SUMMARY
PDPA (People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan) (in Persian: Hizb-i Demokratik-i Khalq-i Afghanistan; renamed Watan Party in 1992, meaning Homeland Party) was a Marxist political party that emerged in 1963 and was officially established in 1965. It published its own newspaper called Khalq (meaning Masses or People’s) but in 1967, the party split into two factions: Khalq and Parcham (meaning Flag or Banner). The Khalq faction had strong connections to the military and largely consisted of Pashtu-speaking members from rural areas, who were newly educated and from more humble backgrounds typically. In contrast, the Parcham faction comprised of urban Persian/Dari-speakers from middle or higher level classes; following the split, the Parcham faction began publishing its own rival newspaper. The Khalq and Parcham factions remained divorced until 1978, when they united to mount a successful coup against President Mohammad Daud Khan on 27 April 1978. The coup was known as the Saur Revolution and lasted two days. Subsequently, the PDPA attained political authority and is then coded as the Government of Afghanistan in UCDP data, until they were replaced in 1992 by mujahideen groups.
Although the PDPA overthrew President Mohammad Daud Khan in 1978, Daud Khan was originally installed as president with the assistance of civil servants and military officers from the Parcham faction of PDPA, who supported him in carrying out a bloodless coup against his cousin, ruling King Zahir Shah in 1973. Under Daud Khan, the constitutional monarchy was replaced with a presidential republic. Despite this, the Parcham faction reunited with the Khalq faction against him after Daud Khan moved ideologically away from the left and formed a cabinet comprising of sycophants and personal connections in 1977. Nonetheless, division between the two factions of the PDPA was never overcome and internal leadership struggles between as well as within the factions were continuous and led to several purges.
The PDPA did not have a large public support base due to its Marxist policies, its perceived if not actual links to the Soviet Union (now Russia) and repressive regime. The PDPA-supported and PDPA-conducted coups in 1973 and 1978 respectively, aroused an opposition of Islamic groups protesting against a secularist and centralist state authority that resulted in the onset of civil war in Afghanistan (see Afghanistan:Government).
In 1978, an average estimate of PDPA membership was 11 000 to 12 000 but only 600 men were involved in the 1978 coup against Daud Khan.
For both factions of the PDPA, many leaders had previous military training or had studied in the Soviet Union (now Russia). Initially, the united PDPA was led by Nur Mohammad Taraki, who was Secretary General of the PDPA Central Committee. After the split in 1967, Taraki became leader of the Khalq faction, whilst Babrak Karmal became leader of the Parcham faction. Taraki subsequently took over as President of Afghanistan after the Saur Revolution in April 1978, as well as serving as Prime Minister and Secretary General of the PDPA.
Under its Khalq leadership, the PDPA insisted that it had not received support from the Soviet Union (now Russia) for the Saur Revolution coup in April 1978. Soviet Union (now Russia) media sources iterated this message as well, despite allegations to the contrary. Furthermore, several reports state that Soviet Union (now Russia) pressure was influential over the Khalq and Parcham factions’ decision to unite against Daud Khan in 1978.
