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The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan

Beth Albery looks at the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and considers why it led to the onset of a ‘Second Cold War’

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Abandoned rusting military equipment in the Panjshir Valley, Afghanistan, from the time of the Soviet invasion in 1979

Edexcel Superpower relations and the Cold War, 1941–91

Between 24 and 27 December 1979, Leonid Brezhnev, the general secretary of the USSR, deployed 50,000 Soviet troops for an invasion of Afghanistan. Hafizullah Amin, the unpopular Afghan leader, was promptly assassinated and replaced with Babrak Karmal — whom the Soviets saw as a preferable ruler.

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Clive and Hastings in India

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