At the end of December 1979, the Soviet Union sent thousands of troops into Afghanistan and seized complete military and political control of Kabul, the capital city. The USSR also seized other parts of the country. This incident marked the only time that the Soviet Union invaded a country outside of the Eastern bloc; however, the invasion was more commonly known as an intervention in order to spread communist ideals by establishing a communist government in Afghanistan.
The invasion occurred as a result of the Afghan civil war during the early 1970s. It began with the official residence of the president of the Russian federation known as the Kremlin, which had a goal to take over Afghanistan. The Kremlin wanted Afghanistan to fully represent the Bruzhnev Doctrine, a Russian idea that stated that once a country became socialist, Moscow would never permit it to return to capitalist ideals. In the summer of 1973, Mohammed Daoud, the Afghanistan prime minister, launched a coup against the former Afghan leader King Zahir, where he began to lead Afghanistan and fully relied on military training and supplies from Moscow. The People's Republic Party of Afghanistan, which initially supported Daoud, eventually split into two factions that digressed away from their former Marxist ideologic beliefs. The split consisted of the Parchamists, led by Babrak Karmal, and the Khalqis, led by Noor Taraki. Doud attempted to rule, even with the split, yet his power deemed inferior to the growing Soviet influence and the two faction's growth in power. Daoud wished to suppress this threat of the the two factions by attempting to steer away from Soviet influence and build relations with the United States. Eventually, the Khalqis, the more radical of the two factions, executed Daoud and his family, and made Noor Taraki prime minister and Karmal his deputy prime minister.
United States president Jimmy Carter realized that Taraki would digress from Daoud's plan and not break away from Moscow, thus he was faced with a decision to either cut ties with the country as a whole, or hope that Soviet Influence would be contained under Taraki. In 1979, an ally of Taraki named Hafizullah Amin executed many of the Parchamist faction after hearing of a potential Parcham overthrow of Taraki. Taraki and Amin created a treaty with Moscow, allowing the Soviet Union to have direct military assistance if there were another threat to the Islamic regime_. Amin lead a communist based government in Afghanistan, and tried to rid of Muslim beliefs across Afghanistan. Dissidents of Amin's government came to be called Mujahdeen, a guerrilla force consisting of Muslims who wanted to restore the beliefs in their God, Allah. The Soviets actively pursued to stabilize the Amin government by invading the country in 1979, claiming that they had been invited by the Amin government. The United States, which had frowned upon a Soviet invasion of Afghanistan from the beginning, responded rather lightly. A US ban on the export of grain to Russia was enacted, the SALT discussion for peace was revoked, the Mujahideen merely received American surface-to-air missiles and not direct support from the US, and of course, The Carter Administration called for a 1980 Olympic boycott of the summer Olympic games in Moscow. Russia's interference in Afghanistan was crippling their already weak economy, and Mikhail Gorbachev, the secretary of the Soviet Union, decided to withdraw Russia from Afghanistan in the late 1980s. _
The invasion occurred as a result of the Afghan civil war during the early 1970s. It began with the official residence of the president of the Russian federation known as the Kremlin, which had a goal to take over Afghanistan. The Kremlin wanted Afghanistan to fully represent the Bruzhnev Doctrine, a Russian idea that stated that once a country became socialist, Moscow would never permit it to return to capitalist ideals. In the summer of 1973, Mohammed Daoud, the Afghanistan prime minister, launched a coup against the former Afghan leader King Zahir, where he began to lead Afghanistan and fully relied on military training and supplies from Moscow. The People's Republic Party of Afghanistan, which initially supported Daoud, eventually split into two factions that digressed away from their former Marxist ideologic beliefs. The split consisted of the Parchamists, led by Babrak Karmal, and the Khalqis, led by Noor Taraki. Doud attempted to rule, even with the split, yet his power deemed inferior to the growing Soviet influence and the two faction's growth in power. Daoud wished to suppress this threat of the the two factions by attempting to steer away from Soviet influence and build relations with the United States. Eventually, the Khalqis, the more radical of the two factions, executed Daoud and his family, and made Noor Taraki prime minister and Karmal his deputy prime minister.
United States president Jimmy Carter realized that Taraki would digress from Daoud's plan and not break away from Moscow, thus he was faced with a decision to either cut ties with the country as a whole, or hope that Soviet Influence would be contained under Taraki. In 1979, an ally of Taraki named Hafizullah Amin executed many of the Parchamist faction after hearing of a potential Parcham overthrow of Taraki. Taraki and Amin created a treaty with Moscow, allowing the Soviet Union to have direct military assistance if there were another threat to the Islamic regime_. Amin lead a communist based government in Afghanistan, and tried to rid of Muslim beliefs across Afghanistan. Dissidents of Amin's government came to be called Mujahdeen, a guerrilla force consisting of Muslims who wanted to restore the beliefs in their God, Allah. The Soviets actively pursued to stabilize the Amin government by invading the country in 1979, claiming that they had been invited by the Amin government. The United States, which had frowned upon a Soviet invasion of Afghanistan from the beginning, responded rather lightly. A US ban on the export of grain to Russia was enacted, the SALT discussion for peace was revoked, the Mujahideen merely received American surface-to-air missiles and not direct support from the US, and of course, The Carter Administration called for a 1980 Olympic boycott of the summer Olympic games in Moscow. Russia's interference in Afghanistan was crippling their already weak economy, and Mikhail Gorbachev, the secretary of the Soviet Union, decided to withdraw Russia from Afghanistan in the late 1980s. _