Despite the fact that most of the Asian, African, American and Oceanian colonies of European powers and the United States gained political independence during the twentieth century, it is premature to talk about the final departure of the colonial era. And the point is not even that Western countries actually completely control the economy and politics in many of the former colonial possessions. Until now, the same Great Britain has small, but strategically very important colonial possessions in all parts of the world. One of these possessions, located thousands of kilometers from the UK proper, is the Falkland Islands. Since colonization of these small islands off the coast of present-day Argentina began in 1765, they have been a disputed territory.
Disputed territory
The whole history of the Falkland Islands in modern and modern times is the story of a big dispute between the British and the Spaniards (later replaced by the Argentines) over who actually has the priority right to own the strategically important islands. The British believe that the islands were discovered in 1591-1592. by the British navigator John Davis, who served as the captain of the ship on the expedition of the famous British navigator and corsair Thomas Cavendish. However, the Spaniards claim that the island was discovered by Spanish sailors. Before European colonization, the Falklands were uninhabited. In 1764, the French navigator Louis Antoine de Bougainville arrived on the island, who created the first settlement on the island of East Falkland - Port Saint-Louis. However, in January 1765, the British navigator John Byron, who landed on Saunders Island, declared it a British Crown territory. In 1766 a British settlement was established there. However, Spain, which acquired a French settlement in the Falklands from Bougainville, was not going to put up with the presence of the British on the islands.
It should be noted here that the dispute between the Spaniards (Argentines) and the British over the ownership of the islands is reflected in the toponymic plane. The British call the islands the Falkland Islands, after the Falklands Pass between the two main islands. Back in 1690, this strait was named after the Viscount of Falkland Anthony Carey. The Spaniards, and later the Argentines, use the name Malvinas to designate the islands, raising it to the French name given to the islands by Captain Bougainville in honor of the first colonists - Breton sailors from the French port of Saint-Malo.
In 1767 a Spanish governor was appointed to the Malvinas Islands, and in 1770 Spanish troops attacked a British settlement and expelled the British from the island. Nevertheless, according to an agreement between Spain and Great Britain, already in 1771 the British reclaimed their settlement in Port Egmont. Thus, at the end of the 18th century, both Great Britain and Spain continued to claim the possession of the islands. But the British were evacuated from the Falklands in 1776, as London left many of its overseas colonies before the American Revolutionary War, rallying its strength. The Spaniards, unlike the British, maintained a settlement on the Malvinas Islands until 1811. The Spanish settlement was part of the Viceroyalty of Rio de la Plata.
In 1816, as a result of decolonization, the Viceroyalty of Rio de la Plata declared independence and became sovereign Argentina. The Malvinas Islands were declared part of the territory of Argentina. However, in fact, the young Argentine government had little control over the situation in the Falklands. In 1828, an entrepreneur Louis Vernet founded a settlement on the island, who was engaged in the seal trade. The islands were of great commercial interest to him, so he received permission from the Argentine government to establish a settlement here. Meanwhile, American whalers also fished for seals in the coastal waters of the Falkland Islands. This was very displeasing to Verne, who considered himself the sovereign master of the islands and claimed the monopoly on the hunting of seals in the territorial waters of the Falkland Islands. Vernet's men hijacked several American ships, prompting a backlash from the United States. An American warship arrived in the Falkland Islands and arrested several of the inhabitants of Verne. The latter also left the island. In 1832, the Argentine authorities tried to regain control of the islands and sent a governor there, but he was killed. On January 2, 1833, the British declared their claims to the Falklands, whose detachment landed on the islands. But only on January 10, 1834 the flag of Great Britain was officially raised over the islands and a "naval resident officer" was appointed, whose powers included the administration of the Falklands. In 1842, the office of Governor of the Falkland Islands was introduced. Argentina, of course, did not recognize the capture of the Falkland Islands by the British and continued to consider them its territory and call them the Malvinas Islands. For nearly two centuries, Argentines have been very concerned about the presence of the British on the islands. However, they live in the Falklands, mostly descendants of British, Scottish and Irish immigrants. Therefore, the sympathies of the local population are rather on the side of Great Britain, and London is successfully using this, justifying its right to own the islands.
From Operation Antonio Rivero to Operation Rosario
The disputes between Great Britain and Argentina over the ownership of the islands have been going on for almost two hundred years. But until the second half of the twentieth century, they were diplomatic in nature and did not lead to open confrontation between the largest colonial power in the world and one of the largest states in Latin America. However, in the 1960s, there was an attempt at an armed invasion of the Argentines into the Falkland Islands, but it was not undertaken by government troops, but by members of the Argentinean nationalist organization Takuara. Argentine patriots planned to land in the Falklands and proclaim the creation of a National Revolutionary Argentine State on the islands. The operation, planned by the nationalists, was named "Antonio Rivero" - after the legendary Argentine revolutionary, back in 1833, immediately after the British seized the islands, who revolted there against the colonialists. The first attempt at a "revolutionary landing" on the islands was the action of Miguel Fitzgerald. This Argentine patriot of Irish descent flew to the islands on September 8, 1964, in a private jet, hoisted the Argentine flag and handed the local official an ultimatum ordering the immediate return of the Malvinas Islands to Argentina. Naturally, there was no reaction from the British authorities to Fitzgerald's act. In 1966, a group of activists from the New Argentina movement, led by Dardo Cabo, hijacked an Argentine Airlines plane and landed at the airport in the capital of the islands, Port Stanley. About thirty people who were in the group of Argentine nationalists announced the return of the islands to Argentina. However, the attempt at decolonization was unsuccessful - the Argentines were deported from the territory of the Falkland Islands by a detachment of the British Royal Marines.
Nevertheless, the unsuccessful attempts to claim the rights to the Falklands did not dampen the ardor of the Argentines, who wanted to end once and for all the traces of the British colonial presence off the coast of their country. In the same year, 1966, the Argentine submarine Santiago del Estero was organized to the shores of the Falkland Islands. Formally, the submarine followed to the naval base of the Argentine fleet of Mar del Plata, but in reality, completely different tasks were assigned to it. 40 kilometers south of Port Stanley, six Argentine special forces from the Buzo Tactico (Argentine Navy Tactical Divers Group) were disembarked from a submarine. In two groups of three fighters, the Argentine special forces conducted reconnaissance of the area in order to determine the optimal places for a possible amphibious landing. Thus, the Argentine military command did not abandon the likely forceful scenario of the reunification of the Falkland Islands with Argentina, although the country's leadership tried to solve this problem through diplomacy. Argentine authorities throughout the 1970s. negotiated the status of the islands with Great Britain, which by the end of the decade finally reached a dead end. Moreover, in 1979, the government of Margaret Thatcher was established in London, which had a negative attitude towards the decolonization of British possessions. However, in Argentina itself, there were political changes that contributed to the aggravation of the Anglo-Argentine contradictions.
On December 22, 1981, as a result of a military coup, Lieutenant General Leopoldo Galtieri came to power in Argentina. Fifty-five-year-old Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri Castelli (1926-2003), a descendant of Italian immigrants, made a serious career in the Argentine army, starting service as a military academy cadet at the age of 17 and by 1975 having risen to the rank of Commander of the Corps of Engineers of Argentina. In 1980, he became the commander-in-chief of the Argentine army, and a year later seized power in the country. General Galtieri hoped that by returning the Falkland Islands to Argentina, he would gain popularity among the country's population and go down in history. Moreover, after coming to power, Galtieri made a visit to the United States and was well received by Ronald Reagan. This convinced the general of support from the United States, which, in his opinion, was untied for the start of the operation in the Falklands.
As often happens in such situations, the Argentine military command decided to start the return of the Falkland Islands with a provocation. On March 19, 1982, several dozen Argentine construction workers landed on South Georgia Island, which was listed as uninhabited. They explained their arrival on the island by the need to demolish the old whaling station, after which they raised the Argentine flag on the island. Naturally, such a trick could not go unnoticed by the administration of the Falkland Islands. British garrison soldiers attempted to deport workers from the island, after which Argentina launched a military operation.
The plan for the landing on the Falkland Islands was drawn up by Jorge Anaya, in accordance with the plans of which, after the preparation for the landing carried out by the Argentine Navy special forces units, the 2nd Marine battalion was supposed to land on floating LTVP armored personnel carriers. The Marines were to land from the ships Cabo San Antonio and Santisima Trinidad, and Task Force 20, which included the aircraft carrier Veintisinco de Mayo, four destroyers and other ships, was to cover the operation. The command of the Navy formation was carried out by Vice Admiral Juan Lombardo (born 1927) - a participant in a submarine raid in 1966. The direct command of the Marine Corps and Special Forces units was entrusted to Rear Admiral Carlos Alberto Büsser (1928-2012).
On April 2, 1982, the operation to capture the Falkland Islands began. The landing of the Argentine troops began with the fact that at about 04.30 o'clock on April 2, 1982, a group of eight combat swimmers of the Argentine naval special forces "Buzo Tactico" of the Navy Submarine Command disembarked from the submarine "Santa Fe" ashore in York Bay. The commandos captured the light beacon and prepared the coast for the landing of the main contingent of the Argentine army. Following the commandos, up to 600 marines landed on the coast. Argentine units managed to quickly neutralize the resistance of one company of the British Royal Marines deployed on the islands, numbering only 70 soldiers and officers, and a detachment of 11 naval sailors. However, during a short defense of the island, the British managed to kill the captain of the Argentine Marine Corps, Pedro Giachino. Then the British governor R. Hunt ordered the Marines to stop resisting, which helped to avoid casualties. Since then, and over the past thirty-three years, April 2 has been celebrated in Argentina as the Day of the Malvinas Islands, and throughout the world it is considered the date of the beginning of the Falklands Anglo-Argentine War.
- fighters of the Argentine naval special forces "Buzo tactico" in Port Stanley
The Argentine government has officially announced the annexation of the Falkland Islands, renamed Malvinas, to Argentina. On April 7, 1982, the inauguration ceremony of the Governor of the Malvinas Islands, which Galtieri had appointed General Menendez, was held. The capital of the islands, Port Stanley, was renamed Puerto Argentino. As for the British Governor Hunt and several dozen British Marines who served in the Port Stanley garrison, they were evacuated to Uruguay. In general, the Argentine command, not wanting a serious war with Great Britain, initially sought to do without human casualties among the enemy's military personnel. Before the Argentine commandos, the task was simply to "squeeze" the British marines from the territory of the islands, if possible without using weapons to kill. Indeed, the capture of the islands took place virtually without casualties - the only victim was an Argentine officer who commanded one of the Marine Corps units.
More significant human casualties followed during the operation to capture the island of South Georgia. On April 3, the Argentine frigate "Guerrico" approached the island with 60 soldiers and officers of the 1st battalion of the Argentine Navy on board. An Argentine helicopter also took part in the operation. A detachment of 23 British Marines was stationed on the island of South Georgia. Noticing the approach of an Argentine frigate, they ambushed and when a helicopter with a second group of paratroopers appeared over the island, the British Marines knocked it out with a grenade launcher. The helicopter burned down, and two Argentines in it were injured. Then the island was shelled from the frigate "Guerrico", after which the British garrison of South Georgia surrendered. British casualties during the battle for the island amounted to one lightly wounded Marine, on the Argentine side three or four soldiers were killed and seven were injured.
London's reaction to the events was quite expected. Great Britain could not allow the passage of the islands under the rule of Argentina, and even in such a way, which cast a shadow on the reputation of a great maritime power. As usual, the need to maintain control over the Falkland Islands was declared by the British government to be due to concern for the safety of British citizens living in the archipelago. British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said: “If the islands are captured, then I knew exactly what to do - they need to be returned. After all, there, on the islands, are our people. Their loyalty and loyalty to the queen and country has never been questioned. And as often happens in politics, the question was not what to do, but how to do it."
Anglo-Argentine War at sea and in the air
Immediately after the landing of Argentine troops in the Falklands on April 2, 1982, Great Britain severed diplomatic relations with Argentina. Argentine deposits in UK banks were frozen. Argentina retaliated by banning payments to British banks. Great Britain sent the navy to the shores of Argentina. On April 5, 1982, a squadron of the British Navy's task force departed from British Portsmouth, consisting of 2 aircraft carriers, 7 destroyers, 7 landing ships, 3 nuclear submarines, 2 frigates. Air support for the squadron was provided by 40 Harrier vertical takeoff fighter-bombers and 35 helicopters. The squadron was supposed to deliver an eight-thousandth contingent of British troops to the Falklands.
In response, Argentina began mobilizing reservists in the country's armed forces, and the airport in Puerto Argentino began to be prepared to serve the aircraft of the Argentine air force. The UN Security Council also reacted to what was happening. Already on April 3, 1982, a resolution was adopted calling for a solution to the conflict situation through peaceful negotiations. Most members of the UN Security Council supported the demand for the withdrawal of units of the Argentine armed forces from the territory of the Falkland Islands.
The Soviet Union abstained. The only country represented on the UN Security Council and voted against the resolution was Panama. The Soviet Union took a passive position on the Anglo-Argentine conflict. Although the United States and Great Britain feared that the USSR would start supplying arms to Argentina, using the current situation to weaken the positions of the Anglo-American coalition in international politics, this did not happen. The Soviet Union waged a difficult and bloody war in Afghanistan, and it simply did not reach the South American coast. In addition, the Argentine regime of General Gastieri was ideologically alien to Soviet power and, accordingly, besides the desire to harm Great Britain and the United States and weaken the British naval presence in the Atlantic Ocean, the USSR had no other reason to support Argentina in this conflict. In case of possible indirect participation of the Soviet Union on the side of Argentina, the United States and Great Britain developed a plan to weaken the Soviet positions - for example, South Korea was to start provocations against the DPRK, and Israel - against the Palestinian resistance. Naturally, the activation of the Mujahideen fighting against the Soviet army in Afghanistan was also expected. However, there was no need to take anti-Soviet measures from the American and British leaders - the Soviet Union had already distanced itself to the utmost from the Falklands conflict.
An armed confrontation between Great Britain and Argentina became inevitable from the moment the Argentine marines landed in the Falkland Islands. On April 7, 1982, Great Britain declared a blockade of the Falkland Islands from April 12, and established a 200-mile zone around the islands. A ban was introduced on the presence in the blockade zone of all military and merchant ships and vessels of Argentina. To implement the blockade, submarines of the British Navy were involved, whose commanders were tasked with sinking any Argentine ships trying to enter the 200-mile zone. The ban has significantly complicated the interaction of the Argentine garrison in the Falklands with the military command on the mainland. On the other hand, the airfield in the former Stanley, now Puerto Argentino, was not suitable for servicing jet warplanes. The Argentine Air Force had to operate from the mainland, which also complicated their use. On the other hand, a large grouping of Argentine ground forces and marines was concentrated on the islands, numbering more than 12 thousand troops and including 4 infantry regiments (4th, 5th, 7th and 12th) of the Argentine army, 1st Marine regiment, 601th and 602nd special-purpose companies, engineering and technical and auxiliary units.
Although Ronald Reagan well received President General Galtieri in the United States, after the outbreak of the Anglo-Argentine conflict, the United States, as expected, sided with Great Britain. However, the Pentagon doubted the success of the military operation to return the Falkland Islands and advised British colleagues to focus on diplomatic ways to return the disputed territory. Many prominent British politicians and generals also expressed doubts about the effectiveness of a military solution to the dispute. The colossal distance between Great Britain and the Falklands made many military leaders doubt the possibility of a full supply of British troops and the dispatch of such a contingent that could cope with the army of the large country of Argentina, located in the immediate vicinity of the Falkland Islands.
However, after the command of the British Navy convinced Prime Minister Thatcher that the fleet was capable of solving the task of returning the Falklands, Great Britain quickly found allies. Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet authorized the use of Chilean territory for British commandos against Argentina. For use by British aircraft, an American military base on Ascension Island was provided. In addition, British aircraft took off from British Navy aircraft carriers. The naval aviation was tasked with air support for the Marine Corps and Ground Forces, which were to land in the Falkland Islands and conduct a ground operation in order to liberate them from Argentine occupation. On April 25, the first units of British troops landed on the island of South Georgia, which is located at a considerable distance from the Falkland Islands. The Argentine garrison stationed on the island, inferior to the landed British units in numbers, training and weapons, capitulated. Thus began the operation to return the Falkland Islands to the control of the British crown.
On May 1, 1982, British naval aviation and navy shelled Argentinean targets in Port Stanley. The next day, a British nuclear submarine attacked and sank the Argentine Navy cruiser General Belgrano. The attack killed 323 Argentine sailors. Such large losses forced the Argentine naval command to abandon the idea of using the fleet, which was many times inferior in strength to the British, and return the ships of the Argentine Navy to the bases. After May 2, the Argentine Navy no longer participated in the Falklands War, and the command of the armed forces decided to rely on aviation, which was to attack British ships from the air.
At the time of the events described, the Argentine Air Force had 200 combat aircraft, of which about 150 took direct part in the hostilities. The Argentine generals hoped that the aerial bombardment of British ships would entail large human casualties and London would order the ships to be pulled back. But here the command of the Argentine armed forces overestimated the capabilities of their aviation. The Argentine Air Force lacked modern weapons. So, the French-made Exocet anti-ship missiles, which were equipped with the Super Etandar attack aircraft, the Argentine Air Force had only five pieces. However, they also brought significant benefits to the Argentine troops, since one of these missiles damaged the new British destroyer Sheffield, which sank. As for aerial bombs, Argentina was also noticeably lagging behind - more than half of the American-made bombs were fired back in the 1950s and were not suitable for use. Once in British ships, they did not burst. But the Argentine Air Force, among other types of armed forces that participated in the Falklands War, proved to be at their best. It was the skill of the Argentine Air Force pilots that for a long time allowed the country to maintain a decent defense of the Falkland Islands, causing significant damage to the British fleet. Considering that the Argentine navy turned out to be practically incapable of combat, and the ground forces were distinguished by a low level of training and also could not offer serious resistance to the British forces, aviation remained the main striking force of Argentina in the battle for the Falklands throughout the initial period of the war.
Land operation and return of the Falklands
On the night of May 15, 1982, British commandos from the legendary SAS destroyed eleven Argentine aircraft at the Pebble Island airfield. The 3rd Brigade of the Royal Marines of Great Britain began preparations for the landing on the Falklands. In the bay of San Carlos on the night of May 21, the brigade's units began to disembark. The resistance of the nearby Argentine unit was quickly suppressed. However, Argentine aircraft attacked British ships off the bay. On May 25, the plane, piloted by the captain of the Argentine aviation, Roberto Kurilovich, managed to sink the British container ship Atlantic Conveyor carrying CH-47 helicopters with an Exocet rocket. The ship sank a few days later. However, this small victory could no longer prevent the start of the land operation of the British troops. On May 28, the parachute regiment battalion managed to defeat the Argentine garrison in Darwin and Guz Green, capturing these settlements. Units of the 3rd Marine Brigade made a foot march towards Port Stanley, in the area of which the landing of units of the 5th Infantry Brigade of the British Ground Forces also began. However, on June 8, Argentine aircraft managed to win a new victory - two landing ships, unloading military equipment and British soldiers, were attacked from the air at Bluff Cove, killing 50 British troops. But the position of the Argentine army in the Falklands was becoming critical. The 3rd Marine Brigade and the 5th Infantry Brigade of Great Britain surrounded the Port Stanley area, blocking Argentine forces there.
On the night of 12 June, the British 3rd Marine Brigade attacked Argentine positions in the vicinity of Port Stanley. By morning, the British managed to occupy the heights of Mount Harriet, Two Sisters and Mount Longdon. On the night of 14 June, units of the 5th Infantry Brigade stormed Mount Tumbledown, Mount William and Wireless Ridge. As part of the 5th Infantry Brigade, a battalion of famous Nepalese riflemen - Gurkha, who did not even have to fight, operated. Argentine soldiers, seeing the Gurkhas, chose to surrender. A well-known example of the military valor of the Gurkha is associated with this episode. The Gurkhas who broke into the Argentinean positions pulled out their khukri khinals, intending to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the Argentines, but since the latter prudently chose to surrender, the Gurkhas had to inflict scratches on themselves - in accordance with Nepalese traditions, the khukri, which was taken out of the blood, must be sprinkled enemy. But to cut the Argentines who laid down their arms could not have occurred to the Gurkhas.
On the same day, June 14, Port Stanley was surrendered by the Argentine command. The Falklands War ended with the defeat of Argentina, although the date of its end is considered to be June 20 - the day of the landing of British troops in the South Sandwich Islands. On July 11, 1982, the Argentine leadership announced the end of the war, and on July 13, Great Britain recognized its end. To ensure the protection of the islands, five thousand soldiers and officers of the British armed forces remained on them.
According to official figures, 256 people became victims of the Falklands War from the British side, including 87 sailors, 122 army personnel, 26 marines, 1 air force soldier, 16 sailors of the merchant and auxiliary fleet. The losses of the Argentine side amounted to 746 people, including 393 sailors, 261 army personnel, 55 air force personnel, 37 marines. As for the wounded, their number in the ranks of the British army and navy was 777 people, from the Argentine side - 1,100 people. 13 351 soldiers of the Argentine army and navy were captured at the end of the war. Most of the prisoners of war were released, but for some time about six hundred Argentine prisoners of war remained in the Falklands. The British command held them to put pressure on the Argentine leadership to conclude a peace agreement.
As for the losses in military equipment, they were also significant. The Argentine Navy and Merchant Marine lost 1 cruiser, 1 submarine, 1 patrol boat, 4 transport ships and a fishing trawler. As for the British Navy, here the losses were more serious. Britain was left without 2 frigates, 2 destroyers, 1 container ship, 1 landing ship and 1 landing boat. This ratio is explained by the fact that the Argentine command, after the sinking of the cruiser, prudently took its navy to the bases and no longer used it in the conflict. But Argentina suffered large-scale losses in aviation. The British managed to shoot down or destroy more than 100 Argentine Air Force aircraft and helicopters on the ground, with 45 aircraft destroyed by anti-aircraft missiles, 31 aircraft in aerial combat and 30 aircraft at airfields. The losses of British aviation turned out to be many times smaller - Great Britain lost only ten aircraft.
The result of the war for Great Britain was the rise of patriotic sentiments in the country and the strengthening of the position of the Thatcher cabinet. On October 12, 1982, a Victory Parade was even held in London. As for Argentina, here the defeat in the war caused a negative reaction from the public. In the capital of the country, mass demonstrations began against the government of General Galtieri's military junta. On June 17, General Leopoldo Galtieri resigned. He was replaced by another military leader, General Reinaldo Bignone. However, defeat in the war did not mean that Argentina abandoned its claims to the Falkland Islands. Until now, a significant part of the population of Argentina, and many politicians are in favor of the annexation of the islands, considering them a territory colonized by the British. Nevertheless, in 1989, consular relations were restored between Argentina and Great Britain, and in 1990 - diplomatic relations.
The economy of the Falkland Islands was historically based on fishing for seals and whales, then sheep breeding spread to the islands, which today, along with fishing and fish processing, provides the main income for the Falklands. Most of the territory of the islands is occupied by pastures used for sheep breeding. There are currently only 2,840 people living in the Falkland Islands. Mostly they are descendants of English, Scottish, Norwegian and Chilean settlers. 12 inhabitants of the islands are immigrants from Russia. The main language spoken in the Falklands is English, Spanish is spoken by only 12% of the population - mostly Chilean immigrants. The British authorities prohibit the use of the name "Malvinas" to designate the islands, seeing this as evidence of Argentina's territorial claims, while the Argentines see in the name "Falklands" another confirmation of the colonialist aspirations of Great Britain.
It should be noted that exploration for possible oil fields has begun in the Falkland Islands in recent years. Preliminary estimates put the number of oil reserves at 60 billion barrels. If indeed the Falklands have such significant oil resources, then they are potentially one of the largest oil regions in the world. In this case, the UK, of course, will never relinquish its jurisdiction over the Falklands. On the other hand, the bulk of the English-speaking population of the Falkland Islands is not going to renounce British citizenship and become citizens of Argentina. Thus, 99.8% of those who voted in the referendum on the political status of the islands, held in 2013, spoke in favor of maintaining the status of an overseas territory of Great Britain. Of course, the outcome of the referendum was not recognized by Argentina, which indicates that the Falkland / Malvinas dispute remained “open”.
