Exposing Soviet Union's War Crimes In Afghanistan *WARNING Mature Audiences Only

‘The Graveyard of Empires.’ This is a nickname given to Afghanistan for the failures of so many imperial powers to succeed there. The Soviet Union was no different. Between 1979 and 1989, the Soviet Union sent hundreds of thousands of men to crush Islamist and anti-Communist forces of the Mujahideen. Unpopular, unproductive, and unspeakably brutal, the Soviet occupation was despised by the Afghans, condemned by the global community, and helped to bring about the ultimate collapse of the USSR. Today on A Day In History, we look at the awful things the Soviets did in Afghanistan and the terrible costs the Afghan people paid for their government’s alliance with the declining superpower. If this is interesting to you, consider leaving a like on the video, and subscribing to our channel for more videos like this one. Soviet Invasion As a staunchly neutral country, Afghanistan had enjoyed the benefits of both US and Soviet friendship for most of the Cold War. This ended in April 1978, when Communist revolutionaries led by Nur Mohammad Taraki overthrew the government and placed themselves firmly in the Soviet camp. Taraki’s brutal reign was short-lived and he was ousted in another coup the following year, this time by his own Prime Minister Hafizullah Amin. Both regimes shared Communist ideals and were deeply unpopular with the Afghan people. Afghan society was still deeply religious and tribal, at least in rural areas, while Communism was favoured among the urbanites and the political, military, or academic elite. This tension soon spilled over into violence as radical Islamist groups emerged, consciouso f the threat that atheistic Communist rule posed to their religious way of life. By 1979, Afghanistan was gripped by civil strife with whole areas of the country declaring themselves for the rebel factions collectively dubbed the Mujahideen. For the USSR, this unrest didn’t just threaten a potential allied regime, it challenged the presumptions of Soviet foreign policy. For decades, the Communists had assumed that, once Communism gained a foothold somewhere, it would never fall. Afghanistan shattered that illusion, rallying the common people of the country against Communist rule. Eager to suppress this unrest, the Soviets intervened to support the regimes. In March 1978, anti-Communist demonstrations erupted in Herat. Even the local soldiers defected to the rebels. The Afghan government turned to the Soviets for support, who responded with characteristic brutality: they sent bombers to put down the rebels, killing 5,000 people. It was an outrage for the Afghan people and only fuelled further unrest, with more military units revolting against the government through 1978 and 79. The following April, Soviet helicopters had a similar brutal response to the rebellious village of Kerala, which claimed another 1,000 lives. By the end of 1979, Moscow decided they needed a firmer hand. On December 24th, paratroopers dropped into Afghanistan and occupied key strategic points. The Afghan government believed they were here to help, but got a nasty surprise on December 27th when Spetsnaz forces stormed the President’s palace in Kabul, killed President Amin, and appointed the puppet Babrak Karmal in his place. This began a nearly decade-long Soviet presence in the country, facing down the coalition of Islamist Afghan rebels calling themselves the Mujahideen. Cold War politics meant that the USA and its allies were quick to fund the Mujahideen in a proxy war against the Soviets. #sovietunion #sovietafghanwar #sovietunionhistory Sources: Gregory Feifer, The Great Gamble: The Soviet War in Afghanistan, (2009) Gregory Fremont-Barnes, The Soviet-Afghan War 1979-89, (2012) Lester W. Garu, The Bear Went Over the Mountain: Soviet Combat Tactics in Afghanistan, (1996) Mohammed Hassan Kakar, Afghanistan: The Soviet Invasion and the Afghan Response, 1979-1982, (1995) Rodric Braithwaite, Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan 1979-89, (2011) Copyright © 2023 A Day In History. All rights reserved. DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected]