What happened during the Nicaraguan revolution?

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Nicaraguan Revolution

Part of the Central American crisis and the Cold War

Date1978–1990 (12 years)

Location  

Nicaragua

Result  

FSLN military victory in 1979

Overthrow of Somoza government

Insurgency of the Contras

Electoral victory of the National Opposition Union in 1990

FSLN retained most of their executive apparatus

Territorial

changesNicaragua

Belligerents

Nicaragua Somoza regime

National Guard

Contras (1981–90)

Supported by:

United States

Israel

Saudi Arabia

Honduras

Chile (since 1973)

Brazil Brazi

Paraguay

Argentina (1961–83)

Panama

West Germany

Pakistan

Philippines

Iran Imperial State of Iran (until 1979)

Iran Islamic Republic of Iran (Indirectly, since 1979)

FSLN

EPS

Supported by:

Soviet Union

Flag of Libya (1977–2011).svg Libya

Cuba

Bulgaria

Romania (until 1989)

Czechoslovakia (until 1989)

Poland (until 1989)

Mexico

Iraq

East Germany (until 1989)

Chile (1970–1973)

Commanders and leaders

Nicaragua Anastasio Somoza Debayle

Nicaragua Enrique Bermúdez  Daniel Ortega

Carlos Fonseca (1959–1976) †

Humberto Ortega

Joaquin Cuadra

Tomás Borge

Edén Pastora (1961–81)

Casualties and losses

(1978–79) 10,000 total killed

(1981–89) 10,000–43,000 total killed, best estimate using most detailed battle information is 30,000 killed.

The Nicaraguan Revolution (Spanish: Revolución Nicaragüense or Revolución Popular Sandinista) encompassed the rising opposition to the Somoza dictatorship in the 1960s and 1970s, the violent campaign led by the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) to oust the dictatorship in 1978–79, the subsequent efforts of the FSLN to govern Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990, and the Contra War, which was waged between the FSLN-led government of Nicaragua and the United States-backed Contras from 1981–1990. The revolution marked a significant period in Nicaraguan history and revealed the country as one of the major proxy war battlegrounds of the Cold War with the events in the country rising to international attention.

The initial overthrow of the Somoza regime in 1978–79 was a bloody affair, and the Contra War of the 1980s took the lives of tens of thousands of Nicaraguans and was the subject of fierce international debate. During the 1980s, both the FSLN (a leftist collection of political parties) and the Contras (a rightist collection of counter-revolutionary groups) received large amounts of aid from the Cold War superpowers (respectively, the Soviet Union and the United States).

The Contra War ended after the signing of the Tela Accord in 1989 and the demobilization of the FSLN and Contra armies. A second election in 1990 resulted in the election of a majority of anti-Sandinista parties and the FSLN handing over power.

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