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May 27, 2024 · Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, military action carried out in late December 1979 by Soviet troops. The Soviet Union intervened in support of the Afghan communist government in its conflict with anti-communist Muslim guerrillas during the Afghan War (1978–92) and remained in Afghanistan until mid-February 1989.
- Why Did The Soviet Union Collapse
Afghanistan In addition to budgetary matters, the Soviet...
- Mohammad Daud Khan
Mohammad Daud Khan (born July 18, 1909, Kabul,...
- Why Did The Soviet Union Collapse
The Soviet–Afghan War was a protracted armed conflict fought in the Soviet-controlled Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA) from 1979 to 1989. The war was a major conflict of the Cold War as it saw extensive fighting between the DRA, the Soviet Union and allied paramilitary groups against the Afghan mujahideen and their allied foreign fighters.
- Afghanistan
- Afghan Mujahideen victory
- 3,200,000
- Afghanistan Had Long Held Strategic Importance
- Moscow Struggled to Lock in Afghan Allegiance
- Moscow Feared Growing U.S. Involvement
- The Soviets Upheld The ‘Brezhnev Doctrine’
- Afghanistan Might Exacerbate The USSR’s ‘Nationalities Problem’
From the early 19th century onward, Afghanistan became a geopolitical pawn in what came to be known as “The Great Game”between the empires of Tsarist Russia and Great Britain. Fearful that Tsarist Russia’s expansion into Central Asia would bring it perilously close to the border of India, their imperial jewel, Britain fought three wars in Afghanist...
In 1973, Afghanistan’s last king was ousted in a coup by his cousin and brother-in-law, Mohammed Daoud Khan, who proceeded to establish a republic. The USSR welcomed this shift to the left, but their delight soon faded as the authoritarian Daoud Khan refused to be a Soviet puppet. During a private 1977 meeting, he told Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev...
Afghanistan’s chaos alarmed Soviet leadership primarily because it increased the odds that Afghan leaders might turn to the United States for help. Top Politburo members warned Brezhnev in late October 1979 that Amin sought to pursue a more “balanced policy” and that the United States was detecting “the possibility of a change in the political line...
Those warnings likely fell on receptive ears. A decade earlier, in 1968, Brezhnev introduced his new dogma: All socialist (read: Moscow-friendly communist) regimes had a responsibility to uphold others, using military force if necessary. The “Brezhnev doctrine” was a response to the “Prague Spring,” a brief period of liberalization under the leader...
Throughout its history, Russia’s massive territory encompassed a wide swath of national and ethnic groups inhabiting their historical homelands. During the Soviet era, which overlaid a repressive system of centralized power, communist leaders worried about internal challenges erupting in its satellite states—particularly the fast-growing Muslim-maj...
Nov 24, 2009 · On December 24, 1979, the Soviet Union invades Afghanistan, under the pretext of upholding the Soviet-Afghan Friendship Treaty of 1978. As midnight approached, the Soviets organized a...
- Missy Sullivan
- 1 min
Aug 4, 2014 · In Focus. Nearly twenty-five years ago, the Soviet Union pulled its last troops out of Afghanistan, ending more than nine years of direct involvement and occupation. The USSR entered neighboring...
On 24 December 1979, Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan. Amin was assassinated and a pro-Moscow leader, Babrak Karmal, was installed in his place. Challenges faced by the Soviet Army in...
The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan and the U.S. Response, 1978–1980. At the end of December 1979, the Soviet Union sent thousands of troops into Afghanistan and immediately assumed complete military and political control of Kabul and large portions of the country.
