Causes (Falklands/Malvinas war)

Causes (Falklands/Malvinas war)

1. Located in the South Atlantic Ocean some 300 miles (480 km) off the coast of South America, the Falkland/Malvinas Islands are a rocky group of islands, home to about 2,000 people, mostly involved in sheep farming. Historically, France, Spain and Great Britain have occupied the islands, but none with a great deal of enthusiasm, even leaving them unoccupied for a 50-year stretch in the 18th century. When Argentina won her independence from Spain in 1816, she laid claim to the islands, calling them the Malvinas. While the British were not necessarily committed to the occupation of the islands, which they regarded as having negligible strategic or economic value, the British government was not about to have its foreign policy dictated by a edgling South American republic. A small British force reasserted control over the islands in 1833, from which time they have been continuously occupied by the British, although the Argentines have never relinquished their claims to the territory. It is

2. By 1981, Argentina had been ruled by an increasingly unpopular military Junta for ve years. The Junta took power in a coup designed to restore order during a time of deep political instability. Ideologically, the Junta was on the far right and as such used its extensive authoritarian power to repress all elements of the left – unions, political parties, intellectuals and eventually anyone who was suspected of criticizing the regime. Some estimates put the victims of this “dirty war” as high as 30 000, collectively known as “the disappeared”. This extreme social pressure within Argentina was compounded by a severe economic crisis, stemming from crippling foreign debt. The Junta calculated that a quick patriotic war would help galvanize public opinion behind the government.

3. In terms of broader foreign policy aims, the Junta, and many previous regimes in Argentina, considered that the position of Argentina as a power was dependent on control of the South Atlantic. Geographically, the most important position upon which such control depended was Antarctica. The 1959 Antarctic Treaty, which essentially internationalized and demilitarized the Antarctic, meant that Argentina would have to look elsewhere for an anchor in the South Atlantic. As Chile asserted more authority over Tierra del Fuego (a group of islands off the southern tip of South America separated from the mainland by the Straits of Magellan), the Falklands/Malvinas became vital to Argentina’s position in the South Atlantic. In 1980, with improving relations with both its northern neighbours and the USA, and its new anti-communist president Ronald Reagan, the time seemed right for a settling of accounts with Britain over the Falklands/Malvinas.

4. conomic instability also played a role in the British decision to go to war. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s economic policies, designed to ght ination through austerity measures that would involve widespread privatization, anti-union legislation and higher taxation, caused deep divisions in the country. These policies led to a sharp rise in unemployment in Britain in the years leading up to the Falklands War. Thatcher was a fervent anti-communist and staunch supporter of Ronald Reagan and the United States’ approach to the Cold War. While she took a hard line against the USSR, Argentina in the Falklands conict and Irish Republican Army (IRA) prisoners, she did not support economic sanctions against the Apartheid regime in South Africa.