apr 27, 1978 - Saur Revolution

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"In April 1978, to the surprise of Moscow, a Marxist coup took place in Afghanistan, resulting in the overthrow of that country’s pro-American government. The temptation to exploit this opportunity was too great to resist, and soon the Soviet Union was sending aid to the new regime in Kabul, which undertook and ambitious program to support land reform, women’s rights, and secular education. It did so, however, just as the revolution was brewing in the neighbouring Iran, which in January 1979 – in a severe setback for the US – forced its long-time ally Shah Reza Kahn Pahlavi into exile, replacing him with the Ayatollah Khomeini." (Gaddis 2006, p. 208).

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