Soviet Invasion Of Afghanistan 1979

Question 1

How was the Détenté formed

Answer 1

US table tennis team visited China in 1971 (ping-pong diplomacy) and in 1972 US president Richard Nixon also visited China the first western leader to do so.
Attempts towards peace were also seen in attempts to reduce nuclear arms with the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT I) in 1972 and a second round of talks (SALT II) agreed in 1979

Question 2

What are key reasons why the USSR decided to take action against Afghanistan in 1979

Answer 2

Afghanistan found itself at centre of unrest many Afghan Muslims were unhappy with Socialist reforms in Afghanistan and hard formed the Mujahedeen to fight Government
Soviets feared the unrest could spread to the Muslim population of USSR
Afghanistan had valuable gas fields that USSR could exploit
When Amin became the new leader of Afghanistan, after assassinating the previous President, the USSR feared that he might look to the USA for aid.

Question 3

Actions and involvement of the USSR in Afghanistan

Answer 3

25th Dec 1979 USSR invade Afghanistan
killed the President in the President’s palace in Kabul and replaced him with a puppet ruler, Babrak Karmal.
Over next 10 years USSR would commit 125,000 troops as well as extensive numbers of tanks and helicopters

Question 4

Actions and involvement of the USA in Afghanistan 1979

Answer 4

Between 1981-1987 the US government funded operation cyclone this supplied $3.2 billion to the Mujahedeen those who fought the soviet invasion

Question 5

Reasons for Soviet difficulty and outcome of the war in Afghanistan

Answer 5

Mujahedeen used similar guerrilla tactics to the Vietcong
Afghanistan contains much difficult terrain particularly in the south making it difficult for the Soviets to reach except via helicopter US supplied surface-to-air missiles allowed the Mujahedeen to shoot these down
The Mujahedeen fighters also able to hide among civilian population or move across the border to Pakistan
In 1988 Soviet Union’s leader Mikhail Gorbachev made the decision to withdraw troops as he believed the conflict could not be won.

Question 6

Consequences of the Afghanistan war and its impact on relations for Afghanistan (1979)

Answer 6

Split Afghan society
3 million refugees fled to Pakistan
1 million Afghans died
Created a power vacuum where Afghanistan controlled by local warlords

Question 7

Consequences of the Afghanistan war and its impact on relations for the USSR (1979)

Answer 7

Cost of war was devastating for the economy
People begin to speak out against Soviet government

Question 8

Consequences of the Afghanistan war and its impact on relations for Russian relations with the West(1979)

Answer 8

USA boycotted 1980 Moscow Olympics. USSR boycotted 1984 LA Olympics
Destroyed Détente
Ronald Reagan called the Soviet Union an Evil Empire
More weapons and increased tensions