Falkland Wars

Falkland Wars

Introduction

Background

The history of the islands of the Falklands dates back to 500 years from today. The island has been a matter of utmost controversy, especially in the 18th century. Many nations have claimed their right to the island including the British, Argentines, French as well as the Spaniards. The Falkland Islands are located in the South of the Atlantic Ocean, more than two hundred and ninety miles east from the coast of the South American mainland. The European nations which have been at constant wars at sea have been in a continuous conflict over the authority of different colonies or islands. This has been a routine since a number of years. However, due to the existence of numerous powers in the time, treaties were normally signed in order to settle disputes or conflicts. These treaties were clearly defined and they either transferred the ownership of the land back to the previous owner or transferred to the conquering nation. It majorly depended on the power of the nations at that particular time.

The history of the Falkland Islands has been somewhat similar to this. John Davis, a British explorer has been known to be the 1st to set sail towards the islands. However, he initially set out to name some other land in the name of the British. On his way through, he sighted the Falkland Islands in 1592. However, John Strong landed on the islands in 1690 and named the islands in the name of the treasurer of the navy at the time, Viscount Falkland. Strong sailed on after exploring the island. However, the history of the island has been known to remain vacant after that until the French set sail over them. The French initially discovered a colony in the East of the Falkland, at Port Louis in 1764. The same year, the British explorer by the name of John Byron managed to establish a castle at the north of the West of the Falkland. This is when Byron claimed the island in the name of the British. However, Byron had no clue of the already settled French colony on the East of the Falkland. When the British got to know of this, they quickly made friends with the neighbors of the island.

This forced the French to retreat and give up their colony to the Spanish. Spain is considered to be the 1st nation to actually build a settlement over the island. They took their business seriously and started making progress which would have led to future profits for the Spanish. Spain had been so serious in capturing the whole of the island, that they repeatedly made attempts of expelling the British from the islands. This went on for a while until the Spanish finally succeeded in 1774. Spain made several developments over the Islands, which remained under their control for the next 60 years or so. However, during this time, the internal conditions of Spain had worsened and the loyalty of the Spaniards who were in ...