Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan, 1979
Notes:
- Soviets wanted to influence region and fit their southern expansion policy
- Sept. 1979, Soviets invaded and installed Babrak Karmal as a puppet President
- The West, China and India were alarmed and many boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics because of it
- The invasion and Reagan being elected are seen as the ends of détente
- Soviets opposed by rebels called the Mujaheddin
- By 1985 Soviets had 100,000 troops here
- 1987 Karmal replaced by Mohammed Najibullah who was even more of a puppet
- Soviets accused of practicing inhumane types of warfare (ie. Chemical)
- Soviets eventually withdrew
- Many parallels to the U.S. in Vietnam
- Soviets opposed by rebels called the Mujaheddin
SUMMARY :
Soviets Version of Vietnam, costs soviets huge economic resources. Afghanistan has had years of foreign invasion all of which had been defeated because the countryside could not be controlled. Soviets used chemical warfare and gruesome war tactics against the people of Afghanistan. The US gave Afghan's modern weapons to fight the Soviets which costs soviets resources. People fight in Afghanistan for control of Opium mostly. Helps bankrupt soviet union.
Quotes:
On the day I became Soviet leader, in March 1985, I had a special meeting with the leaders of the Warsaw Pact countries and told them: 'You are independent, and we are independent. You are responsible for your policies, we are responsible for ours. We will not intervene in your affairs, I promise you.'
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Subjunctive questions:
If this war had not happened would the Soviets have won the cold war?