The Falklands War (1982)

The possession of the Falklands/ Malvinas islands (the British know them as the Falklands while the Argentines call them the Malvinas) had been disputed between Argentina and Great Britain ever since Argentina’s independence. The two islands (East and West Falkland) are located to the East of Argentina.

Argentina and Britain entered negotiations in 1965 after the United Nations General Assembly’s promptings. However, both sides firmly believed their argument, and no progress was made. The Argentines argued that the Malvinas should revert to Argentine control to help bring an end to colonialism. But, of the approximately 3,000 residents, 70% were of British descent. This led the British to argue that the inhabitants would rather be under British control and that adding the Falklands to Argentina would create colonialism instead of ending it.

In 1982, the Argentine economy declined, and the people wanted an end to the military government of their president, General Leopoldo Galtieri. He needed an impressive victory to regain popularity, and he decided that recovering the Falklands islands would be the perfect solution. However, he made this decision based on two false assumptions. The military government assumed that Great Britain would not defend the islands because of their immense distance from the British homeland. The government also assumed that the United States would remain neutral. On April 2, 1982, Argentina sent 5,000 troops who easily defeated the 81 British marines on the islands. Galtieri celebrated early with a triumphant visit to the islands’ capital, Port Stanley. The celebration was short-lived as the military government’s first assumption proved to be false. Margaret Thatcher, the British Prime Minister, sent a force of 28,000 men by April 6 to sail the 8,500 mile trip.
The 2nd Argentine assumption fell through when the U.S. aided the British with logistics, military intelligence, and economic sanctions. The U.N. remained divided and made no progress towards resolving the issue. On May 21, the British landed on East Falkland and quickly ended the war. On June 20 it was announced that the British controlled Port Stanley and Argentina had surrendered.
In this short war, Argentina lost 746 men and Great Britain lost 256 men. Many others were wounded. While for Margaret Thatcher, this resulted in immense popularity, it marked the end of the junta military regime in Argentina. After the Argentine’s embarrassing surrender, the leaders knew the end of their power was near. Only 3 days after the surrender President Galtieri resigned. Argentina then held democratic elections, and the new president, Carlos Menem, who was fairly elected, started peace negotiations with the British. Despite the initially increased British military presence in the islands, Argentina and Great Britain came to the resolution of sharing the extensive oil reserves in the Falklands islands, although there was no negotiation for the possession of the islands. In 2007 Argentina withdrew from the agreement, and now BHP, an Australian - British resource company, has undertaken the oil exploration.
Although the Falklands War seemed a disaster at first, it helped Argentina grow. The war contributed to discarding an unpopular military government in favor of democracy and peace. So, overall the Falklands war assisted in the development of Argentina rather than assisting in its deterioration.