Peaceful Afghanistan In The mid-20th Century: Photos Capturing Life Before Soviet And American Intervention

Afghanistan is facing internal conflicts and foreign interventions for centuries. It is known as the graveyard of empires. The Greeks, Persians, Mongols, and several others tried conquering or influencing Afghanistan, but they all failed. Despite these horrible circumstances, interventions, and political instability, the country made several attempts towards modernization in the mid-20th century. Afghanistan was a neutral country in the 1960s; however, the peace was destroyed again by Soviet and U.S. intervention, and after 40 years, the Taliban are regaining control from America. The majority of the people still don’t know the facts and circumstances which played a keen role in the destruction of peace in Afghanistan in the late 20th century. It was all started when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in support of the Afghan government. Which then followed by America. U.S government started a proxy war against communism, and they sponsored the Taliban and other terrorist groups in the name of “Jihad” against the communism of the USSR. America provided Training camps, ammunition, and financial support to Taliban and anti-USSR groups. All the warlords, drug lords, and Taliban were once the guests of the white house. U.S government fully sponsored the Taliban and other terrorist groups against USSR. Sadly, this truth is hidden from Americans; how Brzezinski and Carter supported extreme Anti-Russian elements, which became Taliban. And when the USSR left the Afghanistan, Taliban and the other U.S sponsored terrorist groups refused to obey the orders, U.S invaded Afghanistan in the name of the war against terrorism. These fascinating photos show what Afghanistan looked like in the 1950s and 1960s — capturing streets, markets, schools, landmarks, and the everyday life of Afghan people.

#1 Men stroll past roadside vendors as a painted truck makes its way through the busy street in Kabul, Afghanistan, November, 1961.

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#2 The modern new (completed 1966) government printing plant in Kabul, on June 9, 1966, which houses Kabul Times. Most of its machinery was furnished by West Germany.

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#3 Architecture in Kabul, Afghanistan, seen on May 28, 1968.

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#4 Street scene in Kabul, Afghanistan in November, 1961.

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#5 Afghan boys, men, and women, some in bare feet, shop at a marketplace in Kabul, Afghanistan, in May of 1964.

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#6 Motorcade for President Eisenhower’s visit to Kabul, Afghanistan, on December 9, 1959. Eisenhower met briefly with the 45-year-old Afghan king, Mohammad Zahir Shah, to discuss Soviet influence in the region and increased U.S. aid to Afghanistan.

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#7 Residents of Afghanistan line the route of U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower’s tour in Kabul, Afghanistan, on December 9, 1959.

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#8 Dancers perform in street of Kabul, Afghanistan, December 9, 1959 following President Eisenhower’s arrival from Karachi. After a five hour stay in Kabul, Ike flew on to New Delhi.

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#9 Afghan Air Force Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 fighters and Ilyushin Il-28 bombers in Kabul, Afghanistan, during the visit of the U.S. president Dwight D. Eisenhower, in December of 1959.

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#10 A shopfront display of fruits and nuts in Kabul, in November of 1961.

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#11 Children in a Kabul street, November, 1961

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#12 A modern traffic light stands incongruously amid burqa-clad women sitting on a Kabul street corner with their backs to their men on May 25, 1964.

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#13 Afghan women, men, and child in traditional dress ride in a cart through an arid, rocky landscape, November, 1959.

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#14 The entrance to the Karkar coal mine around 12 kilometers northeast of Pulikhumri, the provincial town of the Northern province of Baghlan. The Karkar coal deposit at one time met the needs of Kabul city.

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#15 A caravan of mules and camels cross the high, winding trails of the Lataband Pass in Afghanistan on the way to Kabul, on October 8, 1949.

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#16 In Washington, D.C., Afghan King Mohammad Zahir Shah talks with US President John F. Kennedy in the car that took them to the White House on September 8, 1963.

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#17 Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev (black hat), and Marshal Nikolai Bulganin review an Afghan honor guard wearing old German uniforms, on their arrival in Kabul, Afghanistan, on December 15, 1955.

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#18 Street scene in Kabul, in November of 1966.

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#19 Activity in a city park in Kabul, on May 28, 1968.

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#20 Modern new Finance Ministry building in Kabul, on June 9, 1966, with a public, western-style cafeteria and sidewalk restaurant, facing a water fountain which is illuminated in color at night. (AP Photo)

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#21 Kabul, Afghanistan, November 1961.

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#22 A quiet scene in a street through the bazaar of Kabul, on December 31, 1969.

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#23 A panoramic view showing the old and new buildings in Kabul, in August of 1969. The Kabul River flows through the city, center right. In the background on the hilltop is the mausoleum of late King Mohammad Nadir Shah. (AP Photo)

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#24 Afghan man leading laden camels and donkeys through an arid, rocky landscape, in November, 1959. (Robert P. Martin, LOC)

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#25 Afghan boys play with kites as men walk past, in November of 1959.

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#26 Vendors sell various fuits and nuts at an outdoor market in Kabul, in November of 1961.

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#27 Women, wearing traditional burqas and Persian slippers, walk alongside men, cars and horse carts, in a street in Kabul, in 1951. At the time, this street was one of only three paved streets in the capital city.

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#28 A view of one of the new mosques erected in the suburb of Kabul, in November of 1961

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#29 Afghan boys, men, and a woman walk through a street in Kabul, Afghanistan, on March 26, 1954.

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#30 Young photographer at Paghman Gardens

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#31 Co-education

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#32 Afghan High School Girls

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#33 Education Under the Trees

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#34 Bus trip

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#35 Big sister

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#36 Rush hour

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#37 Decorating cakes

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#38 Shopping for Scarves

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#39 Blonde & Afghans

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#40 Kabul Gorge

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#41 Frying up dessert

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#42 Bus driver

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#43 Salang pass tunnel

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#44 Bamiyan valley

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#45 Friendly crowd

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#46 Under the trees

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#47 Fruit & veggies

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#48 Afternoon prayers

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#49 Outdoor class

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#50 Kabul

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#51 Gas Station

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#52 Afternoon shade

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#53 Balloon boy

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#54 Annual Exhibition of Student Art Work

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#55 Afghanistan

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#56 All dressed up

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#57 Skinny tie

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#58 Sight seeing

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#59 Detail on Arch

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#60 Dr. Podlich & the Afghans

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#61 Fully loaded

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#62 Indoor class

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#63 Bamiyan Buddah statue

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#64 Shave and a Haircut

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#65 Walking home

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#66 Military band

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#67 Portable grand stand

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#68 Main street

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#69 People & Ducks

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#70 Masked Parade

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#71 Monument

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#72 Cookin’ Kababs

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#73 Swimming in the Kabul River

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#74 Algebra & Mud

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#75 Road work

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#76 New years celebration

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#77 The Demonstration

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#78 Faculty of Medicine in Kabul of two Afghan medicine students listening to their professor (at right) as they examine a plaster cast showing a part of a human body, 1962.

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#79 An Afghan worker checks a Russian-made truck in the Kabul Janagalak factory in an unspecified date. The factory situated in the center of the city as the only firm for making vehicle’s chassis was plundered, like other public properties in the Afghan capital, during the Afghan mujahedin rule from 19

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#80 This photo shows the now-destroyed Kabul-Herat highway, that linked the Afghan capital to the Iranian border city of Mashad. Built in the early second half of the 20th century, the highway has been virtually destroyed through decades of warfare.

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#81 Scene inside the modern new government printing plant in Kabul on June 9, 1966, which houses Kabul Times.

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#82 Tajbeg (Queen’s) Palace, the Palace of Amanullah Khan in Kabul, photographed on October 8, 1949.

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#83 The King of Afghanistan, Mohammad Zahir Shah rides in his limousine on Kabul’s central road Idga Wat in this 1968 photo.

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#84 Students at the Higher Teachers College of Kabul

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#85 Kindergarten Dance

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#86 Afghan hound

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#87 Sharing tea & music

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#88 Hanging out at the American International School of Kabul

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#89 Aisk Parking Lot

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#90 Art show

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#91 Co-education

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#92 Vip

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#93 Hotel Inter-continental

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#94 Kabul International

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#95 Mosque in the center of Kabul

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#96 Shopping for Canned Goods

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#97 The Dance

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#98 Apartments & stores

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#99 School’s out

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#100 Marching

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#101 Guard Duty

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#102 Afghan army

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