Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

Afghanistan, 1978–1992. Draft, not yet reviewed

The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, later known as the Republic of Afghanistan, was the left-wing-led Afghan state from 1978 to 1992. The majority of the country's years in existence were marked by the Soviet–Afghan War. On 27 December 1979, the Soviet Union launched Operation Storm-333, assaulting the Tajbeg Palace in Kabul and assassinating Amin, who was then replaced by Karmal. It collapsed by the end of the First Afghan Civil War in April 1992, having lasted only four months after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Seat of power: Kabul

Rulers

Hafizullah Amin

President of Afghanistan, 1979–1979

Hafizullah Amin was an Afghan revolutionary and communist head of state, who served in that position for a little over three months, from September 1979 until his assassination. He organized the Saur Revolution of 1978 and co-founded the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA), ruling Afghanistan as General Secretary of the People's Democratic Party.

Portrait of Hafizullah Amin: The Associated Press, Public domain, file

Mohammad Najibullah

President of Afghanistan, 1987–1992

Mohammad Najibullah Ahmadzai was an Afghan military officer and politician who served as the fifth president of Afghanistan from 1987 until his resignation in April 1992, shortly after the Afghan mujahideen's takeover of Kabul. He was also the General Secretary of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) from 1986 to 1992. After a failed attempt to flee to India, Najibullah remained in Kabul, and lived in the United Nations headquarters until his assassination during the Taliban's first capture of Kabul in 1996.

Portrait of Mohammad Najibullah: Alexandr Graschenkov / Александр Гращенков, CC BY-SA 3.0, file

Culture

The PDPA began ruling Afghanistan after ousting Mohammad Daoud Khan, who had become president by leading the 1973 Afghan coup d'état; he was succeeded by Nur Muhammad Taraki as the head of state and government on 30 April 1978.
Both Taraki and his successor Hafizullah Amin, who had organized the Saur Revolution as the General Secretary of the PDPA, introduced several contentious reforms during their time in office, such as land and marriage reforms and an enforced policy of de-Islamization vis-à-vis the promotion of socialism.
Following the Khalq–Parcham conflict, a power struggle arose within the Khalq faction itself, as Taraki and Amin increasingly contested each other's influence.

Picture

The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan was established by the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) following the Saur Revolution in April 1978.

Image: Orange Tuesday (talk), Public domain, file

Sources

Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.