A severe social and political crisis in El Salvador during the 1970s resulted in widespread disruption to daily life. In October 1979, a coup d'état brought a military junta to power: the new government launched a campaign of violent suppression of the opposition, deploying so-called 'death squads' to liquidate numerous prominent politicians, religious figures and activists.The repression backfired: although the military resources of the rebels were extremely limited, they enjoyed widespread support of labor unions, student- and peasant organizations, and were able to mobilize thousands. They not only shut down the government through strikes but organized the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMNL) and launched an armed insurrection against the government in early 1981.Within months, the FMLN established itself in control over two departments - which it was to retain for the rest of the war; it launched high-profile hit-and-run attacks on numerous military targets throughout the country, leaving hundreds dead. The junta reacted by stepping up the repression - with the support of the United States, Chile and Argentina - and introduced not only martial law, but publicly declared the application of a 'scorched earth' strategy - through the eradication of the guerrilla's support base in the countryside.Although bombardments, strafing, shelling, summary execution of anybody captured, and massacres of civilians became the norm of the day, the FMLN continued growing in strength, and by 1983 reached the peak of its power and control over the countryside.El Salvador, Volume 1: Crisis, Coup and Uprising, 1970-1983 - is the first inclusive and incisive military history of this incredibly vicious, merciless war: one of two major conflicts fought in Central America during the 1980s within the context of the Cold War. Based on official documentation and carefully cross-referenced secondary sources, it is lavishly illustrated with original photographs and custom-drawn color profiles and is an indispensable single-point source of reference.

El Salvador: Volume 1: Crisis, Coup and Uprising 1970-1983 (Latin America@War)

History

Francois, David

Americas

Helion and Company

A severe social and political crisis in El Salvador during the 1970s resulted in widespread disturbance of daily life, political violence, repression and the outbreak of an insurgency. In March 1981, the government ran a large sweep operation along the border with Honduras in the north, accompanied by the use of scorched earth tactics and indiscriminate killing of anyone captured. A second offensive, launched in November 1981, was conducted in a similar fashion, and resulted in the massacre of hundreds of civilians by government troops. Under pressure, the insurgency of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) called for a peace settlement and the establishment of a government of broad participation. Elections in 1982 were interrupted by a campaign of assassinations by right-wing paramilitaries, which prompted the FMLN to return to arms and hit back with a vicious campaign of attacks on military and economic targets – including Ilopango Air Base, which was heavily hit in February. A new interim government failed to introduce any kind of substantive changes and the armed forces became involved in additional atrocities against human rights activists and union leaders: the result was the next phase of the war that was to last for another two years. In 1984, Christian Democrat José Napoleón Duarte was elected president amid another wave of repression and violence, further reinforced through 1985, despite attempts to reform the armed- and security forces. Nevertheless, by 1986, the notorious ‘death squads’ were kidnapping and assassinating any opponents they could lay their hands upon. The FMLN thus continued striking back, culminating in the ‘final offensive’ of 1989, carried out with the aim of unseating a government elected in the obviously fixed elections of the previous year. It was only at that point in time that the government – under severe pressure from the USA – brought the war to an end. After 10 years of merciless fighting that uprooted over one million people and destroyed over 40 percent of homes in El Salvador, the war was over, even though death squads were to assassinate opposition leaders for years afterwards.\nEl Salvador Volume 2: Conflagration 1984–1992 is the first inclusive and incisive military history of this incredibly vicious, merciless war: one of two major conflicts fought in Central America in the 1980s within the context of the Cold War. Based on official documentation and carefully cross-referenced secondary sources, it is lavishly illustrated with authentic photography and custom-drawn color profiles, and as such is an indispensable single-point source of reference.

El Salvador: Volume 2: Conflagration, 1984–1992 (Latin America@War)

In the wake of the US invasion of Nicaragua in 1912, the country came under the rule of the Somoza family, which imposed a brutal and corrupt military dictatorship. A low-scale insurgency of students, supported by peasants and other anti-Somoza elements of the society developed already in the 1960s. By the 1970s, the country became embroiled in a brutal insurgency. Supported by Cuba, a coalition of students, farmers, businessmen, clergy and a small group of Marxists launched a major war in 1978, which resulted in the downfall of the Somozas, a year later. The Sandinista government established in Managua of 1979 found the country ruined by the long war and natural disasters, and nearly half of the population either homeless or living in exile. Attempting to restructure and recover the underdeveloped economy, Sandinisas introduced a wide range of reforms and a cultural revolution. Considering the Sandinistas for ‘Cuban-supported Marxists’ and therefore a major threat for the US domination of Latin America, in 1980-1981 the USA began supporting the creation of the Contrarevolutionary forces (better known as ‘Contras’), and thus helped provoke a new war that was to rage through Nicaragua for most of that decade, and is going to be covered in Volume 2 of this mini-series. Leaning upon extensive studies of involved armed groups, and their insurgencies in the 1960s and 1970s, ‘Nicaragua, 1961-1990, Volume 1’ provides an in-depth coverage of military history during the first phase of one of major armed conflicts of Latin America in modern times. Guiding the reader meticulously through the details of involved forces, their ideologies, organization and equipment, this book is offering a uniquely accurate, blow-by-blow account of the Nicaraguan War and profusely illustrated with more than 120 photos, maps, and color artworks.

Nicaragua, 1961-1990: Volume 1 - The Downfall of the Somosa Dictatorship (Latin America@War)

World

In 1979, the Sandinista government established itself in power in Managua, the capitol of Nicaragua. It found the country ruined by the long war against the Somosa dictatorship and natural disasters alike, and nearly half of the population either homeless or living in exile. Attempting to restructure and recover the underdeveloped economy, Sandinisas introduced a wide range of reforms and a cultural revolution.Considering the Sandinistas to be ‘Cuban-supported Marxists’ and therefore a major threat to the US domination of Latin America, in 1980-1981 the USA began supporting the creation of the Contrarevolutionary forces (better known as ‘Contras’), and thus helped provoke a new war that was to rage through Nicaragua until 1988.Leaning upon extensive studies of the armed groups involved, and their combat operations of the 1981-1988 period, ‘Nicaragua, 1961-1990, Volume 2’ provides an in-depth coverage of military history during the second phase of one of bloodiest, and most-publicised armed conflicts of Latin America in modern times. Guiding the reader meticulously through the details of the involved forces, their ideologies, organisation and equipment, this book offers a uniquely accurate, blow-by-blow account of the Nicaraguan War and is profusely illustrated with more than 120 photos, maps, and colour artworks.

Nicaragua 1961-1990: Volume 2 - The Contra War (Latin America@War)

In 1970, Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens, a physician and leftist politician, was elected the President of Chile. Involved in political life for nearly 40 years, Allende adopted a policy of nationalization of industries and collectivization – measures that brought him on a collision course with the legislative and judicial branches of the government, and then the center-right majority of the Chilean Congress. Before long, calls were issued for his overthrow by force. Indeed, on 11 September 1973, the military – supported by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the USA - moved to oust Allende, and surrounded La Moneda Palace. After refusing a safe passage, Allende gave his farewell speech on live radio, and La Moneda was then subjected to air strikes and an assault by the Chilean Army. Allende committed suicide.Following Allende’s death, General Augusto Pinochet installed a military junta, thus ending almost four decades of uninterrupted democratic rule in the country. His repressive regime remained in power until 1990.Starting with an in-depth study of the Chilean military, paramilitary forces and different leftist movements in particular, this volume traces the history of the build-up and the ultimate clash during the coup of 11 September 1973.Providing minute details about the motivation, organization and equipment of all involved parties, it also explains why the Chilean military not only launched the coup but also imposed itself in power, and how the leftist movements reacted Illustrated with over 100 photographs, color profiles, and maps describing the equipment, colors, markings and tactics of the Chilean military and its opponents, it is a unique study into a well-known yet much under-studied aspect of Latin America’s military history.

Chile 1973. The Other 9/11: The Downfall of Salvador Allende (Latin America@War)

On 20 August 1968, hundreds of thousands of soldiers, dozens of thousands of tanks and armored vehicles, and hundreds of military aircraft of the Warsaw Pact armed forces invaded Czechoslovakia in an operation code-named Danube. It was the largest military undertaking in Europe since 1945.Starting with a description of the history of Czechoslovakia, especially after the communist takeover of power in 1948, this volume describes the birth and development of the Prague Spring in 1968 and an attempt to reform the communist system from within. It recounts the hostility this process encountered on the part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR/Soviet Union), and its allies within the Warsaw Pact, and provoked a split in the Kremlin about solutions for the resulting 'Czechoslovak problem'. The crisis that developed throughout the spring and summer of 1968 led to the military intervention.While paying special attention to the military and strategic aspects of the Czechoslovak crisis, this volume also provides a blow-by-blow account of its impacts upon the Czechoslovak armed forces and the Warsaw Pact. The subsequent military operation - codenamed Operation Danube - is described in all of its components, including the airborne and ground aspects, and the political operation that supported it. Within only 24 hours, the Soviet and Warsaw Pact forces secured the entire territory of Czechoslovakia, de-facto overrunning the local armed forces in the process. The Czechoslovak population organized nonviolent resistance, thus highlighting the political aspects of the intervention. However, it was hopelessly out of condition to prevent the ultimate downfall of the so-called 'Prague Spring', and the related hopes.Nevertheless, the application of military power against a popularly-supported political reform marked a turning point in the Cold War, and forever changed the balance of power in Central Europe.Guiding the reader meticulously through the details of the forces involved, their organization and equipment, Operation Danube offers a uniquely in-depth account of the invasion of Czechoslovakia and is profusely illustrated with more than 100 photos, maps, and exclusive color artworks.

Operation Danube: Soviet and Warsaw Pact Intervention in Czechoslovakia, 1968 (Europe@War)

Europe

Widespread unrest and political violence shook Italy time and again during the decades following the end of the Second World War, but never as much as during the 1970s and the 1980s. Seeking to counter political enemies - including a conglomerate of right-wing movements, organized crime, and top figures in the economic and political life of the country - in order to create a revolutionary state through an armed struggle, and to remove Italy from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, in 1970, leftists in Italy began to form the Brigade Rosse - the Red Brigades.Organizing themselves following the examples of the Latin American urban guerrilla movements, and also drawing inspiration from the Italian partisan movement of the Second World War, the Brigate Rosse emerged in Trento in 1970. Their early activities were troubled by infighting between 'extremist' and 'moderate' wings of the movement, with the latter accusing some of leaders of having links to the intelligence services of several East European countries.Nevertheless, the movement spread to Rome, Genoa, and Venice by the mid-1970s, and began to diversify its activities. During the following years, it became famous for several high-profile kidnappings of judges and industrialists: together with bank robberies and drug- and arms trafficking, these became its primary source of income. The most famous operations by the Brigate Rosse included the kidnapping and murder of the Italian statesman Aldo Moro in 1978, and of Brigadier-General James L Dozier, the Deputy Chief-of-Staff Southern European land forces of NATO in 1981.Such actions caused a rift within the movement, while prompting an intensive investigation and prosecution by the Italian authorities. Many members were arrested and betrayed their comrades under interrogation: others were forced to flee abroad. Ultimately, the Brigate Rosse - credited with no less than 14,000 acts of violence and the murder of 75 people in the first ten years of their existence alone - were destroyed.Drawing upon decades of research with the help of official documentation and the recollections of participants, Brigate Rosse is a detailed study of a major armed leftist movement that shook the fundaments of the Italian state of the 1970s and the 1980s.

Brigate Rosse: Far-left Guerillas in Italy, 1970-1988 (Europe@War)

Flic-flac scratch boom... et autres bruits de mots

Free Like Air (9 Volumes) (Chinese Edition)

Children's Books

Éric Battut

Carl Norac

Literature & Fiction

CITIC Press Corporation

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