From the October – December 1999 of Afghan Magazine | Lemar-Aftaab
“I feel the happiest when I can light my American cigarette with Soviet matches.”
– President Mohammed Daud (July 30, 1973)
This December marks the 20th Anniversary of the Soviet Invasion; yet, many questions regarding the reasons for the 1979 invasion are still being debated. Whatever the reasons for the invasion, what remains clear is that 1999 also marks the 10th Anniversary of the Red Army’s withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Many have addressed this issue. Unfortunately, due to emotional ties, views have become very untenable and highly biased. Moreover, individual viewpoints do not change the facts. The fact is that during the past two decades, thousands of Afghans have been buried in distant graveyards, while their homeland literally has become a graveyard.
This article briefly reexamines Afghan-Soviet relations since Afghanistan’s independence until it was suppressed by the Red Army soldiers. Following the summary will be a closer look at the chronology of Afghan-Soviet relations. Both sections contain historical importance. Hopefully, this presentation will be beneficial for those researching Afghan-Soviet relations. It may also help in the research of more sound conclusions for what lies ahead for Afghanistan.
The history of Afghan-Soviet relations reveals a pattern of persistent Russian expansionism. Soviet interests in Afghanistan can be traced back to the 19th century. Czarist Russia had strong diplomatic ties with Kabul and had promised Afghanistan military support against the British. In fact, when the British started the second Afghan-Anglo War in 1878 and advanced on Kabul, Amir Sher Ali مير شېر علي appealed to the Russian commander from Mazar-i-Sharif. The Russians were unable to send troops across Afghanistan’s mountainous backbone, the Hindu Kush, to Kabul in the winter. (Adamec, 1991; Meyer, 1999).
After the October Revolution, the Soviet Union tried to exercise significant influence in Afghanistan, which has lasted up until today. The Soviets were the first to declare their all-round support for the 1919 National Independence of Afghanistan under Shah Amanullah. Moreover, the Soviet Union has been the first country to recognize every new government in Afghanistan, with the exception of the current regime in Kabul.
Vladimir Lenin wrote a letter to Shah Amanullah urging that Afghanistan take the great historic task of uniting around itself all enslaved Muslims and leading them on the road to freedom and independence. Although few Afghans have met with Lenin, the first encounter was an informal one. In the 1980s, a photograph at the Afghan Foreign Ministry revealed the image of the first Afghan to have ever met Lenin.
The photograph, taken somewhere in Russia before a crowd listening to Lenin. Abdul Majid Zabuli عبدالمجید زابلی lived in Russia at that time and was the young spectator in the crowd. After the Soviet Revolution, Zabuli زابلی established himself in Moscow as a trader when the Soviet New Economic Policy granted valued foreigners certain privileges in commerce.
In spite of the friendly rhetoric, differences existed between the two leaderships: Shah Amanullah شاه امانالله خان opened diplomatic relations with the emirate of Bukhara to afford them legal recognition as sovereign states from Soviet control. He hoped to incorporate the Islamic people beyond the Amu Darya into an Islamic Confederation. This hope soon became unrealistic after the fall of the emirate regime in Bukhara.
In December 1925, a severe crisis in Afghan-Soviet relations threatened Afghanistan’s national sovereignty. Soviet troops occupied the island of Darqad (also called Urta Tagai and Yangi Qala) on the Amu Darya which Afghanistan considered Afghan territory.
After the Bolshevik Revolution, refugees from the Soviet Union settled on the island, including some freedom fighters called Basmachis. They used the island as a base for attacks on the Soviet Union. Since the USSR wanted to maintain good relations with Shah Amanullah’s government, the Red Army soldiers evacuated the island and stopped raiding the Basmachis base.
Shah Amanullah شاه امانالله خان visited President Kalinin in Moscow en route to Afghanistan from Europe. When Shah Amanullah relinquished the throne in 1929, the Soviet Union maintained its embassy in Kabul. In 1929, when General Muhammad Nadir returned to regain the throne for Shah Amanullah, the USSR immediately recognized the new administration even though later General Muhammad Nadir was proclaimed king by his comrade-in-arms. The new king sent his half-brother Muhammad Aziz (father of Sardar Mohammad Daud سردار محمدداوود خان and Sardar Mohammad Naim) as ambassador to Moscow to indicate the importance of the post. His government also made some overtures to the Soviet Union by levying pressure on the Basmachi refugees whom Shah Amanullah had initially supported.
In 1931, under the command of Shah Mahmud شاه محمود خان, the Basmachi movement in northern Afghanistan was expelled and forced into Soviet territory where they were arrested and summarily executed. Furthermore, Nadir Shah renegotiated the Afghan-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and signed a commercial treaty. As a result, from 1929 to 1933, trade increased substantially between the USSR and Afghanistan.
After the 1933 assassination of Nadir Shah محمد نادر شاه, his son Mohammed Zahir محمد ظاهر شاه took what Eastern and Western aid he could get, milking both sides and attempting not to become too dependent on either side. However, this formula soon failed, and Afghanistan became aligned with the Soviets. The Soviets developed the country’s infrastructure and trained young Afghans with an eye to strategic advantage. Moreover, as a result of the Pakistani trade blockade, the Afghans had to rely more and more on Soviet goodwill for their trade.
In 1953, when Sardar Muhammad Daud became Prime Minister for the monarchy, Soviet interventionism was bolstered in Afghanistan because of the Pashtunistan dispute; the dispute concerned the Afghans tribes trapped by the nominal Durand Line in the British created state of Pakistan. The tribes wanted to be given self-determination rights to choose their fate. As a result, 1955 The Afghan National Grand Assembly (Loya Jirga) showed their support by stating that the trapped tribes should be able to choose if they wanted an independent Pashtunistan, dependence on Pakistan, or to be incorporated with their motherland Afghanistan.
The Loya Jirga viewed the U.S. support for its rival’s Pakistani military forces as a hostile maneuver and accepted Soviet arms. This strengthening of Pakistan was viewed in Afghanistan as a weakening of Afghanistan’s power, which in turn reduced the possibility that Pakistan would come to terms with Afghanistan over border disputes. Afghanistan’s willingness to accept large scale Soviet aid caused concern in the United States, however, the U.S. had limited direct interest because Afghanistan was not a significant trading partner, a transit route, source of oil or other minerals, nor was the U.S. obliged to Afghanistan because of any treaties. Also, early on from the Franklin Roosevelt administration until the Nixon presidency, Afghanistan’s requests for arms were rejected. As a result, Loya Jirga decided to accept Soviet arms.
However, Afghans politicians such as Abdul Malik Rahimzai wanted to contain the presence of the USSR and U.S. in Afghanistan. Rahimzai and others favored taking one-for-one, meaning never take more equivalent worth rubbles than dollars, vice versa. Therefore before accepting Soviet aid, Prime Minister Sardar Daud made one final unsuccessful appeal for military assistance from the United States. However, due to the numerous U.S. rejections for political support and military aid requests by the Afghan government, Afghanistan turned out of necessity to the Soviets for assistance.
In December 1955, when Nikita Khrushchev and Nikolai Bulganin came to Kabul, the Soviets supported Afghanistan in the Pashtunistan dispute. Also, the Soviets offered massive aid to the monarchy in Afghanistan, which the United States was unwilling to match. The Afghan government turned to the Soviet Union for the weapons it could not obtain from the West.
In 1957, the Soviet military mission arrived in Kabul. In 1960, aside from other Soviet diplomats in Kabul, the Soviet military mission had swelled in number to 500 people. In 1955, an Afghan-Soviet Transit Agreement was signed between Kabul and Moscow allowing Afghanistan to move its trade with third-party countries through Soviet territory.
In 1959, as Afghan-Soviet relations proliferated and the Afghan government encouraged the removal of the veil, traditional leaders protested in Kandahar and were arrested. Between 1954-64, the Soviet Union assisted the Afghans to the tune of 527 million dollars, twice the amount as the United States. For example, in 1964, A. Kosygin and Soviet delegation arrived in Kabul to discuss expansion of Afghan-Soviet Economic Cooperation. During this time, Afghanistan signed more than 15 agreements with the USSR. As a result, Afghanistan became dependent on Moscow for foreign trade, petroleum, and arms. With the arms and weapons arrived Soviet advisors and experts and what followed were thousands of Afghans going to the Soviet Union for military training. Graduates from Afghan institutes of higher education won fellowships to foreign universities, including the USSR, and there emerged a growing cadre of military officers, students, and technocrats with modern democratic sympathies.
From 1957 until 1974, the Soviets trained more than 60,000 skilled Afghan workers and 5,200 technicians. By the early 1970s, about 90% of the Afghan armed forces were being trained by the Soviets. Also, about 1.5 billion dollars of Soviet military assistance was promised to Afghanistan.
On July 17, 1973, a coup staged by these segments of society declared Mohammed Daud as the country’s first President and the Soviets immediately recognized the first new republican government. Two years later, the Soviets gave Afghanistan 437 million dollars in economic credit. Then in 1976, an Afghan-Soviet Trade Agreement was signed that called for a 65 percent increase in commerce by 1980. As a result, the new government continued a strong pro-Soviet orientation. In April 1977, President Mohammed Daud and NV Podgorny (Chairman of Soviet Presidium) met in Moscow. During President Daud’s last year, his authoritarian rule alienated many people. In fact, within one week in 1978, the entire country underwent a change starting with the mysterious assassination of political ideologue Mir Akbar Khyber. “15,000 people turned out on the Kabul streets to march behind the casket in a disciplined crowd made up largely of what passes for a young middle class in Afghanistan” (The Economist, 1978). After the mass demonstration at Khyber’s funeral, significant political figures were imprisoned because of fears created in President Daud’s Cabinet.
The consequences were: first, the lack of a public statement in regards to his close friend’s assassination cast doubt to his loyalty to his followers; second, imprisoning other allies confirmed the belief that President Daud must be part of the assassination plot and wanting to eliminate all political rivals. It was believed that the administration planned to execute these political figures. President Daud’s sympathizers felt betrayed by him and participated in the coup against the Republic. The Shah of Iran tells a similar story, “My advisors built a wall between myself and my people. I didn’t realize what was happening. When I woke up, I had lost my people.”
As a result, within 24 hours of the incarceration, the only political figure not imprisoned, Hafizullah Amin, led the orchestration of the coup. The next morning, a new government with Nur Muhammad Taraki at the helms was declared.
Although the new government considered itself non-aligned, it was very much in alliance with the Soviet Union. According to Dobbs (Nov 23-29, 1992), the April Revolution of 1978 caught the Kremlin by surprise, and Moscow had even warned against the obstacles. Taraki instituted drastic social and economic measures, including land reform, women’s rights, and education, thus continuing to offend those with vested interests in maintaining the status quo. The U.S. recognized the regime within a week and continued to send economic aid.
However, after the expulsion of their political rivals from the government, Prime Minister Amin launched a campaign of terror having opponents arrested and shot.
As a result, the regime was losing ground; hence, in December 1978, Taraki and Brezhnev signed the Afghan-Soviet Treaty of Friendship in Moscow. So, when Taraki returned from Moscow, he planned to eliminate Amin. By ousting Amin, the regime hoped to end the terror and slow down the controversial reforms. As a result, they would broaden the regime’s base.
When Taraki’s secret plan to remove Amin leaked out, Amin seized power and executed Taraki upon his return from Moscow. Amin took the leadership (link to 15.mov) for himself because all of his political rivals were either dead, in jail, or exiled in European and regional countries. The Amin regime executed and imprisoned intellectuals and technocrats from all over the political spectrum, even his own party members such as Taraki.
How to stop the Pol Pot-style state-terrorist regime of Amin was on everyone’s mind. Evidently, it was on the Soviet Politburo’s agenda as well. Whatever the reasons were, Moscow legally explained their actions by referring to December 5, 1978, Treaty which President Taraki renewed. Furthermore, they also legitimized their actions by citing Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, which refers to the right of nations to individual and collective self-defense against external aggression. The 20-year military, economic, and mutual security treaty with Afghanistan further legitimized their actions. The Soviets described Amin as an imperial agent repudiated by his own government when he tried to initiate a purge of the politicians, army personnel, and intelligentsia. Amin found himself confronted by a widespread revolt by the entire country.
Although the final decision to invade might have been formulated within only a week, the Soviet invasion was the outcome of a systematic process spanning many decades. Afghan-Soviet relations evolved through different stages: commercial, technological, cultural, political, and finally direct military integration. Strong economic and military ties between Afghanistan and the Soviet Union had developed in such a way that they created a dependency relationship with obvious political implications, and complete dependence on the Soviet Union. The increasing dependence of Afghanistan on its largest trading partner, the Soviet Union, in the different stages of integration ultimately laid a logistical infrastructure for invasion.
From this overview, it is obvious that at every stage of Soviet integration, Afghanistan’s involuntary dependence was becoming more irreversible. As a result, the direct intervention of the Red Army soldiers in Afghanistan was the culmination of all prior stages. According to Adamec (1991), “the fact that the experiment with democracy in the 1960s ended in failure, war, and foreign intervention should not be surprising.”
Unfortunately, hindsight is never available until an event transpires, or the prevailing circumstances of the 1940s-1970s were not different. One is reminded of the famous saying, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”
It is understandable that no administration would have ever predicted that their collective contributions to Afghan-Soviet relations would bring such a day when Afghanistan would become so integrated with the Soviet Union. Similarly, no current politician would have ever envisioned that their collective role during the last seven years would have brought Afghanistan to the lowest point in the history of civilization.
Timeline
Chronology of Afghan-Soviet Bilateral Relations
1919
April 21 – Newly-independent Afghanistan’s friendly message to the Soviet Union is received.
May 27 – Soviet Union formally recognizes the sovereignty of Afghanistan.
July – N.Z. Bravin (1st Soviet Official representative) arrives in Heart.
September 4-12 – Bravin arrives in Kabul to start negotiations between the two countries for coexistence and good neighborly relations.
October 10-14 – Shah Amanullah’s trusted Advisor, Mohammad Wali, leads a mission that arrived in Moscow. There, both Lenin and Chicherin (Commissar for Foreign Affairs) met the mission.
1921
February 28 – First Treaty of Friendship between G.V. Chicherin and L.M. Karakhan for the USSR and Muhammad Wali, Mirza Muhammad, and Ghulam Sadiq for Afghanistan signed between the two countries.
[captionL Lenin’s personal letter to Shah Amanullah. In 1919, Lenin wrote to Shah Amanullah that Afghanistan is “the only independent Muslim state in the world, and fate sends the Afghan people the great historic task of uniting about itself all enslaved Mohammedan peoples and leading them on the road to freedom and independence.” ]
April 20 – Personal letter from Lenin to Shah Amanullah.
June 24 – Afghan-Soviet Treaty of Neutrality and Mutual Non-Aggression signed
July 6 – Fedor Raskolnikov, Soviet Ambassador, arrives in Kabul.
August 14 – Afghan government ratified Afghan-Soviet Treaty of February 1921.
1924
October – Soviet Union supplied five airplanes to Afghanistan.
1925
October 23 – the Soviet Union provided trade concessions to Afghanistan.
December – Afghans accuse the Soviets of invading their territory northeast of the Panjdeh district near the Amu Darya (Oxus) River.
August 15 – Protocol regarding the question of Utra-Tagai Island signed by M.B.P. Postnikoff for the USSR and Mirza Muhammad, Ghulam Yahya, and Ali Akbar for Afghanistan.
1926
August 31 – Afghan-Soviet Treaty of Neutrality and Nonaggression signed by Afghan Foreign Minister Mahmud Beg Tarzi and L.H.Stark for the USSR
October – Afghan-Soviet negotiations for the supply of ammunition to Afghanistan.
1927
November 28 – Afghan-Soviet Agreement regarding the Kabul-Tashkent air route signed by Muhammad Ihsan (Afghan Air Force) and Charneyakoff for the USSR.
1928
May 3-18 – Shah Amanullah visits the Soviet Union en route to Afghanistan from his European tour.
1931
June 24 – Afghan-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Nonaggression signed by Foreign Minister Faiz Muhammad Khan and Leonide Stark.
July 6 – Afghan government shows his eagerness to conclude a commercial treaty with the Soviet Union.
July 8 – Afghan government declares its policy of neutrality and friendship towards its neighbors.
1932
April 3 – Afghan-Soviet Postal, Telegraph, and Wireless Agreement signed by Rahimullah (Director of Posts, Telegraphs, and Telephones) and Soviet Commissariat of Communications, which helped in the development of more close ties between the two countries.
1935
May 6 – Afghan-Soviet Agreement regarding the campaign locusts signed.
1936
March 29 – Afghan-Soviet Mutual Assistance Pact for prolonging the Treaty (originally signed in 1931) was renewed by Foreign Minister Faiz Muhammad and N. Krestinsky.
May – Afghan-Soviet Treaty of Commerce and Noninterference signed.
September 27 – Soviet State Banquet in honor of visiting Afghan War Minister Shah Mahmud.
1938
May – Afghan Air Forces officers sent to Britain, Italy, and the Soviet Union for training.
1940
July 29- Afghan-Soviet Treaty of Trade signed.
1946
June 13 – Afghan-Soviet Treaty of Boundary signed by Afghan Foreign Minister Sultan Ahmad and Vyacheslav Molotov for the USSR The Soviet Union got the Kushka River water rights.
June 14- Soviet Embassy in Kabul had about 600 personnel and Soviet officers.
1947
April 24 – Afghan delegation arrives in Tashkent for Afghan-Soviet border demarcation.
1948
September 29 – Afghan-Soviet mission complete demarcation of the border. Agreement signed fixing revised boundary.
1950
July 18 – A four-year Soviet-Afghan Agricultural Agreement signed and a duty-free transit of Afghan goods over Soviet territory. After that, Afghan trade began to flow north.
1954
January – Soviet announced a loan $3.5 million for the construction of two-grain elevators at Kabul and Pul-i-Khumri, and a flour mill and bakery at Kabul. Soviet technicians help carry out projects. It was at a low rate of interest, 3%, and a delay in repayment until the projects were completed in 1957 qualified it as foreign aid, even though not a gift.
July – An agreement worth $1.2 million was signed for construction of a gasoline pipeline across the Amu Darya and three gasoline storage centers.
August – The USSR scored a propaganda coup by agreeing to finance the paving of Kabul’s streets, a project that the United States Import-Export Bank had rejected a year earlier. While the USSR was active with projects in Afghanistan, the United States was engaged in improving Pakistan’s defense potential. By the end of 1954, the U.S. had committed 21 million dollars in arms aid to Pakistan.
1955
June – Soviets made a new agreement for duty-free transit.
November 15 – The Afghan National Grand Assembly (Loya Jirga) viewed the U.S. support for its rival’s Pakistani military forces as a hostile maneuver. The National Grand Assembly decides to accept Soviet arms.
December 15 – Soviet PM Nikolai Bulganin and Party Secretary Nikita Khrushchev officially visited Kabul.
December 16 – Soviet delegation in Kabul publicly announce their support of Afghanistan in Pashtunistan dispute.
December 18 – On day three of visit, the Soviet delegation announced the granting of a 100 million dollars, long term development loan at 2% interest. They also announced 100-bed hospital to be built in Kabul and fifteen buses to run on its newly paved streets. Also, the 1931 Treaty of Friendship and Nonaggression was extended to 1965.
1956
January 18 – Afghan-Soviet Economic Agreement signed.
January 30 – The Soviet Union present Ilyushin 14 “Crate” to Zahir Shah. The Il-14 was a twin-engined transport, development; performance still left much to be desired.
March 1 – Afghan-Soviet Technical Assistance Agreement signed which was for building hydroelectric plants, highways through the Hindu Kush, airfields, motor repair shop, and reservoirs.
March 31 – Soviet gift of 15 buses and equipment for the 100-bed hospital to Kabul municipality arrived.
July – Soviet give loan of $32.4 million for military aid.
July 26 – the Soviet Union agrees to carry out Nangahar irrigation project
August 25 – PM Mohammed Daoud announces military arms agreement with Czechoslovakia and the USSR.
September 27 – the First installation of arms from the August 1956 Agreement arrive.
October 17-30 – PM Mohammed Daoud visits the Soviet Union.
October 28 – Afghan Air Force receives 11 jet planes from the Soviet Union.
1957
July -During Mohammed Zahir Shah’s visited Moscow, $15 million funding an oil exploration team that found some substantial oil deposits and gas deposits is announced. The oil and the gas took a considerable time to exploit, but the output was committed in advance at a fixed price to the Soviet Union, the only market available.
January 8- Afghan-Soviet Trade Protocol signed.
February 10 – Radio Moscow inaugurates Pashtu program.
August 31 – Foreign Minister Mohammed Naim affirms about $25 million in military assistance under Afghan-Soviet Arms Agreement signed with the Soviet Union in 1956.
December 21 – Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko meets Afghan delegation in Moscow to negotiate new Frontier Agreement.
1958
January 8 – The USSR agrees to survey oil deposits in Afghanistan.
January 18 – Afghan-Soviet Treaty regulating border is signed.
October 1-5 – Marshall Voroshilov (Soviet President) visits Kabul.
1959
January 1-6 -Foreign Minister Mohammed Naim visits Moscow.
April 23 – Afghan-Soviet Protocol of Exchange of Goods signed.
May 18-22 – PM Daoud visits the USSR
May 28 -Afghan-Soviet Agreement on the building of 750 km Kandahar-Heart-Kushka highway signed.
October 28 – Afghan-Soviet Friendship Society was founded.
December 1 – Afghan-Soviet joint survey of Amu Darya began for the construction of a dam to provide electricity and water for irrigation.
December 21 – Police and army suppress rioting in Kandahar. Traditional leaders were opposing government measures of allowing women to remove the veil since August and accepting Soviet assistance.
1960
January 19 – Afghan-Soviet Agreement for construction of irrigation and power project on Kabul River signed.
March 2-5 – Soviet PM Khrushchev visits Afghanistan and signs Cultural Cooperation Agreement.
March 6 – The USSR announces the gift of 50,000 tons of wheat to Afghanistan.
May 13 – PM Mohammed Daoud meets Soviet PM Khrushchev while in Moscow for medical treatment.
July 2 – Jangalak auto repair shops opened, built with Soviet assistance.
July 15 – Soviet prospecting team announces the discovery of petroleum and natural gas deposits in northern Afghanistan.
August 10 – Afghan-Soviet Barter Agreement for a 2-year duration is signed.
August 18 – Darunta Canal opened, built with Soviet assistance.
September 16-20- Foreign Minister Mohammed Naim visits the USSR
October 11 – Soviet Army delegation arrives in Kabul for an 11-day visit.
October 16 – Afghan-Soviet Technical & Economic Cooperation Agreement signed.
October 24 – Soviet Deputy Minister of Public Works arrives in Kabul to inspect projects carried out with Soviet aid.
November 19 – Supplementary transit agreement, providing expansion of facilities for Afghan foreign trade signed with USSR.
1961
April 5 – PM Mohammed Daoud confers with Soviet PM Khrushchev in Moscow en route from Rome.
1962
January 23 – Four-year Afghan-Soviet Meteorological Service Agreement.
May 6 – Pul-i Khumri power station opened, built with Soviet assistance.
August 6-15 – Zahir Shah visits the USSR.
1963
February 25 – Afghan-Soviet Trade and Assistance Agreement signed.
April 29 – Afghan-Soviet Cultural Cooperation Agreement signed.
September 6 – Afghan-Soviet Agreement for construction of an atomic reactor in Afghanistan and training of specialists in the peaceful use of atomic energy signed. In return the Soviets accepted a certain quantity of Afghan natural gas from the Shiberghan field, in Jowzjan Province, laying a 60-mile pipeline to the Soviet border which was completed in 1967.
October 12-17 – Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev visits Afghanistan and lays the cornerstone for new Polytechnic Institute in Kabul.
October 16 – Agreement signed with USSR for technical assistance in extraction and exploitation of natural gas in northern Afghanistan.
1964
June 29-July 14 – Afghan military delegation visits USSR
July 4-5 – Deputy Prime Minister Anastas Mikoyan visits Kabul.
July 13 – the Soviet Union makes $25.2 million for Pul-i-Khumri to Mazar-i-Sharif to the Shiberghan Highway.
September 3 – Zahir Shah and Soviet Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Kosygin open Kabul-Doshi Highway over Salang Pass, built with Soviet assistance. The Salang Tunnel cuts a modern road from Kabul north to the Soviet Union
September – PM Mohammed Yousif and Alexei Kosygin discuss expansion to Afghan-Soviet economic cooperation.
October 27 – USSR agrees to loan $6.2 million to build Polytechnic Institute in Kabul.
1965
January 18 – USSR agrees to loan Afghanistan $ 11.1 million over three years for import of consumer goods.
February 15 – Afghan-Soviet Protocol on the exchange of goods and prices for 1965 signed. Increase of 20% expected in reciprocal goods deliveries.
March 11 – Zahir Shah and Soviet PM Dmitri Polyansky open Nangahar irrigation and power project, built with Soviet assistance.
April 21-30 – PM Mohammed Yusuf makes an official visit to USSR Gets the assurance of Soviet help with Third Plan.
May 23 – Ariana Airlines begins weekly flight to Tashkent, its first to the USSR
July 18 – PM Yusuf lays the cornerstone for Jangalak for 700 students being built with Soviet assistance.
July 24 – The USSR agrees to build a 97-km pipeline from Shiberghan gas fields to Soviet border and 88 km line from fields to fertilizer and powers plants in Balkh province.
August 3-14 – Zahir Shah and his wife visit the USSR Afghan-Soviet Treaty of Neutrality and Non-Aggression ( originally signed in 1926) was extended for another ten years.
1966
January 14-15 – Soviet PM Alexei Kosygin visits Kabul for talks.
February 1-10 – PM Maiwandwal visits the USSR
1967
May 10 – Afghan-Soviet Protocol on the export of natural gas signed. Afghanistan’s expected to earn over $320 million in the next 18 years from the export of gas which to reach 3 billion cum. a year by 1971.
May 30-June 2 – Nikolai Podgorny (Chairman of Presidium of Supreme Soviet Union) visits Afghanistan.
1968
January 31 – Soviet PM Kosygin stops in Kabul to discuss economic questions.
February 20 – Afghan Polytechnic Institute, built with Soviet assistance, completes the first year of instruction. Has 224 students in the first class.
April 22 – Shiberghan gas pipeline officially opened by Second Deputy PM Yaftali and Skachkov (President of Soviet Union’s Council of Ministers Committee of External Affairs).
1969
July 17 – A Soviet military delegation led by Marshal Ivan Bagramyan began a visit.
December 25- A Soviet military delegation led by Defense Minister Grechko arrived for an official visit.
1970
January 21 – The USSR signed a protocol for the export of 2.5 billion cubic meters of Afghan natural gas in 1970.
1971
June 13 – Zahir Shah ended a ten-day visit to the USSR with a joint communique reaffirming mutual allegiance to the principles of peaceful coexistence.
1972
January 3 – The USSR signed an agreement for expanding natural gas refining and collection centers in northern Afghanistan.
1974
April 5 – New trade and payments agreement between Afghanistan and the Soviet Union concluded after a visit to Moscow by the Afghan Trade Minister.
July 19 – Soviet assistance extended in the development of the Jarquduq natural gas field and oil exploration.
1975
December – Ponomarev (Soviet Party Secretary for International Relations) returned President Mohammed Daoud’s visit.
1977
March 23 – A Soviet trade delegation began a trip to Afghanistan to hold talks on Afghan-Soviet bilateral trade.
[Caption: President Mohammed Daoud (right) and NV Podgorny (left) the Chairman of Soviet Presidium in April 1977. It was President Daoud’s last visit to Moscow.]
April 12-15 – President Mohammed Daud visited Moscow.
September- Soviet presence in Afghanistan was greater than that of any other foreign power. About 37,000 Afghan officers and non-commissioned officers had been trained in the Soviet Union using the $600 million worth of military hardware provided by the USSR.
1978
April 7 – According to Dobbs (Nov 23-29, 1992), the April Revolution of 1978 Caught the Kremlin by surprise, and Moscow had even warned against the obstacles. Taraki followed a non-aligned policy, but also accepted aid from whoever would supply it, turning closer towards the USSR, which initially embraced his regime with open arms. He instituted drastic social and economic measures, including land reform, women’s rights, and education, thus continuing to offend those with vested interests in maintaining the status quo. The U.S. recognized the regime within a week and continued to send economic aid.
August – 30 aid and cooperative agreements signed with the USSR.
December 3 – President Taraki, PM Amin, Cabinet members arrive in Moscow for talks with Soviet leaders.
December 5 – Afghan-Soviet Friendship Treaty was extended for another 20 years by Taraki and Brezhnev in Moscow. At this time, more advisors came to Kabul.
1979
March 28 – Former Foreign Minister Amin becomes Prime Minister.
April 5 – Soviet military delegation led by Gen. Epishev (Head of the Chief Political Directorate of the Red Army and Navy) arrived in Kabul for a “tour of inspections.”
April 8 – Soviet Vice Minister of Defense Gen. Epishev meets with Taraki in Kabul.
July – A Soviet airborne battalion of 400 men was stationed at Bagram airport.
September 1 -En route home from the Havana Summit of Non-aligned States, Taraki visited Moscow where he met Brezhnev. Brezhnev advised Taraki on replacing Prime Minister Amin by a more pragmatic and preferable someone who had served in former regimes.
September 9 – Soviet forces gathered along the Soviet side of the Afghan border.
November – Warsaw Pact forces were placed on the advanced state of readiness.
December 8-9 – Soviet Special forces flew into Afghanistan
December 12 – Soviet Politburo decides to invade Afghanistan.
December 25-27 – Soviet troops enter Afghanistan beginning what would be called the “Soviet Vietnam,” a ten-year war with no victor.
References
- Adamec, Ludwig. (1991). Historical Dictionary of Afghanistan. London: The Scarecrow Press.
- Dobbs, M. (Nov 23-29, 1992). “The Soviet Vietnam.” The Washington Post National Weekly Edition. Page 6.
- Dupree, L. (1980). Afghanistan. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
- Ganjoo, S. (1990). Soviet-Afghan Relations. Delhi: Akashdeep Publishing House.
- Gregorian, V. (1969). The Emergence of Modern Afghanistan. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
- Meyer, Karl E.; Brysac, Shareen Blair. (1999). TOURNAMENT OF SHADOWS: The Great Game and the Race for Empire in Central Asia
- Sadat, M.E. (1998). Afghanistan, sar Zamina Hamasa wa Fajaha. Germany.