Causes of the Falklands War

Kelly Rogers 185-193

Andrew Marr Doc
Junta: A committee or council that rules a country.
Military junta right wing
1. 5 causes of the war
-British invasion
-Argentine naval manoeuvres provoke British
naval response
-Operation Rosario: Argentine forces invade
Falklands
-Argentina rejects Haigs peace proposal
-Break down of UN Peace initiative
-Landing
-Sir Henry Leach
-Exclusion zones
2. Andrew Marrs 5 causes
-Navy cuts (economic depression, cuts had to be
made. Pressure of the Cold War)
-Thatcher orders the torpedoing of the Belgrano
(Argentine warship). She saw it as a threat
despite the fact that it was not in British waters
and it was moving away from the Falklands
-Galtieri: military (war mindset, Anaya),
economic (worse off than Britain), social
(discontent, also with the military junta, activists
disappearing) reasons.
-Negotiations (failure of diplomacy)

-Thatcher orders the taskforce to land on the

Falklands
-Sir Henry Leachs influence
3. Long term causes of the war
Legacy of colonialism
-The dispute over the Falklands/Malvinas
began about 150 years before the war broke
out.
-British-Argentine relations were good but
the area of tension centered on the
Falklands.
-Britain (a small force) claimed and occupied
the islands from 1833
-By 1885, a British community (1800
people) inhabited it
-1892, Britain gave the Falklands colonial
status
-Argentina continued to claim it was theirs
-Argentina pressured the UN for the
Malvinas to become an issue of
decolonisation when it became a member
after WWII.
-1964, the Falklands issue was debated in
the UN.
-Argentina claimed that the British colonial
claims were illegitimate
- Britain claimed that Argentine control
would create a colonial situation rather than
end one as the islanders did not want to be
ruled by Argentina.
-1965, GA of the UN passed Resolution
2065, which called for negotiations between

Britain and Argentina, which went on in

February 1982
-1982, more British people living in
Argentina than the Falklands.
-Falkland islanders wanted to remain British
4. Short term causes
Economic issues
-Early 1980s: Argentina has serious
economic problems.
-Tried to revive private sector by cutting the
public sector spending, but it didnt work
-Similar economic problems in Britain.
-Rioting and unemployment that rose above
3 million
-Both regimes wanted a foreign policy
distraction from the national economic
problems
Political issues
-December 1981, Galtieri came to power
-late 1970s thousands of people were
murdered (dirty war)
-Followed by a series of juntas, Galtieri
continued the oppressive leadership
-Under pressure to galvanise the regime and
bring political stability
-Thatcher became the first PM in 1979.
Unpopular and had lack of control over her
own party.
-Coalite, a company that controlled the
islands, didnt want a handover, a viewpoint
that got more support during the 1970s
when the dirty war took hold of Argentina

-Breakdown of communications between the

politicians and statement
-Lord Carrington (British Foreign Secretary)
accepted responsibility for the crisis, which
led to war and resigned.
-Could have been averted if the regimes in
Britain and Argentina had not misread the
situation.
-Britain assumed that Argentina was
militarily posturing to toughen its position in
negotiations as they have done this on and
off for 20 years
-Argentina thought that Britain wouldnt go
to war over the Malvinas, as the regime
didnt understand the dynamics of the
Democratic Party political system
-The Antarctic Treaty 1959 The Malvinas
were important for Argentina as Chile
asserted more authority over Tierra del
Fuego (war happened years later)
-Britain didnt initiate the conflict as
negotiations on the leaseback (Malvinas
would belong to Argentina but be governed
by Britain) so Thatcher couldnt be blamed
for the war to bolster support
Military Causes
-Argentinas desire to get the Malvinas back
was strong but it was most significant for
the Argentine Navy
-The military-led junta that seized power in
November 1976 wanted to test Britains
commitment to the Falklands
-In November 1977, they conducted
provocative naval manoeuvres but Britain

responded with force (sent a submarine and

two frigates to the South Atlantic), which
made Argentina back down
-British policy over the islands were
confused and the British gave signals that
they wouldnt be willing to protect the
islands militarily
-Defence Review recommended selling off
around a third of the Royal Navys surface
fleet, even rumours of abolishing the Royal
Marines came about
5. Immediate causes
Military causes: the role of the navies
-Both navies could be held responsible
-Anaya, the commander in chief of the
Argentine Navy, supported Galtieri on the
premise that Galtieri would support the navy
in removing Britain from the Malvinas.
Anaya pressured Galtieri
-Sir Henry Leach convinced Thatcher that
Britain could retake the Falklands. But at
this point, Argentina already invaded the
islands
6. Limited war: they didnt go HAM or full agro or full
beast mode. Also, limited reasons