The Afghan War

By Jug and Pun

Background• The Afghan war lasted for ten years.• It started from December 27th, 1979, and

ended on February 15th, 1989• The war was between Soviet supported

Afghan communist government, and the anti-communist guerilla fighters called Mujahideen.

How did it start?

• The root: overthrow of the centrist Afghanistan government in April 1978 by left-wing military officers, who handed power over to two Marxist-Leninist political parties, the Khalq ("Masses") and Parcham ("Flag")

• They had very little votes and accepted the help from the Soviet Union

• Together, they began land and social reforms that were resented by anti-communists and Muslims.

• The rebellion of the Mujahideen grew in response, spreading all over the country

Who was involved?

• The communist side: The soviet union, and the Afghan government.

• The anti communist side: The mujahideen which were supported by several anti communists countries, such as US,UK,Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia.

Why did it happen?

• Soviet Union saw that it was a good chance to spread more communism.

• Many muslims are against communism• Muslims tribal based insurgencies arose

against the the communist government.

Soviet’s goal

• To make Afghanistan into a communist country• Getting rid of the communist resistance, the Mujahideens

“According to the official version of history, CIA aid to the Mujahadeen began during 1980, that is to say, after the Soviet army invaded Afghanistan, 24 Dec 1979. “Zbigniew Brzezinski

What Happened?• 1979 The Soviet controlled cities, large towns.• 1980-1981 The Mujahideen spread out freely throughout the countryside.

The Soviet troops tried to crush the them by many tactics, but the guerrilla fighters escaped their attacks.

• 1982 The war quickly settled down into a stalemate• 1982 – 1983 The Soviets then attempted to eliminate the Mujahideen's by

bombing the rural areas. By 1982 some 2.8 million Afghans had immigrated a to Pakistan, and another 1.5 million had immigrated to Iran.

• 1984 – 1988 The Mujahideen had the upper hand by using shipments of weapons from the US through Pakistan, such as shoulder-fired antiaircraft missiles.

• In early 1989 the United States, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the Soviet Union signed an agreement to withdraw Soviet troops and return Afghanistan to a status of peace.

How did it end/Soviet’s withdrawal

• After 10 years of fighting where not really much was accomplished, the Soviets withdraw in 1989. • During the last part of the war, Soviet prepared to withdraw focusing on only defending against the Mujahideens • Almost 15000 Soviets soldiers had died in the War• About one million Afghans had been perished • The Soviet war in Afghanistan was one of the events that led to the end of the USSR

Results/Consequences• After the war, Afghanistan became one the poorest

country in the world.• The Soviets eventually lost the war, which is one of

the factors that made the Soviet Union collapsed• The Afghan government was in ruins after the

Soviets left in early 1989.• The Taliban, arose from the Mujahideen during the

Afghan Civil War. (Mujahideen has many groups, Taliban was one of them, and the strongest out of all the groups in Mujahideen

Conclusion

• This war was a disaster for the Soviet union.• They lost the war, which made them looked

weak and pathetic• Afghanistan on the other hand, continued to a

Civil War.• The Taliban arose from the Mujahideen after

the civil war.

Bibliography

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_afghan_war#Consequences_of_the_war

• http://www.coldwar.org/articles/70s/afghan_war.asp

• http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB57/soviet.html

• http://www.historycommons.org/timeline.jsp?before_9/11=sovietafghanwar&timeline=complete_911_timeline