter the Great personally conquered Persia and briefly conquered the coastal areas on the west and south shores of the Caspian Sea. During this time, Russia did not completely occupy the place, and since then Persia and Russia have competed for it several times.
With the Ottomans taking advantage of the fire, the Already weakened Persian Safavid Empire could no longer survive and went to extinction, but several dynasties were established in The Persian region. At the end of the 18th century, Russia and Persia clashed, and Persia expelled Russian troops stationed in Georgia. However, within a few years, the two countries again went to war over georgia' belonging, and as a result, Persia lost and signed the Treaty of Gulistan.
After that, Russia was very strong and became a European gendarme, while Persia was already weak under repeated blows. The Russians continued to move south, and once again there was a war with Persia, and the Persian government was once again forced to sign a new Treaty of Turkmenistan-Chay with Tsarist Russia, persia was completely knocked out of the Caucasus, the Persian royal family had become a puppet of Russia, and sovereignty began to fall.
Although Russia spared no effort to increase its penetration into Persia, because of the importance of Persia's position, Britain could not allow Russia to control Persia alone. In 1907, after a fierce battle between Russia and Britain, a treaty was signed, and Persia was completely reduced to a semi-colony of Britain and Russia.