See also: 1938 in Afghanistan

1938 in Afghanistan

See also: 1937 in Afghanistan, other events of 1938, and 1939 in Afghanistan.----Afghanistan makes rapid strides towards western civilization. Roads are being laid out for motor traffic; industries, based originally on military requirements, are being developed; and education is spreading...

, other events of 1939, and 1940 in Afghanistan

1940 in Afghanistan

See also: 1939 in Afghanistan, other events of 1940, and 1941 in Afghanistan.----Internal economic development is furthered by increasing the availability of land for cultivation, by assistance to the sugar-beet industry, and by official sanction of a scheme for the formation of a joint-stock...

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A year of otherwise peaceful progress is broken by echoes of the trouble in Europe. The government declares its neutrality, but is reported to have ordered a general mobilization and to be exercising special vigilance on the Soviet frontier. In its attitude generally, Afghanistan is keeping touch with the other signatories of the Treaty of Saadabad

Treaty of Saadabad

The Treaty of Saadabad was a non-aggression pact signed by Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan on July 8, 1937. This treaty lasted for five years. The treaty was signed in Tehran's Saadabad Palace and was part of an initiative for greater Middle Eastern-Oriental relations spearheaded by King...

, (Turkey, Iraq, and Iran).

May 1939

It is announced that the government has decided to privatize all government-owned factories.

September 7, 1939

In the week following the German invasion of Poland, hostilities against the government are opened on the eastern border by a tribal gathering from Tirah

Tirah

Tirah is a region located in Kurram and Khyber agencies of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan . It lies between the Khyber Pass and the Khanki Valley. It is inhabited by the Afridi and Orakzai tribes of Pashtuns...

, but it is suppressed in little more than a week by joint action on the part of the Afghan and British authorities.

December 1939

The government announces the opening of a twice-weekly bus service between Kabul

Kabul

Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...

 and Mazari Sharif, in Afghan Turkestan, a distance of 382 miles (615 km), by a road traversing the Hindu Kush

Hindu Kush

The Hindu Kush is an mountain range that stretches between central Afghanistan and northern Pakistan. The highest point in the Hindu Kush is Tirich Mir in the Chitral region of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.It is the westernmost extension of the Pamir Mountains, the Karakoram Range, and is a...

 which was first planned by King Nadir Shah.