The Falklands War: Crisis In Great Britain

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The Falklands War: Crisis in Great Britain March 23, 2011 Introduction The Falklands War of 1982 embodied a military conflict that lasted 74 days between Great Britain and Argentina regarding the ownership of the Falkland Islands. The Islands had been a dependency of Britain since 1833 when Britain took possession from Argentina and later declared them as a colony in 1842. The Argentines had always resented Britain for taking what they believed belonged to them (BBC News 2011b). After Argentina was granted independence from Spain in 1816, they claimed all of Spain’s previous colonies and took possession of the Falklands in 1820. In 1965, the UN classified the Falklands “as a colonial problem” and urged Britain and Argentina to find a solution. Britain stood by their belief in the right to ownership based on their “peaceful and continuous possession over a long period of time… and the islander’s desire to remain British” (Smith 1989: 14). On the other hand, the Argentines became aggressive stating that they would “accept nothing less than full sovereignty,” but the islanders rejected the option (Smith 1989: 14). With the United Nation’s support of Britain, the military dictatorship of Argentina saw no other option than to use military force to capture the Falkland Islands. On March 19, 1982, the conflict commenced as Argentina sent 30 scrap metal salvagers on South Georgia Island where they raised the Argentine flag. Meanwhile, the British government had approved the dismissal of the Royal navy’s only Antarctic patrol vessel, HMS Endurance. This led the Argentines to believe that Britain lacked interest in claiming the Islands and that the mission would be simple (BBC News 2011c). Argentine troops attacked the Falklands on April 2nd where Governor Rex Hunt, the leader of The Falkland Islands, surrendered. Consequently, Britain made the

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