Soviet and Afghan War

Abstract

The geography of Afghanistan was a major contributing factor to the Soviet Unions defeat in the war. The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan on Christmas Eve, 1979 following the coup of Afghan president Noor Mohammed Taraki, a pro-Soviet Communist leader. Unbeknownst to the Soviet military leaders and frontline troops, the climate and terrain would play a pivotal role in the Soviets inability to achieve their military objectives, thus leading to their defeated withdrawal.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Nov 28, 2007
Accession Number
AD1117463

Entities

People

  • George W. Jr Grace

Organizations

  • United States Army Sergeants Major Academy

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Afghanistan
  • Afghanistan Conflict
  • Artillery Fire
  • Combat Operations
  • Continents
  • Fixed Wing Aircraft
  • Geography
  • Governments
  • Helicopters
  • Military Doctrine
  • Military Equipment
  • Military Operations
  • Mountains
  • National Governments
  • New York
  • Northern Europe
  • Small Arms
  • Soviet-Afghan War
  • Terrain
  • United States
  • Ussr
  • War

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • East Asian Political and Security Studies within the Soviet Union
  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.