During the First World War, Afghanistan remained neutral. German-Austro-Turkish mission, which tried in 1915-1916. to involve Afghanistan in the war, did not succeed, although these attempts were supported by the Young Afghans, Old Afghans and the leaders of the Pashtun tribes, who demanded to declare jihad on Great Britain. But Emir Khabibullah, who ruled in 1901-1919, prudently did not take risks and kept Afghanistan's neutrality. [1]
The October Revolution in Russia made a mixed impression in Afghanistan. Rather, aroused caution in the Emir's government, it aroused the approval of the anti-British Young Afghans, who sympathized with the Bolsheviks in their struggle against the intervention of the European powers. Emir Khabibullah continued to avoid activity in the field of foreign policy, primarily trying to prevent a political confrontation with London. In particular, he refused to consider Moscow's proposal to conclude a bilateral interstate agreement and declare in it the invalidity of all unequal agreements concerning Afghanistan and Persia. In court circles, the emir's indecision aroused growing irritation among the Young Afghans. On February 20, 1919, Emir Khabibullah was killed. The leader of the Young Afghans came to power, an active champion of national independence and reforms, Amanullah Khan (ruled until 1929), who proclaimed the restoration of the full independence of Afghanistan. [2]
Amanullah Khan
On February 28, 1919, upon accession to the throne, the Afghan emir Amanullah Khan officially announced that from now on Afghanistan does not recognize any foreign power and considers itself an independent state. [3] At the same time, a message was sent to the Viceroy of India announcing the independence of Afghanistan. In his reply, the Viceroy practically did not recognize the independence of the country and demanded that all previous treaties and obligations assumed in accordance with them be respected.
Even before receiving this return message, Amanullah Khan and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan Mahmud-bek Tarzi sent messages to V. I. Lenin, M. I. Kalinin and G. V. Chicherin with a proposal to establish friendly relations with Russia. [4] On May 27, 1919, that is, already during the Third Anglo-Afghan War, V. I. Lenin agreed to establish relations and exchange official representatives between Kabul and Moscow. The exchange of messages actually meant mutual recognition and agreement on the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. [5] A separate note from the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs G. V. Chicherin informed the Afghan Foreign Ministry that the Soviet government had destroyed all secret treaties that were forcefully imposed on their small and weak by strong and predatory neighbors, including the former tsarist government. Further, the note referred to the recognition of the independence of Afghanistan. [6]
State flag of the RSFSR
Flag of the Emirate of Afghanistan
On March 27, 1919, the Soviet government was the first in the world to officially recognize the independence of Afghanistan. In response, the new Afghan leaders sent a message to their northern neighbor, Soviet Russia. In a letter sent to M. Tarzi on April 7, 1919, G. V. Chicherin expressed a desire to establish permanent diplomatic relations with the Land of Soviets.
G. V. Chicherin
On April 21, 1919, Amanullah Khan again turned to V. I. Lenin with the message that Ambassador Extraordinary General Mohammed Wali Khan was sent to Soviet Russia to establish "sincere relations between the two great states." May 27, 1919 V. I. Lenin and the chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee M. I. Kalinin sent a letter to Amanullah Khan in which they welcomed the intentions of the Afghan government to establish friendly relations with the Russian people and offered to exchange diplomatic missions. [7] The exchange of messages between the two heads of state actually meant mutual recognition of the RSFSR and Afghanistan. [8]
Soon missions of the two countries left for Moscow and Kabul. The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Afghanistan, General Muhammad Wali Khan, and his entourage arrived in Moscow in October 1919. They undoubtedly provided statements by Soviet leaders. So, on October 14, 1919, in response to the hope expressed by the head of the Afghan mission that Soviet Russia would help free itself from the yoke of European imperialism throughout the East, V. I. Lenin said that "the Soviet government, the government of the working people and the oppressed, strive for exactly what the Afghan Ambassador Extraordinary said."
During the meetings of the representatives of the two countries, the Afghan side, not without the influence of Great Britain, raised the issue of territorial claims to Russia. [9]
While leaning towards the decision to provide material and military assistance to Afghanistan and, possibly, to make concessions on the territorial issue, the Russian leadership took into account that the difficult situation in Central Asia in general and in Afghanistan in particular is fraught with serious dangers. The point was that the question of replacing the preliminary agreement between Afghanistan and Great Britain concluded in August 1919 with a permanent agreement was to be discussed at a special bilateral conference that was being prepared at that time, and the likelihood of negative turns of British policy for the interests of Afghanistan and Russia was far from following. exclude.
Having proclaimed the independence of Afghanistan, Amanullah Khan enlisted the support of the army and the broad masses of the population. The proclamation of Afghanistan's independence became the cause of the Third Anglo-Afghan War, as a result of which the British aggressors were unable to change the situation in the country in their favor. The hostilities begun by Great Britain on May 3, 1919, ended on June 3 with the conclusion of an armistice, and on August 8, the Rawalpindian preliminary peace treaty was signed, establishing peaceful relations between Great Britain and Afghanistan and the recognition of the "Durand Line", as well as the abolition of British subsidies to the emir. [10] Under the Treaty of 1921, Great Britain recognized the independence of Afghanistan. [11]
Going to a truce with Afghanistan, the British could not fail to take into account the strengthening of Soviet-Afghan relations that continued in May - June 1919. On May 25, an emergency mission of Muhammad Wali Khan arrived in Bukhara, heading for Soviet Russia. She brought the Bukhara emir a letter in which Amanullah Khan warned the Bukhara government against "the sworn enemies of the peoples of the East - the British colonialists." The Emir of Afghanistan asked the Emir of Bukhara to refuse to assist the British and by all means to support the Bolsheviks - “true friends of Muslim countries”. [12]
On May 28, 1919, the Afghan Extraordinary Embassy headed by Muhammad Wali Khan arrived in Tashkent. There, however, it was forced to stay, tk. the railway connection with Moscow was again interrupted.
In response to the arrival of the Afghan emergency mission in the Soviet country, at the end of May, a diplomatic mission of the Turkestan Soviet Republic headed by N. Z. Bravin. In June 1919, the Consulate General of Afghanistan was established in Tashkent.
Upon arrival in Kabul, N. Z. Bravin informed the Afghan government of the readiness of Soviet Turkestan to provide all kinds of assistance, including military assistance. In turn, the Afghan government took some measures to prevent the British from completely subjugating Bukhara and using it to attack the Soviet state. Having received information that the Emir of Bukhara was preparing for an attack on Soviet Turkestan, Amanullah Khan in mid-June 1919 sent a special order to the governor of Northern Afghanistan Muhammad Surur Khan: “Send immediately one or two persons whom you can trust so that they Abstained Shah (i.e. the Emir of Bukhara - A. Kh.) from this intention and explained to him that the war between Bukhara and the Russian Republic would put Afghanistan in a dangerous position and serve the enemy of the eastern peoples, i.e. England, in achieving their goals”[13].
It is quite significant that at the end of November 1919 the Afghan government proposed to the Soviet diplomatic agent in Kabul N. Z. Bravin to take part in the upcoming Anglo-Afghan negotiations as a member of the Afghan delegation. [14]
On June 10, the Afghan government, through the Afghan emergency mission in Tashkent, received the response of the Soviet government to the letter of Amanullah Khan and M. Tarzi dated April 7, 1919. In its response, the Soviet government expressed its consent to the establishment of diplomatic relations with Afghanistan and reaffirmed the recognition of its independence.
The Soviet government sent an embassy to Afghanistan headed by Ya. Z. Surits. On June 23, 1919, he left Moscow with a permanent staff. Among them, as the first secretary was I. M. Reisner. [15]
Soon after this, the embassy of Mohammed Wali Khan arrived in Moscow. Thus, negotiations on the conclusion of a bilateral treaty were conducted simultaneously in Kabul, where the plenipotentiary representative of the RSFSR in Central Asia Ya. Z. Surits, and in Moscow. On September 13, 1920, a preliminary Soviet-Afghan treaty was signed, the main task of which was to proclaim friendly relations between the participating countries. This indicates an urgent need for both sides to confirm mutual recognition in order to change the unfavorable foreign policy environment. [16]
In a report at a meeting of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the RSFSR on June 17, 1920, G. V. Chicherin noted that “the broad masses of Afghanistan treat us, Soviet Russia, with such sympathy, seeing in us the main defenders of the preservation of their independence, and at the same time, influential mountain tribes, exerting strong pressure on the policy of the Afghan government, so decisively stand for a close alliance with us, and the Emir himself is so clearly aware of the British danger that, in general, our friendly relations with Afghanistan are becoming more and more consolidated. In recent public speeches, the emir clearly spoke for close friendship with the Soviet regime, against the aggressive policy of England”[17].
The subversive activities of British diplomacy intensified in connection with the resumption of Anglo-Afghan negotiations at the beginning of 1921. The head of the British mission, G. Dobbs, urged the Afghan authorities to limit themselves only to trade agreements with Soviet Russia, abandoning the agreement agreed on September 13, 1920. He also demanded that Afghanistan renounce the patronage of border tribes. In return, Great Britain promised to allow duty-free transportation of Afghan goods through India, exchange diplomatic representatives (not through the Anglo-Indian government, as was the case before, but directly between Kabul and London), revise the article of the Rawalpind Treaty, which provided for the unilateral establishment of a section of the Afghan-Indian border by the British Commission west of Khyber, provide financial assistance to Afghanistan.
However, the British failed to achieve their goals. In February 1921, negotiations with Great Britain were suspended.
At that time in Moscow, the final preparations for the signing of a treaty with Afghanistan were completed. February 25 Plenum of the Central Committee of the RCP (b), held with the participation of V. I. Lenin, considered the proposal of G. V. Chicherin on Afghanistan and decided to “agree with Comrade. Chicherin.”[18]
Despite the opposition from Great Britain, a certain inconsistency of the Afghan leadership, as well as unresolved border issues, on February 28, 1921, the Treaty of Friendship between the RSFSR and Afghanistan was signed. [19]
In the Treaty, the parties confirmed the recognition of each other's independence and the establishment of diplomatic relations, pledged "not to enter into a military or political agreement with a third power that would cause damage to one of the contracting parties." The RSFSR granted Afghanistan the right of free and duty-free transit of goods through its territory, and also agreed to provide Afghanistan with financial and material assistance. [20]
In the summer of 1921, the British mission of H. Dobbs, which was negotiating with the Afghan government, decided to make the last pressure, making "an indispensable condition of the (Anglo-Afghan. - AB) treaty the final establishment of British control over Afghanistan's foreign relations with Soviet Russia." [21].
Despite the British attempts to prevent the ratification of the Soviet-Afghan treaty, Emir Amanullah Khan convened a broad representative assembly - the Jirga - to comprehensively condemn both projects - Soviet and British. The jirga rejected the UK proposal. On August 13, 1921, the Afghan government ratified the Soviet-Afghan treaty. [22]
Having achieved full political independence and signing the relevant agreements with Soviet Russia and Great Britain, having established diplomatic relations with Persia, Turkey and a number of European countries, Emir Amanullah Khan began to implement a modernization program. [23]
Notes (edit)
[1] System history of international relations. T. 1. M., 2007, p. 201.
[2] Ibid. For more details see: Essays on the History of Soviet-Afghan Relations. Tashkent, 1970; History of Soviet-Afghan relations (1919-1987). M., 1988.
[3] As a result of the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878-1880), the sovereignty of Afghanistan was limited by the fact that the country was deprived of the right to independent relations with other states without the mediation of the British authorities in India.
[4] Soviet-Afghan relations. M., 1971, p. 8-9.
[5] Ibid, p. 12-13.
[6] Documents of the foreign policy of the USSR. T. II. M., 1958, p. 204.
[7], p. 36.
[8] History of Afghanistan. XX century. M., 2004, p. 59-60.
[9] Soviet Russia and neighboring countries of the East during the Civil War (1918-1920). M., 1964, p. 287.
[10] For details, see: The Failure of British Policy in Central Asia and the Middle East (1918-1924). M., 1962, p. 48–52; A Collection of Treaties, Engagements and Sanads, Relating to India and Neighboring Countries. Comp. by C. U. Aitchison. Vol. 13, p. 286-288.
[11] British and Foreign State Papers. Vol. 114, p. 174-179.
[12] Soviet Russia …, p. 279-280.
[13] Quoted. according to the book: Soviet Russia …, p. 282.
[14] Ibid, p. 288.
[15] History of Afghanistan. T. 2. M., 1965, p. 392-393.
[16] History of diplomacy. T. III. M., 1965, p. 221-224.
[17] Articles and speeches on international cooperation. M., 1961, p. 168-189.
[18] Soviet diplomacy and the peoples of the East (1921-1927). M., 1968, p. 70.
[19] Russian border with Afghanistan. M., 1998, p. 30–33.
[20] Essays on the history of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. T. II. M., 2002, p. 56.
[21] Report of the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs to the IX Congress of Soviets (1920–1921) M., 1922, p. 129. Quoted. according to the book: Essays on history …, p. 22.
[22] Report of the NKID to the IX Congress of Soviets …, p. 129.
[23] System history …, p. 208. For more details see: Ten Years of Afghanistan's Foreign Policy (1919-1928) // New East. 1928, no. 22.
