Why (and when) did Russia invade?
This revolution took place in 1978.
What is the Saur revolution?
This group took control of Afghanistan in the Saur Revolutiion in 1978.
What is the Peoples Democratic Party of Afghanistan?
What warfare did the Mujahideen employ?
What is Guerilla?
Can you think of a moment of a moment in history where religion has been the primary justification for war?
The Crusades, The Thirty Years' War, The Soviet-Afghan War. In the Soviet Afghan War, the Mujahideen were motivated by an Islamic call for jihad, or religious strife.
This was the United States President, condemning the Soviet Union for invading Afghanistan in 1979.
Who is Jimmy Carter?
This invasion took place in 1979.
What is the Russian invasion?
Soviets feared losing control of Afghanistan because this type of government was failing.
What is a communist government?
In this city, many protests and strikes took place
What is kabul?
Think of examples of people or nation with very different background uniting to fight a common enemy.
Like the Allies in WWII, the Mujahideen were not a truly organized front, and were very fragmented and different from each other. Despite this, they were able to cause Russia to withdraw due to being united under a common enemy.
The U.S. boycotted this 1980 international sports event held in Moscow.
What are the 1980 Summer Olympics?
This Afghani Marxist political party supported the Soviet Union.
What is the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan?
This Afghan leader overthrew Nur Muhammad Taraki in 1979 creating a power struggle which concerned soviets.
Who is Hafizullah Amin?
More than 5 million Afghans fled the fighting and became refugees, mostly in these two neighboring countries.
What are Pakistan and Iran?
How would one fight against a powerful nation?
Hint: Think about the Vietnamese War
A popular tactic that small groups use to fight powerful nations is guerilla warfare. This is how the Mujahideen fought against Russia.
The U.S. provided two ways to assist Afghan fighters during the invasion.
What are financial and military aid?
The USSR invaded because they feared this growing in Afghanistan.
What is Western influence?
The Soviets wanted to control Afghanistan to protect its southern border in what ongoing conflict.
What is the Cold War?
Afghan resistance fighters framed their fight against the Soviets as this kind of religious struggle, or “holy war.”
Whats jihad?
To what extent would difference in equipment and numbers give one side a significant advantage in a fight? How would one make up this difference?
When one is greatly outnumbered and out geared, they are at a significant disadvantage. One way the Mujahideen got past this was using terrain to their advantage, and getting arms from the US.
The U.S. sent military assistance to Afghan fighters based in a country neighboring Afghanistan.
What is Pakistan?
They also invaded to crush this rebellion.
The anti-communist Mujahideen insurgency.
The Soviet leader who started the invasion.
Who was Leonid Brezhnev
Nicknamed the “Lion of Panjshir,” this mujahideen commander repeatedly defended his valley against Soviet offensives.
Who is Ahmad Shah Massoud?
What usually happens to groups that aren't organized under a central leader?
Fragmented groups like the Mujahideen, when no longer united by a common enemy, usually fall apart in a struggle for power against themselves.
This secret CIA program funded Afghan fighters against the Soviet Union.
What is Operation Cyclone?