Falkland Island War Research Papers Example

The Background of the War

Falkland Island war, also known as Malvinas War, Falklands War, or South Atlantic War, fought between Great Britain and Argentina over the control of the Falkland Islands in 1982 was basically an undeclared war. The outbreak of the conflict was equally important to say the least. Since the early part of nineteenth century Argentina had claimed the dominance over the Falkland Islands but in 1833 Great Britain snatched the Falkland Islands by removing existing Argentine inhabitants and since then Britain had constantly rejected Argentina’s claims of Falkland Islands. In the year 1982 Lieut. Gen. Leopoldo Galtieri, the leader of Argentine military junta had launched an invasion of the Falkland Islands giving up the long term negotiations with Great Britain. Mainly the invasion decision was political as junta thought if the Falkland Islands somehow could be recovered from the Great Britain it would unite the Argentines and the total thing could be achieved in a patriotic process behind the Argentine government. For invasion an elite force had been trained by keeping total secrecy. But a dispute regarding to British controlled South Georgia had shortened the schedule of the whole movement. The incident quickly mobilized the naval forces.
On April 2, 1982 Argentine troops invaded the islands. The troops rapidly overcame the command post of British marines in the capital city of Port Stanley. In spite of losing their units the Argentine troops did not inflict any British casualties as the part of their plan. On April 3 the Argentine marines overtook the associated island of South Georgia and by the end of April Argentina had managed to station over 10,000 troops on the Falkland Islands. Lack of time in the training had caused poorly trained members in the troops. With large gathering of Argentine population at the presidential palace showed the support for the activity to exhibit back up for the military initiative. The British government, under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, in response of the invasion declared a war zone around 200 miles of the Falkland Islands. The government arranged a naval task force to build aircraft carriers the new HMS Invincible light carrier and the old HMS Herms and two ships were arranged for the shipment of the troops to the war zone. In this war between Britain and Argentina most of the European countries vowed their support for Great Britain. On the other hand most of the Latin American governments took the side of Argentina and remarkably the exception was in form of Chile that had prompted the elite troops of Argentina to keep inside the mainland as the risks from Chili had remained. At the same time the Argentine military leaders had thought that in the war situation the US would remain neutral in the conflict but to the surprise of the leaders they found that the US fully supported the British by allowing the NATO ally to use war essential communication equipments and other things. The US also co-operated the military intelligence by helping to build military accumulation on British held Ascension Islands.

The Actual Fighting of the War

Beachhead situated in Port San Carlos, the task force of British troops was rapidly advances towards the south under extreme weather challenges in front of them to take control of Goose Green and Darwin settlements. After a number of days of pitch fighting against the determined Argentines soldiers the British troops succeeded to occupy the highland ground of west side of Stanley. With British forces closing down and surrounding the capital, the signal was clearly given to cut off the large Argentine garrison from the capital. Ultimately, on June 14, 1982 Menendez give in and thus the end of the conflict had effectively drawn. With the surrender of the leader eminently British troops evacuated Argentine command post on 20th June, from the South Sandwich Islands.

The Historical Importance of the War

The aftermath of the Falkland Islands War saw a huge impact upon geopolitics of the world. Both for Argentina and Britain the political culture, military thinking process, medical processes on the war zone and most importantly the lives of the common people who was directly involved in the war had altered significantly. Diplomatic relationship between the two participating countries could not be restored unlit 1989 when a formula to decide the issue of dominance to one side and further talks for coherence between the countries had been established. For Argentina, the war caused them too many things to be calculated. The Falkland Islands stayed under a self governing British territory. Shortly after the war the British Nationality Act 1983 had been passed to grant the British Citizenship for the Islanders. The fact had strengthened the link between the inhabitants of the islands and Britain. The criticism of tactics to initiate such wars had been done all around the globe. The role of the military strategy makings for both the sides had been scrutinized. The key aspect of the conflict is still a debatable issue and that might be remained the same. At the same time the roles of the used submarines and the anti-ship missiles in a war zone also had been scrutinized. Two quotes of the Prime Minister of Britain Margaret Thatcher are presented here to express her views on the war:
"When you've spent half your political life dealing with humdrum issues like the environment, it's exciting to have a real crisis on your hands." -- May 14, 1982, commenting on the Falkland Islands war.
"We fought to show that aggression does not pay and that the robber cannot be allowed to get away with his swag. We fought with the support of so many throughout the world.Yet we also fought alone." -- July 3, 1982, on the Falkland Islands war.
In the war Argentina had lost 650 lives whereas the casualties reported by the British were 255. Argentina’s military governance was discredited severely for its failure of preparing and supporting for own military troops in invasion tactics. The civilian rule had been established to Argentina after the very next year of the war. In case of British rule, the Prime Minister of Britain Margaret Thatcher had recorded victory in the parliamentary election by converting the overall patriotic support for her side in 1983. The aftermath of the war had effected to understand the world how little political changes in mindset can lead to a war situation. Most of the countries of the world have taken a lesson from the stated Falkland Islands War can be rest assured.

Appendices

Figure 1: Falkland Island War zoneSource: (Iissvoicesblog.files.wordpress.com 2015)
Figure 2: The FalklandsSource: (Emersonkent.com 2015)

Bibliography

Emersonkent.com,. 2015. http://www.emersonkent.com/images/islas_malvinas_1982.jpg.
Freedman, Lawrence. 1982. 'The War Of The Falkland Islands, 1982'. Foreign Affairs 61 (1): 196. doi:10.2307/20041358.
Gamba, Virginia. 1987. The Falklands/Malvinas War. Boston [etc.]: Allen & Unwin.
Iissvoicesblog.files.wordpress.com,. 2015. https://iissvoicesblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/argentina-and-falklands-map-for-web-5001.jpg.
Mackay, Francis, and Jon Cooksey. 2007. Pebble Island. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military.
McCormick, Herb, and David Thoreson. 2011. One Island, One Ocean. San Francisco, CA.: Weldon Owen.
WSJ,. 2013. 'Margaret Thatcher's Best Quotes'. http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324050304578410460056812192.