Posted
June 14, 2013
Argentina
invaded Great Britain?
During
my lifetime? (Actually, it only missed being in my daughter's
lifetime by 11 days!)
Yes,
on April 2, 1982, Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands, which were
British territory at the time. It seems quite surprising until you
learn where the islands are, and their history.
You
see, the Falklands are about 310 miles (500 km) off the coast of
Argentina, in the South Atlantic Ocean. They were uninhabited when
they were discovered by Europeans in the 16th Century
(although they probably had been visited by Native Americans). The
first to sight them may have been the Dutch explorer Sebald de Weert;
he named the islands the Sebald Islands.
But
Portugal, Spain, and Britain also had claims that they were the first
to discover the islands.
In
1690, British Captain John Strong was driven off course by weather
and reached the Falkland Islands. He may have been the first European
to land there; he named the water the Falkland Channel, after the
Viscount who had financed his voyage, and the islands were therefore
called the Falkland Islands.
The
first settlement on the islands was founded by a French navigator,
who called the islands Malouines, but shortly after that an
English explorer claimed one of the islands for his nation and helped
construct a settlement. Spain acquired the French colony, renamed the
islands las Malvinas, and tried to expel the British—and it
looked like the two nations would fight a war! But they reached a
peace agreement that apparently took the form of “we'll stay over
here, and you stay over there.” However, soon after this the
Revolutionary War broke out in America, and the British troops were
recalled from the outpost on the Falklands. They left behind a plaque
that said something like, “Hey! We'll be back! This is still ours!”
I guess the Spaniards thought that was a good idea, because when they
later withdrew from the island, they left behind a plaque, too—you
know, “Still ours!” or some such.
 |
| Another thing about the Falklands is that they are pretty gorgeous! |
After
that messy beginning for the Falklands—located near Argentina,
discovered by the Netherlands, landed on by England, settled by
France, claimed by Britain and Spain, abandoned by all—the people
of Argentina, who had fought for and won independence from Spain,
began to claim the empty (but twice be-plaqued) islands. An Argentine
settlement was founded, and a penal colony was begun but failed when
the prisoners revolted! A United States warship scuffled with the
Argentines, and British forces returned and worked with the
Argentines at times and against them at other times.
Doesn't
it seem as if there was an awful lot of attention on these small
islands? Do you suppose the islands were filled with gold or
diamonds? No, they weren't, but various nations decided that their
position was a good strategic point for navigation around Cape Horn.
Shipping was more and more important as the various powers of the
world established far-flung colonies or expanded their borders. Some
people in the U.S. found it preferable to travel from the East Coast
to the gold fields of California by ocean—traveling all the way
around the Cape-Horn tip of South America—rather than making the
risky trip over the plains, the Rocky Mountains, and the Sierra
Nevada Mountains. So the Falklands became more and more desirable.
So...there
were skirmishes and diplomacy, treaties and violence. There was even
a battle at the islands during World War I! Argentina seemed to have
a pretty good claim, since the islands were close to its borders and
it had settled them soon after becoming an independent nation, when
the island was empty.
However, as talks occurred during the second
half of the 20th Century, including negotiations held at
the newly-established U.N., Argentina's claims came short, because most of the people who actually lived on the islands, many of whom were of
British descent, wanted to remain part of the British Empire.
 |
| These guys don't care who rules the islands! |
Battle!
The
Argentine forces surprised the world by invading, and they succeeded
for a short time. Their claim that they were rightly taking back
their own territory was supported by most countries in Latin America,
although only Peru provided aircraft and missiles to Argentina. Most
of Europe took Britain's side, and Chile broke with its South
American neighbors by allowing the Brits to use its harbors and
airports to stage a military response to the invasion. The U.S.
hemmed and
hawed for a while, said it was neutral, and then finally sided with the Brits.
 |
| A few of these signs dot the Argentine border. They use the Spanish name for the Falkland Islands and claim that they are Argentine. |
There
were a few naval battles. There were skirmishes in the air. On May 21
British forces landed on one of the islands and began a land
campaign. The Argentine forces finally surrendered on this date in
1982. And that is why it is called “Liberation Day.”
Death toll:
Death toll:
3
Falkland civilians
255
British troops
649
Argentine troops
And
all so that things could go back to exactly the way they were: both
Argentina AND Great Britain (the U.K.) still claim the islands to be
rightfully theirs! Sigh...
Also
on this date:
Plan
ahead:
Check
out my Pinterest pages on June
holidays, historical
anniversaries in June,
and June
birthdays.
And
here are my Pinterest pages on July
holidays, historical
anniversaries in July,
and July
birthdays.
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