The Great Game

With the Hindu Kush being 7, 692 meters in height and an essential geographical defense, leading imperialist powers such as the British Empire and the Czarist Russia race to seize Afghanistan. On two separate occasions, British troops from India were able to enter into the country and establish puppet governments for economic reasons. This phase of Afghanistan history is respectively known as “the Great Game.” However, those who existed at this time frame would not simply word it as “a game”. People of invaded regions underwent devastating states of material destruction and poverty. Besides the rivalry between Great Britain and Russia, Britain had two other anxious possibilities. Iran was under the control of Russian headquarters; therefore asked to capture Herat, historically noted to be the western entryway to Afghanistan and northern India. Second of all, in Kabul, was the presence of Russian agent, Captain P. Vitkevich and the British agent alexander Burnes, for commercial discussions. (U.S. Library of Congress, section The Great Game)(Ritscher Adam, section A Brief History of Afghanistan)(NASA Hindu Kush)

In a total of sixty years, 1919 – 1979, Afghanistan had altogether undergone three phases. During the first phase, the ties between Afghanistan and Great Britain were broken. Instead, the Afghanistan people would look towards the Soviet Union to stable them in times of need. Taking up his position, Nader Shah during the second phase had marked the dawn of the “closed borders era”. Natural resources, at this time of Afghanistan were being unearthed; proving to be a promising productive future. Favourable contracts went over to the hands reaching Americans for financial assistance and large investments, yet the Afghanistans ...

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