Britain invaded Kazakhstan?

1901 Map of British colonies (in red)A new historical research shows that true geography of British conquests is much wider than that one could imagine looking at the map.

Over hundreds of years, the English had managed to step into almost 9 out of every 10 countries in the world. Only 22 lands on the planet have never seen an English soldier’s boots. 

Such data is provided in Stuart Laycock’s book ("All the Countries We’ve Ever Invaded: And the Few We Never Got Round To"), published in London, reports Daily Mail.

It is worth noting that post-Soviet countries Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are among the selected group of nations left aside the attention of British crown such as Andorra, Bolivia, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Guatemala, Cot d’Ivoire, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Mali, Marshal Islands, Monaco, Mongolia, Paraguay, Sao-Tome and Principe, Sweden, Vatican.

But our country has not been listed there.

Does it mean the British had ever tried to conquer Kazakhstan?

A positive answer is obvious judging by the book, although Daily Mail keeps silence in this regard.

The author specifies that only a few countries could be named British colonies in the literal sense. The greater part of ‘conquered lands’ was listed due to formal submission – either as a result of negotiations or money payments.

Also, according to Laycock, countries would be listed as trophies in the event pirates, captors or armed explorers from Foggy Albion acted abroad upon consent or on behalf of British government.

Given this, many nations, which in fact were a part of the Spanish Empire, like Costa-Rica, Salvador and Ecuador, have been included into the list owing to numerous attacks of English seamen.

Stuart Laycock is an author of a number of books about Roman history. As he says, he decided to research British history after his 11-year-old son wondered which countries the British have ever invaded. 

“I was shocked when I finished my work. I have an excellent education, but I never encountered such facts before – they would never come to my mind. We need to remember - this is a part of our history”, says Laycock.

WKT citing nur.kz