Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (24 Dez 1979 Jahr – 15 Feb 1989 Jahr)

Beschreibung:

Afghanistan bordered some of the southern Soviet republics of the USSR, making it easy for Moscow to support a communist-led government led by Taraki when it seized power in Kabul in April 1978.

Many ordinary Afghans rejected the new communist government because its atheism was at odds with their Muslim faith. The communists imprisoned, tortured and murdered many Muslim religious leaders. This led to the formation of an anti-communist resistance movement known as the Mujahideen.

In September 1979 the Afghan politician, Amin, arranged for the murder of the communist Prime Minister, Taraki, and Amin seized control. Amin entered into discussions with the US.

This alarmed the USSR who didn’t want American influence on their Southern border. 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 Afghanistan
The Soviet Red Army was ill-prepared for the desert and mountain landscapes of Afghanistan.
The Mujahideen had expert local knowledge and used the deserts and mountainous terrain to their advantage.
The Mujahideen were extremely motivated as they were fighting for their homeland and their religion against a foreign invader.

The American Response
Seeing the situation in Afghanistan as an extension of the Cold War, the US supported the Mujahideen against their old enemy, the USSR, and refused to sign SALT II.
The Carter Doctrine: Believing that the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan might lead to threats to US interests in the Persian Gulf, in January 1980 the US President, Jimmy Carter, announced in his State of the Union Address that the US was extending its policy of containment to the Middle East. The Carter Doctrine stated that the USA was prepared to use force to stop any country from gaining control over the oil rich states of the Middle East.
Alongside this, Carter formed an alliance with China and Israel to support the Mujahideen rebels against the USSR, and the CIA secretly provided the Mujahideen with weapons and funds. The USA also imposed economic sanctions on the Soviet Union and abolished most US-Soviet trade, which led to deterioration in diplomatic relations between the superpowers.
In 1980 the USA boycotted the Moscow Olympics in protest at the invasion of Afghanistan. The USSR would return the favour by boycotting the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles!
Ending the War in Afghanistan
Afghanistan became the Soviet Union’s Vietnam: an expensive, embarrassing war with little hope of victory, where they were beaten by local guerrilla forces.

It dragged on until 1988 when the Soviet leader, who by then was Mikhail Gorbachev, signed a deal to end the war and the last Soviet troops left Afghanistan in February 1989.

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