Nicaraguan Revolution

Nicaraguan Revolution
	Part of the Central American crisis and the Cold War in Latin America
	Combatant next to a damaged building Weapons seized by guerrilla forces Sandinistas using an MG-3 Aerial bombing by the National Guard Prisoners executed in León
Date	19 July 1961 – 25 April 1990 (28 years) 19 July 1961 – 17 July 1979 (first phase: FSLN rebellion) 17 July 1979 – 25 April 1990 (second phase: Contra insurgency)
Location	Nicaragua
Result	Anastasio Somoza Debayle resigns and flees to Miami in July 1979, relinquishing control of the government.; A five-member provisional government takes its place.; The right-wing Contras begin an armed insurgency against the Sandinistas in 1981 which continues until 1990.; The Tela Accord is signed in 1989 and the Sandinista party is defeated in the 1990 election, bringing the armed revolution to an end.; Sandinistas led by Daniel Ortega are re-elected in 2006 and remain in power until today.;
Belligerents
Somoza regime (1961–1979) National Guard; Contras (1981–1990) FDN; UDN; ARDE; MILPAS; Fifteenth of September Legion; KISAN/YATAMA; Supported by:; United States CIA; Honduras (from 1981) Other supporters El Salvador ; Guatemala (from 1983) ; Costa Rica (1982–1986) ; Panama (1981–1987, under Manuel Noriega) ; Chile (from 1973) ; Argentina (1976–1983) ; Israel ; Saudi Arabia ; Imperial State of Iran (until 1979) ; Islamic Republic of Iran (from 1979, indirectly) ; People's Republic of China (allegedly) ; Poland (allegedly) ; Romania ; Taiwan ; Colombia ; Brazil ; Portugal ; Brunei ;	Sandinista National Liberation Front Junta of National Reconstruction/Nicaraguan Government (from 1979) Sandinista Popular Army; ; MAP-ML (1978–1979); MILPAS; Panama (1978–1979, under Omar Torrijos) Supported by:; Cuba Dirección de Inteligencia; Soviet Union Other supporters East Germany (until 1989) ; Yugoslavia ; Hungary (until 1989) ; Libya ; North Korea ; Bulgaria ; Czechoslovakia (until 1989) ; Palestine Liberation Organization ; Poland (until 1989) ; Algeria ; France ; Costa Rica (1978–1982) ; Mexico ; Sweden (medical support) ; Canada (1984–1990, developmental aid) ; Venezuela (1978–1979) ; Chile (1970-1973) ; FPMR ;
Commanders and leaders
Anastasio Somoza Debayle X; Luis Somoza Debayle #; Anastasio Somoza Portocarrero; Enrique Bermúdez X; Edén Pastora (1982–1986); Édgar Chamorro ; Alfonso Robelo (1982–1988); Fernando Chamorro (1981–1987); Adolfo Calero; Aristides Sánchez;	Daniel Ortega; Bayardo Arce; Carlos Fonseca Amador †; Edén Pastora ; Dora María Téllez; Tomás Borge; Humberto Ortega; Joaquín Cuadra; Henry Ruiz; Hugo Spadafora X;
Strength
1978–1979:; 15,000; ; ; 1981–1990:; 16,500 10,000–15,000 FDN;	1978–1979:; 20,000 5,000 guerrillas; 15,000 militia; 1981–1990:; 60,000 40,000 EPS; 20,000 militia; 3,000 military advisors More 340 tanks and armored fighting vehicles ; 70 Soviet howitzers and rocket launchers ; 30 helicopters (including Soviet Mi-24 gunships) ; 15 patrol boats ;
Casualties and losses
1978–1979: 425–1,200 National Guard dead; 1981–1990: 16,800–18,500 Contras dead; 5,900 wounded and captured;	1978–1979: 2,000–6,000 FSLN dead; 500–1,000 POWs killed; 1981–1990: 2,500–6,500 FSLN dead; 6,500 wounded; 950 captured;
	1978–1979 offensive: 10,000–50,000 killed (up to 7,000 civilians) 1981–1990: 32,000–43,000 killed (3,800 civilians reported dead) Total: 42,000–78,000 killed (incl. 4,000–22,000 civilians)
	More than 600,000 left homeless and 150,000 refugees fled to Costa Rica, Honduras, and the United States.

The Nicaraguan Revolution (Spanish: Revolución nicaragüense), or Sandinista Revolution (Spanish: Revolución popular sandinista) was an armed conflict that took place in the Central American nation of Nicaragua between 1961 to 1990.

It began with rising opposition to the Somoza dictatorship in the 1960s and 1970s, the overthrow of the dictatorship in 1978–1979, and fighting between the government and the Contras from 1981 to 1990. The revolution revealed the country as one of the major proxy war battlegrounds of the Cold War.

The initial overthrow of the Somoza dictatorial regime in 1978–79 cost many lives, and the Contra War of the 1980s took tens of thousands more and was the subject of fierce international debate. Because of the political turmoil, failing economy, and limited government influence, during the 1980s both the FSLN, a left-wing collection of political parties supported by the Soviet Union, and the Contras, a U.S.-supported anti-communist resistance movement.

In 1988, a peace process began with the Sapoá Accords, and the Contra War ended the following year following the signing of the Tela Accord and demobilization of the FSLN and Contra armies. A second election in 1990 resulted in the election of the UNO, which the Sandinistas lost. The Sandinistas were out of power in Nicaragua until 2006.