Both the vietnamese and mujahedin of afghanistan used guerilla warfare tactics. The cold war profoundly affected the fate of many states. Sample essay on effects of soviet invasion of afghanistan. The best books on understanding the war in afghanistan. Through the investigation of a complex and highly politicized war, the.
During the 1970s, sovietamerican relations underwent a thawing period, known as the detente. The intense images of afghanistans long and distant war. Discover the best afghan war military history in best sellers. 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. Soviet invasion of afghanistan, invasion of afghanistan in late december 1979 by troops from the soviet union. In what ways where the vietnam and afghanistan war similar.
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 cold war dominated the second half of the 20th century, resulting in the collapse of communism. Understanding war in afghanistan ndu press national defense. The war in afghanistan 19791989 has been called the soviet unions vietnam war, a conflict that pitted soviet regulars against a relentless, elusive, and ultimately unbeatable afghan guerrilla force the mujahideen. With a focus on the 1980s, the impact of the afghansoviet war on pakistan delves into both afghanistan s history and the involvement of superpowers in shaping its present situation. Others became internal refugees during and even after the war.
This is not about afghanistan, but rather a book that made a big contribution to the theoretical framework for understanding violence in civil war. Now, when one studies both conflicts deeply enough, he she may come to learn of several differences between the internal workings of both of them. The effects of the united states and the soviet afghan war. Once the soviets withdrew american interests in afghanistan also halted. The afghan war was not pakistans war in the 1980s and it is not pakistans war now. This is a provocative and important book, telling us what the soviet military was thinking and feeling as it lost its war in afghanistan. On the one hand, those who had battled soviet forces since the december 1979 invasion felt overwhelming pride that a. Are there any good books about the sovietafghan war. The effects and impacts of war are tangible almost in all of the aspects of society in afghanistan. The united states supported the afghanistan rebels in order to try and overthrow the communist government and to prevent the spread of communism.
William maley, the afghanistan wars basingstoke, uk. The photos, starting in 1988, span afghanistan s immediate post soviet era, the agonizing civil war of the 1990s, the period of taliban rule from 1996 to 2001, the u. It was a neutral, developing state on the periphery of the ussr, beholden to moscow for economic and military aid which was generously applied, especially in the early 1970s. Poverty, corruption, weak government, lack of health services, mental and psychological problems and illiteracy are all outcomes of more than three decades of war. The mujahideen were backed primarily by the united states, saudi arabia, pakistan. United states and the soviet afghan war in december of 1970 the soviet union invaded afghanistan with a force of 30,000 troops in order to assist the communist government and setup a client state soviet invasion of afghanistan. Since december 1979, when soviet troops first entered afghanistan, the country has remained a focal point in regional and global politics. The first two dealt respectively with soviet and mujahideen tactics. The soviet war in afghanistan, 1979 1989 the atlantic.
A brief overview of the causes and effects of the cold war. The reason i chose this book is that it had a revolutionary effect on the way. The soviet war in afghanistan, also known as the sovietafghan war, was a nineyear conflict involving soviet forces supporting the marxist peoples democratic party of afghanistan pdpa government against the mujahideen resistance. In the great gamble, gregory feifer examines the conflict from the perspective of the soldiers on the ground. A study in the use of force in soviet foreign policy. The hitandrun bloodletting across the war s decade tallied more than 25,000 dead soviet soldiers plus a great many more casualties and further demoralized a ussr on the. Yes, in picking five books on the war in afghanistan, i chose three books on afghanistan and two on conflict itself.
This is the third volume in a trilogy on the operational aspects of the soviet afghan war of 19791988. Afghanistan was much more important for the soviet union. A muslim woman officer in the soviet army during the sovietafghan war. Their domestic and foreignpolicy settings were influenced by the onset of the cold war in ways that produced contrasting outcomes for the two countries, helping eventually to open space for the rise of radical islamism in their politics, with impacts well beyond their. The increased soviet defense spending and the war in afghanistan combined with a moribund economy forced the soviets to make difficult decisions. The us provided the resistance with guns and antiaircraft missiles which now they face, even if it seemed like a good idea at that time. Lester grau and michael gresss expert english translation of the general staffs study offers the very.
Effects of soviet invasion of afghanistan loom large. The us viewed the conflict in afghanistan as an integral cold war struggle, and the cia provided assistance to anti soviet forces through the pakistani secret services, in a program called operation cyclone. Grau, lieutenant colonel lester w, gress, michael a. Lester grau and michael gresss expert english translation of the general staffs study offers the very first publication in any language of this important and illuminating work. How did the soviet invasion of afghanistan impact the cold. The impact of the afghansoviet war on pakistan imrana. The soviet war in afghanistan was a grueling debacle that has striking lessons for the twentyfirst century. First things first, ill assume by afghanistan war, you mean the soviet war in afghanistan. The extraordinary story of the largest covert operation in history by crile, george. During world war ii, the united states and the soviet union fought together as allies against the axis powers. 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. Soviet invasion of afghanistan, military action carried out in late december 1979 by soviet troops. This war led to an increased number of refugees from afghanistan to pakistan.
The common western narrative holds that once soviet forces crossed their southern border into afghanistan in december 1979, they were modernday cossacks waging a war. Abstract the completion of the soviet withdrawal from afghanistan was not a moment of rapturous joy for afghans, although there were certain grounds for celebration. The war in afghanistan and its effects on the soviet. The kgb and the battle for the third world new york. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Afghanistan wars afghan soviet war 197989, afghan civil war, afghanistan war 200114 upscias duration. This event began a brutal, decadelong attempt by moscow to subdue the afghan civil war and maintain a friendly and socialist.
The war in afghanistan and its effects on the soviet economy. Islamism, the iranian revolution, and the soviet invasion. State formation and collapse in the international system. Both the war in afghanistan and the civil war in syria have resulted in a large number of refugees. In an unequal struggle, the mujahedeen resisted for ten years, then triumphed ov. As prisoners are exchanged and the combat portion of the long and exhausting u. The afghanistan war and the breakdown of the soviet union.
Effects of the sovietafghan war for the ussr youtube. 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 afghanistan until midfebruary 1989. The number grows even more when taking into account increases in the base budgets for the department of defense and the department of veterans affairs. In the sovietafghan war the russian general staff takes a close critical look at the soviet militarys disappointing performance in that war in an effort to better understand what happened and why and what lessons should be taken from it. The intelligence came from the upper reaches of the soviet defense ministry and indicated that soviet hardliners were pushing a plan to attempt to win the afghan war within two years, sources said. The book consists of separate chapters on various aspects of the war, including the experiences of various components of the soviet army.
War is a humanmade disaster, it destroys everything. The first book, heroes of the age, looks at the competition within afghanistan between tribe, state and islam. The main body of the book is about soviet army and air force tactics. Mikhail gorbachev attempted to reform the soviet economy, but discovered that you cannot give people a little bit of freedom and starting in 1989 the warsaw pact nationas spurned communism in a. Print joseph collins explores the relations between the soviet union and afghanistan, and how the manipulation of those relations by both parties led to the crippling of the soviet union. Find the top 100 most popular items in amazon books best sellers. However, the relationship between the two nations was a tense one. The cold war was a period of tension and hostility between the united states of america and the soviet union from the mid40s to the late 80s. The soviet war in afghanistan reprint by gregory feifer isbn. Effects of soviet invasion of afghanistan loom large twentyfive years ago friday, the soviet union invaded afghanistan to preserve communism along the soviet. As nato troops move toward their final withdrawal this year, afghans worry about what will come next, and russian involvement in neighboring. The soviet afghan 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.
This photographic history of the soviet afghan war of 1979 to 1989 gives a fascinating insight into a grim conflict that prefigured the americanled campaign in that country. The selfpropelling dynamics of violence in afghanistan, which appears set to outlast the as yet ongoing peacemaking, is rooted in the impact of the soviet intervention, in which fighting was only an element of the complex political drama of destruction of the afghan state. In 1979, the soviets invaded and occupied afghanistan, a small country in central asia. This revived tensions between the united states and the soviet union and helped usher in what many dubbed the second cold war. In gripping detail, he vividly depicts the invasion of a volatile country that no power has ever successfully conquered.
I remember i finished this book flying from herat to mazaresharif in the summer of 2009. What were the effects of the soviet afghanistan war. How a superpower fought and lost is a professional study of the drawnout conflict. Iran and afghanistan were two which particularly felt its effects.
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