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Santos Zelaya gains power
After years in peace with conservatives in office, Santos Zelaya gained power. He was a strong liberal who would turn out to be a dictator for 16 years. He created the army and promoted nationalist ideals as well as boosting and optimizing economic exports. He was able to take power because of the many divides in the conservative party.
For outside info see (1) -
Marines sent to Managua
The marines were sent back to Nicaragua when the government became erratic and there were conflicts between the liberals and the conservatives. The US was scared of communism spreading as a result of this war so they sent the Marines back to Nicaragua to halt the fighting but it exacerbated the situation until the US gained enough force to create a truce. According to the US, Nicaraguan rebels rejected the treaty even though it was negotiated. For outside info see (1) -
Hoover withdraws the marines
Herbert Hoover decided to withdraw the marines from Nicaragua in 1933 because of the economic depression in the US. Also there were an increasing number of marine casualties and he saw a way to gain more support from Latin America because of the threats from Japan & Germany. However, they did take a 9 month break from being stationed there and so it wasn’t as big of an event as it’s made out to be. For outside info see (1) -
Somoza Garcia takes the Presidency
After Somoza Garcia assumed the post as the director of the National Guard, he started to get support inside the National Guard and made his own decisions within the Guard. He made his uncle resign and pressured congress to make him president which would end up working. Sandino was shot and killed by the national guard which allowed him to take power easier.
For outside info see (1) -
Luis Somoza Debayle takes power
After Somoza Garcia was shot and killed, the director of the National Guard (a policy that was put into place by Somoza) gained the presidency. Somoza Garcia had appointed his son to be the next reigning president and Luis Somoza Debayle then appointed Anastasio Somoza Debayle as the next director of the National Guard, in order to keep the chain of nepotism going. He didn’t do much as president but he was in control of presidential actions before his regime. For outside info see (2) -
FSLN was formed
A group of marxist revolutionaries created an opposition organization to the Somoza rule. They mainly consisted of college students but eventually grew to a larger size. They drew much inspiration from Sandino and would be a major opposition group to Anastasio Somoza Debayle. They ended the Somoza rule by engaging in warfare, specifically guerilla warfare. See (1) -
Anastasio Somoza Debayle gains power
After Luis Somoza Debayle had a heart attack and died, Anastasio Somoza Debayle took over his father’s post. At this time there was severe criticism of the Somoza family and their politics and he was met with lots of criticism that he attempted to repress. He developed an alliance with the US but also focused on a military rule. For outside info see (1) -
Earthquake in Managua
An earthquake struck Managua and people in the national guard started to steal things afterwards when the city was vulnerable. Also the international aid provided for earthquake relief was partially used to line the Somoza family’s pockets and when this was discovered, their opposition grew exponentially with many political figures going against them. It wasn’t just the family taking the money however, his businesses, military and political affiliations also took from the aid. See (2) -
1- Outside information origin
This source is a report by the Clinton administration through the US Department of State that summarizes basic information about Nicaragua like the common exports, geography and also details some of the political history of Nicaragua. The information is most likely presented to the US’s advantage because it was created as a response to new goals in Nicaragua created by the US. https://clinton2.nara.gov/WH/New/centralam/nicaragua.html -
2- Outside information origin
This is a website about Nicaragua written by US professional historians that are sponsored by the government. There are many historians who contribute to the site and they have experience in research. With many authors, this website is a little bit more credible because there are more people double checking each other’s work. Also, the source is backed by the US Department of State so there is a high probability that it is skewed in a way that portrays the US in a better light. -
Sources/Pictures
https://clinton2.nara.gov/WH/New/centralam/nicaragua.html
https://history.state.gov/milestones/1977-1980/central-america-carter
https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/73/26973-004-7B752F2C.jpg
http://www.seniorreligion.com/marines-ocotal.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/35/USS_Denver_Nicaragua_Landing_Force_1912.jpg/300px-USS_Denver_Nicaragua_Landing_Force_1912.jpg
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/somoza/somoza-4.jpg -
Sources/Pictures p.2
https://s3.amazonaws.com/photos.geni.com/p10/5088/1965/53444837e522005b/Luis_Somoza_Debayle_large.jpg
http://www.foundsf.org/images/9/95/Fsln-demo-at-Flood-Bldg-c-1979.jpg
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/somoza/tacho.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Managua_terremoto_31.jpg
