By Tim Lambert
Early El Salvador
Before the Spanish conquest, people called the Pipil lived in El Salvador. The Pipil were civilized and built cities and temples. However, in 1524 the Spanish invaded. They were led by Pedro de Alvarado (c- 1485 – 1541). The native people resisted fiercely but the Spanish had superior weapons. By 1540 all native resistance had been crushed. Meanwhile, in 1525 the Spanish founded the city of San Salvador. El Salvador grew prosperous on the export of indigo.
El Salvador gained independence from Spain in 1821. In 1823 it became part of the United Provinces of Central America, along with Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua. But the United Provinces broke up and El Salvador became independent again in 1841. However, in the late 19th century, El Salvador had a series of military coups. It also fought several wars against its neighbours.
In the late 19th century coffee became El Salvador’s main export. However, the government seized land belonging to indigenous people and sold it for growing coffee.
Modern El Salvador
In 1931 Hernández Martínez (1882-1966) became the dictator of El Salvador. Meanwhile, ordinary people were impoverished even more by the Great Depression. In 1932 farmer workers rebelled, led by Agustine Farabundo Marti. The rebellion was crushed by Martinez, with appalling cruelty. More than 10,000 people were killed. It became known as la matanza (the slaughter). In 1944 a general strike forced Martinez to resign.
There was little change in El Salvador in the mid-20th century. Some poor people from El Salvador moved to more thinly populated Honduras to farm unused land there. Then in 1969, the Football War began between El Salvador and Honduras. The main cause of the war was the determination of the government of Honduras to remove illegal immigrants but hostility also grew after the two countries played football matches in the World Cup competition, hence the name of the conflict. The war was very brief but it cost thousands of lives.
In the 1970s social injustice led to increasing unrest in El Salvador. The government responded with further repression. In 1979 a civil war began between the government and left-wing guerrillas. The USA backed the government. In 1980 Archbishop Oscar Romero, a champion of the poor and human rights was shot by a right-wing assassin while saying mass. By the time the civil war ended in 1992 more than 75,000 people had died.
El Salvador is still a poor country but it is slowly developing. Today tourism is a major industry in El Salvador. Today the population of El Salvador is 6.3 million.
