| The 1842 Massacre of the British Army in Afghanistan |
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The tribes of Afghanistan In the 1800s Afghanistan was a geographical region inhabited by tribal clans with no common political ideology; not really a nation. The British Empire in India needed Afghanistan to become united in order to act as an effective buffer for the encroachment of Russia on British interests. In 1818, Dost Mohammad Khan succeeded in seizing power in Afghanistan, establishing himself as its ruler. Although that was conducive to the security of northern borders of British India, the British made the mistake of trying to influence the policies of Dost Mohammad, thus making him suspicious of them and opening up avenues for relations with Russia. Britain moves to protect British India The initial success – the puppet government
The invasion was initially a success. The British did not meet any opposition as it advanced on Kabul. They apparently made it clear that the purpose of the aggression was to reinstate the former ruler, by giving the people the impression that the invasion was a war of justice. "The British forces staying in Kabul could have moved into an ancient fortress overlooking the city, but Shah Shuja believed that would make it look like the British were in control (McNamara)." Emir Dost Mohammad eventually fled. The cities were reinforced; the status quo was largely preserved for two years.
An effort to improve the puppet government Dissatisfied with the political ability of their puppet ruler, the British took the government of Afghanistan into their hands. While the Afghans apparently did not mind whatever shape their politics assumed, they objected to the imposition of taxes, customs and levies accompanying British direct intervention (Ferris). The discredited puppet ruler himself showed no respect for the people by feeding the British with false intelligence reports that were meant to punish his political enemies and that served to discredit the British with the Afghan people. The British were apparently unaware that the taxes they were imposing had made life very difficult for the common Afghan.
Uprising of the masses and expulsion of the British Eventually, the unsatisfied masses ignited an uprising in 1841. The British were taken by surprise and the two people in charge of the puppet government were killed: Sir Alexander Burns was murdered in his house and Sir William McNaghten was killed by the son of Dost Mohammad, who by that time had returned to further aggravate the situation. British control was eventually removed. In January 1842, the new government staged one of the vilest displays of malice and treachery in history. In a (falsely?) gallant decision, the new regime officially allowed the British to make an honorable withdrawal. However, the tribes in the mountains, presumably being informed about the British retreating army, slaughtered all but one of the helpless people (McNamara). "The only Briton known to have escaped was Dr. William Brydon (First Anglo-Afghan War)."
Works cited Ferris, John. "Invading Afghanistan, 1838-2006: Politics and Pacification." Journal of Military and Strategic Studies. Vol. 9. Issue 1. Fall 2006. jmss.org. n.d. Web. 14 November 2009, http://www.jmss.org/2006/2006fall/articles/ferris_afghanistan.pdf McNamara, Robert. "Britain’s Disastrous Retreat from Kabul." About.com:19th Century History. n.d Web. 14 November 2009,
"First Anglo-Afghan War." Wikipedio.org. 10 November 2009. Web. 14 November, 2009. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Anglo-Afghan_War.
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