Nicaraguan Civil War (1926–1927)

Nicaraguan Civil War (1926–1927)
Part of Banana Wars
Date 2 May 1926[2]–4 May 1927 Location Nicaragua Result Peace of Tipitapa Both sides agree to a presidential election to be supervised by the United States, with Adolfo Díaz remaining in power until then. Both sides agree to disarm. The Nicaraguan National Guard is established.
Belligerents
Nicaraguan Government (Conservatives) Supported by:  United States	Nicaraguan rebels (Liberals) Supported by:  Mexico (provided weapons and supplies)[1]
Commanders and leaders
Emiliano Chamorro (political, until 11 November 1926) Sebastián Uriza (political, 11–14 November 1926) Adolfo Díaz (political, from 14 November 1926)	José María Moncada (military)

The Nicaraguan Civil War of 1926–1927, or the Constitutionalist War, broke out after a

Background

Nicaragua had been

War breaks out

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The situation deteriorated into

To try to put an end to the conflict, the United States arranged a truce and had Lawrence Dennis oversee Conservative and Liberal representatives at a meeting aboard the USS Denver on the 1 October 1926.^[1] Nothing came out of the conference and fighting resumed shortly afterwards. On the 11 November 1926, Chamorro resigned from the presidency, leaving Sebastián Uriza holding the reins of power. On 14 November Adolfo Díaz, who was referred to as "our Nicaraguan" by the United States,^[8] became president and was recognized by the U.S.^[9] Dr. Sacasa returned to Nicaragua on the 1 December 1926, arriving at the port of Puerto Cabezas and proclaiming a rival government, which was only recognized by Mexico.^[10] In January 1927, U.S. president Calvin Coolidge lifted the arms embargo on the Nicaraguan government,^[11] allowing his country to legally provide military aid to the Conservatives.

Moncada's forces began marching westwards towards Managua, defeating Conservative forces along the way. Meanwhile, Liberals led by Gral Francisco Parajón Montealegre struck at the city of Chinandega,^[7] causing one of the most destructive battles of the war, the so called Battle of Chinandega, which raged from 6 to 9 February 1927,^[12] and saw 500 Conservative defenders face off against between 600 and 2,000 Liberal attackers, with "hundreds [being] killed on each side."^[13] During the fighting, much of the city was destroyed by fire. The blaze was "probably" caused by Liberal soldiers or "civilian looters", but many blamed two American airmen flying for the Conservative government.^[14] Eventually, the rebels were driven from the city after some bitter house-to-house fighting.

With the Liberals advancing on Managua, the United States found itself on the verge of war. It couldn't afford to let a left-wing Mexican-backed regime rise to power in the region. Díaz appealed to American fears of communism by saying the rebels were Bolshevist in nature.^[11] Marine reconnaissance aircraft flying for the Conservatives were already occasionally receiving fire from Liberal forces, although the more "[r]esponsible" rebel officers tried to prevent a clash with the Americans.^[15]

Peace of Tipitapa

To put an end to the civil war without using the Marines to actively fight the Liberals, Coolidge sent Henry L. Stimson to negotiate an end to hostilities. Traveling across the war-scarred Central American nation, Stimson met Moncada at the town of Tipitapa, which sits along the river of the same name, on the 4 May 1927.^[16] Here, Moncada agreed to the Peace of Tipitapa, ending the conflict. The conditions of the peace were that Adolfo Díaz would remain president until a new, American-supervised election in 1928, both sides would disarm, and a new National Guard would be established.^[17] Any soldier who turned in a rifle or machine gun would be given the equivalent of ten U.S. dollars.^[18] In all, the Liberals turned in 31 machine guns and 3,704 rifles, while the Conservatives turned in 308 machine guns and 10,445 rifles.^[18]

Sandino's role

Augusto César Sandino played a notable role in the civil war as a general on the Liberal side. His first battle saw him and twenty-nine of his followers try to take the town of

Despite an end to the fighting, American Marines would face renegade Liberals, possibly led by Francisco Sequeira ("General Cabulla"), in combat at the Battle of La Paz Centro on the 16 May 1927. Two Americans were fatally wounded and at least fourteen Nicaraguans perished in the firefight. Augusto César Sandino viewed the peace settlement as treasonous and would fight a guerrilla war against the Marines and Nicaraguan National Guard until 1933. The first battle of his rebellion took place at Ocotal on the 16 July 1927.

References

Notes