Nicaraguan Conflicts
1821: Nicaragua and other Central American colonies gain their independence from the Spanish Crown.
1855: Nicaraguan Liberal forces crush the Conservative opposition hire William Walker, a North American adventurer with a small band of followers. Walker captures Granada.
1856: Walker assumes the Nicaraguan presidency and seeks U.S. annexation. As president, his first decree is to sanction slavery in Nicaragua.
1870: Nicaragua protests U.S. intervention and demands reparations for damages incurred in the 1855-armed conflict.
1893: The Liberal Party seizes power and names José Santos Zelaya president of Nicaragua. Lewis Hanke, an U.S. agent, intervenes in support of the Conservative cause.
1907: U.S. war ships take possession of the Fonseca Gulf.
1909: Two U.S. mercenaries are shot with authorization from the Nicaraguan Nationalist government. U.S. officials respond with the Knox Note, which legitimizes North American intervention in Nicaraguan affairs.
1910: U.S. troops impose a puppet government in Nicaragua. Liberal President, José Santos Zelaya is forced out of office and Adolfo Díaz is made provisional president.
1912: Díaz requests U.S. military assistance to control civil unrest. Nicaraguans resist U.S. occupation and the national hero, Benjamin Zeledón dies.
1914: Nicaraguan president, Emiliano Chamorro signs the Bryan-Chamorro Treaty with the U.S. administration. In exchange for $3 million, the U.S. acquires the right to build a canal across Nicaraguan territory, lease the Great and Little Corn Islands, and establish a naval base in the Gulf of Fonseca. The Bryan-Chamorro Treaty provokes anti-North American sentiment and guerrilla warfare in Nicaragua, and elicits protest from other Central American countries.
1925: When U.S. forces withdraw from Nicaragua, rebellions ensue; and the marines return to quell the disturbances.
1927: Liberal candidate, Gen. José Moncada wins the presidential elections, which are monitored by U.S. officials. Moncada, who had fought against U.S. intervention, enters into negotiations with Henry L. Stimson, personal envoy of President Coolidge.
1927: Augusto César Sandino, Commander of the Army to Defend the National Sovereignty, rejects Moncada's pact with Stimson. Sandino launches a guerrilla war against U.S. forces in Nicaragua.
1927-1934: After five hundred battles fought against U.S. marines and sympathizers, Sandino successfully expels U.S. armed forces from Nicaragua.
1934: The U.S. withdraws, leaving Nicaraguan military officer, Anastasio Somoza as Commander of the National Guard.
1934: Under the tutelage of Arthur Bliss Lane, U.S. ambassador to Nicaragua, Somoza masterminds the assassination of Augusto César Sandino.
1936: Anastasio Somoza founds a brutal dictatorship, fueled by U.S. funds, which is passed from father to son to brother for over 43 years.
1941: Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Nicaragua enters World War II on December 9, 1941.
1945: In June, Nicaragua is recognized as a charter member of the United Nations.
1948: Nicaragua joins the Organization of American States. Somoza dispatches an interventionist military force to Costa Rica.
1954: Somoza sends mercenary forces to Guatemala to help U.S. forces oust socialist president, Jacobo Arbenz.
1955: Somoza pulls Nicaraguan troops from the Dominican Republic, who have intervened with U.S. military operations.
1956: Anastasio Somoza is assassinated and succeeded by his son, Luis Somoza Debayle.
For four years after his son's regime, close associates of the Somoza family maintain political control of Nicaragua.
1960: The U.S. dispatches its Caribbean Float to Nicaragua and Guatemala to protect administrations from popular sector uprisings
1961: US mercenaries depart from Nicaragua's Puerto Cabezas and invade Playa Girón, Cuba. They suffer a historical defeat known as the "Bay of Pigs."
1966: Somoza Debayle makes René Schick president . During a visit to the U.S., Schick volunteers Nicaragua to serve as an U.S. military base for invading Cuba.
1967: Somoza Debayle establishes a military autocracy, silencing his opposition through the National Guard.
1967: Somoza Debayle offers soldiers from his National Guard to fight in the Vietnam War.
1968: Nicaraguan functionaries, sent by Somoza Debayle, help overthrow Panamanian president, Arnulfo Arias.
1971: Somoza Debayle steps down from government, but retains the post, Chief of the Armed Forces. A governing coalition is formed, which is comprised of a Conservative and two Liberal executives.
1972: A devastating earthquake strikes Managua, leaving 6,000 dead and 20,000 injured. Somoza Debayle embezzles money from international relief funds. Martial law is declared; and Somoza Debayle is made Chief Executive of the Nicaraguan government. U.S. marines are sent to Nicaragua to insure Somoza's regime is instituted.
1974: Somoza is decreed president of Nicaragua.
1978: By the end of the decade, Nicaragua experiences an economic slowdown and circumstances are ripe for a revolution. Joaquín Chamorro, editor of the anti-Somoza newspaper, La Prensa, is assassinated. The public holds Somoza responsible. Led by the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), anti-Somoza guerrilla forces launch a violent uprising against the military. Nicaragua is plunged into a near civil war.
1979: Somoza resigns on July 17th, and flees to Miami, exiling to Paraguay. On July 20th, Sandinista forces enter Managua, and hundreds of thousands of Nicaraguans celebrate their triumph.
1980: Somoza is assassinated in Paraguay. The Sandinista government implements social programs, which receive international recognition for their gains in literacy, health care, education, childcare, unions, and land reform. For the first time in history, Nicaraguans are called to decide their own future. Just as they struggle for increased self-sufficiency, the Reagan-Bush administration begins funding the Contra War. The goal is to undermine the Sandinista regime. This ten-year war is fought at the cost of 60, 000 lives, 178 billion dollars, and the Nicaraguan infrastructure and economy.
1980: Political control is shifted to a five-member junta, which rules Nicaragua from 1980 to 1985. Among the junta members is Violeta Chamorro, the widow of the late journalist, Joaquín Chamorro.
1985: FSLN's presidential candidate, Daniel Ortega takes office and declares a state of national emergency, suspending civil rights. The Iran-Contra Affair begins. This U.S.-orchestrated operation secretly channels funds to the Contras soldiers, which is in direct violation with the Boland Amendment.
1988: Nicaragua is a disaster zone, ravaged by civil war and the onslaught of Hurricane Hugo. President Ortega agrees to the first round of peace talks with Contra leaders. A temporary truce is reached in March.
1990: The moderate UNO Coalition candidate, Violeta Chamorro is elected president of Nicaragua. Chamorro improves diplomatic relations with the U.S. At this time, the FSLN party still holds the majority of popular support in Nicaragua.
1991: The UNO coalition governs Nicaragua. They severely cut government spending on successful, Sandinista-led social programs in such areas as health care and education. On July 1st, right wing sectors attack Sandinista land reforms, which have redistributed land to small-scale farmers. The impact is felt across the nation.
1997: Arnoldo Alemán Lacayo, the Liberal Party's conservative candidate, wins the presidential elections- 49 to 39 percent over FSLN opponent, Daniel Ortega.
Since Ortega's return to power by ballot box in 2007, Washington's response has been limited. The US has criticized his antidemocratic power-grab and cut $64 million in Millennium Challenge development aid, but generally tried to work with the Ortega administration while turning a deaf ear to the Sandistas' diatribes.
In the 1980s, the US backed the Contra rebels to fight Mr. Ortega's communist Sandinista government — a dark chapter in both countries' history that closed when Ortega was swept from office in democratic elections in 1990.
1855: Nicaraguan Liberal forces crush the Conservative opposition hire William Walker, a North American adventurer with a small band of followers. Walker captures Granada.
1856: Walker assumes the Nicaraguan presidency and seeks U.S. annexation. As president, his first decree is to sanction slavery in Nicaragua.
1870: Nicaragua protests U.S. intervention and demands reparations for damages incurred in the 1855-armed conflict.
1893: The Liberal Party seizes power and names José Santos Zelaya president of Nicaragua. Lewis Hanke, an U.S. agent, intervenes in support of the Conservative cause.
1907: U.S. war ships take possession of the Fonseca Gulf.
1909: Two U.S. mercenaries are shot with authorization from the Nicaraguan Nationalist government. U.S. officials respond with the Knox Note, which legitimizes North American intervention in Nicaraguan affairs.
1910: U.S. troops impose a puppet government in Nicaragua. Liberal President, José Santos Zelaya is forced out of office and Adolfo Díaz is made provisional president.
1912: Díaz requests U.S. military assistance to control civil unrest. Nicaraguans resist U.S. occupation and the national hero, Benjamin Zeledón dies.
1914: Nicaraguan president, Emiliano Chamorro signs the Bryan-Chamorro Treaty with the U.S. administration. In exchange for $3 million, the U.S. acquires the right to build a canal across Nicaraguan territory, lease the Great and Little Corn Islands, and establish a naval base in the Gulf of Fonseca. The Bryan-Chamorro Treaty provokes anti-North American sentiment and guerrilla warfare in Nicaragua, and elicits protest from other Central American countries.
1925: When U.S. forces withdraw from Nicaragua, rebellions ensue; and the marines return to quell the disturbances.
1927: Liberal candidate, Gen. José Moncada wins the presidential elections, which are monitored by U.S. officials. Moncada, who had fought against U.S. intervention, enters into negotiations with Henry L. Stimson, personal envoy of President Coolidge.
1927: Augusto César Sandino, Commander of the Army to Defend the National Sovereignty, rejects Moncada's pact with Stimson. Sandino launches a guerrilla war against U.S. forces in Nicaragua.
1927-1934: After five hundred battles fought against U.S. marines and sympathizers, Sandino successfully expels U.S. armed forces from Nicaragua.
1934: The U.S. withdraws, leaving Nicaraguan military officer, Anastasio Somoza as Commander of the National Guard.
1934: Under the tutelage of Arthur Bliss Lane, U.S. ambassador to Nicaragua, Somoza masterminds the assassination of Augusto César Sandino.
1936: Anastasio Somoza founds a brutal dictatorship, fueled by U.S. funds, which is passed from father to son to brother for over 43 years.
1941: Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Nicaragua enters World War II on December 9, 1941.
1945: In June, Nicaragua is recognized as a charter member of the United Nations.
1948: Nicaragua joins the Organization of American States. Somoza dispatches an interventionist military force to Costa Rica.
1954: Somoza sends mercenary forces to Guatemala to help U.S. forces oust socialist president, Jacobo Arbenz.
1955: Somoza pulls Nicaraguan troops from the Dominican Republic, who have intervened with U.S. military operations.
1956: Anastasio Somoza is assassinated and succeeded by his son, Luis Somoza Debayle.
For four years after his son's regime, close associates of the Somoza family maintain political control of Nicaragua.
1960: The U.S. dispatches its Caribbean Float to Nicaragua and Guatemala to protect administrations from popular sector uprisings
1961: US mercenaries depart from Nicaragua's Puerto Cabezas and invade Playa Girón, Cuba. They suffer a historical defeat known as the "Bay of Pigs."
1966: Somoza Debayle makes René Schick president . During a visit to the U.S., Schick volunteers Nicaragua to serve as an U.S. military base for invading Cuba.
1967: Somoza Debayle establishes a military autocracy, silencing his opposition through the National Guard.
1967: Somoza Debayle offers soldiers from his National Guard to fight in the Vietnam War.
1968: Nicaraguan functionaries, sent by Somoza Debayle, help overthrow Panamanian president, Arnulfo Arias.
1971: Somoza Debayle steps down from government, but retains the post, Chief of the Armed Forces. A governing coalition is formed, which is comprised of a Conservative and two Liberal executives.
1972: A devastating earthquake strikes Managua, leaving 6,000 dead and 20,000 injured. Somoza Debayle embezzles money from international relief funds. Martial law is declared; and Somoza Debayle is made Chief Executive of the Nicaraguan government. U.S. marines are sent to Nicaragua to insure Somoza's regime is instituted.
1974: Somoza is decreed president of Nicaragua.
1978: By the end of the decade, Nicaragua experiences an economic slowdown and circumstances are ripe for a revolution. Joaquín Chamorro, editor of the anti-Somoza newspaper, La Prensa, is assassinated. The public holds Somoza responsible. Led by the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), anti-Somoza guerrilla forces launch a violent uprising against the military. Nicaragua is plunged into a near civil war.
1979: Somoza resigns on July 17th, and flees to Miami, exiling to Paraguay. On July 20th, Sandinista forces enter Managua, and hundreds of thousands of Nicaraguans celebrate their triumph.
1980: Somoza is assassinated in Paraguay. The Sandinista government implements social programs, which receive international recognition for their gains in literacy, health care, education, childcare, unions, and land reform. For the first time in history, Nicaraguans are called to decide their own future. Just as they struggle for increased self-sufficiency, the Reagan-Bush administration begins funding the Contra War. The goal is to undermine the Sandinista regime. This ten-year war is fought at the cost of 60, 000 lives, 178 billion dollars, and the Nicaraguan infrastructure and economy.
1980: Political control is shifted to a five-member junta, which rules Nicaragua from 1980 to 1985. Among the junta members is Violeta Chamorro, the widow of the late journalist, Joaquín Chamorro.
1985: FSLN's presidential candidate, Daniel Ortega takes office and declares a state of national emergency, suspending civil rights. The Iran-Contra Affair begins. This U.S.-orchestrated operation secretly channels funds to the Contras soldiers, which is in direct violation with the Boland Amendment.
1988: Nicaragua is a disaster zone, ravaged by civil war and the onslaught of Hurricane Hugo. President Ortega agrees to the first round of peace talks with Contra leaders. A temporary truce is reached in March.
1990: The moderate UNO Coalition candidate, Violeta Chamorro is elected president of Nicaragua. Chamorro improves diplomatic relations with the U.S. At this time, the FSLN party still holds the majority of popular support in Nicaragua.
1991: The UNO coalition governs Nicaragua. They severely cut government spending on successful, Sandinista-led social programs in such areas as health care and education. On July 1st, right wing sectors attack Sandinista land reforms, which have redistributed land to small-scale farmers. The impact is felt across the nation.
1997: Arnoldo Alemán Lacayo, the Liberal Party's conservative candidate, wins the presidential elections- 49 to 39 percent over FSLN opponent, Daniel Ortega.
Since Ortega's return to power by ballot box in 2007, Washington's response has been limited. The US has criticized his antidemocratic power-grab and cut $64 million in Millennium Challenge development aid, but generally tried to work with the Ortega administration while turning a deaf ear to the Sandistas' diatribes.
In the 1980s, the US backed the Contra rebels to fight Mr. Ortega's communist Sandinista government — a dark chapter in both countries' history that closed when Ortega was swept from office in democratic elections in 1990.