Wars have been fought throughout the history on various
occasions. Even to this day many nations are at war with each other. Starting
from the imperial ages till today, mankind has noticed many wars due to various
reasons. From the time when monarchs used to arm the royal army with swords and
armours to the time when states spend billions in various sophistications in
its defense sector, there have been many confronting reasons due to which
countries had to get involved in various kinds of wars in many occasions. But
there were occasions where countries got themselves involved in wars due to
very absurd and ridiculous reasons. One such incident took place when two
nations were at war with each other due to a football match.
WAR BETWEEN EL SALVADOR AND HONDURAS : THE FOOTBALL WAR
The war between El Salvador and Honduras held in 1969 is
known as ‘The Football War’ or ‘The 100 Hour War’. Football is a very popular
sport in both the counties and it was also popular back in 1969. But who could
have imagined that the rivalry will go to such high extent that it will result
in a war between the two nations. El Salvador and Honduras are two central
American countries sharing a border and although the war broke out between them
over a football match but the cause was much deeper.
Historic details behind the war
Back then, El Salvador had a greater population compared to
Honduras, although Honduras had a larger land area compared to El Salvador.
Therefore, a huge number of people from El Salvador immigrated to Honduras in
search of lands and started settling there and cultivated the lands.
Meanwhile
in 1963, in Honduras, a military coup was led by Oswaldo Lopez Arellano. Oswaldo
seized power and became the President of Honduras. Under his regime things were
not going well for Honduras and the country’s economy was severely crippled. Soon
questions were raised against the president to which there were no convincing
answers.
The president made the Salvadorian immigrants the scapegoat and told that they were responsible for the crippled economy of Honduras. He told that the Salvadorian were stealing all the lands and all the jobs and thus ruining Honduras. Soon the Hondurans started attacking the Salvadorians; they started beating them up, set their houses on fire and even forced them to leave the lands and return back to El Salvador. With no other option left the Salvadorians started fleeing back to their country and this started to overpopulate El Salvador. In return there were protests in Salvador against Honduras and great tension started rising between the two countries.
Oswaldo Lopez Arellano
The president made the Salvadorian immigrants the scapegoat and told that they were responsible for the crippled economy of Honduras. He told that the Salvadorian were stealing all the lands and all the jobs and thus ruining Honduras. Soon the Hondurans started attacking the Salvadorians; they started beating them up, set their houses on fire and even forced them to leave the lands and return back to El Salvador. With no other option left the Salvadorians started fleeing back to their country and this started to overpopulate El Salvador. In return there were protests in Salvador against Honduras and great tension started rising between the two countries.
Association of Football in the War
The tensions were as high as they could be, but then in the year
1969 both the countries came face to face in the football ground playing the
1970 FIFA qualifiers. Both countries finished top of their qualifying tables
and then they were required to play against each other in a series of matches
to qualify for 1970 FIFA World Cup.
The first match took place in Honduras, and as expected, the Salvadorian team didn’t receive a warm welcome. Ruther the night before the game, the Hondurans gathered outside the Salvadorian team Hotel making noise and taunting them for the whole night. The players didn’t get a good sleep and were afraid the whole time. This resulted in lack of focus during the match and Salvador lost to Honduras 1-0, with a last minute goal. This made the El Salvador fans furious as the felt robbed. Unable to bear the defeat, a young Salvadorian fan by the name Amelia Bolanos, shot herself. The Salvadorian government made her into a national hero and in the next game fans brought pictures of her into the stadium.
The next match took place in El Salvador and this time the tables were turned. Now the Honduran team received the same treatment as that of the Salvadorian team in Honduras, but this time things were even worse. The Hondurans had to spend a sleepless night in the hotel and the next day during the match, instead of the Honduran flag a dirty rag was raised by the angry Salvadorians. The match was won by El Salvador 3-0 and the fans indulged themselves in clashes in the stadium. The Hondurans were angry with the defeat and they started to torment the Salvadorian immigrants even more. This resulted more people to flee from Honduras and return to Salvador. This final and decisive match was held in Mexico which was also won by Salvador 3-2.
At that point the Hondurans were furious, they couldn’t qualify for 1970 FIFA World Cup because of Salvador. As expected the torment on the immigrants increased even more and more people started fleeing. This was too much of El Salvador to bear and at that point they broke all diplomatic ties with Honduras and declared a war upon them.
The first match took place in Honduras, and as expected, the Salvadorian team didn’t receive a warm welcome. Ruther the night before the game, the Hondurans gathered outside the Salvadorian team Hotel making noise and taunting them for the whole night. The players didn’t get a good sleep and were afraid the whole time. This resulted in lack of focus during the match and Salvador lost to Honduras 1-0, with a last minute goal. This made the El Salvador fans furious as the felt robbed. Unable to bear the defeat, a young Salvadorian fan by the name Amelia Bolanos, shot herself. The Salvadorian government made her into a national hero and in the next game fans brought pictures of her into the stadium.
The next match took place in El Salvador and this time the tables were turned. Now the Honduran team received the same treatment as that of the Salvadorian team in Honduras, but this time things were even worse. The Hondurans had to spend a sleepless night in the hotel and the next day during the match, instead of the Honduran flag a dirty rag was raised by the angry Salvadorians. The match was won by El Salvador 3-0 and the fans indulged themselves in clashes in the stadium. The Hondurans were angry with the defeat and they started to torment the Salvadorian immigrants even more. This resulted more people to flee from Honduras and return to Salvador. This final and decisive match was held in Mexico which was also won by Salvador 3-2.
At that point the Hondurans were furious, they couldn’t qualify for 1970 FIFA World Cup because of Salvador. As expected the torment on the immigrants increased even more and more people started fleeing. This was too much of El Salvador to bear and at that point they broke all diplomatic ties with Honduras and declared a war upon them.
The War
This war is also known as the hundred hour war making it one
of the shortest wars in history. El Salvador started carrying air raids on some strategic
locations of Honduras which prevented the Honduran air force from getting into
the skies. Then they rapidly started invading the Honduran lands with tanks and
started reaching the Honduran capital. This activities soon came into notice of
OAS; Organisation of American States. OAS realized that the war between EL
Salvador and Honduras was not a good thing and they must interfere and organise a
ceasefire.
Central American States
Honduras on the other hand received aid from their neighbor Nicaragua and their air force was finally in the skies. They made air raids on Salvador air bases and oil field and crippled El Salvador’s supply line. Finally Salvador found them in a less advantageous position and when the OAS agreed to ensure the safety of Salvadorian immigrants, they agreed for a ceasefire. On 18th July 1969 the ceasefire was signed. Then the OAS asked Salvador to vacate the captured Honduran lands and even threatened to impose sanctions if they didn’t do so. El Salvador had to agree to those terms and they finally pulled its troops out of Honduras on 2nd of August 1969, and with casualties in thousands the war ended.
The economies of both the countries were highly affected and were crippled due to the war. El Salvador had to face refugee problems due to the return of the Salvadorians from Honduras in huge numbers. This resulted in civil wars and also gave birth to many conflicts between the two nations which exist till date. Although El Salvador went to play into the 1970 FIFA World Cup, but could not qualify through the group stages rather they lost every match they played. Hence, El Salvador didn't achieve much. Clearly there were no winners and the war didn't bring any good to any of the countries.
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