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Jan 1, 1502
Columbus and González
In 1502, Columbus sailed along the Caribbean coast and claimed the land for Spain. Land expeditions were conducted in the late 1520’s. One of these expeditions was led by González, who was greeted warmly by two chiefs. He was able to convert 9,000 tribe members to Catholicism. As González moved farther into inner Nicaragua, he faced resistance from an army of 3,000 people. My source is countrystudies.us, which is the on-line versions of books published by the Library of Congress. -
Nicaraguan Independence
In 1821, independence from Spain was declared by the Audiencia of Guatemala. Nicaragua then became part of the Mexican Empire. From my source (http://countrystudies.us/nicaragua/7.htm), I learned that Mexico's attempts to control Nicaragua, as well as most other Central American countries, failed. September 15, 1821 is still celebrated as Nicaraguan Independence Day. -
Nicaraguan Independence part 2
Nicaragua was a part of the United Provinces of Central America. It was a group of small countries that declared their independence from Mexico at the same time. But then, the federation disbanded because the leaders of each individual country could not agree. Therefore, Nicaragua achieved full independence on April 30th, 1838. I used the website Vianica, which has textbook-level information on Nicaraguan history. -
Zelaya takes power
Zelaya rose to power through a liberal revolt that ended the 35 years of peace and conservative control in 1893. His actions (such as invading Honduras and revolting in San Jose) brought the area on the verge of war. I used Britannica for this information. He fell from power in 1909. -
US Withdrawal
On a Stanford timeline (https://web.stanford.edu/group/arts/nicaragua/discovery_eng/timeline) it says that the United States imposed a "puppet government" in 1910. After WWI, the USA increased their presence in Nicaragua. But, a isolationist movement caused the United States to withdraw from Nicaragua. Rebellion followed, and marines returned to end the rebellion. (The picture shows marines being deployed to Nicaragua). -
Anastasio Somoza Debayle
Luis Somoza Debayle, experienced and died from heart attack. Therefore, Anastasio Somoza Debayle continued to gain more power, and, as of 1936, had a brutal dictatorship formed. He hated criticism, and instead created more repression and oppression. At https://web.stanford.edu/group/arts/nicaragua/discovery_eng/timeline, which is a resource created by Stanford, it said that Nicaragua joins the Organization of American States and enters WWII under Anastasio Somoza’s leadership. -
Somoza Garcia Takes Power
In June of 1936, Somoza Garcia took power. He forced his uncle to resign and then replaced him as president. It says at http://countrystudies.us/nicaragua/11.htm that Garcia consolidated his power within the National Guard as well as divided his political opponents when he took office. The Somoza family had a huge amount of power within Nicaragua that includes power over the media and the national guard.
