Overview
The First Afghan War is was a domestic war that lasted from 1978 to 1992. It was between anticommunist Muslim guerrilla fighters, whom were funded and supplied by the United Statesand the Afghan communist government and the Soviet Union (who provided actual troops between 1979 and 1989). This was the first time that the Soviets directly invaded a country that was outside the Eastern Bloc (Poland, East Germany, Romania etc.)
Beginnings
In 1973, Mohammad Daud over threw King Zahir with a coup. His coup was communist and fully dependent on soviet support. In 1967, Daud’s party the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (it was a communist, pro-soviet party), split into two major parties. They split into the Parcham (who supported Daud, and was lead by Babrak Karmal), and the Khalq (who was lead by Noor Taraki). After this, another coup occurred, against Daud. Daud hoped to decrease Soviet support of the Afghanistan, and pull it closer to the US. This didn’t end well.
The war began with the ousting of President Mohammad Daud Khan in April 1978, by his communist military leaders, whom were lead by Nur Mohammad Taraki. After that, the power lay between 2 communist political parties known as the Khalq and the Parcham parties. Taraki was appointed the Prime Minister, and Karmal was his deputy Prime Minister. The new ‘government’ was quick to create a friendship with the communist Soviet Union.
The United States was alarmed by this incident. Jimmy Carter knew that Taraki would try to bring Afghanistan closer to the Soviet Union. The US faced a choice whether to cut all ties off with Afghanistan, or acknowledge Taraki hope that the mujahideen would win a war with the Soviets. Jimmy Carter chose to cut off all ties with Afghanistan.
The Soviets immediately started crushing all opposition, and began major reforms, this was not taking kindly by traditional Muslims and anticommunists. These insurgencies were taken up by tribes and city groups whom were known collectively as the mujahadeen.
During the summer of 1979, Hafizullah Amin, Taraki’s Deputy Prime Minister, got a message that stated that the Parchams were going to try to overthrow Taraki. Amin used this excuse to execute many Parcham supporter. Additionally, Taraki had trouble bringing communism to the rest of Afghanistan and tried to go about so using a giant ultra nationalist program. This angered many tribes and led to violence by late 1978. Amin and Taraki went to the Soviets to sign an agreement which allowed the Soviet support to enter Afghanistan.
The Soviets
Originally, the Soviets set out to protect Taraki and Amin. But the Soviets realised that Taraki could not hold off an all out civil war and in mid 1979, the Soviets started looking for replacements to Taraki and Amin. On Christmas 1979, the Soviets officially invaded Afghanistan, killed Amin and to propped up a pro-Soviet, communist government, that was now lead by the Parcham’s Babrak Karmal. But that dream was shattered as the mujahadeen grew and spread to many places around Afghanistan. The war became a stalemate with about 100,000 Soviet troops with power over most of the country, especially over over cities, and large towns. Despite that, the mujahadeen still had control of most of the countryside.
The Soviets actively tried to stomp out the insurgents using a variety of tactics, but the mujahadeen avoided them using guerrilla warfare. The Soviet tactics ignited a bloodbath in the countryside. 2.8 million Afghans were forced to move to Pakistan and another 1.5 million were forced to move to Iran. The mujahadeen was finally able to defend against the Soviets’ air force by using missiles that were given by the United States.
Jimmy Carter and the Americans
As earlier stated, Jimmy Carter was faced with a tough choice whether to cut all ties off with Afghanistan, or acknowledge Taraki hope that the mujahideen would win a war with the Soviets. Jimmy Carter chose to cut off all ties with Afghanistan. In cutting off ties, Carter couldn’t justifiably invade Afghanistan. Instead, he just spoke out against them, boycotted the 1980 Olympics (in the Soviet Union), and issued the Carter Doctrine, which protected Middle Eastern oil resources from Soviet threats. The Americans also gave the mujahideen weapons and resources to fight the Soviets.
The Mujahideen
The mujahideen quickly fragmented into several factions. Even though they had the same end result, their attacks on the communists were uncoordinated and often very messy. By the middle of the war the weapons got better as they were provided by the United States, and other Muslim countries around the globe. Also a large number of Muslim volunteers, coined ‘Afghan-Arabs’, went to Afghanistan to aid the anticommunist effort.
A transitional government that was supported by several anticommunist and Muslim factions created a Islamic republic. How ever this government was short lived. President Burhanuddin Rabbani, the leader of a large mujahideen group, the Islamic Society, refused to leave office in the transitional government as the power sharing agreement stated that he would.
Other mujahideen factions bombarded Kabul for years, particularly the Islamic Party, who was lead by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. The bombarded it with artillery strikes and the missiles provided by the United States. These attacks would continue of several years, as the rural areas around Kabul fell into chaos and anarchy.
United States. Bureau of Public Affairs. Office of the Historian. The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan and the U.S. Response, 1978–1980 – 1977–1980 – Milestones – Office of the Historian. United States Department of State, 31 Oct. 2013. Web. 9 June 2014. <https://history.state.gov/milestones/1977-1980/soviet-invasion-afghanistan>.
“Afghan War.” Britannica School. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2014. Web. 8 Jun. 2014. <http://school.ebonline.com/levels/high/article/3923>.
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