On April 2, 1982, Argentina commenced the invasion of the Falkland Islands, 100 Argentinean commandos landing at Port Stanley, the capital, ahead of the main force of 2,000 soldiers who later were landed amphibiously. After some skirmishes, the island’s British garrison of 60 soldiers surrendered, and the Falklands came under Argentine control.
(Taken from Falklands War – Wars of the 20th Century – Volume 3)
Background In early 1982, Argentina’s ruling military junta, led by General Leopoldo Galtieri, was facing a crisis of confidence. Government corruption, human rights violations, and an economic recession had turned initial public support for the country’s military regime into widespread opposition. The pro-U.S. junta had come to power through a coup in 1976, and had crushed a leftist insurgency in the “Dirty War” by using conventional warfare, as well as “dirty” methods, including summary executions and forced disappearances. As reports of military atrocities became known, the international community exerted pressure on General Galtieri to implement reforms.
In its desire to regain the Argentinean people’s moral support and to continue in power, the military government conceived of a plan to invade the Falkland Islands, a British territory located about 700 kilometers east of the Argentine mainland. Argentina had a long-standing historical claim to the Falklands, which generated nationalistic sentiment among Argentineans. The Argentine government was determined to exploit that sentiment. Furthermore, after weighing its chances for success, the junta concluded that the British government would not likely take action to protect the Falklands, as the islands were small, barren, and too distant, being located three-quarters down the globe from Britain.
The Argentineans’ reasoning was not without merit. Britain under current Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was experiencing an economic recession, and in 1981, had made military cutbacks that would have seen the withdrawal from the Falklands of the HMS Endurance, an ice patrol vessel and the British Navy’s only permanent ship in the southern Atlantic Ocean. Furthermore, Britain had not resisted when in 1976, Argentinean forces occupied the uninhabited Southern Thule, a group of small islands that forms a part of the British-owned South Sandwich Archipelago, located 1,500 kilometers east of the Falkland Islands.
In the sixteenth century, the Falkland Islands first came to European attention when they were signed by Portuguese ships. For three and a half centuries thereafter, the islands became settled and controlled at various times by France, Spain, Britain, the United States, and Argentina. In 1833, Britain gained uninterrupted control of the islands, establishing a permanent presence there with settlers coming mainly from Wales and Scotland.