Afghanistan Intro: The soviet-afghan war lasted for nine years from December 1979 to February 1989. Location: Afghanistan Causes: The dispute between afghanistan and soviet russia The conflict was between the soviet union supporting the rebels in Afghanistan. In reality the conflict was between the two super power who never actually met in.
Withdrawal of the troops began in may 15, 1988 and complete removal of the troops february 15, 1989. The afghan the the foreign mujahideen rebels supported by the countries such as the US, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iran supported the Afghan and the foreign mujahideen rebels. The soviet union forces such as Boris Gromov, Valentivarrenikob supported the other side.
The strength: The soviet union forces were very strong
The casualties: The soviet union army soldiers were either killed, wounded or sick
More than 800,000(1 mil) afghan civilians were killed
Many people regarded the struggle against the defensive war, one one of the prominent international volunteers was a saudi milineer
Where the conflict takes place.. The conflict took place between the afghanistan and the soviet union in the region of afghanistan. It lasted for 9 years.
What was the build up to this event? Gorilla Tactics war performed during the cause of the conflict. Afghanistan was a mountainous land law country made of majority percentage of sunni muslims, with little bit of cultural aspects of the soviet union. Imperial russian expansion was the main cause of the war. The kazakh steppe of (1732-1846) by the invasion of the russian troops followed by the capture of Merv in 1884. The russian troops entered into the territory of afghanistan which was claimed by the amir of afghanistan. Afghanistan became trapped by the russians. Internationally the outcome of the war was due to the struggle between the western, liberal democratic order of rule, with the islamic extremities. But, the historical understanding of the war was due to the struggle for the region that dominates between the afghan and the soviet union. The soviet union want to express the prestige and status because its an socialist internationalism with strong military power. Other historians analyse that the main conflict was between the white house and the Kremlin. Thus the approach to the cold war has wide range of factors magnifying the main cause of soviet and American decision making tendency.
How did the climate of the cold war contribute to the conflict? In 1979 Afghanistan seems to be perfectly ready for the cold war. from the viewpoint of the berlin it showed that communism want to proceed and Afghanistan was a part. The majority of the afghanistan troops has a strong tradition of islamic belief and they want to overthrow the westernise socialistic force. Thousand and thousands of muslim leaders were arrested and many fled to the mountainous region for the escape. Later, thousand of afghanistan muslims joined mujahideen and they want to overthrow the amin government. The russians were invited by the amin government and claimed that the amin government would be safe and the mujahideen terrorist will not be dominated. But, on December 27, 1979 the amin was shot by the russians. Barbak became the leader of the Afghan government and he totally depended on the russian military to keep his power. Many Afghan soldiers had deserted to mujahideen and this government needed more soldiers for the power. So, Babrak seeked the help of Russian troops. Mujahideen troops formed the most opponent for the Russians. They were well occupied with old rifles and had excellent knowledge on the mountainous region and the weather conditions. But, the russians used the helicopter guns and poisonous gas termed “Napalm”. By 1982 the russian army has to leave afghanistan due to political aspects in russian climate and the location.
Who were the groups involved in the conflict?
Sunni Mujahideen troops Russian Troops
Sunni muslim communities
Those military soldiers who left the Amin
Nasr Party
Shukra party
Raad Party
Andrei Gromyko
Mikhail Suslov
Dmitri Ustinov
Amin Kingdom
Babrak
Mohammed Najibullah
Abdul Rashid Dostum
Abdul Qadir
Shanawaz Tanai
Mohammed Rafi
What was the perspective of each respective group involved? The mujahideen troops wanted to overthrow the amin rule and the Babrak rule from the country as they thought the predominance of the westernise rule in the country as they were traditional sunni muslims. They don’t like the interference of the russian troops. Whereas, the amin wants to retain the kingdom and to overthrow the mujahideen terrorist rule in the country. The afghanistan communist government seeked the help of the soviet union to remove the mujahideen troops from the country as they were considered as terrorists and anti communist muslim gorillas.
What were the motivations? The positive aspects of the mujahideen terrorists were the use of rifles, extended knowledge on the mountainous region, tactical attack,enough knowledge to target the enemies to do the climatic factors and to overthrow the amin. Also, they were supported by US and Great Britain the strongest capitalist country at that time. Whereas the soviet union considered to help the amin to overthrow the mujahideen terrorist as they have the powerful helicopter services, guns, the chemical weapons and bobi traps ie the non convensional tactics.
How did they justify the actions? The mujahideen justifications were to have the non interference of the western culture to the country. As they were strong muslim extremest. While the soviet union was demanded by the afghanistan ruler to overthrow the terrorist link operating in the rule.
What Happened? The civil war started in 1979 the mujahideen killed several many soviet advisors in Herat. The soviet intern killed the mujahideen troops. The only fear of the US intervention because Amin was in contact with Americans. The soviet union was greedy to gain afghanistan as a client state. The soviet union planned to coup against the amin in 1979. But in a confusion the Taraki was killed instead of Amin. Soviet troops began to directly invade and use the conventional methods to fight against the mujahideen troops. The motorised rifle and the troop regiments were surrounded by the city. Most of the regions were under the control of the soviet union. Most of the mujahideen leaders new the surface to air missiles to control the soviet union regiments. Further, the mujahideen troops had a very difficult battle as the soviet regiments used lates tactics to win the war.
What did each side try to do to achieve their goals? The mujahideen troops were strong fierce fighters. They knew the gorilla tactics and the environmental aspects of Afghanistan. So, they started the gorilla tactics along with the surface to air missile to combat the enemies. The soviets used the variety of non conventional tactics such as Chemical weapons(Naplam), Bobi traps, Helicopters, Gun shots and several regiments took part. It was a military action in which each side tried to predominate in the war. Blocking enemy lines of communication, mine wars, siege warfare defending against raids, defending against base compass, fighting in an incircle, counter ambushes where the tactics followed by the mujahideen terrorists.
What were the end results? The last soviet troops departed from Afghanistan on February 15, 1989. When Mikhail Gorbachev became the leader of the soviet union he wanted to end the war. In the first time, Mikhail Gorbachev increased the soviet troops to end the war quicker. But after he realise that this move will not work he decided to stop interfering in Afghanistan. By 1989 Mikhail Gorbachev noticed that the war was not benefiting them as it was costing the soviet union money, troops and it was affecting their economy negatively too. Mikhail Gorbachev signed a treaty to end the war. The last soviet troops departed from Afghanistan on February 15, 1989.
What were the long-term impacts of this event? One of the long term effects was when the U.S.A gave them guns. After the war ended these guns were in terrorist hands. Although, it seemed to be a good idea at that time, it wasn’t for the future. Now there are a lot of terrorist crimes which are created by Afghanis. By these terrorist attacks Afghanistan was not able to grow as a country. As it is one of the least developed countries in the world currently. As this lead into more problems with other terrorist groups. Other terrorist groups started entering Afghanistan which lead into chaos in the country. This lastly lead to poverty and corruption into the country which also made the economy fall.
1588 words
Bibliography:
Book: Watson, William E. The Collapse of Communism in the Soviet Union. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1998. Print.
The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, n.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2016.
"Short Summary of the Soviet War in Afghanistan | The Classroom | Synonym."Short Summary of the Soviet War in Afghanistan | The Classroom | Synonym. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2016.
Subject, By. "The Afghanistan War: A Simple Explanation." PolitiFact. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2016.
"Russia and Afghanistan." Institute for the Study of War. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2016.