**Socialist Afghanistan**, officially the **Democratic Republic of
Afghanistan** refers to a period of the history of
[Afghanistan](Afghanistan "wikilink") (1978 - 1992) in which the country
was run in an [authoritarian
socialist](Authoritarian_Socialism "wikilink") manner. The government
struggled massively with a civil war against
[US-backed](Timeline_of_US_Hegemony "wikilink")
[far-right](Right-Wing_Politics "wikilink")
[Islamist](Islamism "wikilink") groups and [Maoists](Maoism "wikilink").

## Analysis

### Positives

  - The major positive action of socialist Afghanistan was the
    [expansion of women's rights](Feminism "wikilink"). Forced marriages
    were banned, women and girls were encouraged to work and get an
    education and legal equality between the
    [sexes](Sex_\(Biology\) "wikilink") was introduced. Numerous women
    also held high positions in the Afghani government.

### Negatives

  - The government ultimately failed to withstand an imperialist
    onslaught and internal uprisings led by reactionary and conservative
    forces, as well as some on the left.
  - In 1979, the government carried out a disastrous effort at land
    reform, it was extremely unpopular and agricultural productivity
    plummeted.
  - The plans for industrial development in the late 1980s were
    extremely unsuccessful, promising 25% economic growth a year, but
    only reaching 2%. Although how much of this can be attributed to
    poor government planning policies vs the civil war is up for debate.
  - Despite widespread literacy campaigns, the government failed to
    reduce illiteracy by much, in contrast to most other socialist
    societies.
  - The government created a new climate of repression that even alarmed
    the [USSR](USSR "wikilink").\[1\]
  - The government suffered a massive amount of infighting and debate
    between moderates and radicals.

### Lessons for the Future

  - The authoritarian socialists are wrong, top-down governments and
    militaries are not sufficient to defend a socialist society from
    counter-revolutionaries and imperialist aggression. Even with the
    help of the USSR, the government failed to stop the
    counter-revolution, [with disastrous results for the people of
    Afghanistan](Afghani_Civil_War_\(1978_-_Present\) "wikilink").
  - Central planning is not necessarily good at managing a wartime
    economy, [especially in contrast to other wartime experiments of
    libertarian socialism which even saw living standards
    improve](Revolutionary_Spain "wikilink").
  - Land reform done by authoritarian socialists is a disaster.

## Major Social Struggles

  - 1979: [Herat Uprising](Herat_Uprising_\(1979\) "wikilink")
  - 1979: [Bala Hissar
    Uprising](Bala_Hissar_Uprising_\(1979\) "wikilink")

## References

[Wikipedia](Wikipedia "wikilink") - [Democratic Republic of
Afghanistan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Republic_of_Afghanistan)

1.  \~ Robert D. Kaplan (1990) - *Soldiers of God: With Islamic Warriors
    in Afghanistan and Pakistan*, pages 115 - 116