Decisive 20th Century Battles

The Falkland Islands 1982: The Falklands

Fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom, this short-lived conflict was about ownership of two large and many small islands in the Atlantic Ocean east of Argentina.

The war was triggered first by the occupation on March 19th of South Georgia by Argentina, a country in the midst of a crippling economic crisis, followed by the occupation of the Falklands, and ended when Argentina surrendered to the British on 14th June. Despite the fact both sides fired on each other and lives were lost, war was not actually declared by either side.

It is widely believed that Argentine leader General Leopoldo Galtieri decided to take back the Falklands to combat the growing civil unrest in his country; it was hoped that this would divert public attention from domestic issues by mining the long-standing resentment many Argentines felt over British control of these islands. However, it has often been argued that Galtieri never thought that the UK would respond with military force.

Britain saw this move as an unlawful invasion of a British overseas territory and launched a naval task force to engage the Argentine Navy and Air Force and retake the islands. In total there were 258 British and 649 Argentine deaths, with the British eventually prevailing and the islands has remained under British control ever since.

This conflict was significant as a wave of patriotic sentiment swept through both countries. Over here it boosted Margaret Thatcher’s flailing Conservative government, while the Argentine loss prompted even larger protests against the military government, which sped up Galtieri’s downfall. To this day however, Argentina hasn’t withdrawn its claim to the islands…