People's Democratic Party Of Afghanistan
The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) (Persian: حزب دموکراتيک خلق افغانستان, Hezb-e dimūkrātĩk-e khalq-e Afghānistān, Pashto: د افغانستان د خلق دموکراټیک ګوند, Da Afghanistān da khalq dimukrātīk gund) was a communist party established on the 1 January 1965. While a minority, the party helped former president of Afghanistan, Mohammed Daoud Khan, to overthrow his cousin, Mohammed Zahir Shah, and established Daoud's Republic of Afghanistan. Daoud would eventually become a strong nemesis of the party, firing PDPA politicians from high ranking jobs in the government. This would lead to uneasy relations with the Soviet Union.
In 1978 the PDPA with help from the Afghan army seized power from Daoud in what is known as the Saur Revolution. Before the civilian government was established, Afghan air force colonel Abdul Qadir Dagarwal was the official ruler of Afghanistan for three days, starting from 27 April 1978. Dagarwal was eventually replaced by Nur Muhammad Taraki. After the Saur Revolution, the PDPA established the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan which would last until 1987. After National Reconciliation talks in 1987 the official name of the country was reverted to Republic of Afghanistan (as was known prior to the PDPA coup of 1978), the republic lasted until 1992 under the leadership of Najibullah and acting president for the last twelve days, Abdul Rahim Hatef.
Read more about People's Democratic Party Of Afghanistan: Formation and Early Political Activities, Parcham Rule
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