The Impact of Anti-Colonial Movements in the Middle East upon the Soviet-British Relations in the 1920s

The author analyses the impact of anti-colonial movements in the Middle East on Soviet-British relations in the 1920s. The region, which comprised Persia, Afghanistan, Northwest India, Chinese Turkestan (Sinkiang), and Tibet always played an important role in bilateral political and economic dialogue. However, the assessment of the correlation between events in Asian states and the dynamics of political developments inside both the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom has not yet been the subject of special studies, despite a significant quantity of academic publications covering the history of their relationship. Drawing on a wide range of sources, including diplomatic correspondence, analytical reviews by experts, journalists’ comments and personal impressions of contemporaries, the author examines scenarios of actions plotted by the Kremlin and Whitehall in the Middle East, while taking into account the long-term forecasts which various political groups put forward to the Soviet and British leading circles. The conclusions drawn by the author made it possible to clarify the reasons and nature of Moscow’s abstention from the idea of “world revolution”, on the one hand, and of London’s subsequent transition from mono-party to nationwide coalition Cabinets, on the other.