Soviet war in afghanistan simple english wikipedia, the. The peshawar seven insurgents received military training in neighboring pakistan and china, as well as. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read the sovietafghan war 197989. They know well that what happened in 1978, when a fanatic marxist party seized power in kabul, was a coup, not a revolution. Time to end the lost afghan war common dreams views. More than 15,000 soviet soldiers died there, and probably more than a million afghan civilians. Afghanistan and the soviet withdrawal 1989 20 years later. Fallout from reagans afghan war july 11, 2015 in the 1980s, president reagan funded and armed islamic fundamentalists to defeat a sovietbacked secular regime in afghanistan. The soviet invasion had enormous implications on the global stage. 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.
Against a backdrop of book recommendations, five books editor sophie roell reflects on family members lost, and those who survived. Chaos after soviet withdrawal gave rise to taliban npr. This event began a brutal, decadelong attempt by moscow to subdue the afghan civil war and maintain a friendly and socialist. The war was condemned by the united nations, the us pulled out of the salt treaty talks, and the us boycotted the 1980 olympic games in moscow.
The book consists of separate chapters on various aspects of the war, including the experiences of various components of the soviet army. The soviet war in afghanistan was a war initially fought between the forces of the afghanistan government and afghan assistance fighters, supporter from abroad. Exactly 30 years ago the last units of the soviet limited military contingent left afghanistan. In the brutal nineyear conflict, an estimated one million civilians were killed, as well as 90,000 mujahideen fighters, 18,000 afghan troops, and 14,500 soviet soldiers. The entry of the soviet union into the country caused an. Violence of the most murderous, indiscriminate, and terrible kind started this afghan war. The afghanistan war and the breakdown of the soviet union. The war ends when mikhail gorbachev became leader of the soviet union he wanted the war to end. Most important is the pakistani version, written by the isi commander of the battle, mohammad yousaf, with mark adkin in the bear trap. Are there any good books about the sovietafghan war.
Sovietafghan war came to an end on february 15, 1989. This photographic history of the sovietafghan war of 1979 to 1989 gives a fascinating insight into a grim conflict that prefigured the americanled campaign in that country. She became a legend, albeit not for her military deeds, but thanks to. Born in the 1960s in southern uzbekistan, into the muslim faith, mamura was a komsomol and volunteered for afghanistan, where she served in particular as an army censor. First, a new and more inclusive internal political arrangement in which enough afghan citizens have a stake, and the central government has enough power and. List of books and articles about soviet invasion of. A firsthand account of the most extraordinary battle in the afghan war by. The intense images of afghanistans long and distant war. Primer on russian afghan war, 19791989, lessons learned. More broadly, the term also encompasses military activity within afghanistan after 1992but apart from the afghanistan war 200114, a u. At the end of december 1979, the soviet union sent thousands of troops into afghanistan and immediately assumed complete military and political control of kabul and large portions of the country. Members of the united states army meet with an afghan army sergeant, right, in the village of tieranon, kandahar province, in 20. For ten years the mujahideen fought a military superpower that had invaded their homeland.
The best books on understanding the war in afghanistan. The conflict had its origins in the 1978 coup that overthrew afghan president sardar muhammad daud khan, who had come to power by ousting the king in 1973. Once hailed as a much soughtafter end to a bloody quagmire, many russians now see the decadelong war as. I learned more about the details of this war in a single chapter from this book than i have in all the other books combined. Primer on russian afghan war, 19791989, lessons learned dave shunk 26 december 2008 col dave shunk, usaf, ret. Sputnik looks back at the soviet campaign, the consequences of which continue to affect russia and all the parties involved in the afghan peace process. On 15 february 1989, the soviet army withdrawal from afghanistan was completed, marking the end of the nearly decadelong sovietafghan war. The saur revolution had taken place in afghanistan in 1978 which installed a communist party in power. How to end the war in afghanistan by david miliband. The sovietafghan war by members of the russian general staff, and translated by lester grau and michael gross, is a summary overview of the soviet experience in the afghan invasion and war of the 1980s. Read to know more about this and other important events that took place on this day in history in this article. The sovietafghan war 197989 ebook written by gregory fremontbarnes.
The afghan war that didnt really end yesterday ended in. In the great gamble, gregory feifer examines the conflict from the perspective of the soldiers on the ground. Media reports claim president donald trump let loose on his generals behind closed doors, blasting them royally for their startling failures in afghanistan, americas longest war. Afghanistan war, 197892, conflict between anticommunist muslim afghan guerrillas mujahidin and afghan government and soviet forces. Soviet invasion of afghanistan, military action carried out in late december 1979 by soviet troops. A muslim woman officer in the soviet army during the. He first tried to increase soviet troops to end the war quickly. The soviet war in afghanistan was a grueling debacle that has striking lessons for the twentyfirst century. He pronounced his afghan war unwinnable, told his angry generals to shut up, and ordered the red army out of the war in afghanistan.
Afghan war, in the history of afghanistan, the internal conflict that began in 1978 between anticommunist islamic guerrillas and the afghan communist government aided in 197989 by soviet troops, leading to the overthrow of the government in 1992. The secret history of the cia, afghanistan, and bin laden from the soviet invasion to september 10, 2001 by. This book tells the story of the sovietafghan war in the words of the mujahideen guerrillas themselves. On may 8th, many countries celebrate ve or victory in europe day, the day the allies accepted germanys unconditional surrender at the end of world war ii. The event marked the beginning of the end to a long, bloody, and fruitless soviet occupation of afghanistan. Friday marks the anniversary of soviet withdrawal from afghanistan 30 years ago. Russia more assured about war with afghan three decades on.
A superb book on the soviet afghan war up there with the bear went over the mountain. The soviet union intervened in support of the afghan communist government in its conflict with anticommunist muslim guerrillas during the afghan war 197892 and remained in. Outnumbered and outgunned, they used classic guerrilla tactics. The afghan war that didnt really end yesterday ended in defeat none of the claimed long term objectives for the war in afghanistan, either from the. A political settlement for afghanistan must have two dimensions. The soviet side of the war has long been neglected but finally received attention from gregory feifer in the great gamble. How a superpower fought and lost is a professional study of the drawnout conflict. This research note based on an anthropological fieldwork retraces the life of mamura, an uzbek woman who became a hero among her peers, afghan war veterans. The sovietafghan war 197989 by gregory fremontbarnes. Afghanistan 1979 the war that changed the world youtube. This is the 7th book on the sovietafghan war ive read, and lester grau kept up his reputation with this book for historical investigative detail. Part of the cold war, it was fought between sovietled afghan forces against multinational insurgent groups called the mujahideen, mostly composed of two alliances the peshawar seven and the tehran eight. The photos, starting in 1988, span afghanistans immediate postsoviet era, the agonizing civil war of the 1990s, the period of taliban rule from 1996 to 2001, the u. The soviet war in afghanistan, 1979 1989 the atlantic.
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