The Cold War, Communism and a Cautionary Case of Democracy
Part Two of the Six-Part ‘Afghanistan’ Blog Series
Lemme give you some background context into the Cold War so you can better understand how Afghanistan fits into all this. Although Russia and America fought on the same side during WW2, they weren’t exactly bezzie mates.
In 1917 the Bolshevik party led by Vladimir Lenin snatched power from the Russian government and murdered the Russian Royal Family. This was known as the Russian Revolution (AKA October Revolution, AKA Red Uprising, AKA Bolshevik Coup). Over the next decade, Russia evolved like a Pokemon into the Soviet Union (USSR = Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) whose main aim was to destroy capitalism and spread communism around the world.
But what actually is Communism?
OK so there’s this bloke called Karl Marx and he wrote this manifesto in 1848. He basically hated the idea of having a small number of reallllly rich people such as the Jeff Bezos of the world (the Bourgeoisie) owning everything and taking the piss out of a reallllllly large number of poor workers (the Proletariat). Marx argued that the bourgeoisie factory owners were getting way more than what the factory workers were putting in and that this inequality would eventually lead to class conflict.
Marx wanted all property and wealth to be communally owned, instead of being owned by individuals. Let’s say you’ve got a mate who’s mum and dad are wealthy af, they own a big business, have a really big house, a range rover and 16 chihuahuas. When the parents pass away your mate will inherit all that wealth and will automatically become rich, although he hasn’t really earned it. Is that fair? Communism doesn’t think it is. Anyways communism spread like wildfire around the globe because it represented the interests of the worlds workers (and was applicable regardless of gender, race, or religion).
OK, now that we know what communism is we can understand why America feared it so much. America loved pretty much everything that communism hated. As a representative of big business, America believed wealth generation was a good thing which required zero interference with the government. America would argue that there wasn’t enough Jeff Bezos! BTW this is Capitalism.
For Marx, capitalism was a brutally oppressive regime conferring business owners with unprecedented class power over their workers. Meanwhile in America, this ‘regime’ was presented to workers as the good ol’ American Dream. American workers were conditioned to be motivated by money, they were encouraged to work harder so they could buy an even bigger house and a newer, shinier model of car and when they got old, well, they’d be able to leave it all to their families through inheritance (get my drift? this is all the shit that communism hates!!)
Now not all American workers fell for this, in fact, quite a lot of them actually agreed with communism as it represented the interests of the many workers over the few rich business owners. America was terrified of this, of communism spreading into the country and destroying its capitalistic big business system. This led to the Red Scare = the promotion of widespread fear of a rise in communism in America.
HOPEFULLY you now understand the ideological differences between Russia and America that were present BEFORE the second World War. So it’s kinda awkward to think that they fought on the same side in WW2 right?? Anyway’s below is a picture showing ‘The Big Three’ chilling after WW2 (left to right: Winston Churchill repping Britain, Franklin Roosevelt repping America and Joseph Stalin repping the USSR).
Soon after WW2, shit hit the fan when Russia began taking control of countries in Eastern Europe (later known as the Eastern bloc). As a result of this expansion, Russia evolved like a Pokemon again but this time to super-state level. America took one look at this and said “not on my expensive capitalist Rolex watch!” and so began the Cold War. At the end of World War II, the Soviet Union took control of Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Poland and eastern Germany.
You might hear some people say “yeah but the Cold War wasn’t a real war because America and Russia didn’t actually fight each other so no one really died”. You look those people in the eye and say “the Korean war (1950-53), the Vietnam war (1955-75) and the invasion of Afghanistan (1979-89)”. Obviously don’t say the dates and the brackets because you’ll look like an absolute psychopath.
The point is, millions of people died in these proxy wars and America and Russia played a major role. BTW a proxy war is two countries fighting in a war but using others to fight on their behalf. In the Korean war, for example, Russia supported North Korea and America supported South Korea so they were fighting each other but through Korea.
During the Cold War Uncle Sam (America) and the Soviet Bear (Russia) used other countries like chess pieces to fight each other in proxy wars. So in short, the Cold war was this long ass rivalry between America and Russia where both of them competed against each other to influence the rest of the world to be on their side. *In boxing ring announcer voice* “Innnnnnnnnn the blue corner, standing tall representing capitalism and democracy it’s THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICAA!! and in the red corner representing communism and dictatorship, the SOVVIEETTT UNNIOONNNNNNNNNNN”.
The Cold War divide between East and West was first seen in Europe. Shortly after WW2 when Russia took control of the Eastern bloc countries, America sought to bring the western European countries under its influence via the ‘Truman Doctrine’ which would provide political, military and economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat from authoritarian forces (i.e. Russia & Communism).
Soon after WW2, shit hit the fan when Russia began taking control of countries in Eastern Europe (later known as the Eastern bloc). As a result of this expansion, Russia evolved like a Pokemon again but this time to super-state level. America took one look at this and said “not on my expensive capitalist Rolex watch!” and so began the Cold War. At the end of World War II, the Soviet Union took control of Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Poland and eastern Germany.
You might hear some people say “yeah but the Cold War wasn’t a real war because America and Russia didn’t actually fight each other so no one really died”. You look those people in the eye and say “the Korean war (1950-53), the Vietnam war (1955-75) and the invasion of Afghanistan (1979-89)”. Obviously don’t say the dates and the brackets because you’ll look like an absolute psychopath.
The point is, millions of people died in these proxy wars and America and Russia played a major role. BTW a proxy war is two countries fighting in a war but using others to fight on their behalf. In the Korean war, for example, Russia supported North Korea and America supported South Korea so they were fighting each other but through Korea.
During the Cold War Uncle Sam (America) and the Soviet Bear (Russia) used other countries like chess pieces to fight each other in proxy wars. So in short, the Cold war was this long ass rivalry between America and Russia where both of them competed against each other to influence the rest of the world to be on their side. *In boxing ring announcer voice* “Innnnnnnnnn the blue corner, standing tall representing capitalism and democracy it’s AMERICAAAAAAA and in the red corner representing communism and dictatorship, the SOVVIEETTT UNNIOONNNNNN”.
The Cold War divide between East and West was first seen in Europe. Shortly after WW2 when Russia took control of the Eastern bloc countries, America sought to bring the western European countries under its influence via the ‘Truman Doctrine’ which would provide political, military and economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat from authoritarian forces (i.e. Russia & Communism).
And back to Afghanistan..
Newly appointed Prime Minister Mohammed Daud (Ma Dude) is the guy in black on the left hand side and he is cousins with the King of Afghanistan, Zahir Shah, who is the guy saluting.
Right we’re back in Afghanistan now. It’s 1953, remember Zahir Shah the King? Well his cousin Mohammed Daud (hereinafter referred to as ‘Ma Dude’) is now Prime Minister of Afghanistan. Oh and remember the Pashtunistan problem? Yeah the border drawn up by the Brits which gave half of Pashtunistan (Afghan territory) to its new neighbour Pakistan? Well, Ma Dude is absolutely raging about this. Early in the Cold War, Ma dude was pretty much team Russia and so Afghanistan was drawn into the Soviet sphere of influence. It began with Ma Dude asking the USSR for some money and military assistance, to which the leader of the soviet union, Nikita Khruschev, agreed and the two became pally pally.
From 1956 onwards Afghanistan was bound by its huge debts and reliance on soviet technology. Visually, Afghanistan’s city centres underwent reconstruction and assumed a decidedly soviet and Eastern European appearance.
The increase in soviet presence in Afghanistan’s urban centres naturally opened the door for the spread of communism. Not before long, Marxist-Leninist (communist) manifestos were being shared across university campuses paving the way for a new generation of Afghans. A generation that would be ideologically opposed to the usual Afghan islamic way of life.
It’s very important to note here that Ma Dude’s decision to cosy up to the Soviets did not go down well with many Afghans, mainly because of their belief in Islam and Communisms open promotion of Atheism i.e. one believes in god, the other doesn’t = ideological CLASH. Atheism was reflected in some of Ma Dude’s government policies, most notable was his approach to gender separation and women’s rights.
In the 1950s purdah (gendered separation) was abolished and so was compulsory wearing of the veil. For the first time, women were free to walk around with their faces unveiled.
It is important to note here that despite the western obsession of Afghan women unveiled during this period. It was actually pressed rather hard, with women being denied services and even fined for wearing the burqa (it doesn’t seem that liberating now eh?). Naturally, the ‘unveiling’ along with other social reforms implemented by Ma Dude led to an aggressive backlash from Islamic conservatives who were furious that the soviets had not only brought communism into Afghanistan but seemingly mini skirts, too.
When we look back at Afghanistan’s history this period is pretty nice. You’ve got mixed gendered schools, women wearing what they want, studying what they want and choosing a career in what they want… and it’s all thanks to Ma Dude!
BUT there’s a small but growing group of islamic conservatives (conservatives are people who dislike change and prefer tradition) who are furious about all of these new policies. From their perspective this Ma Dude guy is disrespecting Afghanistan and its islamic traditions by letting a foreign country (Russia) come in and spread its ideology, change laws which go against the teachings of Islam and build ugly buildings everywhere.
Back to the Pashtunistan issue. In 1960, Ma Dude sent troops over the Durand line into Pakistan in attempt to press the Pashtunistan problem further. Remember, he is absolutely fuming about this border, particularly the part where Pakistan got a chunk of Afghan territory for free. However, the result of his invasion was Afghan forces getting absolutely battered by Pakistan.
In 1961, obviously not learning his lesson from the first attempt, Ma Dude reattempts to invade Pakistan this time, with a larger afghan army – aaaaand again, they got absolutely rinsed. Pakistan inflicted heavy casualties against the Afghan army causing embarrassment for Ma Dude. Even worse, however, was Pakistans decision as a result of Ma Dude’s continual interference in areas along the Durand Line, to close its borders and sever ties altogether with Afghanistan. This caused a major economic crisis in Afghanistan and in turn, caused them to greater rely on the USSR for financial support.
In 1963, as a result of continued resentment against Ma Dude’s unpopular government decisions, his close ties with the USSR and economic downturn because of the blockade imposed by Pakistan, Ma Dude was forced to resign by his cousin, the King of Afghanistan, Zahir Shah. Not only is this awkward as hell but more importantly, the King allowed Ma Dude to stay in the country which would later transpire to be an extremely costly mistake. Ma Dude was enraged at his dismissal and immediately began plotting the King’s downfall and in turn, developed an even closer alliance to his communist allies.
So, in comes the new Prime Minister Dr Muhammad Yusuf, who not only rescues and restores Afghanistan’s relations with Pakistan but introduces a brand spanking new constitution with democratic laws and new elections. Democracy you say? SURELY that’s a good thing right? Well yes, kind of, but now you’ve got new political movements popping up everywhere like adverts on a porn site (don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m on about).
In opposition to the communist parties were the Islamist parties who wanted Afghanistan to remain as an Islamic state ruled by Shari’a. It’s important to note that around this time a new generation of politically aggressive and radical islamic scholars formed, with their philosophies rooted in the Muslim Brotherhood. BTW the Muslim brotherhood was/is a militant organisation that formed in response to European and British colonialism and called for the islamisation of society, declaring the Quran to be their only constitution.
OK, back to democracy and new political movements. Ghulam Niyazi, a professor of Islamic studies at Kabul university formed a group of likeminded bros called the Niyazi Circle which aimed to counteract Afghanistan’s drift towards secularism (BTW secularism means to keep religion and government separate obviously these guys want Shari’a law which is islamic law so they hate secularism!). The Niyazi Circle wanted to develop an islamic response to the spread of communism. Interestingly, many of these students went on to become prominent leaders of the Jihad against soviet occupation in 1979 (but you’ll have to wait for that!).
In April 1970, the unrest continues and the ideological war between the communists and islamists reaches a new level when the Niyazi Circle take the law into their own hands attacking known communists and throwing ACID in the faces of unveiled women, WTF. The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in 1928 by Hassan al-Banna. An Egyptian schoolteacher from a rural town in Cairo. He engaged in islamist activities from a young age, joining a local group that intimidated and harassed Christians and non-observing Muslims in his hometown. i.e he was a little prick.
At this point, former prime minister, Ma Dude (the kings cousins) who was forced to resign, is seeking support for a coup (a coup is the process of overthrowing of a government and removing its powers, usually to replace with your own). Surprisingly, Ma Dude is looking to partner up Babrak Karmal’s new Communist Party, Parcham, through some sort of power sharing deal. BTW – Babrak broke away from the PDPA in 1967 as he felt Afghanistan wasn’t industrial enough for communism. As a result he became the leader of Parcham a socialist leaning party and the remaining PDPA became Khalq.
In 1972, Musa’ Shafiq becomes prime minister and oh dear… his term was full of scandals particularly ones which pissed off powerful western and eastern nations. From ordering a new built church to be demolished and expelling all of the US and European expatriate volunteers who built it. He pissed off the islamists for allowing the church to even be built in the first place. BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, he goes and pisses off the USSR by denying a soviet request to open a cultural centre in Afghanistan. But it didn’t stop there, when the President of the USSR paid a state visit to Kabul to formally offer them membership of the Asian Security Network, Shafiq turned around and said “no, lol”.
In summary, the guy ended up causing what he was trying to avoid. He attempted to move Afghanistan away from the USSR and towards America during the Cold War. In doing this, he brought the USSR closer to Afghanistan more than ever before.
BTW Prime Minister Muhammad Yusuf is the guy who introduced the democratic constitution in an attempt to modernise Afghanistan’s system of governance. He also resolved all of the crap that Ma Dude had caused with Pakistan. We like Prime Minister Yusuf.
Ultimately, all the so-called new democracy did was lift the lid on deeply rooted resentments that had been suppressed by decades of autocratic rule. The sad thing is, the voices of moderation (i.e. the normal ones) that just wanted a more democratic society were drowned out by the islamists and the communists fighting each other (I mean one has to only look at what the Brexit ‘leave/remain’ divide did to British politics in terms of drawing valuable attention away from what really mattered.
From the Soviet Union’s perspective, they much preferred Afghanistan when Ma Dude was in charge. After all, he was on their side and was all pally pally with them. With Ma Dude gone and the introduction of democracy and new political parties, the likelihood of the USSR being able to influence Afghanistan in the future was now pretty low, especially if any of the islamists parties got into power (remember they hate the USSR and communism).
Ironically, Afghanistan’s attempt to wriggle out of the Soviet Union’s firm grip by openly rejecting the USSR and refusing to join its international security group had the opposite effect. The actions of Prime Minister Shafiq, particularly, his failure to do as he was told, forced Soviet embassy officials to give the long-awaited seal of approval to Ma Dude’s planned coup.
