The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
The History Hour
BBC
4.4 • 912 Ratings
🗓️ 28 December 2019
⏱️ 50 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On 24th December 1979 Soviet troops poured into Afghanistan in support of an anti-government coup. The Soviet occupation would last for nine years.
Plus, the hidden history of the board game Monopoly, the invention of chemotherapy, the heaviest aerial bombardment of the Vietnam war at Christmas 1972, and the street-performer origins of the global circus phenomenon Cirque du Soleil.
Picture: Russian tanks take up positions in front of the Darulaman (Abode of Peace) Palace in Kabul, January 1980. (Henri Bureau/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to the History Hour podcast from the BBC World Service with me Max Pearson, the past, brought to life by those who were there. |
| 0:08.0 | This week the American Christmas bombing campaign over North Vietnam in 1972. |
| 0:13.0 | I remember that the siren is ooh |
| 0:19.0 | and then after the siren would be the warning in loudspeaker. |
| 0:25.0 | Plus a breakthrough in cancer treatment, the birth of the innovative Cirque du Soleil and... |
| 0:31.0 | Do not pass go do not collect 200 pounds. |
| 0:37.0 | How Monopoly became one of the world's top board games. |
| 0:40.0 | That's all coming up later. |
| 0:42.0 | But we begin with an event 40 years ago which has gone on to play a central role in global geopolitics right up until the present. |
| 0:49.0 | On the 25th of December 1979, Afghanistan was invaded by Soviet troops. They were there to back up a coup against |
| 0:56.7 | the Afghan President Harvizula Amin, who the Soviets feared had switched loyalties to the West, |
| 1:02.2 | and they would be there for another nine years. |
| 1:05.0 | This report has been compiled by Maduba Nauruzi. |
| 1:07.0 | Within 24 hours of the warning by the United States about the buildup of |
| 1:16.8 | Soviet troops and military equipment in Afghanistan, there are reports so far |
| 1:21.3 | unconfirmed that there's been a coup d'etat. |
| 1:24.2 | According to the official Iranian news agency, |
| 1:26.8 | the radio station in the Afghan capital Kabul |
| 1:29.6 | put out a report this afternoon that the regime of President Hafuzala Amin had been |
| 1:34.0 | overthrown and that a new Prime Minister had been installed. It also said that a |
| 1:38.7 | curfew had been imposed and that the radio was playing martial music. |
| 1:52.0 | Shoksovar San Garwal was a young producer at Afghan National Radio at the time. This is his story. |
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