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The Forum: How Afghanistan won its freedom from Britain

Factual: History

People hold Afghan flags as they celebrate the 98th Afghan Independence Day in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan on August 19, 2017

06/06/2019 GMT

How Afghanistan won its freedom from Britain

BBC World Service - The Forum, How Afghanistan won its freedom from Britain

1919 and the creation of independent Afghanistan

The history of Afghanistan's struggle for independence and its aftermath

The months between May and August 1919 were a crucial time for Afghanistan: it was the period of the Third Anglo-Afghan War followed by the declaration of Afghan independence from Britain.  So how was modern Afghan national identity forged? Who were the leaders responsible? Why, in the 19th century, had the country become financially and politically dependent on Britain? And what, a century on, is the legacy Afghanistan's independence struggle?

These are some of the issues that Bridget Kendall discusses with historians of Afghanistan, professors Shah Mahmoud Hanifi, Sana Haroon and Benjamin Hopkins. 

Photo: People hold Afghan flags as they celebrate Afghan Independence Day (Sayed Khodaberdi Sadat/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

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