1945-1970 since 1982







Falkland Islands, 1970-1982


Britain, in the process of decolonization and economic decline, had lost much of her reputation as a Great Power; what once was a mighty empire covering a quarter of the world's land surface by 1965 was reduced to an empire still spanning the globe, but outside the British isles, consisting of a number of strategic possessions with mostly small populations, often speaking English and identifying themselves as British, as in the case of Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands.
Argentina still claimed the islands in Argentina called Islas Malvinas, less important for the revenue the c.2,000 settlers generated, but rather for the prospective mineral deposits on the sea floor surrounding the islands. The Argentine military dictatorship (Gen. Galtieri), in an attempt to distract from failed domestic policies, ordered the invasion of the Falkland Islands and the Falkland dependency of South Georgia (Operation Rosario, April 1982). The islands of 12,000 square km and a population of then under 2,000 were inadequately defended; the Argentinian occupation a fait accompli. The Argentinian leadership gambled, hoping that Britain would regard the option of war as too costly.
British PM Margaret Thatcher was resolved to retaliate; a British fleet was sent into the South Atlantic, the islands liberated in June 1982. War had not been declared by either side. Total casualties were 258 British and 649 Argentinians killed. The liberation of the Falkland Islands had cost Britain 700 million Pound Sterling (NYT Oct. 27th 1982; then 1.19 billion US $).






EXTERNAL
FILES 		Articles History of the Falkland Islands, Falklands War, 1982 Invasion of the Falkland Islands, Category Falklands War, from Wikipedia
DOCUMENTS New York Times article of Oct. 27th 1982
Historical Population Statistics : Falkland Islands, from Population Statistics (J. Lahmeyer)
REFERENCE Article : Dependent States : Falkland Islands, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1972 p.244, 1973 p.235, 1974 p.251, 1976 pp.246-247, 252, 1977 pp.246, 252, 1978 p.305, 1979 p.306, 1980 pp.300, 304, 1981 pp.300-301, 304, 1982 pp.298-299 [G]
Article : Falkland Islands, in : Statesman's Yearbook 1973-1974 pp.302-303, 1975-1976 p.302, 1976-1977 pp.302-303, 1978-1979 pp.440-441, 1979-1980 pp.442-444, 1980-1981 pp.441-442, 1981-1982 pp.445-447 [G]
Article : Falkland Islands, in : The World in Figures 1st ed. 1976 pp.127-128, 2nd ed. 1978 pp.127-128 [G]



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2001, last revised on September 10th 2007

Click here to go Home
Click here to go to Information about KMLA, WHKMLA, the author and webmaster
Click here to go to Statistics