Great powers love to grab what lies poorly. Should any country weaken, unexpected guests are immediately announced on warships, or in the form of an invading land army.
And there are also more subtle methods of enslavement. They bribe officials, stuff the ruling elite with their agents of influence, and so on.
The fate of such a state is sad. He is robbed, forced to fight for other people's interests, the processes of decline are accelerating, and as a result, backwardness from world leaders only increases.
An example of this is Iran (Persia) at the beginning of the 19th century, which became the object of close attention of England and France. In particular, Paris and London sought to use Persia in their plans to contain Russia. In 1795, French diplomats went to Tehran. They were tasked with persuading the Shah to start a war against Russia. England did not lag behind, and soon the embassy of Captain Malcolm arrived in Iran. The Briton immediately began to distribute money left and right, attracting officials of the Shah's court to his side.
In the end, he managed to conclude an economic and political agreement. Iran pledged not to let the troops of any European country pass through its territory to India, and besides, England received the right to duty-free trade on some of its goods. In return, the Shah was offered financial support, weapons and military specialists.
In this regard, it is appropriate to quote John Malcolm: "If Russia had not crossed the Caucasus ridge, then relations between England and Iran would have been of a purely commercial nature, it is Russia's ambitions that make us preserve what is clearly necessary for our own protection."
However, under the influence of Napoleon's victories, the Shah decided to reorient himself to France. He terminated the agreement with London and agreed to let the French army pass if it was going to an Indian campaign. In turn, Paris pledged to force Russia to leave Georgia and the Caucasus.
The implementation of these plans was prevented by the defeat of Napoleon, and British influence was re-established in Iran. An endless river of bribes to the shah's nobles flowed with him. If anyone had doubts about whom England and Persia decided to be friends against, then the text of the next Anglo-Iranian treaty dotted the i's. The British, among other things, pledged to support the Shah in his intention to create a navy in the Caspian Sea.
While the British and French were weaving their intrigues, Russia resolved issues by force of arms. There was a Russian-Persian war. It began in 1804, when, at the instigation of the British, the Shah announced an ultimatum to Russia demanding the withdrawal of Russian troops from Transcaucasia. Petersburg did not succumb to pressure, and then Iran unleashed hostilities.
The main forces of our country were involved in Western theaters, because at the same time there were wars with Napoleon. This gave the Persians a significant advantage, but despite this, the war was unfortunate for Iran. Russia won almost all battles.
The very first clashes showed the overwhelming superiority of the Russian army. General Tuchkov defeated the Iranians at Gumry, General Tsitsianov in the summer of 1804 defeated a large army of Crown Prince Abbas Mirza at Kanagir.
The campaign of 1805 was marked by the great feat of the Russian detachment of Colonel Pavel Karyagin. Under his command there were four hundred people and another five hundred were numbered in the units of Major Lisanevich. It was assumed that they would be able to unite, and then the Russians would have nine hundred people. But they were opposed by fifteen to twenty thousand Persians of Abbas Mirza.
When Karyagin met the main forces of the enemy off the coast of Askorani, it seemed that the Russians had no chance. The numerical superiority of the Iranians was too great, especially since Karyagin acted alone, it was not possible to unite with Lisanevich. Fortunately, in those places there was a high mound, where Karyagin's detachment quickly dug in.
The Persians rushed to the assault, and a fierce battle went on all day. By nightfall, the losses of the Russians reached 190 people, that is, almost half of the detachment. The Kurgan was still in the hands of the Russians, but there were very few defenders left.
Abbas Mirza waited until morning and changed his tactics. He abandoned endless assaults and decided to fire artillery fire on our positions. Most of our officers died or were wounded. Commander Karyagin himself was shell-shocked three times, and after a while he was also wounded by a bullet in the side. There were 150 soldiers left, besides, the Persians cut off our detachment from the water, and the Russians were tormented by thirst. Lieutenant Ladinsky volunteered to get water.
Before the deadly attack, Ladinsky turned to the soldiers with the words: “Come, guys, with God! Let us recall the Russian proverb that two deaths will never happen, and one cannot be avoided, but to die, you know, is better in battle than in a hospital."
Leading the attack on the Persian camp, he captured four batteries, and returned to his own with water and fifteen enemy falconets (artillery gun). Karyagin's detachment gradually diminished, Ladinsky was seriously wounded, and on the fifth day of the defense, all food supplies ran out. The food expedition failed, and later it turned out that it was headed by a French spy who somehow got into the Russian army under the name Lisenkov. It was a serious failure, the already tiny detachment of Karyagin lost thirty-five people.
When there were just barely enough cartridges, Karyagin decided to take a desperate step. He decided to break through to the Shah-Bulakh castle, take it by storm and hold out to the last. In the middle of the night, the Russians, having laid the wounded on a stretcher, took off. There were not enough horses and the tools had to be dragged on themselves.
The next morning Karyagin and his people went to the castle. His small garrison slept, basically not imagining that someone was capable of attacking him. Taking advantage of the confusion of the enemy, the Russians in a matter of minutes smashed the gates with artillery fire and fought their way inside. As soon as ours took up new positions, the entire huge army of Abbas Mirza was under the walls and began a siege. There were no large provisions in the fortress, and after four days of siege the Russians ate all the horses.
Karyagin did not lose courage even in this difficult moment and prepared to stand until everyone died of hunger. He did not think about surrendering the castle, and at night he sent the Armenian Yuzbash with the task to secretly infiltrate the Persian order and convey the request for help to General Tsitsianov. Yuzbash brilliantly fulfilled the order, and not only got to Tsitsianov, but also returned to the castle with provisions. Unfortunately, Tsitsianov had very few people, and he could not provide help.
The food was divided equally, without making any distinction between soldiers and officers, but it only lasted for a day. And then the brave Yuzbash volunteered to get food. Several men were assigned to him, and he made several successful sorties. This allowed Karyagin's detachment to hold out for another week. The unlucky Abbas-Mirza changed tactics again. This time he decided to bribe Karyagin, promising all kinds of awards and honors, and even urging him to go into the service of the shah.
Karyagin used a trick and took four days to think it over, and demanded food from Abbas-Mirza. So the Russian squad, finally, was able to eat normally and rebuild their strength.
When the time was up, Karyagin and his detachment secretly left the fortress and captured another fortified point - Mukhrat, more convenient for defense than Shah-Bulakh. The feat of Karyagin and his people thwarted the plans of the Persians to strike Georgia and gave Tsitsianov time to pull together the forces scattered over a large territory into a single fist. As for the heroic detachment of Karyagin, he eventually made his way to his own.
Upon learning of this, the tsar awarded Karyagin with a golden sword with the inscription "For Bravery", and Yuzbash - a medal and a life pension. Seriously suffering from many wounds, Karyagin refused to retire and a few days later went to battle with the army of Abbas Mirza and again performed the feat. His battalion attacked the Persian camp. The name of the Russian commander began to instill terror in the enemy, and when they learned that Karyagin had appeared, they rushed to run, leaving guns and banners.
Unfortunately, Karyagin did not live to see victory in the war. Affected by the wounds received in the battles, and when in 1807 he fell ill with a fever, the body could not cope. The hero died, but shortly before his death, Karyagin managed to receive his last award - the Order of St. Vladimir, 3rd degree. In the Russian army, the name of Karyagin was passed down from generation to generation. He became a legend and an example for subsequent generations of soldiers and officers.
And the Russian-Persian war continued. In 1806, Prince Abbas Mirza was defeated twice. The Russians occupied Derbent, Baku, Echmiadzin, Nakhichevan and Cuba. In 1808, the Iranians tried to advance in Georgia, but were defeated in the battle at Gumra. The next year, the restless Abbas-Mirza moved to Elizavetpol (Ganja), but hastened to retreat, barely meeting the Russian vanguard under the command of General Paulucci.
Endless defeats could not dampen the warlike fervor of the Iranians in any way, and in the summer of 1808 they again attacked Karabakh. There they were again defeated, this time by Colonel Kotlyarevsky at Meghri. In September, the Russians again prevailed over the enemy, now at Akhalkalaki.
The British instructors, seeing that without their intervention the Iranians would continue to lose everything in a row, undertook to reorganize the army of Persia. They clearly managed to establish relative order in the combat units of the Iranians, and in 1812 Abbas Mirza took Lankaran. And then there was also a message that Napoleon entered Moscow.
The scales hesitated, and Russia began to think about the urgent conclusion of a peace treaty with Iran, and St. Petersburg was ready for serious concessions. But here the real miracle was performed by a small detachment of Kotlyarevsky, who defeated a huge Iranian army under Aslanduz.
In 1813 Lankaran passed into our hands. This heavy and shameful defeat forced Iran to conclude a peace treaty on Russian terms. Persia recognized the annexation of Dagestan and Northern Azerbaijan to Russia.
