Britain and Russia could be said to have been natural adversaries, giving rise to the Great Game that lasted a century. In the previous life, this rivalry had even been inherited by the later Soviet Union and Russia, except Britain had declined in national strength, and the player across the board had become the United States.
It could be simply understood as a geopolitical struggle between the Slavs and the Anglo-Saxons over world hegemony. There were three key points: Europe, the Far East, and the Middle East and Central Asia. Europe needed no further explanation; Western nations and Russia had fought there for over a century. The Middle East and Central Asia were likewise focal points of contention, while the Russo-Japanese War embodied the conflict between both sides in the Far East.
Whenever Europe was strong, Russia found it difficult to exert its influence there. It would then shift its gaze toward the Middle East and Central Asia, only choosing the Far East as a last resort.
This could in fact be seen from Russia's actions from the nineteenth century to the early twentieth century. It was first driven back by Britain and France in Crimea, followed by the Russo-Turkish War, and finally the Russo-Japanese War.
In the geopolitical dispute between Russia and Britain, Persia lay at a crucial node. Britain wanted to build a land corridor linking India through the Middle East and Central Asia, with its main route involving India, Afghanistan, Persia, and the Ottoman Empire, ultimately connecting to the Mediterranean Sea.
Of course, Britain had an alternative plan: bypassing the route by controlling Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, and other countries along the western coast of the Persian Gulf.
The driving force behind this alternative plan was Britain's disadvantage in its contest with Tsarist Russia, which prevented it from