The first fire, the Olympic dust.

The 1980 Olympic Games was supposed to be the time when the Soviet Union was in full swing, but who thought that an invasion of Afghanistan would directly ruin everything.

Things must begin at the end of 1979, when the Soviet army crossed the border and officially entered Afghanistan, with the aim of stabilizing the pro-Soviet regime there. Inside Afghanistan had become a pot, after the People's Democratic Party came to power in 1978, implemented various reforms, resulting in annoying a lot of tribes and conservative forces, the opposition is happening everywhere.

The Soviet Union, looking at the situation, worried that Afghanistan would fall to other camps, sent troops directly to intervene on December 27, 1979, killing then-leader Hafizullah Amin, and placing Babrak Karmeler on the ground.

In fact, the background of the Soviet Union's troops sending is quite complicated. Afghanistan has a critical geographical location, next to the southern border of the Soviet Union. If there is chaos, the Soviet Union will feel that its own security is threatened. In addition, during the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union fought for influence everywhere, and the Soviet Union did not want Afghanistan to become a bridgehead for its opponents.

As a result, the military operation went smoothly from the outset, and the Soviets soon took control of the major cities, but the guerrillas soon emerged, those opposition groups were backed by the outside, hiding guerrillas in the mountains, and the Soviet Union fell into the dirt.

The United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution in January 1980, strongly opposed the Soviet move, with more than 100 countries voting in favour. This directly affected the Olympics, because the Olympics were originally a symbol of peace, and the host country was also engaged in military expansion at this time, and many felt unacceptable.

China also saw very clearly at the time, and in March 1980 it decided not to participate in the Moscow Olympics, which is almost the same as the U.S. position, is to express protest against the actions of the Soviet Union.

Other countries also followed, Canada, Japan, and West Germany all joined the resistance ranks. The Soviet Union spent a lot of money preparing for the Olympics, and the total expenditure was estimated at $9 billion, according to the exchange rate of RMB at the time, almost $59.4 billion, mainly used to build venues, rebuild infrastructure.

Resist the tide, the stadium is deserted

Resistance came quickly, with U.S. President Jimmy Carter publicly announcing on January 20, 1980 that the United States would not participate in the Moscow Olympics unless the Soviet Union withdrew its troops from Afghanistan.

He also pressured allies, and Congress supported the decision by a resolution, resulting in the final absence of 65 countries, including the United States, China, Canada, Japan, West Germany, Kenya, and Israel.

Some countries, such as Britain, France, Italy and Sweden, did not completely boycott, allowing athletes to compete in their personal capacity or under the Olympic flag, but the overall scale shrank seriously. There are only 80 participating countries left, and the number of athletes has dropped to 5,179, which is much less than in previous Olympic Games. You know, under normal circumstances, there are tens of thousands of athletes.

The Moscow Olympic Games opened on July 19, 1980 and closed on August 3, the venue was newly built, and the Luginsky Stadium was very popular, but low in popularity. Soviet athletes won 80 gold medals, a total of 195 medals, dominated the list, but lacked strong competition, with gold discount.

Many projects, because of the absence of too many countries, became internal matches between the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries. Iran also joined the resistance because they had just revolutionized and had tensions with the Soviet Union. International Olympic Committee President L. Kiranin tried to persuade, but did not stop the wave of resistance, and he felt that this afflicted the athletes.

China's decision not to participate was based on the judgment of the international situation, when China and the United States did not go, and became the core of the resistance camp. This Olympic Games was held cold and clear, the Soviet Union wanted to use the opportunity to show its strength, the result was counterproductive, and the international image was damaged. Those countries that did not resist, mostly allies or neutral countries of the Soviet Union, struggled to support the scene.

Cigarette smoke, lessons to survive

The Soviet Union's withdrawal from Afghanistan was not a matter of one or two years. It was delayed until February 15th, 1989, for a full decade. During this period, the Soviet army had a maximum strength of 108,800 troops and launched many large-scale offensives, such as several encirclement and suppression campaigns in the Panjshir Valley. However, the guerrillas were resilient and relied on external assistance to support them.

After the United States supplied shoulder-carrying missiles in 1986, Soviet losses increased, and many helicopters were shot down.The war killed about 150,000 Soviet troops, hundreds of thousands of civilians died in Afghanistan, and the economy was severely damaged.

Olympic resistance did not directly force the Soviet Union to withdraw, but exacerbated the Cold War confrontation.At the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries in turn resisted, and as retaliation, athletes were tortured again.

The International Olympic Committee learned from high school and later stressed that the Olympics should go beyond politics, but the reality is always entangled.After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Afghan civil war continued, and the Nagibra regime fell in April 1992, and the various factions fought for years.

This is the alarm clock for subsequent international events, and political intervention in sports is often defeated. Like the Russian doping issue, the International Olympic Committee is not completely banned, but allows athletes to participate in neutrality, avoiding repetition. China has always advocated the Olympics to promote peace and not to engage in politization, which is consistent with the position of 1980.

Thinking back, the resistance did not immediately change the situation, but reflected the consensus of the international community to say no to the acts of aggression.The lessons of the Soviet Union also reminded us that the military adventure cost high, not only money is lost, but also people are lost.

The Olympics were supposed to be the stage for the competition of athletes from all countries, but because of the game of the great powers.In 1980 Moscow Olympics athletes only 5,200 people, China and the United States did not go, more than 60 countries were absent, this number behind how regrettable.

The decision of the Soviet Union to invade Afghanistan directly led to these consequences, and history proved this practice unpopular. The international community expressed its position by resistance, although the war did not stop in the short term, but in the long run, prompted the end of the Cold War. The Afghan issue continues to this day, reminding us that peace is not easy.