![]() The economic damage made it more difficult for the Soviet Union to maintain their control over the Eastern bloc. It was also an expensive war at a time when their economy was struggling from the effects of the arms race. The Soviet army was ill-prepared for the desert and mountain landscapes of Afghanistan. The last Soviet troops left Afghanistan in February 1989. The war dragged on until 1988 when the Soviet leader, who by then was Mikhail Gorbachev, signed a deal to end it. In 1980, the USA boycotted the Moscow Olympics in protest at the invasion of Afghanistan. What were the consequences of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan? America sent support to Afghanistan in the form of money and weapons. They knew the terrain and landscape of Afghanistan and fought a guerrilla war for nine years. The Mujahideen rose up and fought against the Soviet invasion. Hafizullah Amin was assassinated and a pro-communist, Babrak Karmal, was installed in his place. On 24 December 1979, Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan. The Soviet Union didn’t want American influence on their Southern border. However, Amin wished to improve relations with the USA and entered into discussions with the Americans, which concerned the Soviets. In September 1979, the communist Prime Minister Taraki was overthrown by another communist, Hafizullah Amin. This new government was unpopular with the Muslim population and an anti-communist resistance movement known as the Mujahideen was formed. This government was supported and financed by the Soviet Union. In 1978, control of Afghanistan had been seized by a new communist government led by Nur Muhammad Taraki. Millions of people were killed and injured, and the US had failed to stop countries in the area (including Laos and Cambodia) becoming communist.Īfter the Vietnam War, the policy of containment was replaced by a period of détente, which meant an easing in the tensions of the Cold War and gradually relations between the USA and the Soviet Union and China improved.Īfghanistan bordered some of the southern Soviet republics of the USSR. The war had been an expensive disaster for the US. ![]() By 1975, South Vietnam was under communist control and Vietnam became a united communist country. Footage of the war was broadcast on American television news, which led to widespread protests against the war. America used weapons such as Napalm and Agent Orange, which often caused horrific injuries to civilians and devastated the landscape. They mainly used guerrilla tactics to do this. Vietnamese communists, known as the Vietcong, fought against both South Vietnamese forces and their American supporters. ![]() The aim was to ‘contain’ communism and stop it from spreading. From 1964, America sent soldiers to Vietnam to fight, supporting South Vietnam. America believed in the ‘Domino Theory’ – this was the idea that if one country became communist, then others in the area would follow.īy 1960, conflict had broken out in Vietnam between the communist North and the anti-communist South. Why did America get involved in the Vietnam War?Īt this time, America was operating a policy of containment, which meant they were trying to stop the spread of communism.
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