1 / 21

Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan

Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan. Background info…. Afghan Communist Party founded in 1965. Communist Party took control in a Soviet backed military coup in 1978. Party never had much support, especially in the rural areas.

sheri
Download Presentation

Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan

  2. Background info… Afghan Communist Party founded in 1965. Communist Party took control in a Soviet backed military coup in 1978. Party never had much support, especially in the rural areas. In a short time, Afghan Rebels had control of 22 of 28 Afghan provinces.

  3. Why was communism so unpopular in Afghanistan? 1. Promoted secularism. - Separation of religion and politics - Afghans very religious (Islam) 2. Tax collection was rejected by the rural Afghans. 3. Collectivization of land was rejected.

  4. Why did the Soviet Union invade Afghanistan? The idea to invade Afghanistan was first rejected by the Soviets in the spring of 1979. High level Soviet officials (Troika) thought it would be too risky.

  5. Why did the Soviet Union invade Afghanistan? 1. Fear of US influence in the region. New Afghan Communist Party Leader wanted closer ties to the US (Tito?) US lost Iran (Iranian Revolution), might try to win/invade Afghanistan. The KGB thought the US might place nuclear weapons there. Soviets wanted to avoid being encircled.

  6. 2. Over confidence. - Had the impression they were invincible (Hungarian Revolution ‘56, Prague Spring ‘68).

  7. 3. Worried about Extremist Islam If Afghan Muslims were successful against the Soviets, others might follow.

  8. Why did the Soviet Union lose? 1. Stinger Missiles - Shoulder operated missiles that could shoot down aircraft. 2. Mujahedeen - Very motivated, heavily funded (CIA, Pakistan, Iran ) and used guerrilla tactics. - Controlled the countryside 3. Economic Troubles ($8 Billion per year)

  9. The United States boycotts the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow to protest the Soviet invasion. Withdraw in one month or we boycott the games!

  10. The United States (CIA) helped supply the Mujahedeen with military hardware to fight the Soviet Union.

  11. - Gorbachev announced Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan February 1988 . - Full withdrawal February 1989.

  12. Results Soviet Union lost 15,000 troops. Collapse of the Soviet Union would follow shortly after. Over 1 million Afghans died. Afghanistan was left with weak government. War would continue on.

  13. “bleeding wound.”

More Related