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The History Hour: Abolishing the army

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costa rica pic.jpg

06/04/2019 GMT

Abolishing the army

BBC World Service - The History Hour, Abolishing the army

How Costa Rica scrapped its armed forces, plus Maya Angelou and Sweden's famous warship.

After a brief civil war in March-April 1948, the new president of Costa Rica, Jose Figueres, took the audacious step of dissolving the Armed Forces. The Central American country is now one of just over 20 countries without a standing army - we find out more. Plus, Maya Angelou's ground-breaking memoir, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, and the remarkable story of the raising of the Swedish warship, the Vasa.

Photo: Costa Rican soldiers in San Jose after the end of the civil war, April 1948 (Credit: Getty Images)

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