That wasn't all. The conflict between Britain and Russia wasn't just a thing of the past! The two countries were at odds in the present, too, and the clashes were hardly insignificant. Until Russia's crushing defeat in the Russo-Japanese War in 1907, the Russian Bear had remained Britain's foremost enemy!
Ever since the late 1870s, the conflict between Britain and Russia in the Persian Gulf region had never ceased. Now it was raging in full swing.
The Persian Gulf held a unique geographical position. It was an essential route for Britain to reach India by land, and an ideal base from which to enter Mesopotamia and expand into the Ottoman Empire. The British Empire would never give it up, no matter what.
By the same token, the ambitious Russian Bear had its own designs on India and the Ottoman Empire. Naturally, it wasn't willing to let Britain occupy the Persian Gulf and block its path forward.
In the Persian Gulf region, the two countries were locked in fierce competition over railways, loans, trade, and even the telegraph industry.
(Don't be misled by mythic novels! Taking part in World War I, just making a token appearance, some almighty god of war taking control of the Persian Gulf and drilling for oil—John Bull and the Russian Bear would fight to the death over it!)
Now let's turn our eyes to the "Graveyard of Empires." Thanks to the American Empire, everyone knew this place very well: the famous Afghanistan!
From the second half of the nineteenth century, the Russian Bear began expanding frantically into Central Asia, soon reaching Afghanistan.
Britain wasn't having it. Any farther and Russia would reach British India. Britain immediately began interfering, but the Russian Bear wasn't one to be trifled with. Why should it listen to John Bull? For