1933 1963 1971-1973 1978-1979 1989 1992-19961953 2001

Mohammed Daoud Khan, the King’s cousin and brother in law becomes Prime Minister. He wanted a closer relationship with Russia and a distant relationship with Pakistan.

Mohammed Zahir Shah becomes King.

Daoud was forced to resign because disputes with Pakistan led to an economic crisis and King Zahir Shah took a more active role in ruling Afghanistan.

While Zahir Shah was receiving treatment for eye problems in Italy, Daoud abolished the monarchy and took over the country. He declared Afghanistan a Republic and became prime minister.

Daoud’s changes didn’t work well. An important member of the opposing party the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) was shot. The PDPA overthrew the government in April and became the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. The PDPA invited the Soviet Union to make Afghanistan more modern and to rebuild. But the government were unpopular. They were very cruel and murdered many citizens particularly the religious citizens. The Soviet Union intervened. The American government were unhappy and trained the citizens to fight the communists.

The muslim fighters won and overthrew the government. They formed a new government and called the government the Islamic State Government. The Islamic State Government didn’t work and The Taliban seized power. The Taliban seized Kabul in 1996. The Taliban introduced a warped version of Islam including banning entertainment and responsible for massacres.

The Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan and were faced with anger from other countries. The war between the muslim fighters and PDPA continued.

Al Qaeda a group based in Afghanistan committed a terrorist attack on the Twin Towers. The Taliban refused to hand the leader over. The U.S. and Britain invaded. The Taliban were forced from power but today, still continue to regroup.