Falklands War From Argentina's Perspective | Animated History

the blue and white banner unfurls in the wind after years of struggle the people of south america have thrown off the yoke of their imperial oppressors the decadent monarchy of spain ejected from the new world this is a free age for the united provinces of rio de la plata an age that begins on las malvinas an archipelago some 300 miles or kilometers east of what would become known as argentina [Music] the proto-argentines revel in their victory which will last but 13 years a british warship arrives at las malvinas and in a bloodless invasion forces the argentines from their stake the proto-argentines have no way of knowing that their descendants would try to avenge this theft and that their failure to do so would bring their country back to its ideological route of democracy [Music] hi i'm griffin johnson the armchair historian territorial disputes have been a constant throughout history but few land squabbles have the longevity of the dispute over the falkland islands or las islas malvinas the islands have long been claimed by argentina but were ultimately settled by the british whose colonists live there to this day this is despite argentina's multiple attempts to assert their claim to las malvinas diplomatically arguably with the backing of the united nations legal precedent after a near century of diplomatic effort and british provocation argentina engaged the british in combat for the fate of las malvinas this falklands war is most often studied from the british perspective weaving a tale of the aging empire flexing its military muscles in one last fight between the old world and the new in this episode we will look at the falklands war from the perspective of argentina and see why 1982 was the year the perilously positioned military dictators of buenos aires made a decision that would see the argentine people revive the revolutionary spirit of their ancestors to usher in a new era of democracy many historians underestimate the role that military intelligence played during the falklands war during the conflict the government communications headquarters or gchq managed to crack argentine ciphers enabling the british to predict ambushes from the argentine navy which led to the sinking of the general balgrano by a british submarine this brings us neatly to the sponsor of today's video nordvpn with nordvpn you can rest assured that your important communications are kept safe with industry-leading encryption technology beyond that history fans can use nordvpn services to bypass region locking and bandwidth throttling letting you access documentaries and historical material from all over the world and if you're worried nordvpn protects you from malware phishing attempts or spyware from compromising your anonymity while additional features like nordpass keep your password secure and nord locker provides encrypted cloud storage for your valuable data support our channel and get a chance to win one month one year or even two years of free subscription time including nord's 30-day money-back guarantee by using the link in the description below or by going directly to nordvpn.com history vpn before we discuss the fight for the islands it is important to understand where this conflict originates in the first place the dispute over las malvinas first played out in the halls of international diplomacy as the british settled and expanded across the islands the argentines protested their presence reiterating their claim from 1820 and citing the settlement of the island by argentine gauchos or ranchers before the british incursion the argentine case is rooted in these twin facts and the central thesis that the british illegally occupy sovereign argentine territory these subsequent votes by the falkland islanders to remain british thus have no legal standing while the falklanders claim their right to self-determination the argentines point to a u.n resolution that places territorial integrity over self-determination in short this u.n ruling guarantees argentina's claim to las malvinas under the color of international law no matter how many times the british colonists vote to continue their occupation after all would the mosquito vote for citronella speaking of the u.n the international body took notice of argentina's plight in 1965 and formally acknowledged that the british and argentines were engaged in a territorial dispute over las malvinas the un asked the two sides to negotiate leading to a series of talks that lasted throughout the 1970s argentina and the united kingdom were able to agree to some minor power sharing measures but even as they hammered out the details the uk began making moves to exploit the resources that they had found on las malvinas the argentines protested this breach of good faith and the un passed a resolution calling on both sides to not alter the situation on the islands in the midst of their talks the uk took the resolution as an opportunity to reflect on their actions and after careful consideration continued to exploit the resources on las malvinos in flagrant disregard of the un mandate but the argentines would have little time to protest this naked playing fast and loose with diplomacy there were pressing issues at home that required government attention in fact it was the argentine government that was the pressing issue the same year the un condemned the british breach argentina was upended by a coup that saw a military junta seize power this group's military dictatorship sought to consolidate power through the elimination of its perceived opponents in what would become known as the dirty war a seven year campaign of terror up to 30 000 enemies of the junta were rounded up by state forces or paramilitary organizations and taken to detention centers where they were tortured murdered or in many cases both women who gave birth in detention had their children seized and adopted by members of the junta but the argentine people had more to contend with than these attempts to bring them to heal the economy was in shambles and the situation continued to spiral out of control as the junta devolved into infighting and its members jockeyed to take supreme executive power [Music] it was this jockeying that in 1981 saw a triumvirate made up of lieutenant general leopaldo caltieri admiral jorge anaya and brigadier general omar graffina to pose the current president and install galtieri into the role the continued economic woes and ongoing dirty war had made the junta immensely unpopular with the argentine people and like all politicians the three dictators knew that nothing brings the populace on side quite like a war they reasoned a quick splashy conflict ending in an easy win would drown out their critics in an overwhelming uproar of national pride on march 19 1982 a group of argentine marines landed on south georgia island 810 miles or 1300 kilometers from las malvinas dressed in civilian clothing the marines occupied an abandoned whaling station and raised their flag in effect claiming the island for the junta the british responded to this probe by sending argentina an ultimatum pull your people off the island or we will do it for you the hms endurance an armed icebreaker used as a patrol ship was sent to south georgia with a mighty force of 22 royal marines admiral anaya read this not as a warning but as an indication of apathy the force sent to reclaim the islands included barely as many men as an association football match and coupled with the overall drawdown of british ships and troops in the region the admiral confidently informed his cohorts that the math added up to a simple conclusion the british no longer cared about their south american territories argentina's splashy easy victory was ripe for the taking and it grew on the shores of las malvinas with the forthcoming cheers of their people already ringing in their ears the junta ordered an immediate invasion of the islands the army that would mount this invasion was a force of decently armed conscripts racked with internal difficulties the 10 000 argentine infantry committed to the invasion carried modern weaponry and equipment into battle including their own version of the belgian fn fal the argentine air force outnumbered the british raf three to one and would make deadly use of the cutting-edge exosa anti-ship missile against the legendary royal navy the achilles heel of the argentine forces however was morale your rank and file argentine had little motivation to fight a state of affairs exacerbated by some officers openly discussing with their men their opinion that the invasion was a poorly planned quickly executed glorified publicity stunt garrisons that would go on to be established on las malvinas came to be racked with apathy as officers and enlisted men alike waited for their time as bargaining chips to come to an end but more on that later life was made harder for the argentine soldiers by other more active officers many of whom had allegedly served as interrogators for the junta and would lead their men with a combination of torture and sometimes murder either for perceived cowardice or because the officers simply wanted to do it invasion veteran ernesto alonso recalled that their own officers were their worst enemies the cherry atop this jenga tower of complications was the junta's unwillingness despite their invasion fever to commit their best troops to the conflict for fear of a chilean invasion the junta kept their best troops on the home front sending underprepared conscripts to capture and reinforce las malvinas [Music] april 2nd 1982 argentine infantry land on las malvinas at 6 a.m heading straight for the airport the landing strip falls with no resistance and reinforcements are flown in just shy of three hours later rex hunt british governor of the islands realizes the futility of the situation and requests negotiations to end hostilities by 12 30 the argentines have taken the capital of port stanley raising their flag and renaming the city puerto argentino argentine port the only casualty is an argentine officer captain pedro gauchiano who dies in the assault on the colonial government headquarters the invasion is an unqualified success and with the speed of their victory and the lack of british deaths the argentines are confident the british will come hat in hand to the negotiating table las malvinas son argentinas the next day it was argentina's turn to be censured by the un the security council passed a resolution calling for the immediate withdrawal of argentine forces and efforts by both sides to seek a diplomatic solution argentina was shocked by this outcome particularly because the argentine envoy to the un believed he had secured a soviet promise to veto the resolution and by extension give their implicit support for the invasion the un vote was a reflection of argentina's perilous position on the international stage they were in a state of political isolation from many of their neighbors in latin america having no diplomatic relationship with cuba relations on the rocks with mexico over argentine asylum seekers fleeing to central america from the dirty war and a long-running border dispute with uruguay breeding much distrust between the two countries argentina's only supporters in the conflict were peru who would sell them a small number of outmoded fighters toward the end of hostilities as well as panama and venezuela as argentina weathered this diplomatic assault their forces on las malvinas prepared for a military one bringing additional material to the island to shore up their garrison joining this frenzy of rearmament was the argentine air force who had been largely excluded from planning up to this point argentina's pilots had to quickly shift their mindset as they were trained and equipped for a possible land war against chile the news that the uk was dispatching a naval task force to sail all the way from great britain to las malvinas highlighted a key weakness of this monomania few argentine planes were prepared for anti-ship combat and fewer of their pilots had trained in air-to-sea warfare as the british steamed for las malvinas the argentines dug in battle would not resume until the end of april [Music] april would prove to be a patriotic month for argentina the junta was careful to tailor the narrative ensuring that only the best possible news was given to the public military officers were installed in argentine newspapers and television networks overseeing coverage and keeping broadcasters and printers in line the argentine people erupted into a frenzy of support for their leaders coming together to almost universally back the same junta that had tortured and murdered for years even known critics of the junta like renowned polymath ernesto sabato couldn't help but come on side sabato himself declared in argentina it is not a military dictatorship that is fighting opponents to the regime like myself are fighting for our dignity fighting to extricate the last vestiges of colonialism don't be mistaken europe it is not a dictatorship that is fighting for the malvinas it is the whole nation this seems to indicate that in sabato's mind and perhaps the opponents of the junta who came to support it the desire to eradicate colonialism trumped the desire for democracy but it was not a desire that would survive the upcoming counter-attack [Music] on april 25th the first battle of the british offensive occurs at south georgia island the argentine submarine santa fe a desperately outmoded tub from the 1960s is spotted by british helicopters and depth charged the santa fe takes a direct hit and is forced to surface british helicopters coming in to finish her off in a display of courage that beggars belief the argentine submariners take to the deck of their ship firing fal rifles and light machine guns at the british hellos long enough for the santa fe to crawl into a friendly port but even as the santa fe escapes them the british land a mixed contingent of royal marines and special air service and special boat service commandos the small argentine garrison on south georgia surrenders without a fight clearing the way for the british to attack las malvinas the argentines on las malvinas can only watch as the british surround the islands establishing a naval exclusion zone around the archipelago puerto argentino is bombed on may 1st with the airport as the primary target this marks the first phase of battle in ernst an aerial and naval duel between the argentines and british this duel escalates the next day when the hms conqueror sinks the argentine cruiser general belgrano outside the naval exclusion zone killing 323 the attack on the belgrano will constitute half of argentina's war dead the junta orders its ships to return to port for the duration of the conflict ensuring that britannia rules the waves but these skies remain bitterly contested argentine flyers sink several british ships throughout the war at the cost of 22 planes and the last of their exocet missiles on may 4th british harriers launch an assault on the airfields at darwin a settlement outside puerto argentino only to have one of their planes downed by argentine anti-aircraft fire as the harriers rocket overhead and the argentines fill the sky with missiles and flack father pablo sosa tends to the argentine wounded giving them comfort or last rites in the chaos of battle the father would be unofficially canonized the saint of the trenches by grateful argentine soldiers but seldom are wars won exclusively in the air and sea and the conflict over las malvinas is no exception on may 21st the british land at port san carlos and ajax bay the 4 000 british initially face no opposition as the argentines have taken up static defensive positions ready to meet the assault from the trenches and earthworks argentine flyers do not let the british remain unopposed for long however launching sorties against the growing beachhead and racking up three sunk and eight severely damaged british ships many of which were carrying vital supplies in yet another case of truth being stranger than fiction the argentines were tipped off to the british landing point by none other than the bbc who ran a news story outlining the entirety of the british plan despite this utter betrayal by the producers of wallace and gromit the british forces fight their way through the argentine position and advance into the islands the argentines meet the british in battle at darwin on may 28th they're dug in positions enabling them to turn back the enemy late on the 28th the argentines receive additional reinforcements and lieutenant colonel italo piaci commander of the darwin garrison seems to have the advantage until the british send two pows to piahi with a message surrender immediately or our artillery will bring darwin crashing down around your ears piahi chooses to surrender justifying his decision thus the battle had turned into a sniping contest they could sit well out of range of our soldiers fire and if they wanted to raise the settlement the next day would see one thousand argentines at goose green a settlement two miles or roughly three kilometers southeast of darwin fight a british force three times smaller and be overrun between the battles at darwin and goose green the argentines lose 55 men and suffer 86 wounded and 900 captured the british capitalize on their momentum sweeping argentines off of mount kent a key position overlooking puerto argentino the argentines at the port nevertheless persist launching a wave of airstrikes on the british supply ships as they mass in the nearby pleasant bay despite the argentine efforts the british land more troops and supplies around puerto argentina general mario menendez commander of argentine forces on las malvinas orders his men to oppose these landings and while the argentines put up a fierce fight they are unable to prevent the british from assaulting and occupying the remaining heights around the would-be argentine capital between june 11th and june 14th with their position secured the british begin shelling puerto argentino destroying military installations and vehicles with pinpoint accuracy as shells rain down on him from above menendez realizes that the fight is lost and surrenders to the british on the 14th las malvinas son britannicas the revelation of surrender hits the argentine people like a train the junta's narrative quickly broke down as outside news sources began to be made available juan bautista joffrey an argentine intelligence officer wrote of the disparity between reality and the junta's propaganda machine it was remarkable even irritating to watch the north american news with correspondents in buenos aires and london and compare what the argentine media maintained about the development of the conflict the disaster of the malvinas conflict would prove to be the straw that broke the junta's back with the truth out the argentine people erupted into a wave of protests between the economic crisis the state of terror and now the loss of las malvinas the people were finally ready to rise up even some members of the military joined them the triumvirate of galtiary anaya and graffina was swept aside replaced by one alfredo saint jean who very quickly was replaced by reynaldo bignone caught between a population that had finally had enough and a military seemingly in the same frame of mind bignone called a general election in 1983 and the junta was cast from power in a wellspring of democracy argentina has been a federal republic since las malvinas or the falkland islands were laid low by the conflict the infrastructure of puerto argentino or port stanley completely broke under the pressure of the falklanders the british forces and the 11 000 argentine prisoners left there general menendez tried to arrange for humane repatriation of his men but the british seemed more interested in expediency cramming over 4 000 argentines onto one ocean liner alone before sending it back to buenos aires 649 argentines lost their lives in the battle for the malvinas islands lives that seem to have been lost in vain for as the argentine foreign ministry states to this day the 1982 conflict did not alter the nature of the sovereignty dispute between argentina and the united kingdom over the malvinas the british have long since lost their interest in negotiating with the argentines trying to call them back to the table as recently as 2021 a move that interestingly coincides with low approval ratings for the argentine government at time of writing [Music] so [Music] [Music] you

Channel: The Armchair Historian

Views: 830,098

Keywords: Las Malvinas Argentinas, Argentina Malvinas, The Falklands War, Margaret Thatcher, The invasion of the falklands, attack on the falkland islands, who owns the falkland islands?, why did Britain invade the falklands?, why does Britain own the falklands?, why doesn't Argentina own the falkland islands?, cold war conflicts

Id: r0RAeytjXVE

Length: 24min 21sec (1461 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 18 2022

Reddit Comments

[u/wogsy]

There is a great documentary called '1533 km To Home' about The Falklands war from the Argentinian perspective. It contains many interviews with the surviving Argentinian troops. Many of them have visible PTSD and are rightfully very bitter about the whole thing. https://www.imdb.com/video/vi2914238233?playlistId=tt5163040&ref_=tt_pr_ov_vi

It tells how a lot of them were untrained kids who had no business going up against professional experienced soldiers like The Royal Marines and Paratroopers. The Argentinian soldiers had no cold weather gear, substandard equipment and most of them didn't even have food to eat as it was kept by the officers. The officers and top brass were living the life of luxury, hiding in their warm barracks on the mainland while eating all the food that was meant for the troops. Such a shameful event.

[u/bazx11]

I watched a documentary where a former royal marine goes back to the Falklands after a long time to try to find a Argentine soldier who had left his photo album behind after the war finished he does find the man who used to be a Argentine officer and gives him back his album and they celebrate the occasion with miniature whiskey bottles that the Argentines had as part of there rations on the hills where they had fort

[u/apollowithawig]

This sort of thing is great.

We have so much bullshit that we are taught about/ hear about regarding our history.

It is a constant that politicians will sent us to war to score points that don’t matter. And that could potentially be illegal.

[u/mactakeda]

The book "Nine Battles to Stanley" is also excellent for this reason,

It goes a long way towards showing just how close the War really was. At Goose Green the Argies had reserves just over the water that they never committed to the battle and the Paras had all but exhausted their supplies and ammunition.

How well British forces performed has become so ingrained in public conscience that it's easy to lose sight of the fact that Argentina came very close to victory.