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The British expedition of 13,000 kilometers to seize the small island on Argentina's doorstep, is it recovery or invasion?

author:White Horse Sweat Green

About 500 kilometres south-east of Argenyan lies a place known as the Malvinas Islands. This archipelago is located at the crossroads connecting the South Atlantic and the South Pacific, and is also the gateway and forward base to the South Pole.

The British expedition of 13,000 kilometers to seize the small island on Argentina's doorstep, is it recovery or invasion?

Malvinas Islands

On the map, there is no country closer to Argentina than Argentina, which according to common sense, should belong to Argentina, but Britain, which is 13,000 kilometers away, claims sovereignty over it, and even in 1982, the largest and most intense war of the Cold War broke out between Britain and Argentina over the archipelago.

【Review of the Falklands dispute】

In 1816, Argentina became an independent country and in 1820 claimed sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands.

On 10 June 1829, Argentina also established a political and military command in the Malvinas Islands.

However, in early 1833, the British sent troops to the island and expelled all Argentine officials, and since then, it has become British territory.

Since then, Argentina has been trying to take this group back, making many efforts, but without success.

On 2 April 1982, Argentina took advantage of the emptiness of the British defence on the island and sent dozens of soldiers to occupy the Malvinas Islands.

The British expedition of 13,000 kilometers to seize the small island on Argentina's doorstep, is it recovery or invasion?

British Invincible-class aircraft carrier

The British, enraged by Argentina's move, arranged a massive counteroffensive plan to quickly retake the island, thus triggering one of the largest wars of the Cold War.

Why should Britain be so justified when it comes to Argentina's doorstep and seizes an archipelago 13,000 kilometers from the British mainland?

【Tracing the Colonial History】

The cause of the incident dates back to the end of the 16th century.

It was the Age of Great Discovery in Europe, and adventurers led ships around the world, following their usual robber logic and pursuing the principle of "what you see is what you get", and attributing the land they "discovered" to their own country.

In 1592, the English navigator Davis declared that he was the first to see the Malvinas Islands, but at that time they did not land and did not establish a settlement on the island.

The British expedition of 13,000 kilometers to seize the small island on Argentina's doorstep, is it recovery or invasion?

In 1764, the French navigator Bougainville first established a settlement on the island of East Falkland in the Malvinas Islands, and in 1767 the Spaniards bought all the rights to the French settlement.

Therefore, Spain believed that the archipelago originally belonged to France, and that it had bought the title to all the settlements from the French, and that the archipelago was rightfully owned by itself.

The British, on the other hand, believed that they had claimed to have "discovered" the archipelago in 1592 and that it should therefore be owned by the British, who had also established a settlement in the Malvinas Islands in 1765.

The Spaniards gave up, believing that the British had invaded their territory, as if they had bought a house and found that someone else lived in one of the bedrooms.

The British expedition of 13,000 kilometers to seize the small island on Argentina's doorstep, is it recovery or invasion?

Spanish colonists

In 1770, the Spaniards expelled British settlers from the Malvinas Islands.

The British were very angry about this, but indeed established their own settlement on the island a year late, and could not provide evidence of the discovery of the island in 1592, so they had to establish an outpost on West Falkland Island in 1771, and the English, who had been expelled the previous year, refused to return for fear of being expelled by the Spaniards again.

The British threatened war against Spain and made them tolerate their base on West Falkland, but in 1774 the British withdrew from the island for economic reasons.

Although there were no more British inhabitants or bases on the Malvinas Islands, they still claimed sovereignty over the islands.

The Spanish settlement on East Falkland remained until 1811.

[Occupied by the British again]

Argentina gained independence from Spain in 1816 and claimed sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands in 1820.

Unfortunately, Argentina has not been able to have this search for long.

In 1831, Argentina had detained three United States vessels hunting seals in the Malvinas Islands, which the Argentine authorities considered illegal entry and should be detained.

The British expedition of 13,000 kilometers to seize the small island on Argentina's doorstep, is it recovery or invasion?

Satellite map of the Falklands

Apparently the United States did not see it that way, believing that Argentina's detention of the three ships was illegal, so in retaliation, the United States sent the warship Lexington to destroy the Argentine settlement on East Falkland.

The so-called "if you detain my fishing boat, I will demolish your house", this is the logic of the Americans.

By that time, the British had not returned to the Malvinas Islands for nearly 60 years, and they might have forgotten that they had occupied them. The conflict between Argentina and the United States probably woke up the British, who probably thought that since the Spaniards had withdrawn, the place must be ownerless, so why not take it back?

In early 1833, the British sent a small detachment to expel the Argentine officials from the island.

The British expedition of 13,000 kilometers to seize the small island on Argentina's doorstep, is it recovery or invasion?

British soldiers landed on the island

This time, Britain learned from the experience of 60 years ago and hurriedly created a fait accompli of residents and institutions on the island.

In 1841, the British sent a lieutenant governor to manage the island, and actively migrated to the island, and by 1885, a British community of about 1800 people had formed on the island.

Since then, Argentina has been protesting against the British occupation here, but for many years Argentina did not have the strength or courage to take any concrete action.

In 1892, Britain declared to the world that it had become an official British colony, and also said that it should be called "Falkland Islands" after the British.

【Protracted debate】

From that time on, another 70 years passed, and it was only after the Second World War that the international community began to do justice for Argentina.

In 1964, the United Nations Decolonization Committee debated the question of the ownership of the islands.

The British expedition of 13,000 kilometers to seize the small island on Argentina's doorstep, is it recovery or invasion?

General Assembly

Drawing on the papal decree of 1493, Argentina had stressed that sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands had been claimed on those grounds that they had inherited from Spain, that they were close to South America, that they were within Argentina's territorial waters and that there should be no more colonies in the world today.

The British argued that they had "openly, continuously and effectively owned, occupied and administered the islands" since 1833. This is what Yu Qian said when he was praised, "take it for granted", he admitted that he had occupied it since 1833, so shouldn't he quickly return it to others? If you take up a long time, you can not pay it back, how can there be such a reason?

The British expedition of 13,000 kilometers to seize the small island on Argentina's doorstep, is it recovery or invasion?

In addition, the United Kingdom has offered that they will apply the principle of self-determination among the Falkland Islanders, who will decide the ownership of the land.

When the British raised this point, it seemed to "forget" that the islanders of Falkland are the descendants of the British who first settled on the island, and they are not the aborigines of the island, at most they can only be regarded as guests, and the wishes of the guests can determine the ownership of the host's family?

The British also claimed that handing over their lives to Argentine rule against the wishes of the Falkland Islanders was by no means ending the colony, but establishing a new colony.

On the surface, Britain is "using the spear of the son and the shield of the attacker", but in fact, they are just using unreasonable reasons to make a seemingly reasonable defense.

The British expedition of 13,000 kilometers to seize the small island on Argentina's doorstep, is it recovery or invasion?

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher

Unable to obtain a definitive outcome from this debate, the United Nations decided in 1965 to invite Britain and Argentina to hold talks to find a peaceful solution to the dispute.

This protracted discussion has been going on for nearly 20 years at once, and the two sides have their own opinions, and naturally there will be no results.

【Falklands War】

On 2 April 1982, the Argentine military junta finally relented and recovered the Malvinas Islands by force.

This could ignite the powder keg, and the British were so angry that they did not hesitate to carry out the largest military operation since World War II.

Britain sent an aircraft carrier task force, a Marine task force, and a submarine privileged group to attack Argentina with great fanfare.

The British expedition of 13,000 kilometers to seize the small island on Argentina's doorstep, is it recovery or invasion?

Britain fought a fierce naval battle with Argentina

Argentina's fragile military strength was simply not enough to resist the overwhelming British forces, and more than two months later, Argentine forces surrendered to the British at Port Stanley.

Since then, the British have been stationed on the island, Argentina can no longer think about it, the British have also implemented military zones and fishing reserves, Argentines can not even fish near this sea.

Naturally, Britain had stopped negotiating with Argentina, which was still unilaterally calling for the resumption of negotiations on sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands.

[Disputes that are difficult to conclude]

In 2013, the issue of the Malvinas Islands once again attracted the attention of the world.

On January 6, British Prime Minister David Cameron said in an interview with the BBC that if necessary, Britain would not hesitate to start a war to defend the sovereignty of the Malvinas Islands, once again expressing Britain's tough attitude.

The British expedition of 13,000 kilometers to seize the small island on Argentina's doorstep, is it recovery or invasion?

Cameron

Cameron's remarks had aroused strong dissatisfaction among the Argentines, which amounted to a complete severance of the hopes of the Argentines and the public statement that it was impossible to return the Malvinas Islands to Argentina.

Argentina's Foreign Ministry immediately responded, calling Cameron's statement "offensive rhetoric", noting that Britain would fully transform the possibility of a peaceful solution into militarization and possibly even introduce nuclear weapons into the region.

Argentine President Cristina Fernández Kirchner wrote publicly to Cameron in British newspapers, urging Britain to comply with the relevant 1965 UN resolutions and reopen sovereignty negotiations with Argentina.

The British expedition of 13,000 kilometers to seize the small island on Argentina's doorstep, is it recovery or invasion?

Cristina Fernández Kirchner

On March 10, 2013, Britain held a referendum in the Malvinas Islands, asking the islanders to answer the question: As a British Overseas Territory, do you want to retain your current political status?

This move of the British is undoubtedly clever, but also shameless. Is it possible that the island's inhabitants, all descendants of the original British immigrants, wish to leave Britain and enter Argentina? Once again, robber logic prevails, letting guests decide where they belong, ignoring the presence of the host.

It was a sensational event at the time, with journalists from all over the world pouring into Port Stanley, filling local hotel rooms and jamming the internet.

It is said that the voting scene was very hot at that time, and the island's residents, apparently afraid that their nationality would change from British to Argentina, formed a long line in front of the city hall.

The final vote was 1514:3, with residents hoping to retain British nationality winning by a landslide.

To this day, the question of the ownership of the Falklands remains unresolved, Argentina has not given up its claim to the Falklands, while the United Kingdom still insists that it has absolute legal sovereignty over the Falklands.

【Statements from countries around the world】

On June 6, 2013, at the 43rd General Assembly of the Organization of American States, the majority of member states supported Argentina's position.

On March 29, 2016, the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf determined that the Malvinas Islands are located within Argentine territorial waters and should belong to Argentina's territory.

On May 17, 2017, China also reiterated its support for Argentina's claim to sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands. We call on Argentina and the UK to resume dialogue and negotiations to find a peaceful solution.

On June 24, 2021, Geng Shuang, Deputy Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations, delivered a speech at the Special Committee on Decolonization of the General Assembly, calling on the international community to continue its efforts to eradicate colonialism.

China firmly supported Argentina's legitimate claim to sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands.

May there never be hegemony and bullying in this world again.

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