On Christmas Eve, 1979, the Soviet Armed Forces Invaded Afghanistan

Summative Proposal

On Christmas Eve, 1979, the Soviet armed forces invaded Afghanistan. Over the next ten years one million Afghans were killed and approximately four million fled the country. The war in Afghanistan was largely ignored in the West – the trickle of information that left the country came from Western journalists and filmmakers who entered Afghanistan illegally, ignoring Soviet threats of arrest and execution.

The road to war

*  The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan was formed after the Saur Revolution on April 27,1978

*  After World War II, as both the United States and the Soviet Union competed for global power, Afghanistan increasingly turned to the Soviet Union for support after the united States established military ties with Pakistan. (2001 report from Human Rights Watch)

*  At the time, Afghanistan was a vulnerable monarchy. It was led by King Zahir Shah, who, like his predecessors, was unable to merge the existing tribal society with a central government. This separation of the Afghan elite and the central government from local tribal leaders eventually caused a revolt against the monarchy.

*  The Saur Revolution of April 1978 in which the Afghan communist party, the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan, seized power in a coup and killed the country's prime minister, also created space for a foreign invasion into a country that lacked a legitimate government

The Soviet invasion

*  The Soviet-Afghan Friendship Treaty signed in December 1978 by Amin permitted military assistance and advice to Afghanistan if requested.

*  Citing the treaty and with the aim of solidifying an ally in Asia, Soviet ground forces took control of Afghanistan in December 1979 and appointed as head of state, former deputy prime minister and leader of the Parcham faction of the PDPA, Kamal Barbak.

*  Soviets immediately seized control of all strategic airfields and cities

*  KGB agents murdered President Hafizullah Amin

The Soviet strategy

*  The soviet invasion force consisted if a mixture of airborne and motorized infantry personal totaling approximately 85, 000 troops (40th army)

*  The force was not one specially crafted to fit the situation in Afghanistan, rather it reflected what could rapidly be mustered for the purpose of the invasion and for the immediate objective of securing the capital, key military bases and main roads

*  These objectives- short term in nature-in turn became the policy objectives around which the Soviet Strategy was built

The Soviet dilemmas

*The war had weakened Soviet’s military and had shown other countries that the Soviets are not indestructible. The Soviets low economy is believed to be one of the factors that led them to their defeat by Afghanistan.

*Military weakness, fled Afghanistan due to such drastic lose of Soviet soldiers, used same military tactics,

*Soviet soldiers grew tired of the lack of supplies and would barter of their equitment to get drugs, food, and electronic good

The road to Soviet withdrawal

*  It was broadcasted on February 8th 1988 by the Soviet Secretary General that the Soviet troops would begin their withdrawal from Afghanistan.

*  For two years, Mohammed Najibullah, the latest leader the Soviets had helped install, had been trying to keep his country together without the Soviet 40th Army — relying on a combination of crack troops, Soviet weaponry, patronage, and the divisions and overconfidence of his enemies.

Consequences of the Soviet Afghan War

*War left Afghanistan in economic debt, and political and ecological issues. More than 1 million Afghanistan people had died, and had left areas of the country in ruble.

*Soviet Union was defeated and had bruised the nations ego, left the military with decreased number and in need of financial aid

Annotated Bibliography

Anita:

"BBC NEWS | South Asia | Timeline: Soviet war in Afghanistan." BBC News - Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 July 2011. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7883532.stm>.

I found this timeline of the Soviet War in Afghanistan very helpful. I found the majority of my information from the book (below) but this website clearly summarized all the events in chronological order and it was very simple to understand. I can trust that this information is accurate and relevant to my topic. There was not a great deal of detail on the subject, however, it proved very helpful. As it was also from the BBC NEWS website, I could also trust that the author had authority and that the information was very accurate.

Maley, William. The Afghanistan wars . Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave, 2002. Print.

This novel chronicling the events that have taken place in Afghanistan from 1979-2002 was written by an author who has written extensively about Afghanistan and the Wars that have plagued the country. The author is not of Afghan descent, therefor, there is no bias in his writing and he simply presents the facts. The novel goes into a very detailed depiction of the war. I could trust that the author’s information was accurate reliable and relevant.

Rowan:

Reuveny, Rafael. "The Afghanistan War and the Breakdown of the Soviet Union." 1999. Online Book Web.

The PDF of a part of the book explains the history, motivations, and reasons behind the Soviet Afghan war. This PDF allowed me to understand the war, and the information was consistent and accurate with information from other websites and books. The book explained the Soviet’s struggles they faced in the war, and how the Soviet Afghan war brought shame to their country. The PDF explained the political side of the war, and how the war affected politics post war.

Girardet E. "Afghanistan War — Infoplease.com." Infoplease: Encyclopedia, Almanac, Atlas, Biographies, Dictionary, Thesaurus. Free Online Reference, Research & Homework Help. — Infoplease.com. Web. 21 July 2011. <http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0802662.html>.

This site explained the consequences Afghanistan had faced after the war and the turmoil’s Afghanistan faced throughout the war.

Questions

Anita:

1.  What role did the United States play in the Afghanistan War?

2.  Not including the Mujahideen and their followers, what did the Afghan citizens feel towards the Soviet invasion of their country

Rowan:

1.  What was the Soviets strategy and tactics they used on Afghanistan?

2.  How did the countries who helped Afghanistan contribute to the war?

3.  When the Soviets were defeated, were their egos bruised, and if so did that cause them to want to fight against Afghanistan again and attempt to defeat them?