The Armed Citizen

<p>This paper focuses on the armed citizenry and how they contribute to the establishment of democracy; its resilience and longevity. My method is to examine the Twentieth century example of Nicaragua and the rise to power of the Sandinistas. The Sandinistas believed in the power of the armed citizenry as a key resource in their success. They also understood that the formation of a new government did not ensure success. While the armed populace had been critical in the rise of the Sandinistas to power the ruling Junta realized that a counter-revolution would surely follow - and it did in the form of the contras or freedom fighters that were clandestinely supported by the United States throughout the 1980s. Though monetarily outgunned and less sophisticated than the United States the armed citizenry led by the Sandinistas were able to survive the counter-revolution. In the 21 years leading up to the new millenium the people of Nicaragua have accomplished much: they removed the burden of the Somoza regime; withstood a Counter-revolution supported by the United States; and have went on to hold popular elections that resulted in the peaceful transfer of power.</p><p>This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore you will see the original copyright references library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world) and other notations in the work.</p><p>This work is in the public domain in the United States of America and possibly other nations. Within the United States you may freely copy and distribute this work as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.</p><p>As a reproduction of a historical artifact this work may contain missing or blurred pages poor pictures errant marks etc. Scholars believe and we concur that this work is important enough to be preserved reproduced and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.</p><br>