Conquest-It never ends

Conquest—it never ends

            Shortly after Ghengis Khan's death in 1227, his empire fell to pieces. Afghanistan being part of his empire, quickly fell into disarray. Until the end of the 14^th century, Afghanistan was ruled by local tribal chiefs, and despite many attempts at changing this, has been the same since. At the end of the 14^th century, Afghanistan was conquered by Timur the Lame, or Tamerlame[1]. The Timurids as they were known ruled Afghanistan from 1405-1507, when Turkish Uzbeks decided they wanted a piece of this godforsaken desert. The Uzbeks took the Capital of Herāt in 1507, officialy becoming rulers of the land[2]. The leader of the Uzbeks, Bābur established the Mughal empire in Afghanistan, which lasted until the British invasion in 1830[3]. But, for the intervening time, Afghanistan was contested between the Mughals and the Safavids.

            Now that that's out of the way, oh wait there’s more? Well here we go... The Afghan people made several attempts at independence, most of them unsuccessful. However, in 1709, Mīr Vays Khan, leader of the Hotaki Ghilzay tribe (try saying the ten times fast) led a successful rebellion against Gorgin Khan[4]. Gorgin was the Persian (Safavid) governor of Khandahar.  Mīr governed Khandahar until death struck and hindered his ability to do that.

            Next, 18^th century Persians set up Ahmad Shah Abdali as Emir. This is the first occurrence of a unified Afghanistan (as if). Now in 1835, a guy named Dost set himself up in Kabul as the Emirate, however, the British were not pleased with this, and ousted him the First Afghan War (1838-42). Then, having a complete sanity transplant, they restored him to power. Dost attempted to play Czarist Russia against the British which stemmed from British concerns about the security of their Indian Empire. This resulted in more violence the eventually led to the Second Afghan War (1877-79). After which, the British ousted Dost again, and this time permanently. Then in 1880 the British recognized Abdur Raham Khan as Emir. In this capacity, Afghanistan served as a buffer between the Russians and the British in India.

            Intermittent fighting continued between the British and the Pushtun tribes on the border of what would become Pakistan. Even after the establishment of the Durand line, skirmishes continued. Then, in 1907, and Anglo-Russian agreement secured Afghanistan’s political independence under British influence. During both World Wars, Afghanistan remained neutral even as countries around joined in. Under the leadership of Amanullah Khan, the Treaty of Rawalpindi (1919), allowed Afghanistan to conduct its own foreign affairs.

            Amanullah ran a modernization program which proved very unpopular and he abdicated in 1929. Muhammad Nadir Shah was chosen as king by a council of tribal elders from around Afghanistan. He continued modernization at a slower pace, but was assassinated in 1933. He was then succeeded by his son, Muhammad Zahir Shah. Zahir Shah governed for the next forty years. Finally, in 1964, a new constitution was drawn up which turned Afghanistan into a constitutional monarchy. Then, Daoud took over, eventually leading to the Soviet invasion.l

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[1]Encyclopedia Brittanica, s.v. “Afghanistan,” accessed Feb. 17^th, 2012. http//:www.brittanica.com/EBchecked/topic/7798/Afghanistan

[2]Ibid

[3]Ali, Enyat Sharifah. Afghanistan. New York: Marshall Cavendish, 1995

[4]Gall Timothy L. and Susan Bevan. “Afghanistan,” Worldmark Encyclopedia of the nations, Online ed. Detroit: Gale (2009)

Soviet-Afghan Conflict

In April 1978, Hafizullah Amin led a coup and pronounced himself president of Afghanistan. The Soviets saw a need for his removal, and therefore alleged he was a CIA agent. The Soviets needed a justification for invasion of Afghanistan, and said that Amin had requested Soviet troops to help with stabilizing the country.

            Amin had made no such request, and stated publicly many times that he did not need, nor did he want Soviet military assistance. In a speech on 9/9/79, he said “We are proud that we have not asked any foreign country to fight for us.”[1] However, the Soviets still sent troops as a means to address “growing counter-revolutionary attacks from the outside,”[2] which they said they had had many requests for, most statements saying that 14 such requests had been made.

            The Soviets assassinated Amin during Operation Storm—333, and almost immediately afterwards started to bring in troops. This kicked off a massive mobilization of troops, and was the beginning of the 9 year occupation of Afghanistan by the Soviets. However, the Soviets were not prepared to fight in the mountains of Afghanistan, as all their vehicles were designed to go up against NATO forces on the plains of Europe. Consequently, large numbers of the tanks and other vehicles they brought in were completely useless. For instance, at one point, they sent home a missile battery and crew which for the public they stated as a symbol of goodwill, which in reality was completely useless against the Mujahadeen.

            One of the problems the Soviets encountered on the world stage was global justification of the invasion. For the rest of the world this was simply another example of a Soviet landgrab, which had no legitimate reason. Much of the Moslem world became decidedly anti-Soviet, especially in places where the Soviets were attempting to buy influence[3].

            In an attempt to control the Afghan people, the Soviets used brutal tactics on Afghan civilians as well as Mujahadeen fighters. There are mulitple accounts of the use of chemical weapons by Soviets to flush the Mujahadeen out of their caves. This as well the destruction of entire villages by the Soviets enhanced the Soviets reputation for brutality.

            Ultimately, the Soviet-Afghan War was one of the major contributing factors of the collapse of the Soviet Union. The nine year conflict proved to be a massive drain on the Soviet economy, as well as causing a loss of support from parts of the world they had previously held large amounts of influence in. All of this coupled with revoloutions by Eastern Bloc countries ultimately spelled out the end for the Soviet Union.

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[1]Bradsher, Henry S. Afghanistan and the Soviet Union. Durham [N.C]: Duke University Press, 1985

[2]Ibid

[3]Ibid