Interesting facts from the history of the Afghan war. Interesting Facts, Amazing Facts, Unknown Facts at Fact Museum

Afghanistan is a country of amazingly beautiful mountains, hot summers and sometimes cruel customs. Already long years the conflict continues here, a fair part of the country's territory is controlled by militants of various gangs and terrorist organizations, but against the backdrop of all this, somehow they are trying to continue to live ordinary life ordinary people.

In a literal translation from Persian, "Afghanistan" means "Silent country". At the same time, from the languages of the Turkic group, the word "Afghan" is translated as "hidden". Both of these interpretations are perfect for describing Afghanistan - a mountainous, inaccessible country, where all the tribes who wanted to preserve their independence hid.
Not far from Kabul, the Afghan capital, the largest copper deposit in Eurasia was discovered. The largest iron ore deposit in South Asia is located in the same area.
Afghanistan is considered one of the most dangerous countries in the world along with Somalia ().
People inhabited modern Afghan lands at least 5 thousand years ago. The rural communities that arose in this area were the first on the planet.
Scientists believe that one of the ancient religions, Zoroastrianism, originated in Afghanistan several thousand years BC, and Zarathustra himself allegedly lived and died in the local city of Balkh.
Afghanistan became the first state to recognize the RSFSR after the revolution.
This country is the largest producer of opiates on the planet. According to UN statistics, about 90% of drugs entering Europe cross the Afghan border.
Afghanistan ranks fourth in the world in terms of the number of children born by local women - on average, each woman in this country gives birth 6-7 times.
In Afghanistan, 47% of men and only 15% of women are literate. Despite this, Afghans are very fond of poetry, and every home has at least one volume of poetry. Closed poetry competitions are held even among illiterate workers and peasants.
This state occupies the sad first place among the countries of the world in terms of infant mortality - 226 babies under the age of 5 die out of 1,000 born.
The national sport in Afghanistan is called buzkashi. Two teams of riders enter the field, where they have to capture and hold the skin of a goat. Afghan youth love to have fun with kite fights.
Afghan hounds are graceful hunting dogs that, as the name of their breed suggests, originate from Afghanistan. Scientists have found that this is one of the most difficult dogs in terms of training, but at the same time, Afghans are friendly, playful and love to communicate with people.
The national dance of the Afghans - attan, is performed, as a rule, by men. This is a circle dance in which from two to several hundred people participate. Whirling under booming drums and flutes lasts an average of 5 to 30 minutes, but can drag on for 5 hours.
Afghan athletes have taken part in 13 Summer Olympics and during this time won two bronze medals in taekwondo competitions. The same wrestler became the victor both times.
In Afghanistan, where 99% of the population is Muslim, there is only one pig, and they keep it in the Kabul Zoo.
While serving in Afghanistan, two soldiers from Scotland jokingly promised each other that if one of them died, the other would come to his funeral dressed as a woman. And so it happened, and the tear-stained soldier sat at the grave of his friend in a bright yellow dress and pink spats.

In 1979 Soviet troops entered Afghanistan. For 10 years, the USSR was drawn into a conflict that finally undermined its former power. "Echo of Afghanistan" is still heard.

1. Contingent

There was no Afghan war. There was the entry of a limited contingent of Soviet troops into Afghanistan. It is of fundamental importance that the Soviet troops entered Afghanistan at the invitation. There were about two dozen invitations. The decision to send troops was not easy, but it was nevertheless made by members of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee on December 12, 1979. In fact, the USSR was drawn into this conflict. A brief search for “who benefits from this” clearly points, first of all, to the United States. The Anglo-Saxon trace of the Afghan conflict today is not even tried to hide. According to the memoirs of former CIA director Robert Gates, on July 3, 1979, American President Jimmy Carter signed a secret presidential decree authorizing the financing of anti-government forces in Afghanistan, and Zbigniew Brzezinski said bluntly: "We did not push the Russians to intervene, but we deliberately increased the likelihood that they will do."

2. Afghan axis

Afghanistan is geopolitically a pivotal point. It is not in vain that throughout its history there have been wars for Afghanistan. Both open and diplomatic. Since the 19th century between Russian and british empires fight for control of Afghanistan, called " Big game". The Afghan conflict of 1979-1989 is part of this "game". Rebellions and uprisings in the "underbelly" of the USSR could not be ignored. It was impossible to lose the Afghan axis. In addition, Leonid Brezhnev really wanted to act in the guise of a peacemaker. spoke.

3. Oh sport, you are the world

The Afghan conflict "quite by accident" caused a serious protest wave in the world, which was fueled in every possible way by "friendly" media. Voice of America radio broadcasts began daily with military reports. By all means, people were not allowed to forget that the Soviet Union was waging an "aggressive" war on territory foreign to itself. The Olympics-80 was boycotted by many countries (including the USA). The Anglo-Saxon propaganda machine worked at full capacity, creating the image of an aggressor from the USSR. The Afghan conflict helped a lot with the change of poles: by the end of the 70s, the popularity of the USSR in the world was grandiose. The US boycott did not go unanswered. Our athletes did not go to the 84 Olympics in Los Angeles.

4. By the whole world

The Afghan conflict was Afghan in name only. In fact, the favorite Anglo-Saxon combination was carried out: the enemies were forced to fight each other. The United States authorized $15 million in "economic assistance" to the Afghan opposition, as well as military assistance - by supplying them with heavy weapons and training military training Afghan Mujahideen groups. The United States did not even hide its interest in the conflict. In 1988, the third part of the epic film "Rambo" was filmed. The hero of Sylvester Stallone this time fought in Afghanistan. The ridiculously cut, outright propaganda film even won a Golden Raspberry and made it into the Guinness Book of Records for the film with the maximum amount of violence: the film contains 221 scenes of violence and more than 108 people die in total. At the end of the film, the credits go "The film is dedicated to the valiant people of Afghanistan."

5. Oil

The role of the Afghan conflict is difficult to overestimate. Every year the USSR spent about 2-3 billion US dollars on it. The Soviet Union could afford it at the peak of oil prices, which was observed in 1979-1980. However, in the period from November 1980 to June 1986, oil prices fell by almost 6 times! They fell, of course, not by chance. A special "thank you" to Gorbachev's anti-alcohol campaign. There was no longer a “financial cushion” in the form of income from the sale of vodka on the domestic market. The USSR, by inertia, continued to spend money on creating a positive image, but inside the country the funds were running out. The USSR found itself in an economic collapse.

6. Dissonance

During the Afghan conflict, the country was in a kind of cognitive dissonance. On the one hand, everyone knew about "Afghanistan", on the other hand, the USSR painfully tried to "live better and more cheerfully." Olympics-80, XII World Festival of Youth and Students - the Soviet Union celebrated and rejoiced. Meanwhile, KGB General Filipp Bobkov subsequently testified: “Long before the opening of the festival, Afghan militants were specially selected in Pakistan, who underwent serious training under the guidance of CIA specialists and were thrown into the country a year before the festival. They settled in the city, especially since they were provided with money, and began to expect to receive explosives, plastic bombs and weapons, preparing to carry out explosions in places mass gathering people (Luzhniki, Manezhnaya Square and other places). The actions were disrupted due to the operational measures taken.”

7. Afghan Syndrome

As the hero of the movie "Rambo" said: "The war is not over." We all know about the "Afghan syndrome", about thousands of broken destinies, about veterans who returned from the war, useless and forgotten. The Afghan conflict has given rise to a whole layer of culture of the "forgotten and devoted soldier." This image was atypical for the Russian tradition. The Afghan conflict undermined the morale of the Russian army. It was then that “white-ticketers” began to appear, the war was terrifying, terrible legends circulated about it, bad soldiers were sent there, hazing flourished there, which became a scourge modern army. It was at that time that the military profession ceased to be attractive, although earlier every second dreamed of being an officer. "Echo of Afghanistan" is still heard.

In 1979, Soviet troops entered Afghanistan. For 10 years, the USSR was drawn into a conflict that finally undermined its former power. "Echo of Afghanistan" is still heard.

Contingent

Afghan axis

Afghanistan is geopolitically a pivotal point. It is not in vain that throughout its history there have been wars for Afghanistan. Both open and diplomatic. Since the 19th century, there has been a struggle between the Russian and British empires for control of Afghanistan, called the "Great Game". The Afghan conflict of 1979-1989 is part of this "game". Rebellions and uprisings in the "underbelly" of the USSR could not be ignored. It was impossible to lose the Afghan axis. In addition, Leonid Brezhnev really wanted to act in the guise of a peacemaker. spoke.

Oh sport, you are the world

By the whole world

The Afghan conflict was Afghan in name only. In fact, the favorite Anglo-Saxon combination was carried out: the enemies were forced to fight each other. The United States authorized "economic assistance" to the Afghan opposition in the amount of $15 million, as well as military assistance - supplying them with heavy weapons and teaching military training to groups of Afghan Mujahideen. The United States did not even hide its interest in the conflict. In 1988, the third part of the epic film "Rambo" was filmed. The hero of Sylvester Stallone this time fought in Afghanistan. The ridiculously cut, outright propaganda film even won a Golden Raspberry and made it into the Guinness Book of Records for the film with the maximum amount of violence: the film contains 221 scenes of violence and more than 108 people die in total. At the end of the film, the credits go "The film is dedicated to the valiant people of Afghanistan."

Dissonance

During the Afghan conflict, the country was in a kind of cognitive dissonance. On the one hand, everyone knew about "Afghanistan", on the other hand, the USSR painfully tried to "live better and more cheerfully." Olympics-80, XII World Festival of Youth and Students - the Soviet Union celebrated and rejoiced. Meanwhile, KGB General Filipp Bobkov subsequently testified: “Long before the opening of the festival, Afghan militants were specially selected in Pakistan, who underwent serious training under the guidance of CIA specialists and were thrown into the country a year before the festival. They settled in the city, especially since they were provided with money, and began to expect to receive explosives, plastic bombs and weapons, preparing to carry out explosions in crowded places (Luzhniki, Manezhnaya Square and other places). The actions were disrupted due to the operational measures taken.”

The official start of the Afghan war can be considered adopted by the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU December 12, 1979. in response to repeated requests from the government of Afghanistan, the decision to send a contingent of Soviet troops into the country. However, direct actions began on December 25 with the introduction of a contingent of Soviet troops into Afghanistan and on December 27, the capture of the residence of H. Amin by the forces of the Guards Airborne Division and his replacement by the more accommodating B. Karmal.

There are 4 stages in the conduct of hostilities for 9 years and 49 days of warfare:

On the first, troops were brought in, positions were taken and strengthened on them (3 months)
The next stage was the conduct of active combat operations (5 years)
Subsequently, the Soviet units switched to supporting the actions of the allied Afghan groups (1.5g)
The last stage, consisting in the curtailment of activity and the withdrawal of the Soviet contingent from the territory of the country (2d)

The Soviet Union did not want to change the regime in Afghanistan, but intervened in the conflict to protect geopolitical interests.
The motives of the Soviet leadership in making the decision came largely from a mixture of ideological and political expediency of supporting a friendly regime and supporting its course towards reforms in the country. However, this was actively opposed by the supported Western countries US-led group of Islamic orthodox conservatives.
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A limited contingent of Soviet troops was present in Afghanistan. Both in the decision to send troops and in practice, the principle of "limited contingent of troops" was implemented. Moreover, contrary to the opinion about the fate of the predominant number of conscript soldiers, based on a lack of information, the contingent units consisted of 60-70% of 25-35 year old warrant officers and reserve officers.

Soviet troops intervened in the march during the year civil war . The aggravation of the situation in the country began after the proclamation in April 1978 Democratic Republic Afghanistan (DRA) with a course towards socialist construction and radical groups of Islamists (Dushmans, Mujahideen), supported by the poorest sections of the republic.

Losses Soviet Union in the Afghan war there were much fewer US losses during the Vietnam War. In terms of the ratio of losses killed during the same period of warfare on the part of the USSR and the USA, they differed in killed and wounded by 4 and 3 times in a larger direction, respectively.

The material costs of the USSR and the USA for the war differed significantly. In terms of US dollars for the USSR, the war in Afghanistan cost almost 3 billion / year and about a billion to support the Afghan regime. In rough terms, over 10 years, the costs are 40 billion, despite the fact that the United States Vietnam War spent for the same period $165 billion.

The Soviet contingent controlled a significant part of the country's territory. The Soviet contingent established control over for the most part territory of the country, dushmans avoided direct clashes, limiting themselves to sorties of varying degrees of effectiveness. Unlike the later US-Afghan war in Soviet period During the war, no increase in opium poppy cultivation was recorded. Another difference is that the USSR built infrastructure for the population in Afghanistan, while the United States wiped out settlements with carpet bombing.

During the war in Afghanistan, oil prices dropped significantly. If the USSR started the war at the peak of oil prices at the end of the 70s, then during the first 6 years of the war, by agreement of the Gulf countries with the USA, the prices for "black gold" fell 6 times, which, of course, affected the military-economic capabilities of the Soviet Union.

In this war, poor personnel records were kept, signs of drunkenness, debauchery and drug addiction appeared. Control over the personnel of the contingent was unsystematic and fragmented, which allowed an employee on vacation, for example, to stay on the territory of the USSR not for 45 days, but 90. initial period of the war alcohol was abused by the whole officers, from which, according to some data, up to 70% were chronic alcoholics. The majority of the female members of the brigade agreed to cohabit with officers at a price of 50-100 Vneshtorg marks at a time.

Soldiers with access to medical painkillers used them intravenously to suppress feelings of fear, and some, having established contact with dushmans, used hashish and heroin.

After the end of the war, the United States redeemed the Stingers they presented to the Mujahideen at an inflated price. Contrary to popular belief about the significant influence of the Stingers on the course of the war, the Soviet command quickly found an antidote for them. It consisted in the fact that air cover operations were postponed to night time, given the lack of night vision devices in the spooks. It was recommended that air operations be carried out at altitudes exceeding the flight range of the Stingers. According to experts, the Mujahideen were donated from 500 to 2000 Stingers, which were redeemed from them after the war at a price of 183 thousand / piece, with a cost of MANPADS of 38 thousand.

The entry of a limited contingent of Soviet troops became the reason for the boycott of the 1980 Olympics. The result of the intervention of the USSR in the Afghan civil war was the boycott of the Moscow Olympics by the countries of the capitalist bloc. As a result, socialist countries contested the championship among themselves, according to its results, Soviet athletes received the largest number medals in various types sports.

Whose motto on the tattoo turned into an ominous prophecy after the operation?

The anthem of the Liverpool football club is the song “You'll never walk alone.” The same words were tattooed on the leg of the marine Andy Grant, who was sent to Afghanistan and blew up a mine. His leg was amputated below the knee, and during surgery the last word the tattoo was cut off, because of which it turned into “You'll never walk” (“You will never walk”). Grant himself treats this story with humor - he learned to walk with a prosthesis, participates in sports competitions and often tells about this incident in motivational speeches to other disabled veterans.

What pet lives in Afghanistan in only one copy?

Afghanistan, a Muslim country of over 30 million, has only one pig. Her name is Khanzir, and she is in the Kabul Zoo. Despite the isolation of the animal, in 2009, during the global swine flu pandemic, Khanzir was quarantined.

Which country did the censors demand to be removed from the film "Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson"?

In the first episode of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, Holmes guesses that Watson has come from the east. However, in the original voice acting, Holmes's phrase sounded: "Have you been out of Afghanistan for a long time?". The fact is that before the release of the tape on television, the artistic council demanded that the filmmakers remove all references to Afghanistan, since shortly before that Soviet troops had entered there. I had to re-voice several fragments, inserting "east" and "eastern colonies".

In what countries are some girls raised as boys?

In Afghanistan and Pakistan, there is a tradition of raising girls as boys - such children are called "bacha posh". Such a remedy is resorted to by families in which only girls are born, which, according to local customs, is considered almost a shame for the family. Bacha posh give male name, dressed in boyish clothes and cut short, she has more possibilities appear in public, go to school and play sports. However, at the onset of puberty, bacha posh has to return to the life of a girl again, losing all male rights, and then getting married. Often they become bad spouses because they have not learned how to properly cook, sew and do other work that is considered feminine.

Why did one Scot come to the funeral of his comrade-in-arms in women's dress?

Two Scottish soldiers - Kevin Elliot and Barry Delany, while serving in Afghanistan, made a promise to each other: if one of them dies, the second will come to his funeral in a woman's dress. And so it happened: Kevin died from missile attack, and Barry appeared at the ceremony in an acid-green dress and pink spats, although he mourned and did not hide his tears.

From whom were the Americans forced to redeem the weapons donated by them four times more expensive than their cost?

After the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan, the Americans gave the Mujahideen, according to various estimates, from 500 to 2000 portable anti-aircraft missile systems"Stinger". And after the Soviet troops withdrew from there, the American government began to buy rockets at $183,000 apiece. In this case, the usual cost of the stinger is 38 thousand dollars.