Anastasio "Tacho" Somoza García was officially the 21st President of Nicaragua from 1 January 1937 to 1 May 1947 and from 21 May 1950 to 29 September 1956, but ruled effectively as dictator from 1936 until his assassination. Anastasio Somoza started a dynasty that maintained absolute control over Nicaragua for 55 years.
Augusto C. Sandino, also known as Augusto Nicolás Calderón Sandino, was a Nicaraguan revolutionary and leader of a rebellion between 1927 and 1933 against the U.S. military occupation of Nicaragua. He was referred to as a "bandit" by the United States government; his exploits made him a hero throughout much of Latin America, where he became a symbol of resistance to United States' domination. He drew units of the United States Marine Corps into an undeclared guerrilla war. The United States troops withdrew from the country in 1933 after overseeing the election and inauguration of President Juan Bautista Sacasa, who had returned from exile. The re-call of the Marines was largely due to the Great Depression.
Nueva Segovia is a department in Nicaragua. It covers an area of 3,123 km² and has a population of 211,200. The capital is Ocotal.
Ocotal is the capital of the Nueva Segovia Department in Nicaragua, Central America.
José María Moncada Tapia was the President of Nicaragua from 1 January 1929 to 1 January 1933.
Sandinista ideology or Sandinismo is a series of political and economic philosophies championed and instituted by the Nicaraguan Sandinista National Liberation Front throughout the late twentieth century. The ideology and movement acquired its name, image and, most crucially, military style from Augusto César Sandino, a Nicaraguan revolutionary leader who waged a guerrilla war against the United States Marines and the conservative Somoza National Guards in the early twentieth century. Despite using the Sandino name, the principals of modern Sandinista ideology were mainly developed by Carlos Fonseca, who, in likeness to the leaders of the Cuban Revolution of the 1950s, sought to inspire socialist populism among Nicaragua's peasant population. One of these main philosophies involved the institution of an educational system that would "free" the population from the perceived historical fallacies spouted by the ruling Somoza family. By awakening political thought among the people, proponents of Sandinista ideology believed that human resources would be available to not only execute a guerrilla war against the Somoza regime but also build a society resistant to economic and military intervention imposed by foreign entities.
Nicaragua gained its independence in 1821, and after a period of instability, was ruled by the Somoza family from 1927 to 1979.
The Battle of Ocotal occurred in July 1927, during the American occupation of Nicaragua. A large force of rebels loyal to Augusto César Sandino attacked the garrison of Ocotal, which was held by a small group of US Marines and Nicaraguan National Guards. Ultimately the rebels were defeated with heavy losses, while the Americans and their Nicaraguan allies suffered very light casualties.
The Battle of La Flor was fought in May 1928 between the United States Marines, their Nicaraguan National Guardsmen allies, and a force of Sandinista rebels. It occurred at a hill north of the La Flor coffee plantation and ended with a rebel victory when the Americans and Nicaraguan National Guard troops were forced to withdraw.
The Second Battle of Las Cruces, or the New Year's Day Battle, was a major engagement during the American occupation of Nicaragua. It was fought on 1 January 1928, during an expedition to destroy a Sandinista fortress. A column of United States Marines and Nicaraguan National Guardsmen were attacked by a superior force of rebels entrenched on Las Cruises Hill and, after a long battle, the Americans and Nicaraguans routed the Sandinistas and captured their positions.
The Battle of Achuapa, or the Achuapa massacre, took place on December 31, 1930 during the American occupation of Nicaragua of 1926–1933.
The Battle of El Sauce, or the Battle of Punta de Rieles or Punta Rieles, took place on the 26 December 1932 during the American occupation of Nicaragua of 1926–1933. It was the last major battle of the Sandino Rebellion of 1927–1933. The incident has its origins in Nicaraguan President José María Moncada's plan to commemorate the completion of the León-El Sauce railway on the 28 December 1932. Rumors spread that Sandinista rebels planned on crashing the ceremony, so an expedition of eight Marines and 64 Nicaraguan National Guardsmen led by Captain Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller were sent by train towards El Sauce on the 26 December 1932 to secure the area. A Sandinista force led by Juan Pablo Umanzor, meanwhile, was looting a construction company commissary. As the Marines'/National Guard's train passed some ancient ruins, it was fired upon by rebels from both sides of the tracks.
The Nicaraguan Civil War of 1926–27, or the Constitutionalist War, broke out after a coup d'état by Emiliano Chamorro, a member of the Conservative Party, removed Nicaragua's democratically elected government, resulting in a rebellion by members of the Liberal Party. The conflict came to an end after a military and diplomatic intervention by the United States resulted in the Peace of Tipitapa. Although the civil war came to an end, one Liberal general, Augusto César Sandino, refused to lay down his arms and waged the Sandino Rebellion against the Nicaraguan government and the United States Marine Corps until 1933.
The Battle of San Fernando took place on July 25, 1927 during the American occupation of Nicaragua of 1926–1933. Shortly after the Battle of Ocotal, an expedition of seventy-eight American Marines and thirty-seven Nicaraguan Provisional Guardsmen led by Major Oliver Floyd were sent hunting for rebel leader Augusto César Sandino. One of their destinations was the town of San Fernando, where Sandino had about forty men waiting for the Marines and their Nicaraguan allies. He placed a sentry outside the village to alert his men of the Marines and Provisional Guard's arrival, but the watchman abandoned his post to be alone with an Indian girl in a nearby shack. The Marines and Nicaraguan government troops marched into San Fernando at 3:00, finding it largely deserted. While galloping across the town's "open, grassy plaza" in order to question an old man, Captain Victor F. Bleasdale and Marine Private Rafael Toro received fire from the waiting Sandinistas, with Toro being mortally wounded. Eventually, the Sandinistas were driven back, leaving eleven of their dead behind. Fighting was over by 3:45. In addition to Marine and Sandinista losses, one woman was wounded in the legs by fire from an automatic weapon.
The Battle of Santa Clara took place on 27 July 1927, during the American occupation of Nicaragua of 1926–1933. After being ambushed by Sandinista forces at the Battle of San Fernando, Major Oliver Floyd's expedition of American Marines and Nicaraguan Provisional Guardsmen continued its advance into enemy-held territory in northern Nicaragua.
The Battle of Sapotillal, or the Battle of Zapotillal or Zapotillo Ridge, took place on the 9 October 1927 during the American occupation of Nicaragua of 1926–1933 and the Sandino Rebellion. The battle was an unsuccessful attempt by American and Nicaraguan government forces to rescue two downed American airmen.
The Battle of El Bramadero, or the Battle of Bromaderos, took place between the 27 and 28 February 1928 during the American occupation of Nicaragua of 1926–1933 and the Sandino Rebellion. The battle began on the twenty-seventh when a convoy of thirty-six Marines, one American naval pharmacist's mate, twenty Nicaraguan "muleros," two Nicaraguan "'Jefe' muleros," and 99 mules led by First Lieutenant Edward F. O'Day moving along the Yalí–Condega trail was ambushed by a force of Sandinista rebels led by Miguel Angel Ortez.
Blanca Aráuz is the first National Heroine of Nicaragua. She was noted as a telegraphist who assisted the guerrilla forces during the United States occupation of Nicaragua and who negotiated with President Juan Bautista Sacasa to gain amnesty for the rebels and negotiate peace at the end of the conflict.
