Introduction
The Falklands War was fought between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwitch Islands. The Falkland Islands consists of two large and many small islands in the South Atlantic Ocean east of Argentina.
There had been a long-running dispute between Britain and Argentina over the ownership of the Falklands. It had its origins in the foundling of an Argentinian settlement in 1826 on islands which they ever referred to as Las Malvinas.
But in 1831, the few Argentinian settlers were expelled by a US warship and a British expedition took control of the territory in 1832. Full British sovereignty was declared in 1833.
The ongoing tension between the two countries culminated in war. The war was triggered by the deliberate occupation of South Georgia on 19th March by a 50-strong group of Argentinian scrap metal merchants who raised their nation’s blue and white flag.
General Leopoldo Galtieri
This was part of a plan by the head of Argentina's military government, General Leopoldo Galtieri, to play on his country’s national sense of grievance over the Falklands and restore support for Argentina’s government during a time of crippling economic crisis and civil unrest by taking control of the islands.
As tensions escalated and despite calls by the UN Security Council for restraint on both sides, the Argentinian navy set sail for the Falklands, carrying thousands of troops. The Islands were subsequently invaded on April 2, 1982.
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
While this move was considered by Argentina as reoccupation of its own territory, it was considered by the British as an invasion of a British dependency and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher quickly chose to fight, she would later record in her memoirs:
“Much was at stake: what we were fighting for…was not only the territory and the people of the Falklands, important though they were. We were defending our honour as a nation, and principles of fundamental importance to the whole world – above all, that aggressors should never succeed and that international law should prevail over the use of force”.
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The Falklands Conflict Remembered
Quick Facts
The Falklands Conflict Remembered
Introduction <<
Invasion of the Islands
The Falklands 25 Years On
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