Abstract
The themes discussed hold meaningful connections between geography, state power (economic, military and political) and political decision-making in the scramble between Russia and Britain to control and delineate Persian territory. The objective of our introduction is to examine political geography within the context of nineteenth-century colonial contests for power, influence, territory and resources.
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- 1.
‘Persia ’ is the previous name of Iran , which Reza Shah (Reza Khan , Riz̤ā Shāh) changed to ‘Iran ’ in 1935. In this study, ‘Iran ’ or ‘Iranian Government’ refers to all periods of time excepting certain treaties or specific phrases and quotation.
- 2.
Mackinder was associated with the founding of the Geographical Association in 1893, with the objective of familiarizing ‘Britain ’s young with distant colonial prospects.’
- 3.
Mackinder ’s Heartland Theory, as propounded in the twentieth century, predicted the waning of Britain as the world island sea power unless Britain checked the rising power of the Russia . It should be noted that by the late nineteenth century, with Germany ’s desire to create a super naval power, Britain shifted its focus to Germany , which was perceived as an unnecessary luxury; therefore, it was not surprising that naval power proved a battleground for supremacy among European powers during WWI .
- 4.
In the legendary dialogue between Athens and Melos in 430 BC, the former declared that the latter’s purported ‘neutrality’ during a conflict between Athens and Sparta was tantamount to supporting Sparta and said that Melos would therefore be conquered by Athens. Melians were given the choice of abandoning their allegiance to Sparta and paying tribute to Athens, or facing the consequences if they failed to comply. Thucydides described this dialogue in his timeless masterpiece, The History of Peloponnesian War. Considered the epitome of realist thought, it demonstrates that states engage in politics for the sole objective of self-aggrandisement and power over others. The Athenians made what they considered to be a generous offer to the Melians but threatened to use raw power against them if it wasn’t accepted: ‘the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel … in fact, the strong do what they have the power to do and the weak accept what they have to accept.’ The Melians rejected the Athenian position and appealed to their sense of justice, expecting the rule of law would allow the exercise of mercy on a weak state: ‘[Athenians] should not destroy a principle that is to the general good of all men, namely, that in the case of all who fall into danger there should be such a thing as fair play and just dealing…’ (Unoki 2016: 10). The Melians argued that by believing in what they thought was right, God would save them, to which Athens retorted: ‘It is a general and necessary law of nature to rule wherever one can … and we know that you or anybody else with the same power as ours would be acting in precisely the same way’ (Unoki 2016: 9). The refusal of the Melians to denounce utopian idealism and accept Athenian realism caused the latter to condemn the Melian position as a ‘lack of common sense’ and a ‘false sense of honour’. The aftermath was the siege of Melos by Athens, mass slaughter of their men and enslavement of their women in a cold-blooded manner. Thucydides observed that powerful states like Athens compel weaker states to follow their perspectives and dictates or face the consequences of not doing so.
- 5.
The Caspian Sea was designated a ‘Sea’ by the 1982 UN Convention on Laws of the Seas and meets the requirements of a ‘Closed Sea ’ under International Law.
- 6.
Early records showing the inscription of Assyrian King Adadnerrari III date to the eighth and ninth centuries BCE. They read: ‘The Great Sea of Sunrise’ (or The Great Eastern Sea). See (Zonn et al. 2010: 198).
- 7.
It was reported that a British secret intelligence officer, Captain Arthur Connolly, who was beheaded in 1846 in Bukhara alongside his compatriot, Captain Charles Stoddart, introduced the term, ‘Great Game’. Before his execution he indicated that the Great Game was conducted in Asian territories between Britain and Russia . This scenario was often referred to as ‘Great Game I’. It was also used to describe the struggle between both European colonial powers over oil and gas resources in the Caspian Sea (Zonn et al. 2010: 198).
- 8.
Encyclopedia Britannica. Crimean War: Eurasian History (1853–1856). Online at https://global.britannica.com/event/Crimean-War (accessed 1 May 2017).
- 9.
In fact, after World War II, the British and Americans used their influence to control most of the political movements of nationalisation as well as efforts in democracy in the Middle Eastern countries by any means. The British plot and American operation to remove Iran ’s democratically elected Prime Minister from power in 1953 is one of the obvious instances which prove the leverage of both powers in Iran (Ebrahimi and Yusoff 2015).
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Ebrahimi, M., Gassama, S.K., Yusoff, K. (2019). Introduction: The Russian Heartland Versus the British World Island. In: Ebrahimi, M., Rad Goudarzi, M., Yusoff, K. (eds) The Dynamics of Iranian Borders. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89836-0_1
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