STARTERLast lesson, you learnt about the key features of détente in the 1970s. Can you recall a feature of détente which begins with the one of the letters below, and give a fact about that feature?

HSM

Today...

The Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan, 1979 Why Afghanistan? How was Afghanistan important

to the Soviet Union? Why did they invade? What were the key features of the invasion? How did the USA react, and why?

IMPORTANT POINT! The Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan, in 1979, caused the collapse of detente, and started what has been called a Second Cold War.

Why was Afghanistan important to both the Soviet Union and the USA?

AMIN BECOMES PRESIDENT OF AFGHANISTAN

19791

THE MUJAHIDEEN – Muslim rebels who fought against

Amin’s Communist government

We hate Communist government

We want to turn

Afghanistan into a

Muslim state

2

BREZHNEV3

The Mujahideen hate Amin. We don’t like him either! Let’s invade and replace Amin with a different Communist leader. Then, we can deal with our other enemy - the

Mujahideen…

Afghanistan bordered the USSR. If Afghanistan got too friendly with the USA, this could threaten the USSR’s security.

President Amin was a communist, but he wanted to develop better relations with the USA. This worried Brezhnev.

The Mujahideen had declared jihad

(holy war) on Amin’s government/

communism. They wanted to set up an

Islamic state in Afghanistan. An

Islamic state wouldn’t be friendly

towards the USSR.

The USSR contained 30 million Muslims around the border with

Afghanistan. What if they sided with the Mujahideen, and tried to

break away from the USSR?

Why did the USSR think it was so important to have a

friendly government in Afghanistan?

4

THE USSR INVADES AND KILLS PRESIDENT AMIN… PRESIDENT

KARMAL

THE MUJAHIDEEN – Muslim rebels continued their fight against communism in

Afghanistan, with US help

We still hate Communist government

We still want to turn

Afghanistan into a

Muslim state

5

USSR POURS MONEY AND SOLDIERS INTO

AFGHANISTAN

6 In 1989, the USSR gave up their fight against the Mujahideen. They couldn’t defeat them.

Boys who fought for the Mujahideen against the Soviet Union.

QUESTIONSTitle: The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan 1979 and the collapse of détente

1. Why did the Soviet Union want to increase their influence in Afghanistan? Try to explain 2 reasons.

2. Summarise the situation with Amin’s government at the end of the 1970s. (Try doing just a few bullet points!)

3. Why was Brezhnev worried about the Mujahideen? 4. Why did Brezhnev see Amin as a problem?5. Why did Brezhnev choose Karmal to replace Amin?6. How did Brezhnev justify the invasion to the rest of the world?

Do you think this was the real reason for the invasion, or an excuse?

7. Explain 4 ways in which the USA reacted to the invasion – one political, one military, one economic and one cultural/sporting!

Practice exam questionBriefly explain the key features of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. (6 marks)

You need 3 developed points. Which are you going to choose?

This cartoon shows President Carter (USA) watching the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. What is the message of the cartoon?

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