Falkland Islands War 1982

Argentina had claimed sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (known there as Islas Malvinas) almost 150 years and Britain, which occupied the islands in 1833, consistently rejected the claim. Negotiations had been ongoing since about 1965 but British government proposal made in 1980 was rejected by Parliament as well as resistance from the residents. Further attempts to negotiate a settlement proved fruitless. In early 1982 the military junta governing Argentina gave up on negotiations and planned for an invasion. The decision to invade was made for several reasons: the junta need for support from officers in favor of an invasion; an expectation the invasion would provide popular support for the junta; and, not least, a belief that British interest in retaining the islands had waned to such an extent that it would not accept the invasion as a fait accompli. An invasion force trained in secrecy, but its timetable was shortened on March 19th, when a dispute erupted on British-controlled South Georgia Island between Argentine salvage workers and British scientists stationed there, offering Argentina a pretext for invasion. Argentine troops arrived on the Falkland Islands on April 2, 1982.

The small garrison of British marines at the capital of Port Stanley was subdued without any British casualties, despite losses to the Argentine units. The next day Argentina seized the associated islands of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. By the end of the month Argentina had deployed more than 10,000 troops the Falklands, although most were poorly trained conscripts. Argentinians reacted to the invasion with an outpouring of support for this act of war. The British public was shocked and bellicose. And the British government, contrary to Argentine assessments, believed the invasion to be a challenge to its international status as a great power that called for an immediate and decisive response.

The British government declared a war zone for 200 miles around the Falklands and quickly assembled an improvised naval task force with which to recapture the islands. The ships set sail on April 5th. Most European states expressed support for the UK decision to retake the islands by force; the United States first attempted to mediate between its two allies but when given a stark choice by the British, the US lent its full support to the British including material aid and intelligence reports. A small British force reoccupied South Georgia Island on April 25th as the task force was still in transit. By May 1st, the British began air strikes on the Falkland Islands. On May 2nd, a British submarine torpedoed and sunk the old Argentine cruiser General Belgrano outside the military exclusion zone, killing 368 of its crew; the incident generated a political controversy in Britain. The Argentine navy withdrew to port.

From the air, the Argentinian navy and air force made repeated and successful strikes against the British fleet. On May 4th, an Argentine strike fighter launched a French-made Exocet air-to-surface missile that struck the HMS Sheffield, setting the ship on fire and ultimately sinking it. Several more ships would be damaged or sunk by Argentine air attacks during the war. Meanwhile, the British prepared for their main landing and invasion of the Falkland Islands which began on May 21st. Argentine resistance on the ground was ineffective and British forces advanced rapidly from their initial bridgehead at Port San Carlos. At the end of the month, British forces had captured Darwin and Goose Green. In June a second bridgehead was established at Port Fitzroy, about 17 miles from the capital of Port Stanley. By June 14th the Argentine defenders opted for surrender and on June 15, 1982 the remaining Argentine troops did the same. British forces reoccupied the South Sandwich Islands on June 20th.

Military defeat discredited the junta in Argentina and led to the restoration of civilian rule the following year but it did not end the Argentine claim on the islands. The British government converted widespread patriotic support for the war into a landslide victory in the 1983 election. The UK was hereafter politically committed to a costly defense of the islands even though there was no good military or economic reason to do so.

Notes

[1] Correlates of War (CoW) provides a start date of March 25, 1982. All other sources accept the day of the Argentine invasion, April 2, 1982, as the initiation.

[2] Argentine battle deaths are contentious. The official 1998 Argentine list of war dead includes 649 names. Brogan, Clodfelter, and CoW report 746 killed. EB revised its estimate downward from "nearly 750" to "about 650" suggesting the lower figure reflects the current consensus.

[3] Most sources report British battle deaths to be 255, however, Clodfelter reports this was later revised upward.

References

Brogan, 405-11; Clodfelter, 1190-4; COW202; EB - Falkland Islands War; Kohn, 168; Krepp, 348-365.

Stella Krepp. A view from the South: the Falklands/Malvinas and Latin America. Journal of Transatlantic Studies, 15(4). 2017.

Category

Inter-State War

Region

South America

Belligerents

Argentina, UK

Dispute

Territory

Initiation Date

April 2, 1982^[1]

Termination Date

June 15, 1982

Duration

2 months, 14 days
(75 days)

Outcome

Unresolved Truce
(UK victory)

Fatalities

Total: 956
Argentina: 649^[2]
UK: 277^[3]

Magnitude

3.0