Why are the Falkland Islands in the news again?
Members of the Argentina team that beat England in Wednesday’s World Cup semi-final displayed a banner that said: “Las Malvinas son Argentinas” – which translates as “The Falklands are Argentinian”.
Where are the islands and who were the first settlers?
The Falkland Islands are about 500km east of Argentina in the south Atlantic. They consist of two main islands – East Falkland and West Falkland – along with hundreds of smaller islands. They were uninhabited when an English captain, John Strong, landed in 1690. The first settlement occurred in 1763 when France set up a base on East Falkland and called the islands Îles Malouines. A year later, without French knowledge, the British set up a trading post on West Falkland and claimed the islands.
Two years later the French sold their interest to Spain. The Spanish renamed the islands Islas Malvinas. The British and the Spanish claimed sovereignty over both islands and the Spanish expelled the British.
The incident nearly led to a war in 1770, which was averted, but the issue of ultimate sovereignty was not resolved. The islands became uninhabited again.
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How did Argentina become involved?
Argentina did not exist when the Falkland Islands were discovered. It declared independence from Spain in 1816
and assumed sovereignty over all previous Spanish territories in the region, including the Falkland Islands, which were once again uninhabited.
How did they become inhabited again?
In 1828, French merchant Luis Vernet was given governorship over the islands and permission to repopulate them by the nascent Argentinian government.
His attempts to curb seal hunting off the islands ended in conflict with British and American shipowners.
In January 1833, the British sent two ships to reassert sovereignty. The outnumbered Argentinian garrison surrendered. In 1840 the Falkland Islands officially became a crown colony.
What did Argentina do after that?
For nearly 100 years, the issue was barely mentioned. It was only after the second World War and the onset of global decolonisation that Argentina began to assert its claim for sovereignty.
By 1980, many within the British government contemplated handing Argentina titular sovereignty over the islands, which would then be leased back by Britain for 99 years.
But this was stymied by Falklands Islands locals, who were vehemently opposed to any settlement.
How did war break out in 1982?
Negotiations were taking place when Argentina invaded the islands. Argentina was then ruled by an unpopular military junta that thought seizing the islands would distract from internal troubles. The generals also noted that swingeing cuts by Margaret Thatcher’s government to the Royal Navy were planned, and calculated that the British lacked the will or the capacity to defend the islands.
They were wrong. Within three days of the seizure of the capital, Stanley, on April 2nd by Argentinian forces, the British dispatched a massive taskforce to the Falkland Islands.
What was the outcome of the war?
The British emerged victorious and Argentina was humiliated. The war had profound consequences for both countries. Thatcher’s popularity was enhanced, while the military junta fell a year later and democracy was restored in Argentina.
Was defeat the end of Argentina’s claim on the Falkland Islands?
On the contrary. Argentina in its 1994 constitution claimed the islands as an integral part of its territory.
The British staged a referendum on the islands in 2013. Some 99.8 per cent of the population voted to remain British.
Argentina’s government claimed the referendum was invalid because it was carried out by the descendants of settlers who should not have been there in the first place.
What happens now?
Argentina continues to assert its rights to sovereignty, with vice-president Victoria Villarruel describing the British as “usurping pirates”. Most Argentinians are themselves the descendants of colonial settlers.
The British government says Falkland sovereignty is “non-negotiable”.
Source: The Irish Times
