Malvinas War

The islands have always been places of great battles, since both in ancient times and in older times recent conquest gave great benefits to have strategic points both commercial and military. Its great benefits have led to numerous battles for island controls being an example the Falklands. To learn about the war for control of these islands in this lesson from a PROFESSOR we are going to offer you a summary of the Falklands war.

The Falklands war or South Atlantic conflict, it was a conflict of 1982 that took place between Argentina and the United Kingdom for the control of the Atlantic islands Malvinas, South Georgia and South Sandwich.

To talk about the conflict we must go back to the years before it began, to talk about its antecedents and causes, thereby managing to understand the reasons why this war so important.

The UK situation

To understand the causes of the war, we must talk about the situation of both contending states before the start of the conflict. UK at the time was run by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher

, finding the British state in a tough economic situation. UK policy had always been based on taking key geographic points to control trade but the downsizing of the British Navy had changed this situation.

The situation in Argentina

The American country lived in troubled times, Since I was under the control of the military, was in serious economic trouble, the regime violated many human rights and most of the population formed a strong opposition to the existing political system. It could be said that the situation in Argentina was at its most tense, a change being essential.

The question of the Falkland Islands

People say that The United Kingdom took the Falkland Islands in 1833, although there are different opinions about its possible discovery. For years the islands were of great relevance to the British, being an important point for whalers and for the oil business. This ended because little by little the number of whales was decreasing.

Argentina for years asked the United Kingdom to transfer the islands, since they considered that it belonged to them for having been part of the Viceroyalty of the Río de Plata, in addition to that its strategic position was of great relevance for the Argentine military. The UN considered the islands a disputed territory between the British and Argentines, but the English were the ones who administered and exploited the area's resources. At the same time, Argentina considered them its own and believed that they were under foreign invasion.

To continue with the summary of the Falklands war, we are now going to know how this conflict developed. On April 2, 1982, Argentine troops landed in the Falkland Islands, beginning this hostility to the so-called Falklands War. Argentina was the second largest army in all of Latin America, while the British began by commanding a small garrison and gradually sending more men.

During the early stages of the conflict, the war was fairly even since the number of men on both sides was similar. But after a while, UK started sending men, weapons and generals in a much greater number than the Argentine, the British began to win numerous battles against the Argentineans. The truth is that the British army was much more numerous and the only reason that gave Argentina any chance was the distance of the English metropolis from the islands.

For weeks the advance of the British was unstoppable and finally General Menéndez had no choice but to surrender the June 14, 1982 Losing the war for the Argentines. The war had been short, but had left heavy casualties on both sides, being one of the last wars for both countries, as the lesson was essential for both.

To conclude this summary of the Falklands war, we must talk about the great consequences that brought the conflict to the society of the time.

• The Argentine and British casualties were numerousAlthough the most affected by the war were undoubtedly Latin Americans.
• In this war, some of the key elements in the military strategies of the last decades were used, such as the essential use of missiles, the importance of submarines in naval fighting, or the beginning of the incorporation of nuclear elements in the armament.
• The relations between the two nations for years they were nil, with zero diplomacy for almost a decade. At present they are already related, although that means that the treatment between the two is close to being friendly.
• Argentina deepened even more in its social and economic crisis, the defeat in the war and the numerous casualties led to a tension between the military government and the citizens that would end up leading to a return to democracy.
• Years later Argentina tried to return to enter into negotiations on the subject, but the British response is still adamant that the Falklands are British property.
• The victory in the war reinforced the image of the Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who kept her place even with the serious economic situation of the English state.
• For years, Argentina tried not to name the war, since the defeat was very hard for Argentine interests and for all those soldiers who managed to come back alive, albeit with consequences.