May 3, 1919 – The start of the Anglo-Afghan War of 1919
Upon his ascent to the throne on February 28, 1919, Emir AmanullahI declared Afghanistan’sindependence, doing away with his father’s policy of trying to gain thecountry’s sovereignty through diplomatic means. The declaration of independence was immensely popular among Afghans, asnationalist sentiments ran high. Emir Amanullahtherefore was able to consolidate his hold on power, even as some sectorsopposed his leadership. Emir Amanullahprovoked the British by inciting an uprising of the tribal people in Peshawar, British India. Using the uprising as a diversion, he senthis forces across the Afghan-British Indian border to capture the town of Bagh.
Anglo-Afghan War of 1919. The British Empire’s prized possession during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries was the Indian subcontinent. Afghanistan served as a neutral zone between the region’s two major powers, the Russian Empire and the British Empire.(Taken from Anglo-Afghan War of 1919 – Wars of the 20th Century – Volume 1)
During the early years of the twentieth century, TsaristRussia and the British Empire in Indiawere the regional powers in Central Asia. The devastating effects of World War I onthese two regional powers had a profound effect on the Anglo-Afghan War of1919. In Russia, the Tsarist government hadcollapsed and a bitter civil war was raging. Consequently, Russia’scontrol of its Central Asian domains was weakened. The British Empire,which included the Indian subcontinent (Map 7), was drained financially andmilitarily, despite emerging victorious in World War I.
With the two regional powers weakened by war, thesemi-independent Emirate of Afghanistan moved to assert its right ofsovereignty. More important, Emir Habibullah,the Afghan ruler, wanted to annul the Treaty of Gandamak, where Afghanistan had ceded its foreign policydecisions to the British Empire. Adding strength to Emir Habibullah’sdiplomatic position was that he had allowed Afghanistan to stay neutral duringWorld War I, despite the strong anti-British sentiments among his people. Emir Habibullah had also spurned Germany and the Ottoman Empire, enemies of theBritish, who had encouraged him to defy British domination in the region andeven launch an attack on British India, at a time when Britain wasmost vulnerable.
For these reasons, Emir Habibullah asked the British toallow him to present his case for Afghanistan’s independence at theParis Peace Conference, where the victorious Allied countries had gathered todiscuss the end of World War I. Habibullah was assassinated, however, before his case was decided. His son, Amanullah, succeeded to the Afghanthrone, despite a rival claim by a family relative.
Upon his ascent to the throne on February 28, 1919, Emir AmanullahI declared Afghanistan’sindependence, doing away with his father’s policy of trying to gain thecountry’s sovereignty through diplomatic means. The declaration of independence was immensely popular among Afghans, asnationalist sentiments ran high. Emir Amanullahtherefore was able to consolidate his hold on power, even as some sectorsopposed his leadership. Emir Amanullahprovoked the British by inciting an uprising of the tribal people in Peshawar, British India. Using the uprising as a diversion, he senthis forces across the Afghan-British Indian border to capture the town of Bagh.
The British Army quickly quelled the Peshawar uprising and threw back the Afghanforces across the border. The Afghansclearly were unprepared for war – although having sufficient numbers ofsoldiers as well as being assisted by tribal militias, they possessed obsoleteweapons, which even then were in short supply.
By contrast, the British were a modern fighting machinebecause of the technological advances they had made in World War I. The British suffered from a shortage ofsoldiers, since much of their forces had yet to return to India fromtheir deployment to other British territories during World War I. The British air attacks on Kabul devastated Afghan morale, forcing Emir Amanullahto sue for peace.
Afghanistanand the British Empire entered into peacenegotiations to end the war. In thepeace treaty that emerged from these negotiations, the British grantedconciliatory terms to the Afghans, including returning Afghanistan’sright of foreign policy. The British,therefore, essentially recognized Afghanistan as a sovereignstate. By this time, Afghanistan already had been nominallyindependent, as it had established diplomatic relations with the newly formed Soviet Union and its independence was gaining recognitionby the international community.
Afghanistanand the British Empire retained the DurandLine as their common border. After thewar, Afghanistan continuedto serve as a buffer zone between the Russians and the British, because of theend of the previous non-aggression treaties between Tsarist Russia and theBritish Empire following the emergence of the Soviet Unionafter the Russian Civil War.
