Salvadoran Civil War

At a glance

Dates: 1979-10-15 – 1992-01-16.

Place: El Salvador, El Salvador.

Type: civil war.

Key figures / parties: Armed Forces of El Salvador and Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front.

What came before

Part of: Central American crisis.

Background El Salvador has historically been characterised by extreme socioeconomic inequality. [ 1 ] In the late 19th century, coffee became a major cash crop for El Salvador. [ 2 ] The divide between rich and poor grew through the 1920s and was compounded by a drop in coffee prices following the stock-market crash of 1929. [ 3 ] [ 4 ] In 1932, the Central American Socialist Party was formed and led an uprising of peasants and Indigenous people against the government.

What happened

The Salvadoran Civil War was a twelve-year civil war in El Salvador that was fought between the government of El Salvador that was backed by the United States, against the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), a coalition of left-wing guerrilla groups that was backed by Cuba under Fidel Castro and the Soviet Union. A coup on 15 October 1979 followed by government killings of anti-coup protesters is widely seen as the start of the civil war.