As early as the 1920s, the Soviet Union was actively involved in the Afghan Civil War, and the Red Army secretly dressed up as locals, but shouted "Ulla!" in Russian. ”
From May 6 to August 8, 1919, the Third Anglo-Afghan War broke out, and after a difficult battle, the Afghan emirate gained independence and Amanur Khan became the Emir.
In the beginning of his term of office, he was keen to promote modernization, establishing new schools that could be attended by both men and women, and abolishing centuries-old customs, such as dress regulations for women.
Seven years after ascending the throne, Afghanistan established a constitutional monarchy and was renamed the Kingdom of Afghanistan.
Amanurrah Khan implemented a series of reforms in the country, such as changing the tax in kind to a currency tax; selling state-owned land to promote the private development of land; expanding schools and introducing secular education; reforming backward and conservative customs.
However, the radical reforms of Amanura Khan were opposed by feudal nobles, landlords, mullahs, and tribal chiefs, leading to rebellions.
At the time, the Soviet Union and Britain were vying for control of Central Asia, with both sides trying to win support for Afghanistan.
Amanurrah Khan leaned more toward the Soviet side, effectively curbing the development of anti-Soviet forces in Central Asia who fled from within the country to Afghanistan during the Soviet civil war. These White Russian forces had repeatedly launched attacks on Soviet territory.
The two countries expanded economic and military cooperation, and Afghanistan, with the help of the Soviet Union, built an air force to suppress rebellions everywhere.
At the end of 1928, opposition to the rule of Amanurah Khan expanded, and an ethnic Tajik rebel army marched from Jalalabad to the capital Kabul. The army of the Kingdom of Afghanistan did not resist and fled in all directions.
The Soviet leadership decided to send troops into Afghanistan to help Amanur Khan stabilize the situation.
The Soviet Union did not want to disclose to the world the fact that its military involvement in the Afghan civil war. More than 2,000 Red Army soldiers dressed in Afghan soldier costumes secretly participated in the Afghan campaign.
On April 15, 1929, this well-equipped and artillery-equipped unit entered Afghanistan under the command of Primakov, the Soviet military commissioner in Afghanistan.
With the support of air fire, the Red Army destroyed the Afghan border troops and marched towards Mazar-e-Sharif, the main city in Balkh Province.
During the battle against Mazar-e-Sharif, the Soviet soldiers forgot that they were going to pretend to be Afghans and shouted the offensive slogan "Ulla!" in Russian. ", thus revealing the identity.
After Mazar-e-Sharif was captured by the Red Army, the Afghans issued the slogan of waging a holy war against the invaders, trapping Soviet soldiers in the city.
To rescue Primakov's forces, a second Soviet army, led by Petrov, entered Afghanistan.
The Red Army successfully broke the siege and turned to kabul.
However, news broke on 22 May that Amanura Khan's army had suffered a crushing defeat near Kabul and that he himself had fled to British India.
Any reason for Soviet troops to remain in Afghanistan was gone, and troops were immediately recalled home.
In Soviet military archives, the operation was known as a crackdown on banditry in Soviet Central Asia and was banned from writing in historical documents.
Soon after, Amanurrah Khan traveled to Europe, where he settled in Switzerland and died in Zurich in 1960.
After the overthrow of Amanoura Khan, all the reforms he tried in Afghanistan were abrogated.