When it comes to Afghanistan, many people will know about the Soviet invasion. However, after 10 years of fighting, the result was that the country was not conquered. In fact, in addition to the Soviet Union, two other countries have invaded Afghanistan!
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Let's start with why the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan.
The Soviet Union escaped from the Tsarist Empire, with a vast territory and strong combat effectiveness. After World War II, the two camps, led by the Soviet Union and the United States, competed for world domination. In the view of the Soviet Union, if it can compete for world domination, it must have oil resources and ports.
After measurement, the Soviet Union found that if it conquered Afghanistan, it could go south to the Indian Ocean and enter the warm water ocean. If the Soviet Union's power reached the Indian Ocean, the strategic posture of competing with the United States for hegemony would be significantly improved, threatening the oil-producing areas of the Middle East to the west, entering Southeast Asia to the east, and cutting off the sea lanes connecting Eurasia.
Therefore, the Soviet Union has been looking for opportunities.
In 1979, the opportunity came!?
Afghan beauty
The Soviets had always wanted to pull Afghanistan into the social camp and hold it firmly in control.
In July 1973, former Afghan Prime Minister Daoud staged a military coup d'état that overthrew King Zahir Shah and declared the abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of the Republic of Afghanistan. After the state was founded, the Soviet Union supported the radical Afghan People's Democratic Party. However, the newly supported little brother did not obey, and the Soviet Union decided to support Taraki, a military representative, and through a coup d'état, established the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.
The new leadership was obedient and the Soviet Union was satisfied, but although Prime Minister Amin and Taraki belonged to different factions, they were very contradictory. The Soviets thought Amin's ambitions were too big to control, so they helped Taraki booby-trap Amin. After the defeat, Amin staged a coup d'état and killed Taraki as fuehrer. The Soviet Union was on fire, determined to get rid of Amin and garrison Afghanistan.
In December 1979, the Soviet Union sent 125,000 troops to invade Afghanistan, and two assault groups in the east and west invaded Afghanistan. A week later, Afghanistan had all fallen. Amin and his wife had 4 people, 23 children, and all the guards were killed.
But the war raged for 10 years, and Afghans dragged the Soviet Union into the abyss of war with guerrilla warfare. In 1989, the Withdrawal of soviet troops, which had not taken advantage of a little, was completed. More than 1.3 million people have lost their lives in Afghanistan and more than 5 million have been exiled to refugees in the war. The Soviet Union suffered more than 50,000 casualties and cost 45 billion rubles, weakening its national strength. Two years later, the Soviet Union collapsed.
In fact, in addition to the Soviet Union, two other countries have invaded Afghanistan.
The first country was the United Kingdom. After occupying India, the British decided to invade Afghanistan. The reason for the conquest of Afghanistan is mainly because the terrain here is too special, it is located in the heart of Eurasia, and it is the meeting place of the four major geopolitical forces of East Asia, South Asia, West Asia and Central Asia. Among them, East, West and Central Asia represent the three world-class civilizational forces of China, Islam and Russia. As long as Afghanistan is occupied, the whole world will be controlled.
Beginning in 1839, the British invaded Afghanistan three times, all of which occupied major cities and roads. However, there are too many mountainous areas in Afghanistan, which is particularly suitable for guerrilla warfare. In the end, Britain had to abandon the idea of occupying Afghanistan.
In addition, another country has invaded Afghanistan.
Afghanistan
This country is the United States.
In 2001, the United States launched the war in Afghanistan. The reason is simple, after the United States suffered the "911" terrorist activities, it repeatedly asked the Afghan Taliban government to extradite bin Laden, but the Afghan Taliban authorities said that they would never hand bin Laden over to the United States or be tried by a third country. First, the United States does not have enough reliable evidence to prove that bin Laden is the murderer, and second, even if it is a murderer, it should be tried in Afghanistan.
In this way, the United States is anxious. In 2001, a coalition of the United States and NATO invaded Afghanistan in the name of counterterrorism.
Like the Soviet Union more than a decade ago, the United States has all kinds of advanced weapons as if they did not want money, desperately throwing them into the ravines of Afghanistan. As always, the frontal fighting ended quickly and immediately turned into guerrilla warfare, which lasted for 10 years.
In these 10 years of war, the United States lost a lot. In 2014, US President Barack Obama officially declared the end of the war against Afghanistan.
Many people think of Afghanistan as the graveyard of empire where Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union all failed. The three countries invaded in much the same way, initially occupying major cities, roads, and livelihood facilities, but later losing guerrilla warfare. There are mainly the following reasons.
1. The terrain of Afghanistan is mountainous, which is suitable for guerrilla warfare, rather than for large troops. Afghanistan is often invaded by other countries, and the people naturally develop a good at fighting guerrilla warfare.
2. The political ecology of Afghanistan's division prevents the central government from commanding all tribes. In the event of national disaster, the tribesmen fought their own battles and were not easily conquered by foreign forces.
3, there are too many countries worried about Afghanistan, so when one country attacks Afghanistan, there will be other countries behind their backs. For example, when britain invaded and occupied Afghanistan, the Soviet Union silently supported it behind its back, providing ammunition and other weapons and equipment for the guerrillas.
All these reasons combined, although the world's great powers have repeatedly attacked Afghanistan, they just can't take down the country. 【Author:Daily Kanji】