In the 1970s, the Soviet Union's national strength reached its peak and completely entered the ranks of superpowers. At this time, the Soviet Union not only had a strong economic momentum, but its national income once reached 70% of that of the United States, and its military strength soared, which was even stronger than the United States. The increase in strength stimulated the Soviet Union's ambitions, and the mentality of fighting for hegemony became increasingly swell. They began to blatantly interfere in other countries' internal affairs, and did not hesitate to use military means to promote such interference.
In December 1979, the Soviet Union sent troops to invade neighboring Afghanistan . Faced with Afghanistan, where the country is weak and the people are poor, the Soviets confidently believed that this was a good opportunity to show the strong strength of the Soviet Union and a stepping stone for the Soviet Union to dominate the world. Little did they know that Afghanistan was actually the cemetery of the empire. When the Soviets invaded this land, the death knell of their demise had already sounded...
Afghanistan's climate was dry and the land was barren. Siberia can be regarded as a land of fish and rice compared to him. However, although this country is very poor, its geographical location is very important. It is located in the heart of the mainland of Asia. It is located to the east by the Pamir Plateau , to the south by India, to the west by Iran, and to Central Asia in the north by Central Asia. It is a major transportation route connecting all parties and is known as the "" intersection in Asia.
In terms of geographical situation alone, Afghanistan is a natural choice. It can be used as a strategic springboard and form a strategic buffer. If you grab it, you will make a profit. Therefore, Afghanistan has been a must-fight for military strategists since ancient times, attracting countless heroes to fight for their struggle. Any powerful people around the country will be included in the conquest list. For thousands of years, Persians, Mongolians, Arabs, and Ottomans have all ruled this land. Even the British, far away in Europe, and the Russians , , fought for this fat piece.
1919, Afghanistan finally achieved independence by taking advantage of the opportunity of to fight . But this independence is only nominal, and Afghanistan has never been able to escape the influence of a great power. Especially after the end of World War II , the Cold War era began. The two powerful men in the United States and the Soviet Union pulled each to a group of younger brothers to face each other. The whole world is a game field for these two bigwigs. As the "center" of Asia, Afghanistan has a unique geographical location, so it naturally cannot escape the hands of the United States and the Soviet Union.
Especially for the Soviet Union, Afghanistan's strategic position is very critical, and can attack and retreat and defend. In terms of attack, Afghanistan went south to rush out of the Khyber Pass to the Indian sub-continent , by then the entire South Asia will become the treasure of the Soviet Union. Going westward through Iran is Persian Gulf . If you strangle here, you can threaten the lifeline of the energy economy of the Western camp.
In terms of defense, Afghanistan is backed by Central Asia, close to several Soviet republics such as Turkmenistan , Tajikistan , etc. This is the weakest area in the Soviet Union. There are very big differences between the economic development level and ethnic and religious identity from the main body of the Soviet Union. The centrifugal force of is quite serious. If someone uses this to make trouble, it will have a significant impact on the stability of the Soviet Union's borders. With the existence of Afghanistan, the Soviet Union could obtain a good buffer zone to protect itself.
In fact, it is not only Afghanistan that is not only the key to strategic position, and its economic value cannot be underestimated. Although the land in this place is barren and desert sand and gravel are everywhere, there are enviable wealth buried beneath the surface. Afghanistan is a mountainous country, with about three-quarters of the territory located on Hindu Kush Mountains .
This is a huge mountain range formed by the collision of Indian subcontinent and the Eurasian continent plate, and the mountains formed by violent collisions of this plate often mean rich minerals. The Hindu Kush Mountains contain a large number of mineral resources. Not only are there a rich mineral species, but the reserve scale is also considerable and the economic value is extremely high.
In the industrial age, mineral resources, like energy, are essential raw materials for a country's development. Especially for large industrial countries like the Soviet Union that have a huge demand for minerals, Afghanistan is undoubtedly the fat meat that has always been on his lips. It is useless to not eat it.Of course, the above advantages are also applicable to the United States. Although it is a little farther, distance is not a problem, so the United States will not give up easily.
Afghanistan was originally in the cracks between two major camps, and no one could afford to offend him. He could only launch a neutral policy and put a bowl of water on his side. Both sides were big brothers. But in the 1950s, because the United States was in a straitor in the "Pashtunistan dispute" and gave more support to Afghanistan's rival Pakistan , which led to Afghanistan having to seek help from the Soviet Union.
Seeing Afghanistan take the initiative to defect, the Soviet Union was naturally very happy. Not only did it have a superficial position in the "Pashtunistan dispute" and publicly support Afghanistan, but it also offered various economic and military aids without any money. For example, in 1960, the Soviet Union provided Afghanistan with a loan of US$350 million to help it complete the construction of the "Second Five-Year Plan".
Objectively speaking, the Soviet aid played a significant role in the construction and development of Afghanistan. However, while receiving Soviet aid, Afghanistan also lost its autonomy in the political, economic and military fields, and gradually became the vassal of the Soviet Union's vassal , laying the groundwork for the continued unrest in Afghanistan later.
1773, former Afghan Prime Minister Dawude launched a military coup, and with the support of a group of young officers with Soviet training experience, overthrew the rule of Zahir regime. Afghanistan thus abolished the monarchy and changed from a kingdom to a republic, one step closer to the Soviet Union.
However, what made the Soviet Union more dissatisfied was that Afghanistan did not completely turn to the Soviet Union at this time. After taking office, Dawude, who was originally close to the Soviet Union, gradually realized that Afghanistan, as a country in a crack, was not suitable for one-sided strategy, which would make Afghanistan lose the "friendship" of the Western world in vain. Not only would he receive less aid, it would also cause a lot of trouble. Just the anti-government forces they supported were enough to make Dawud anxious.
So this red prince finally failed the Soviet Union's "expectations" and became a swinger in the later period of his reign. In order to get rid of the influence of the Soviet Union, he even directly disbanded the pro-Soviet power organization and replaced a large number of pro-Soviet officials.
When I asked for money, I called Xiao Tiantian. Now that I have a new love, I have become Mrs. Niu? Well, since you are unkind, don’t blame me for being unrighteous. When the Soviet Union was able to help you Dawude, now I can still kick you off.
The Soviet Union has coveted Afghanistan for many years and obviously will not put treasure on Dawude alone. While they were making good friends and supporting Dawude, they were actually secretly cultivating their own "power".
In the late 1950s, Karmael, the agent of KGB in Afghanistan, established the "flag" of the pro-Soviet organization. A few years later, another KGB agent, Taraki , established a similar organization "People". In 1965, the two major organizations merged into one under the instruction of the Soviet Union, which was for Afghan People's Democratic Party .
Because of the support of the Soviet Union, the People's Democratic Party has developed quite rapidly, especially during the period of the Republic of Afghanistan, which was almost the largest political party in Afghanistan, and its power and reputation are close to that of the president Dawude. Dawud chose to alienate the Soviet Union, and a large part of the reason why he felt their threat.
As a force cultivated by the Soviet Union, the People's Democratic Party is naturally the best choice to "success" Dawude. So in April 1978, the People's Democratic Party launched the "April Revolution" with the support of the Soviets, successfully destroyed Dawude and established the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan .
Compared with the previous Dawude regime, the new regime is obviously closer to the Soviet Union. Not only does it completely copy the Soviet model in terms of diplomacy and internal affairs, but even the political structure is the same as Soviet . Logically speaking, Afghanistan was considered a dust-breaking place at this time and was completely written in the hands of the Soviet Union.
However, things went against my wishes. Although Afghanistan won, there were problems within the People's Democratic Party. Since this party is a merger of two organizations, "flag" and "people", there are obvious factions within it, and both sides want to be the boss.Originally, the Soviet Union was more inclined to the "flag" faction and had high hopes for its leader Karmael.
But Karmael is really an Adou who cannot be helped. He is no match for the "people" faction in the internal struggle. Not only was Taraki robbed the throne of the leader, but he was also brutally purged and almost couldn't even save his life. Fortunately, the Soviets thought of "working hard and making great contributions", and at the last moment they took action to send him abroad.
Of course, Taraki and Karmael are both their own family members. Although they don’t like each other, they are still consistent in the general direction of pro-Soviet, so the Soviet Union did not say much about Taraki’s disobedient behavior. However, Taraki was not good at it. He thought that he would rest assured if he had done it, but he never thought that he would be stabbed in the back by his own people.
In September 1979, the "People" sent the second leader Amin to launch a military coup, ending Taraki's rule in Afghanistan in a familiar way. Taraki, a proud disciple, had good everything, but he had a bad temper and had an extremely tough style. He would not give him even the Soviets' face. Especially as a nationalist, he was extremely disgusted with the Soviet Union's control over Afghanistan. In his opinion, it would be fine to work with the Soviets to be friends, but if you kneel on the ground and be a son, you can't bear it.
So after taking office, Amin fought against Dulaman, not only purged the pro-Soviet forces in China, but also tried to introduce other foreign forces to fight the Soviet Union. The Soviets naturally knew Amin's temper. They even suggested that Taraki get rid of this hidden danger as soon as possible, but Taraki was too useless.
Amin's coming to power has caused a crack in the originally close relationship between Afghanistan and the Soviet Union. This not only means that the Soviet Union's years of operations in Afghanistan will be destroyed, but it is also likely that a pro-Western regime will appear at its doorstep. You should know that from Afghanistan and going north, there are several republics of the Soviet Union in Central Asia, . This is equivalent to someone pushing the gun on his forehead, which the Soviet Union could not accept.
So getting rid of Amin's regime became something that the Soviet Union had to do. Under normal circumstances, this should not be a big deal. Just let the KGB take action to launch a military coup or assassination. However, the frequent coups seized power in years and years, which consumed a lot of the KGB manpower and material resources, which was really a bit overwhelming. At that time, the KGB had made it clear that its strength in Afghanistan is not enough to deal with Amin.
And as a experienced person, Amin had been on guard against this move for a long time. He not only attached great importance to his escort work, but also vigorously cleaned up the pro-Soviet personnel within and created a power system that belonged entirely to him. Even though the KGB masters were brave enough to deal with Amin, they could not create a pro-Soviet regime again. Even because of Amin's disappearance, Afghanistan, which had no leader, would fall into chaos further, giving other forces an opportunity to take advantage of the opportunity to pick the Soviet peaches. Such a result was undoubtedly worse for the Soviet Union.
In this situation, sending troops directly to carry out military strikes has become an option. At that time, the operation of force was ultimately the worst. After all, Afghanistan was still a sovereign state in name, and the Soviet Union sent troops to a direct invasion, which was somewhat unreasonable. However, the Soviet Union was at its peak of force at that time, and his mentality of fighting for hegemony was inflated, and he had long been accustomed to his domineeringness. As the saying goes, truth only exists within the range of the cannon, and the so-called reason and justice are vulnerable to the fist.
On the evening of December 27, 1979, the Soviet army entered Afghanistan and officially started the Soviet-Afghan War. As the global combat power ceiling at that time, the Soviets' military power was really strong. Just three hours after the war started, the Soviet commando successfully dropped the presidential palace. Not only did Amin die for his country, but his family was also affected. Amin had a total of 4 wives and 24 children at that time, and only one of the last 28 people survived.
After solving Amin, the Soviet Union supported Karmael to form a new government and successfully accepted the government's armed forces. In just two days, the Soviet Union completed the replacement of the Afghan regime and brought the country back to itself.Logically speaking, the Soviet mission was over at this time and it was time to retreat and go home.
But the Soviets did not leave because their goals had not been achieved. This time, the Soviet Union mobilized more than 80,000 people, tanks and planes all joined forces, and the Aming regime, which could be handled by one commando, was obviously not worthy of their mobilization. At that time, Afghanistan was already in chaos due to years of civil strife and coups, and various anti-government forces appeared one after another. Behind these forces are more or less support from the Soviet Union, which is a great obstacle to the Soviet Union's control of Afghanistan. Only by solving them all can Afghanistan be considered to be the real overall situation. So for the Soviet Union, packing up Amin is just a starter, and cleaning up all kinds of anti-Soviet forces in Afghanistan is the highlight.
So after the establishment of the new Afghan regime, the Soviet army continued to stay in Afghanistan and pointed the finger at various anti-government forces in Afghanistan. In terms of strength alone, Afghanistan's anti-government forces can only be regarded as a mob in front of the Soviet army and do not have the ability to confront the front. But they have the advantage of home court and can deal with the Soviets with the complex terrain and ethnic conditions of Afghanistan.
For example, the mountainous terrain conditions in Afghanistan can provide concealment for the rebels while greatly restricting the Soviet mechanized forces. They hid in the mountains to fight guerrillas with the Soviets. The enemy advances and we retreat. The enemy is tired and we disturb us. Anyway, they just don’t fight you head-on.
Another example is that Afghanistan is close to Pakistan. The Pashtun people in the two countries have the same clan and origin. They reached an agreement on the fight against the Soviets. With Pakistan's backing, Afghanistan undoubtedly has a big rear. If he really can't fight, he retreats to Pakistan. The Soviet Union could deal with Afghanistan, but he did not dare to attack Pakistan easily. After all, he did not recognize you as the Soviet Union as his elder brother in Pakistan, and he was named Wuming.
Faced with the Afghan guerrilla tactics, the Soviet Union seemed to hit the cotton with its fist, but it was powerful but unable to use it, which was very frustrated. The Soviets here could not do anything to the Afghan guerrillas, but Afghanistan could cause considerable trouble to the Soviet Union. Not to mention anything else, the ubiquitous "Stinger" missile alone can give the Soviets a pot of drink. Many times, such a little guy who costs tens of thousands of dollars can easily take away a multi-million-dollar gunship helicopter , plus a team of pilot soldiers. Even if the Soviet Union had a big family and a big business, it would be unbearable. The house was leaking and it was raining all night. At this time, international oil prices rose sharply again, causing heavy losses to the Soviet Union, which relied on oil to make a living, and the originally pretty good economic situation took a sharp turn. After all, the war was full of money. Afghanistan was really worthwhile, and the Soviets could not bear it. I don’t know if Afghanistan can handle it, but the Soviet Union will definitely collapse.
1989, the Soviet army, which had fought in Afghanistan for nearly ten years, returned in vain, proclaiming the complete failure of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Although the Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan, this is not a timely stop loss, and the Soviet Union's problems are already difficult to recover. Shortly after the war, the Soviet Union encountered a crisis of disintegration, and the various franchised republics became independent. Finally, on December 25, 1991, as the Soviet flag slowly descended from the Kremlin , the superpower that once dominated half of the earth completely disappeared.
Empire Cemetery, indeed well-known!
