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Nicaraguan Revolution
1979–1990 anti-Somoza revolution and Sandinista rule / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Nicaraguan Revolution (Spanish: Revolución Nicaragüense or Revolución Popular Sandinista) began with rising opposition to the Somoza dictatorship in the 1960s and 1970s, the ouster of the dictatorship in 1978–79,[28] and the Contra War[broken anchor], fought between the government and the Contras from 1981 to 1990. The revolution revealed the country as one of the major proxy war battlegrounds of the Cold War.
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Nicaraguan Revolution | |||||||
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Part of the Central American crisis and the Cold War | |||||||
![]() Clockwise from top left: FSLN guerrillas entering León, bodies of people executed by the Nicaraguan National Guard, a government spy captured by guerrilla forces, destruction of towns and villages taken by guerrilla forces, bombings by the National Guard air force, an FSLN soldier aiming an RPG-2 | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
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MAP-ML (1978–1979)
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Casualties and losses | |||||||
1978–79: 10,000 total killed[27] 1981–89: 10,000–43,000 total killed; best estimate using most detailed battle information is 30,000 killed.[27] |
The initial overthrow of the Somoza dictatorial regime in 1978–79 cost many lives, and the Contra War of the 1980s took tens of thousands more and was the subject of fierce international debate. Because of the political turmoil, failing economy, and limited government influence, during the 1980s both the FSLN (a leftist collection of political parties) and the Contras (a rightist collection of counter-revolutionary groups) received aid from the Soviet Union and the United States.
A peace process started with the Sapoá Accords in 1988 and the Contra War ended after the signing of the Tela Accord in 1989 and the demobilization of the FSLN and Contra armies.[29] A second election in 1990 resulted in the election of a majority of anti-Sandinista parties and the FSLN lost power.