The Falklands War Between Argentina and the United Kingdom:Causes and Consequences

Abstract

In the ancient time, the big powers had to possess as many islands as possible seeking for the global domination. Therefore, there were major conflicts between countries to own a large number of islands around the world. Among these, The Malvinas /Falklands War, which was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the sovereignty of a small group of islands in the South Atlantic. The present study aims at defining the Falklands War and indicating its main causes and consequences. This war is considered one of the most popular wars in Europe and America. Thus, many books, articles and documentaries have been done in order to demonstrate the events. For this purpose, the historical descriptive-analytical method was conducted to show the main incidents, reasons, and results of the war. This study revealed that the Falkland War was purely an air war that broke out to claim sovereignty of the archipelago from both countries. Thus, The Argentine government tried to occupy the islands in a military invasion led by General Leopoldo Galtieri on April 2, 1982, but the British response of the Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was stronger. By the end of the war, the islands returned to the British ownership leaving behind 649 Argentine and 255 British dead, in addition to 3 civilians from the Falkland.