The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan

The Soviets invaded Afghanistan in order to overthrow a previously collaborationist government that was getting a little bit too unstable for them. They were concerned basically that if the King was deposed and there was already a succession of socialist governments that really destabilized the country. And so they basically moved preemptively on Christmas 1979 and installed their guy, Hapuzu-lan. He then has succession of basically people who sucked. This didn't get any better, it got a lot worse.