Entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan: causes and consequences

The introduction of Soviet troops into Afghanistan for already three decades causes conflicting emotions among many scientists, military and politicians. On the one hand, the operation itself, the key moment of which was the storming of the Amin Palace in Kabul, is still a model for the actions of special forces in such situations. On the other hand, it is impossible to consider the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan in isolation from the subsequent aggravation of international tension, and also because this event eventually became one of the reasons for the collapse of the USSR.

Meanwhile, in order to understand the deep meaning of events more than thirty years ago, it is necessary to take into account the situation in this Central Asian country in 1979.

It all began in April 1978, when the PDPA, headed by the famous writer N. Taraki, came to power in Kabul as a result of the military coup. At that time, this development was considered a great miscalculation by the United States, since Taraki and his associates saw the Soviet Union as their main ally, where the power already at that time was pretty much a decrepit government headed by Leonid Brezhnev.

The leadership of the USSR and the CPSU strove to support the young government of the Afghan Republic in every possible way. During the whole of 1978, considerable money was sent here, military and economic advisers were traveling, who became the main organizers of land and educational reforms.

At the same time, discontent was growing inside Afghanistan, both among the common people and among the ruling elite. In early 1979, this resistance resulted in an open rebellion, which, as it turned out today, was the United States. Even then, Taraki demanded from Brezhnev that he authorize the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan, however, he received a firm refusal.

The situation changed dramatically in September 1979, when one of the associates of Taraki Amin made a coup and came to power instead of strangling the former president in prison. The coming to power of Amin dramatically changed both the state of affairs inside Afghanistan and its situation in the international arena. Moreover, judging by the recently published memoirs of the famous American public figure Z. Brzezinski, in this coup the United States played the most direct role, having its sole purpose to immerse the USSR in its "Vietnamese war".

Thus, the main reasons for the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan were the extremely important strategic position of this country, and also that after the coup of Amin, the Soviet government was forced to intervene in the internal affairs of this state, so as not to receive a hotbed of tension on its border.

The entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan was sanctioned by the decision of the highest party organ - the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee. At the same time, the decision stated that in its actions the leadership of the USSR relies on the treaty of friendship, which was signed between the countries back in 1978.

On the eve of the new, 1980, as a result of the storming of the presidential palace Amin was killed and the USSR's protege B.Karmal became the president of the republic . For some time, the introduction of Soviet troops into Afghanistan contributed to the normalization of the internal life of the country, however, later Soviet troops were dragged into heavy armed clashes with Mujahideen, which resulted in more than 15,000 dead from the Soviet side.