What kind of government did Afghanistan have prior to the Soviet invasion?
Between 1933 and 1973 Afghanistan was a Monarchy ruled by a king. In 1973 Afghanistan had a bloodless coup d’état and a Republic was formed. In 1978 the Republic was overthrown by Afghanistan’s Communist Party (PDPA). The Communists were opposed because they tried to introduce Freedom of Religion, Women’s Rights and Land Reform. These reforms made it unpopular with religiously conservative Afghans in the villages and the countryside, who favoured traditionalist ‘Islamic’ restrictions on women’s rights and in daily life. The Soviets intervened when it looked like the PDPA was going to fall. After the USSR left Afghanistan in 1989 the Communists remained in power until 1992. Afghanistan then had no government until the Taliban came to power in 1996.
