Nicaragua

Abstract

Colonization of the Nicaraguan Pacific coast was undertaken by Spaniards from Panama, beginning in 1523. France and Britain, however, and later the USA, have all tried to play a colonial or semi-colonial role in Nicaragua. Between 1740 and 1786 Britain attempted to organize a colony on the Miskito Coast and from 1848 to 1860 the British occupied the port of San Juan de Norte. After links with other Central American territories and with Mexico, Nicaragua became an independent republic in 1838. Its independence was often threatened by US intervention. William Wolber, the filibuster from Tennessee, conquered the country and declared himself President in 1856–57. Between 1910 and 1930 the country was under almost continuous US military occupation.