Argentina Invades the Falklands

Soon after the end of World War II, Argentina joined the United Nations. One of her first orders of business was to attempt to get the world to recognize her claim to the Falkland Islands and the Island of South Georgia (another British possession 700 miles to the east of the Falklands). Argentina argued that these places should fall under the UN resolution that called for decolonisation by the former Imperialist powers.

Although it took twenty years, in 1965 the United Nations voted for General Assembly Resolution 2065 that called upon Britain and Argentina to work out a settlement over the Falklands ‘bearing in mind the interests of the islanders’. By this time almost all of the inhabitants of the islands were British citizens and had been for many generations.

Even so, the members of the British Foreign Office decided that it made more sense to somehow return the Falklands to the control of Argentina. Unfortunately, another group, the Falkland Islands Committee, thought differently. This group was a political group assembled by the British company Coalite which had a large monetary stake in the Falklands. This group applied political pressure and managed to keep any transfer from taking place.

As the diplomatic efforts between the countries dragged on, Argentina went through a series of military coups starting in 1976 that brought the military to power.

In 1979, the British Foreign Secretary proposed a new plan whereby the Falklands would slowly be returned to Argentina over a long period of transition. Although the Argentinean’s were ready to accept this, the British House of Commons were not.

Meanwhile, the British Government had made a series of moves that suggested they were trying to distance themselves from the Falklands, most notably passing a new law that would deprive babies born on the Falklands of automatic British Citizenship. Also, they planed a series of military cut backs in the area.

As Britain continued to send these signals, a new military group seized power in Argentina under the leadership of General Viola. Soon thereafter (if not before) this new government began plotting military operations to take control of both the Falklands and South Georgia.

On March 26, British listening stations picked up heavy Argentinean radio traffic which suggested a large military operation was about to occur, but the remote location made any kind of immediate response impossible. On April 2, an Argentinean submarine landed special-forces soldiers on the Falklands, these were soon followed by 20 amphibious attack vehicles. The fifty British Royal Marines stationed in the Falklands capital of Port Stanley put up a stiff fight, but shortages of ammunition and lack of numbers soon forced their surrender.

Meanwhile, the Argentineans also invaded South Georgia. Here a small group of Royal Marines waged a vicious fight, downing one enemy helicopter and damaging an enemy frigate with an anti-tank rocket. Still, the outcome could not be in doubt and soon the Marines surrendered.

In a matter of hours, the Argentineans had captured both territories. As word spread and pictures of Royal Marines held captive splashed across televisions, the world turned to Britain to see how she would respond.

Print Article

Email Article

View All Articles

How to subscribe to feeds