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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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