Nicaraguan Revolution

Nicaraguan Revolution
Part of the Central American crisis and the Cold War
Date 1962–1990 (28 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
Belligerents
Somoza government National Guard Contras (1981–90) Supported by:  United States  Israel  Saudi Arabia  Honduras  Chile Brazil  Paraguay  Argentina (1961–83)  Panama  West Germany (until 1990)  Germany (1990)  Pakistan  Philippines  Iran	FSLN EPS Supported by:  Soviet Union  Cuba  East Germany (until 1989)  Bulgaria  Greece  Romania (until 1989)  Czechoslovakia  Poland  Libya  Mexico  Sweden
Commanders and leaders
Anastasio Somoza Debayle Enrique Bermúdez Eden Pastora (1981–84)	Carlos Fonseca(1959–1976) † Daniel Ortega Humberto Ortega Joaquin Cuadra Tomás Borge Eden 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.

FSLN military victory in 1979

Somoza government

FSLN

(1978–79) 10,000 total 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 campaign led by the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) to violently oust the dictatorship in 1978–79, the subsequent efforts of the FSLN to govern Nicaragua from 1979 until 1990 and the Contra War which was waged between the FSLN and the 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.

Although the initial overthrow of the Somoza regime in 1978–79 was a bloody affair, 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 super-powers (respectively, the Soviet Union and the United States).

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