NICARAGUA
NICARAGUA1502
Christopher Columbus "discovers" Nicaragua. It is inhabited by Indian tribes that came from Mexico and the Caribbean.
1523-1524
Spanish conquest and Christianization begins. Granada and Leon are the first Spanish settlements.
1573
Nicaragua becomes part of the Captaincy General of Guatemala.
1625
The British conquer the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua.
1821
Independence is gained from Spain. Nicaragua joins the Mexican Empire.
1822-1838
Nicaragua joins Honduras, Costa Rica, and El Salvador to form a united republic.
1838
Nicaragua becomes an independent republic.
1838-1855
Civil unrest occurs between the liberals in Leon and conservatives in Granada.
1855-1857
William Walker leads a force of armed filibusters from the United States with the intention of taking over Nicaragua. He conquers conservative forces in Granada and turns against his liberal supporters. Liberals and conservatives join together to drive him out in the National War (1956-1957).
*Walker
1860
Walker returns to wage war on Honduras. He is captured and killed.
1893
Jose Santos Zelaya leads a liberalist revolution. Zelaya carries out many reforms, separates church and state, and limits the power of the church in general.
1894
Zelaya ends the dispute with Britain over the Atlantic coast (the Mosquito Coast). He incorporates it into the region.
1909
The U.S. supports conservative led forces against Zelaya. He is forced to resign.
1910
The U.S. establishes a quadrumnivate in the government.
1912-1933
The U.S. maintains forces in Nicaragua.
1926
Augusto Sandino joins liberal forces led by Juan Bautista Sacasa and General Moncada, in a civil war against the conservatives led by Adolfo Diaz.
1927-1933
Moncada betrays Sacasa and gives up to the U.S. forces allowing Diaz to finish his term. The U.S. delivers an ultimatum to Sandino ordering him to surrender. Sandino and his army attack the U.S. forces but are defeated by an air attack. Sandino and his men then turn to guerilla warfare. Mexico refuses to give aid to Sandino's cause.
1933
Sandino signs a peace treaty with President Sacasa. Anastasio Somoza is made the commander of the National Guard.
1934
The National Guard executes Sandino. Sacasa is forced to resign.
1937
Somoza becomes president and enacts a military dictatorship.
1940s
Somoza directs the National Guard pacification plan, killing thousands of students, peasants and workers.
1956
A worker, poet named Roberto Perez assassinates Somoza and is then killed himself.
1956-1967
Luis Somoza takes his father's place. He attempts to "clean up" the Somoza image by passing some economic and social reforms.
1960s
The FSLN (Sandinista National Liberation Front) conduct guerilla warfare against the Somoza regime. Nicaraguans are influenced by the revolution in Cuba.
1967-1979
Anastasio Somoza, Jr. is elected president and rules as his father had.
1970s
In 1972 an earthquake destroys Managua claiming 20,000 lives. The FSLN prepares for a final attack on the Somoza regime.
1976
Tomas Borge is captured and Carlos Fonseca is killed.
1978-1979
Sandinista forces command Somoza to release Borge and other political prisoners. Massive uprisings put an end to Somoza's regime but not before tens of thousands of people are killed among the civil strife.
*Nicaragua, 1979
1980s
Literacy and Public Health campaigns bring about national unity. The U.S. suspends aid to the country and the Reagan Administration imposes an embargo on U.S.-Nicaraguan trade. The FSLN continue to enact social, cultural and economic reforms.
*Here On This Corner, The Sweating Virgin
1990s
With the election of Violets Chamorro, Nicaragua experiences a shift towards democracy. Free market reforms are enacted. A new Military Code is instituted and a new professionalism overtakes the Army of Nicaragua.
*W.O.M.E.N.
Present
76% of the eligible voters participate in the election. Arnoldo Aleman is elected president. He continues the trend towards democracy initiated in Chamorro's term.