Soviet war in Afghanistan

Question 1

Detente

Answer 1

for part and most of 1960’s and most of the 1970’s there had been an improvement in superpower relations know as detente. This resulted in the signing of a number of treaties and agreements. These imposed limitations on arms and aimed to improve both trade and human right

Question 2

Examples of Detente

Answer 2

The US table tennis team visited China in 1971
1972 the Strategic Arms Limitations Talks Agreement( SALT1) limited the number of inter-continental ballistic missiles(ICBMs)
1975 Helsinki Agreement-an agreement to improve human rights by the USSR.
1979 SALT

Question 3

Afghanistan

Answer 3

Detente did not last. During the 1970s USSR became nervous about neighboring Afghanistan. Muslim extremists in Afghanistan had rebelled in 1975 and were continually attacking the Afghan government, leading to a violent uprising in March 1979. Soviets feared this might unsettle Muslim Population in the USSR.

Afghanistan also has valuable gas fields which the USSR wanted to exploit.

In September 1979, Hafiz Ullah Amin seized control in Afghanistan. He was communist but anti- Soviet

Question 4

Actions of the USSR

Answer 4

on 25th of December 1979, Soviet forces invaded. By New Year they reached the capital Kabul and killed Amin and established a puppet ruler, Babrak Karma