Soviet Union Invasion
of Afghanistan
Afghan War News > History > Soviet Afghan War
The Soviets invaded Afghanistan on December 24, 1979.
The intervention was initially planned as a limited incursion to restore
stability to a communist government in Afghanistan. However, the Soviet
Union was to stay for about ten years, finally withdrawing in 1989.
Soviet Troops In Afghanistan (Department of Defense)
Reasons the Soviet Union Invaded
Afghanistan
Historians cite a number of reasons for the
invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union. One of the primary reasons
was to put an end to the internal political tensions among the Communists
in power in the Afghan government and to assist the Afghan Army in
defeating the Mujahideen insurgency that threatened the Afghan government
and possibly the Central Asian region within the Soviet Union.
The West's View on the Soviet Motives
for the Invasion of Afghanistan
Some observers of the Soviet-Afghan conflict point
to the defensive nature of the invasion - the quest to ensure the survival
of a friendly communist nation within the Soviet sphere of influence.
Others pointed out that the invasion was a first step to acquiring access
to the Indian Ocean - less than 300 miles from Afghanistan - and a major
throughway for the shipping of oil.
Mistakes Made by the Soviets
Understanding Afghanistan. The Soviets lacked an
understanding of the cultural, religious, and regional aspects of the
Afghan population. The belief that a strong centralized government
offering social reform and economic programs would provide support to that
centralized government was missplaced. The concept of nationhood was
rejected by a rural population that placed more emphasis on clan, tribe,
ethnic, and religious allegiance.
Understanding an Insurgency. The Soviets were
prepared to fight a short intervention where its troops would protect
major garrisons and airfields while the Afghan Army would root out and
kill the insurgents. The Soviets quickly found out the Afghan Army was not
up to the task and that the Soviet Army was ill-suited and untrained in
counterinsurgency.
Outside Support to the Mujihadeen
There were many countries that aided the Afghan
insurgents fighting the Soviet Union troops in Afghanistan and the Afghan
Communist regime's military forces. Principle among these nations were
Pakistan, United States, and some Persian Gulf nations.
Soviet vehicles cross bridge from Afghanistan into
Soviet Union on
February 15, 1989
Withdrawal From Afghanistan
The Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan in February
1989. The withdrawal went smoothly as a result of a truce with mujahideen
with leaders based in northern Afghanistan. The Soviet-backed regime held
out for three more years against the mujahideen. The regime collasped
after Boris Yeltsin's Russia stopped aid and units of the Afghan army
defected to the mujahideen.
Consequences of the Soviet-Afghan War
Many cite the Soviets experience in Afghanistan as
one of the lead causes for the fall of the Soviet Union. The war was a
costly endeavor which the centralized and flawed economic system could not
afford. The war also had immense social ramifications on the home front.
Websites about the Soviet Afghan War
Soviet War in Afghanistan. Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_war_in_Afghanistan
The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan and the U.S.
Response, 1978-1980. U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian.
https://history.state.gov/milestones/1977-1980/soviet-invasion-afghanistan
Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan. Encyclopeida
Britannica
www.britannica.com/event/Soviet-invasion-of-Afghanistan
The Afghan War. The Cold War Museum
http://www.coldwar.org/articles/70s/afghan_war.asp
Reports, Papers, and Publications
about
the Soviet Afghan War
2020
Tobin, Conor.
"The Myth of the 'Afghan Trap': Zbigniew Brzezinski and Afghanistan,
1978-1979", Oxford Academic Diplomatic History, January 9,
2020.
Conor Tobin, a researcher and lecturer, writes about the
misrepresentation of Soviet-Afghan history by some historians and
academics. There are some that believe the U.S. Central Intelligence
Agency lured the Soviets into an invasion of Afghanistan in December
1979. Tobin asserts that this is not true - that it is wrong to ". . .
conclude that the CIA plan was designed to provoke a Soviet intervention
when we were, in fact, trying to discourage one."
2019
October 2019. "Leaving Afghanistan: Enduring Lessons from the Soviet
Politburo", by Katya Drozdova and Joseph H. Felter, Journal of Cold
War Studies.
https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/jcws_a_00906
Summer 2019.
"IEDs, Land Mines, and Booby Traps in the Soviet-Afghan War",
Infantry Magazine Online, LTC (Ret) Lester W. Grau.
May 6, 2019.
"Afghanistan Still Facing Aftershocks of 1978 Communist Coup",
Gandhara.
2016
Liffiton, Alexander. "The Soviet-Afghanistan War:
Direct and Indirect Intervention", Small Wars Journal, August 1,
2016.
http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/the-soviet-afghanistan-war-direct-and-indirect-intervention
2015
Evans, Ryan. Moscow's Clients from Kabul to
Damascus: Strength and Strategy in International Politics, War on the
Rocks, December 9, 2015.
http://warontherocks.com/2015/12/moscows-clients-from-kabul-to-damascus-strength-and-strategy-in-international-politics/
2014
Mehra, Uday Rai. Why Did the Soviet Union
Invade Afghanistan in 1979?, E-International Relations, October 9,
2014.
www.e-ir.info/2014/10/09/why-did-the-soviet-union-invade-afghanistan-in-1979/
Roh, MAJ Anthony M., Russian Organizational
Learning in the Context of the Afghanistan and Chechnya
Counterinsurgenices, December 2014. School of Advanced Military
Studies of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Fort
Leavenworth, Kansas. Paper posted on the Homeland Security Digital
Library.
www.hsdl.org/?view&did=763327
Ruttig, Thomas. Crossing the Bridge: The 25th
anniversary of the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, Afghanistan
Analysts Network, February 15, 2014. The Soviets departed Afghanistan in
February 1989 insisting they had not lost. Their withdrawal was a smooth
one as a result of a truce with Ahmad Sha Massud - the main northern
mujahedin leader.
www.afghanistan-analysts.org/crossing-the-bridge-the-25th-anniversary-of-the-soviet-withdrawal-from-afghanistan/
2011
Oliker, Olga. Building Afghanistan's Security
Forces in Wartime: The Soviet Experience, RAND Corporation, 2011.
www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/monographs/2011/RAND_MG1078.pdf
Sullivan, Charles J. The Kremlin and Kabul: "The
1979 Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan in Restrospect", The Washington
Review, September 2011.
http://www.thewashingtonreview.org/articles/ . . .soviet-invasion-. . .
2010
Kalinovsky, Artemy. The Blind Leading the
Blind: Soviet Advisors, Counter-Insurgency and Nation-Building in
Afghanistan, Working Paper #60, Cold War International History
Project, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, January 2010.
www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/WP60_Web_Final.pdf
2009
Kalinovsky, Artemy. "Decision-Making and the
Soviet War in Afghanistan: From Intervention to Withdrawal", Journal
of Cold War Studies, Fall 2009, PDF, 28 pages, posted on MIT Press
Journals.
https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/jcws.2009.11.4.46
Riedel, Bruce. "Comparing the U.S. and Soviet
Experiences in Afghanistan", CTC Sentinel, Combating Terrorism
Center at West Point, May 2009.
https://ctc.usma.edu/comparing-the-u-s-and-soviet-experiences-in-afghanistan/
2000
Gibbs, David N., "Afghanistan: the Soviet invasion
in retrospect", International Politics 37:233-246, June 2000.
http://dgibbs.faculty.arizona.edu/ . . . afghan-ip.pdf
1999
Reuveny, Rafael and Aseem Prakash, "The
Afghanistan War and the Breakdown of the Soviet Union", Review of
International Studies, 1999, 16 pages, PDF.
https://faculty.washington.edu/aseem/afganwar.pdf
1991
CNA, Beyond Afghanistan: Changing Soviet
Perspectives on Regional Conflicts, CNA Analysis & Solutions, October
1, 1991.
www.cna.org/research/1991/beyond-afghanistan
1983
Collins, Joseph J. "The Use of Force in Soviet
Foreign Policy: The Case of Afghanistan", Conflict Quarterly,
pages 20-47, Spring 1983.
https://kcjohnson.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/11-8-collins-article.pdf
1982
November 29, 1982. "Radio Free Kabul: rallying the Afghan resistance". The Christian Science Monitor.
November 10, 1982. "Soviets hammer away at Afghan rebel resistance". The Christian Science Monitor.
1981
Singleton, Dr. Seth. "The Soviet Invasion of
Afghanistan", Air University Review, March-April 1981. Maxwell
Air Force Base.
www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/ . . . /mar-apr/singleton.htm
Weinland, Robert. An (The?) Explanation of the
Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan, Professional Paper 309, May 1981.
Center of Naval Analyses, Institute of Naval Studies.
www.cna.org/sites/default/files/research/5500030900.pdf
August 4, 1981. "Moscow's Troubles". The Christian Science Monitor.
1980
CIA, The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan:
Implications for Warning, Central Intelligence Agency, October 1980.
PDF file, 80 pages, formerly classified Top Secret, now declassified.
https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/DOC_0000278538.pdf
Phillips, James. The Soviet Invasion of
Afghanistan, The Heritage Foundation, January 9, 1980.
https://www.heritage.org/europe/report/the-soviet-invasion-afghanistan
Videos about Soviet Afghan War
July 21, 2015. Afghanistan - the Soviet
Invasion (B), AP. Footage (B roll) from Associated Press on various
topics from the Soviet invasion and occupation of Afghanistan. (5 minutes,
AP channel on YouTube).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKtSfxHPdXs
December 17, 2012. "USSR Invasion of Afghanistan
1979", Military.com, 13 miinutes.
https://www.military.com/video/operations-and-strategy/afghanistan-conflict/ussr-invasion-of-afghanistan-1979/2041363100001
July 12, 2014. Bruce Riedel on the Lessons From
Afghanistan, Lawfare Podcast. A video of a discussion about the CIA's
involvement in the mujahadeen fight against the Soviet occupation. Based
on the book "What We Won: America's Secret War in Afghanistan, 1979-1989",
by Bruce Riedel. Riedal is a Senior Fellow and Director of the
Intelligence Project at Brookings Institute. In this talk, Riedel
discusses why the American intelligence operation was so successful.
https://www.lawfareblog.com/lawfare-podcast-episode-83-bruce-riedel-lessons-afghanistan
1982. Afghanistan 1982. Soviet Invasion of
Afghanistan, 1979. The Russian Army against the Afghan Insurgents.
(46 minutes). International Communication Agency, United States of
America.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErON5GRl1hE
Russia's War in Afghanistan: Documentary on 10 Years of Soviet
War in Afghanistan. YouTube.com
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUPsGDsnNGE
Books about Soviet Union and Afghan War
Riedel, Bruce. What We Won: America's Secret
War in Afghanistan, 1979-89", Brookings Institute, July 2014.
www.brookings.edu/book/what-we-won/
Historical Documents on the
Soviet
Invasion of Afghanistan
April 15, 2007. Predicting the Soviet Invasion
of Afghanistan: The Intelligence Community's Record, Central
Intelligence Agency.
https://www.cia.gov/library/ . . . record.html
January 4, 1980. Address to the Nation on the
Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan", President Jimmy Carter. The American
Presidency Project, UC Santa Barbara.
www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=32911
December 28, 1979. Memoradum of Conversation
between President Carter and PM Thatcher on Afghanistan. Margaret Thatcher
Foundation.
https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/110470
Afghanistan & the United Nations. UN News
Centre. A history of the UN involvement in Afghanistan since 1979 to the
present.
www.un.org/news/dh/latest/afghan/un-afghan-history.shtml
Photographic Collections of the Soviet
Afghan War
March 5, 2014.
"The Jihad Museum: Afghanistan Remembers the Soviet Invasion". The
Atlantic. A series of photographs of the People's Museum in Herat
City, Afghanistan.
December 17, 2004. In pictures: Afghan tour of
duty, Soviets in Afghanistan.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/4083499.stm
Views of Afghanistan. Russian photo collection.
http://afghanwar.spb.ru/43/av.htm
The Soviet War in Afghanistan in Pictures,
1979-1989. Rare Historical Photos
https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/soviet-war-afganistan-in-pictures/
Reading Lists and Bibliographies
of the
Soviet-Afghan War
Yeremeev, Mikhail. The War in Afghanistan and
its Effects on the Soviet Economy, Boston University, undated.
http://blogs.bu.edu/guidedhistory/russia-and-its-empires/mikhail-yeremeev/
Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan, Wilson Center
Digital Archive.
https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/collection/76/soviet-invasion-of-afghanistan
News Reports and Articles about
the Soviet
Occupation of Afghanistan
January 16, 2020.
"The Three Misunderstandings of Soviet Counterinsurgency in Afghanistan",
by Daniel J. O'Connor, Small Wars Journal.
December 27, 2019.
"Our Lives Changed: Afghans remember the coming of the Soviet troops",
by S Reza Kazemi, Afghanistan Analysts Network.
December 27, 2019.
"Poisonings, Assassination, and a Coup: The Secret Soviet Invasion of
Afghanistan", by Frud Bezhan, Radio Free Europe / Radio
Liberty.
December 25, 2019.
"A Turning Point in World History: 40 years ago, the Soviet Union invaded
Afghanistan", by Thomas Ruttig, Afghanistan Analysts Network.
February 15, 2019.
"30 Years Later, Russia Aims to Rewrite the Soviet War in Afghanistan",
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, by Matthew Luxmore.
January 13, 2019. "The
Soviet Experience in Afghanistan: Getting History Right", Lawfare
Blog. Seth Jones provides a history lesson in the Soviet invasion and
occupation of Afghanistan.
January 7, 2019.
"A History Lesson for Trump: The Real Reason Russia Invaded Afghanistan",
The Hill.
January 3, 2019.
"Watch Trump's Espisode of 'Drunk History' about the Soviet Invasion of
Afghanistan", Task and Purpose, by Paul Szoldra.
July 31, 2016.
"Afghanistan Still Hasn't Recovered from the Soviet Invasion", by
Shawn Snow of The National Interest. The author contends that
"Afghanistan's current situation is haunted by the ghosts of the Soviet
invasion, which disrupted the country's rural subsistence economy. The
dissolution of Afghanistan's social fabric and rapid urbanization from
rural communities created a spiral into warlordism and the constate cycle
of competition between warlords and strongmen."
February 22, 2015.
Six Days that Shook Kabul: The '3 Hut uprising', first urban protest
against the Soviet occupation, by Thomas Ruttig, Afghanistan
Analysts Network (AAN). A detailed recounting of the early 1980
demonstrations and protests against the Soviet occupation.
August 4, 2014.
"The Soviet War in Afghanistan, 1979-1989", The Atlantic, by
Alan Taylor.
February 16, 2007. "Afghanistan's
Proxy War", Harvard Kennedy School, Belfer Center for Science
and International Affairs, by Xenia Dormandy.
October 1, 2011.
"Launching the Missle that Made History". The Wall Street Journal.
Three former mujahedeen recall the day when they started to beat the
Soviets; the use of the Stinger anti-aircraft missile.
April 2, 2011. "Parallels
with the Past: How the Soviets Lost in Afghanistan, How the Americans
are Losing", Foreign Policy Research Institute, by Larry
Goodson and Thomas H. Johnson.
March 18, 2010. "Afghanistan war: lessons from the Soviet war". The Christian Science Monitor.
January 3, 2010.
"Why Did the Soviet Union Invade Afghanistan?". By daryl Morini,
E-International Relations.
October 10, 2006. The Soviet Occupation of Afghanistan, PBS Newshour.
Books about the Soviet Invasion
and Occupation of Afghanistan
1995. Afghanistan: The Soviet Invasion and the Afghan Response, 1979-1982, By M. Hassan Kakar, University of California Press.
http://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft7b69p12h&brand=ucpress
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