It also promised military aid to all of afghanistans neighboring countries. Nov 04, 2011 the afghans never beat the russians per say, like how the vietcong and nva never beat the americans during the vietnam war. Sep 01, 2009 urban legend has it that the introduction of american stinger manpads led to soviet defeat. The russians, won every major combat operation and in the end suffered over 14,000 kia loses, where as the afghan fighters are believed to have suffered near the million mark. Their strong successful power was shown in ukraine 19451951, east germany 1953, hungary 1956 and czechoslovakia in 1968. Feb 15, 2012 a convoy of soviet tanks wave to crowds after their arrival in kabul from the eastern city of jalalabad as part of the soviet withdrawal from afghanistan may 15, 1988. The reality is the afghan mujahideen did not defeat the soviets on the. Lessons from postsoviet afghanistan haunt debate on.
The soviet union feared the loss of its communist proxy in afghanistan. Lastly, the cia gave money, weapons and training to the mujahideen to help them defeat the communists and the ussr. Oct 20, 2008 soviet troop strength in afghanistan, he said, reached its peak in 1987 with a force of about 140,000. Although it was not the only factor, certainly the soviet war in afghanistan helped to hasten the end of one of the two superpowers. Does it stand back and use the billions of dollars of military aid that it would have otherwise. Soviet war in afghanistan december 1979 to february 1989. The translatoreditor established his credentials with his first two books on this. The soviet intervention in afghanistan by alfred l. Dec 20, 2019 on december 24, 1979, the soviet union invades afghanistan, under the pretext of upholding the soviet afghan friendship treaty of 1978 as midnight approached, the soviets organized a massive.
The sovietafghan war had an important impact in popular culture in the west, due to its scope. Minutes of conversation between brezhnev and honecker, and andropovgromykoustinovponomarevs reports to brezhnev in the summer and fall of 1979 shed light on soviet thinking on wider geostrategic implications of the situation in afghanistan, the impact of the iranian revolution in the region, perceived u. He was presumed a turncoat, which carried a criminal. It is as if leonid brezhnev, the soviet leader at the time, was a kind of mafia don, and his fellow politburo members and generals his mob family bosses. On april 27, 1978, sovietadvised members of the afghan army overthrew and executed president mohammed daoud khan. In fact, stingers did not show up until 1986, and the soviets had already lost the war by then and. The mujahideen were backed primarily by the united states. The mujahideen were trying to prevent communism from spreading while the north vietnamese and the viet cong were communist. In the great gamble, gregory feifer examines the conflict from the perspective of the soldiers on the ground. The more foreign troops you have roaming the country, the more the irritative allergy toward. The entry of the soviet union into the country caused an immediate increase in the presence of foreign. Near herat, afghanistan afghan rebels snipe at sovietheld positions near herat january 11. For soviet defeat in afghanistan, us helped create a nuclear pakistan.
The invasion of afghanistan in 1979 was to kick the us out of afghanistan and to make sure they stayed out. It also promised military aid to all of afghanistan s neighboring countries. By the late 1980s, moscows exit strategy was basically the same as natos today to build up an allied government in kabul with sufficient trained army and police forces to defend itself, thereby allowing foreign troops to leave. In it, the author discusses three dimensions of the soviet strategy to defeat resistance and consolidate its rule in afghanistan. The message from veterans of the sovietafghan war is clear. The soviets seemed to experience similar military scenarios that the americans had in vietnam. Dec 23, 2004 the soviet union invaded afghanistan 25 years ago this month the first time since world war ii that organized soviet troops had been sent outside the bloc or cuba. Some 400,000 afghans lost their lives as a result of fighting between militia factions and the mujahedin, and later the taliban, who emerged from the mujahedin and rose to power in the late 1990s. Will stick to authored books on the subject from here on out, high command reports are not my reading style in the slightest. A russian blockbuster film about soviet defeat in afghanistan is reminder of u. Consequently, in afghanistan the soviet army found its tactics inadequate to meet the. Sadly abit dry, to be expected though since its simply the direct translation of the soviet high commands write up of their participation and the break down of support structures during the soviet afghan war. As it should now be clear to you, dear reader, soviet soldiers were not that discriminating when sourcing their sauce. Jul 31, 2016 this is the unique story of gennadynikmamat, a former soviet soldier who was captured by the mujahideen during the soviet war in afghanistan.
That the usa would go to war with any country that threatened americas oil supplies. According to this report, the 19791989 sovietafghan war lead to the death of 14,453 russian soldiers and the wounding of 53,753 moreand that by the time this war was ended, due to the disastrous economic costs of this conflict, the death knell of the former soviet union was sounded leading to its collapse two years later in 1991. For soviet defeat in afghanistan, us helped create a. The decision of the soviet bureaucracy, under mikhail gorbachevs leadership, to withdraw its military forces from afghanistan agreed in march 1988 and completed by february 1989 was a major turning point.
Even when not directly portrayed, service in the war is sometimes used as a backstory for russian. A complete analysis of the soviet intervention in afghanistan in late 1979 must wait until enough time passes for that event to be evaluated in terms of longrange soviet military and political objectives. Its retreat is an epochal event, the culmination of an american policy begun under jimmy carter and. The united states expanded the vietnam war into countries throughout southeast asia such as laos and cambodia while the soviets and the afghans remained primarily in afghanistan.
This book was written by a soviet journalist and recounts many of the experiences of the soviet army in the last couple of years of the war. The fire of civil war raged in afghanistan for more than a decade between the soviet pullout and the united statesled invasion in 2001. The sovietafghan war was a conflict wherein insurgent groups known collectively as the mujahideen, as well as smaller maoist groups, fought a guerrilla war against the soviet army and the democratic republic of afghanistan government for over nine years, throughout the 1980s, mostly in the afghan countryside. The soviet invasion had enormous implications on the. Not every legacy bequeathed by the soviets is lost.
This is the unique story of gennadynikmamat, a former soviet soldier who was captured by the mujahideen during the soviet war in afghanistan. Najibullah, but this was not enough, and kabul fell to the mujahideen in 1992. As people do, braithwaite observes, when they set out to repeat the. In july 1987, a pakistani, arshad pervez, was arrested by us authorities when he was trying to bribe a customs official to get an export license to buy high strength maraging steel mainly used for building centrifuges to enrich uranium and large amounts of. Daoud was a leftist progressive, but not a communist, and he. Tamarov was a member of the soviet unions airborne assault force and served on the front lines in afghanistan as part of a minesweeping team. Jun 14, 2016 the message from veterans of the soviet afghan war is clear. Nov 24, 2015 the document does not even mention afghanistan, referring to it as simply country a, and it provides little insight into the soviet decision to send in troops. The above words of warning to america are attributed by the npr radio to former soviet afghan war veteran, lt. As a result, 15,000 soviet people were killed and 37,000 wounded. Few people are more respected or better positioned to speak on the soviet invasion of afghanistan than m.
The long and costly war left the soviet economy in shambles. You get what you pay for, this is the literary equivalent of the cold, soul killing. Babrak karmal, afghanistans new president, charged the soviets with causing an increase in the unrest, and demanded that the 40th army step in and quell the rebellion, as his. On december 24, 1979, the soviet union invades afghanistan, under the pretext of upholding the sovietafghan friendship treaty of 1978. Soviet troop strength in afghanistan, he said, reached its peak in 1987 with a force of about 140,000. During the civil war, fighters threw their enemies from its rooftops. Afghanistan borders the soviet unionas well as iran, pakistan, and a fragment of chinaand it is a fact of life that wars occur more frequently between neighbors than between distant states. In july 1987, a pakistani, arshad pervez, was arrested by us authorities when he was trying to bribe a customs official to get an export license to buy high strength maraging steel mainly used for building centrifuges to enrich uranium and large amounts of beryllium that could be used. Are there any good books about the sovietafghan war. Sep 25, 20 the fire of civil war raged in afghanistan for more than a decade between the soviet pullout and the united statesled invasion in 2001. In gripping detail, he vividly depicts the invasion of a volatile country that no power has ever successfully conquered.
Counterinsurgency in afghanistan and pakistan, 20012011, describes the lessons learned after ten years of war in afghanistan. Lyakhovsky and other authors report that at the same time, the top soviet military and political leadership held secret deliberations on the possibility of early withdrawal of soviet forces from afghanistan. Dec 12, 2006 a former soviet soldier lives among afghans when the last soviet general left afghanistan in 1989, he declared that none of his soldiers were left behind. The afghans never beat the russians per say, like how the vietcong and nva never beat the americans during the vietnam war.
The soviet war in afghanistan was a war initially fought between the forces of the afghanistan government and foreign mercenaries. The soviet invasion of its neighbour afghanistan in december 1979 sparked a bloody nineyear conflict in that country until soviet forces withdrew in 198889, dooming the communist afghanistan government to defeat at the hands of the mujahideen, the afghan popular resistance backed by the usa and other powers. Cassidy, author of the new, critically acclaimed book, war, will, and warlords. Jan 01, 2009 the soviet war in afghanistan was a grueling debacle that has striking lessons for the twentyfirst century. They used napalm, poison gas, and helicopter gun ships but still could not defeat the mujahideen, who used mainly old rifles but carried with them extensive knowledge of the terrain. Sergei maximov, on the 20th anniversary of the humiliating defeat of the soviet empire twenty years ago today.
From soviet role in afghanistan president obama met last week with afghan president hamid karzai about plans to remove all u. A professor at kabul university and scholar of afghanistan affairs at the time of the 1978 coup detat, kakar vividly describes the events surrounding the soviet invasion in 1979 and the encounter between the military superpower and the poorly armed afghans. The sovietafghan war was a severe challenge for both soviet and afghan people, who were real victims of the communist regime and were forced by their governments to take part in this horrible war. A former soviet army soldier who went missing in action in 1980 during the soviet invasion of afghanistan has been found alive almost 33. Preceding the attack on afghanistan in late 1970s the soviets had previous success with invasions. Sep 04, 2015 as it should now be clear to you, dear reader, soviet soldiers were not that discriminating when sourcing their sauce. A digital reproduction is available from eeditions, a collaboration of the university of california press and the california digital librarys escholarship program. Urban legend has it that the introduction of american stinger manpads led to soviet defeat. It also fueled the rise of a free press and open dissent among not only ethnic minorities but also from russians who had lost loved ones in the fighting. Without longterm foreign support and funding, the afghan military will struggle. For soviet defeat in afghanistan, us helped create a nuclear. Afghanistan is russias vietnam possibly with even greater consequences for the soviet union.
Secretly keeping a detailed journal and photographic record of his combat missions in the mountais, tamarov captured the fear, futility, and violence of an insane war. Its retreat is an epochal event, the culmination of an. On february 15, 1989, the last soviet troops pulled out of afghanistan, nine years after they swept into the country. The russian defeat in afghanistan socialist alternative. The document does not even mention afghanistan, referring to it as simply country a, and it provides little insight into the soviet decision to send in troops. Without proper equipment and training, the afghanistan government was unable to resist the foreign mercenaries, eventually seeking the aid of the soviet union. Many historians believe that in the end, the soviet war in afghanistan was key in destroying one of the cold war worlds two superpowers. The soviet invasion of afghanistan in december 1979 was roundly. If you are looking for a historical account of the soviet war in afghanistan, this is not it. During the civil war, fighters threw their enemies from its. The silo, an industrial bakery, fed the national afghan army and police. Is the us still supporting pakistan, saudi arabia selling arms to them etc or does it ignore the whole conflict. The soviet invasion had enormous implications on the global stage.
The entry of the soviet union into the country caused an immediate increase in the. During the last years of the cold war, the soviet union sent some of its most elite troops to unfamiliar lands in central asia to fight a vaguely defined. The soviets invasion in afghanistan was a repeat of 1968 and also similar to the vietnam us war. The soviet war in afghanistan was a grueling debacle that has striking lessons for the twentyfirst century. Us admits total defeat in afghanistan as russian victory.
Russia and afghanistan institute for the study of war. In this second part of a twopart interview by government book talk blog editor michele bartram, col. The rebel raiding party, travelling by motorcycle and horseback, crossed from iran into afghanistans doab valley in a threeday raid. The russian defeat in afghanistan the decision of the soviet bureaucracy, under mikhail gorbachevs leadership, to withdraw its military forces from afghanistan agreed in march 1988 and completed by february 1989 was a major turning point. The soviet union invaded afghanistan 25 years ago this month the first time since world war ii that organized soviet troops had been sent outside the bloc or cuba. A convoy of soviet tanks wave to crowds after their arrival in kabul from the eastern city of jalalabad as part of the soviet withdrawal from afghanistan may 15, 1988. Afghanistan was a ussr friendly nation and then when the iranians kicked the cia out of iran they started moving into afghanistan because they wanted spy bases in countries next to the soviet union. Boozing through the sovietafghan war was more horrifying. The christian science monitor is an international news organization that delivers thoughtful, global coverage via its website, weekly magazine, online daily edition, and email newsletters.
The soviet war in afghanistan reprint by gregory feifer. The politburo sessions of january 17 and 28, 1980 carried extensive discussions of the situation in afghanistan. As obama ponders us policy and more us troops in afghanistan, there are echoes of soviet defeat, according to bbc. In afghanistan, a soviet past lies in ruins the new york times.
If nato forces do not heed their warning, they say history will be tragically repeated. Several recurring themes are that the sovietsrussians have not given accurate. During the last years of the cold war, the soviet union sent some of its most elite troops to unfamiliar lands in central asia. Us admits total defeat in afghanistan as russian victory in. The afghanistan war with the soviet union history essay. Soviet soldier missing since 1980 found in afghanistan cnn. A former soviet soldier lives among afghans when the last soviet general left afghanistan in 1989, he declared that none of his soldiers were left behind. With the hidden war he provided the world its first glimpse inside the soviet military machine, capturing the soldiers terror, helplessness, and despair at waging war in a foreign land against an unseen enemy for unclear purposes. Feb 12, 2012 not every legacy bequeathed by the soviets is lost.
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