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The cultural impact of the Falklands War spanned several media in both Britain and Argentina. A number of films and television productions emerged from the conflict. The first Argentine film about the war was Los chicos de la guerra (The Boys of the War) in 1984. The BBC drama Tumbledown (1988) tells the story of a British officer paralysed from a bullet wound. The computer game Harrier Attack (1983) and the naval strategy game Strike Fleet (1987) are two examples of Falklands-related games. A number of fictional works were set during the Falklands War, including in Stephen King's novella The Langoliers (1990), in which the character Nick Hopewell is a Falklands veteran. The war provided a wealth of material for non-fiction writers; in the United Kingdom (UK) an important account became Max Hastings and Simon Jenkins' The Battle for the Falklands.
On 4 May, the British tabloid newspaper The Sun ran the controversial headline "Gotcha" in reference to the sinking of the General Belgrano. It has since been said[ by whom? ] that this contributed to the cultural impact that the war would have, as well as that it was an encapsulation of the British nation's mood at the time, and has formed a significant part of Britain's front page history. [1]
The Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges wrote a short poem, called Juan López y John Ward (1985), about two fictional soldiers (one from each side), who died in the Falklands, in which he refers to "islands that were too famous". Another Argentine example is "Elegy for the Argentine Dead Boys, in the South Atlantic" by Salvador Oria. [2] Music referencing the war includes songs by Captain Sensible, as well as his fellow British politically outspoken punk-rock peers, Crass, (with their song "Sheep Farming In The Falklands"), the Argentine punk-rock band Los Violadores' song "Comunicado #166", and British heavy metal band Iron Maiden's song called "Como Estais Amigos". [3]
A number of films and television productions emerged from the conflict. Notable examples include:
The war provided a wealth of material for writers, and many dozens of books came from it; in the United Kingdom (UK) an account was Max Hastings and Simon Jenkins' The Battle for the Falklands .[ citation needed ] Major General Julian Thompson, of the Royal Marines, wrote his own account as commander in his 1985 book No Picnic: 3 Commando Brigade in the South Atlantic. Other titles focused on the Sea Harrier (Sharkey Ward's Sea Harrier over the Falklands ), the land battles leading up to the Argentine surrender (Christian Jennings and Adrian Weale's Green Eyed Boys ), and the general experience of battle and life in the surrounding area (Ken Lukowiak's A Soldier's Song and Marijuana Time). Vincent Bramley's "Forward into Hell" offers a less apologetic account of the War. In Argentina, one of the best-known is Commodore Pablo Carballo's Halcones de Malvinas , a collection of personal experiences of fighter pilots and many others [9] and mandatory reading for admission to the FAA's Escuela de Aviación Militar. [10]
The Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges, himself partly of British descent and raised bilingually in Spanish and English, wrote a short poem, called Juan López y John Ward (1985), about two fictional soldiers (one from each side), who died in the Falklands, in which he refers to "islands that were too famous". He also said about the war: "The Falklands thing was a fight between two bald men over a comb." [11]
A large amount of poetry has been written on both sides, regarding the war. An Argentine example is "Elegy for the Argentine Dead Boys, in the South Atlantic" by Salvador Oria. [2]
Music referencing the war includes:
Linda Kitson was the official war artist accompanying British troops during the Falklands Conflict. She created over 400 drawings of the troops' daily life, many of which are now part of the Imperial War Museum's art collection and were exhibited to the general public in November 1982. They were featured again in the Museum's exhibition Women War Artists, in 2011–2012. [25] All of Kitson's drawings which were not retained by the Museum were sold.
Tottenham Hotspur's popular Argentine midfielder Ossie Ardiles had helped beat Leicester City in an FA Cup semi-final one day after the invasion: whilst Ardiles was booed by the Leicester fans, who chanted "England, England, England" whenever he touched the ball, the Tottenham supporters responded by chanting "Argentina, Argentina, Argentina" in support of Ardiles. [26] Two days later he left England to return to Argentina: according to him, this had already been arranged before the war so he could prepare with the Argentina national football team ahead of the 1982 FIFA World Cup. Whilst Tottenham's manager Keith Burkinshaw wanted Ardiles to return to the club for the next season, Ardiles felt unable to do this, and as a compromise it was agreed that he would instead go on loan to Paris Saint-Germain. [27] However he would subsequently return to Tottenham, remaining with the club until 1988 and winning the UEFA Cup with them in 1984. His cousin José Ardiles, a fighter pilot, was killed during the early stages of the air campaign, becoming the first Argentine pilot to die in the war. [26] Ardiles' countryman and Tottenham team-mate, Ricardo Villa, also chose to miss the 1982 FA Cup Final, and subsequently left the club in 1983. [28] White, Blue and White, a documentary on Ardiles and Villa's experiences in England, including the period of the conflict, was produced for ESPN's 30 for 30 series. [29]
Elsewhere, Stockport County stopped using their blue-and-white kit inspired by the Argentina national team, stating that playing in it "hardly seems appropriate, given the current circumstances". The war also created heightened passions between Argentina and England in the 1986, 1998, and 2002 FIFA World Cups, featuring play by Diego Maradona, Peter Shilton, and David Beckham. [30]
The war is commemorated as Día del Veterano de Guerra y los Caídos en Malvinas (Veterans and Fallen Soldiers of the Falklands Day), a public holiday in Argentina, on 2 April. It is sometimes referred to as Malvinas Day.
In Britain, those who lost their lives are remembered as part of Remembrance Sunday.
In the Falkland Islands themselves, two holidays commemorate the war: Liberation Day on 14 June (or the first Monday afterward, if it falls on a weekend), a public holiday in the Falkland Islands, and Margaret Thatcher Day on 10 January. [31]
In the United Kingdom, there is a national memorial at Pangbourne College, a small co-educational public school in Berkshire; it is titled the Falkland Islands Memorial Chapel.
There are several memorials in the Falkland Islands, the most predominate of which is the 1982 Liberation Memorial in Stanley which was unveiled on 14 June 1984 (the second anniversary of the end of the war and liberation of the Falkland Islanders).
When the war started a Buenos Aires street, "Calle Inglaterra" (England Street), was renamed "Calle 2 de Abril" (2 April Street), after the start date of the war. In November 2013, the street briefly reverted to its original name "Calle Inglaterra". [32] But due to the resulting denunciations and fierce protests caused by this name, the same street was finally renamed in March 2014 as the "Pasaje 2 de Abril" by the Buenos Aires government, also because another street named "Calle 2 de Abril" already exists in Buenos Aires. [33]
In 1982, after the Falklands War ended, the clock tower "Torre de los Ingleses" (Tower of the English), which was a gift from the local British community to the city of Buenos Aires in commemoration of the centennial of the May Revolution of 1810, was renamed as the "Torre Monumental" (Monumental Tower). At the same time, the "Plaza Británica" (British Square), where the tower is situated, was renamed as the "Plaza Fuerza Aérea Argentina" (Argentine Air Force Square). The Monument to the Fallen Soldiers was built in this square.
This war is occasionally written as The Falklands/Malvinas War, [34] [35] [36] recognising the international split over the Islands' name. Other names such as Falklands Conflict and Falklands Crisis have also been used. The term Guerra de las Malvinas or Malvinas War is the one normally used in Spanish-speaking countries and has also been used by some socialist groups in English-speaking countries. [37] [38]
The name "Guerra del Atlántico Sur", meaning "War of the South Atlantic" is also used in Spanish. [39] [40] Unlike the term "Falklands/Malvinas War", this reflects the fact that some of the conflict occurred in South Georgia (which at the time was a dependency of the Falklands), and the deep ocean.
The Falklands War was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial dependency, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. The conflict began on 2 April 1982, when Argentina invaded and occupied the Falkland Islands, followed by the invasion of South Georgia the next day. On 5 April, the British government dispatched a naval task force to engage the Argentine Navy and Air Force before making an amphibious assault on the islands. The conflict lasted 74 days and ended with an Argentine surrender on 14 June, returning the islands to British control. In total, 649 Argentine military personnel, 255 British military personnel, and three Falkland Islanders were killed during the hostilities.
ARA General Belgrano (C-4) was an Argentine Navy light cruiser in service from 1951 until 1982. Originally commissioned by the U.S. Navy as USS Phoenix, she saw action in the Pacific theatre of World War II before being sold to Argentina. The vessel was the second to have been named after the Argentine founding father Manuel Belgrano (1770–1820). The first vessel was a 7,069-ton armoured cruiser completed in 1896.
The Beagle conflict was a border dispute between Chile and Argentina over the possession of Picton, Lennox and Nueva islands and the scope of the maritime jurisdiction associated with those islands that brought the countries to the brink of war in 1978.
Sovereignty over the Falkland Islands is disputed by Argentina and the United Kingdom. The British claim to sovereignty dates from 1690, when they made the first recorded landing on the islands, and the United Kingdom has exercised de facto sovereignty over the archipelago almost continuously since 1833. Argentina has long disputed this claim, having been in control of the islands for a few years prior to 1833. The dispute escalated in 1982, when Argentina invaded the islands, precipitating the Falklands War.
Rodolfo Enrique Fogwill, who normally went only by his surname, Fogwill, was an Argentine short story writer, novelist, and businessman. He was a distant relative of the novelist Charles Langbridge Morgan. He was the author of Malvinas Requiem, one of the first narratives to deal with the Falklands War. Fogwill died on August 21, 2010, from a pulmonary dysfunction.
The Argentine Naval Prefecture is a service of Argentina's Security Ministry charged with protecting the country's rivers and maritime territory. It therefore fulfills the functions of other countries' coast guards, and furthermore acts as a gendarmerie force policing navigable rivers.
Malvinas Day, officially Day of the Veterans and Fallen of the Malvinas War, is a public holiday in Argentina, observed each year on 2 April. The name refers to the Falkland Islands, known in Spanish as the Islas Malvinas.
The Heroína was a privately owned frigate that was operated as a privateer under a license issued by the United Provinces of the River Plate. It was under the command of American-born Colonel David Jewett and has become linked with the Argentine claim to sovereignty of the Falkland Islands.
There were many events leading to the 1982 Falklands War between the United Kingdom and Argentina over possession of the Falkland Islands and South Georgia.
HMS Tiger Bay was a Z-28-class patrol boat operated by the British Royal Navy, previously the Argentine Coast Guard vessel PNA Islas Malvinas (GC-82), which was seized at Port Stanley by the crew of HMS Cardiff on 14 June 1982 following the Argentine surrender during the Falklands War.
Operación Soberanía was a planned Argentine military invasion of Chile due to the Beagle conflict. The invasion was initiated on 22 December 1978 but was halted after a few hours and Argentine forces retreated from the conflict zone without a fight. Whether the Argentine infantry actually crossed the border into Chile has not been established. Argentine sources insist that they crossed the border.
The papal mediation in the Beagle conflict followed the failure of negotiations between Chile and Argentina, when, on 22 December 1978, the Argentinian Junta started Operation Soberanía, to invade Cape Horn and islands awarded to Chile by the Beagle Channel Arbitration. Soon after the event, Pope John Paul II offered to mediate and sent his personal envoy, Cardinal Antonio Samoré, to Buenos Aires. Argentina, in acceptance of the authority of the Pope over the overwhelmingly Catholic Argentine population, called off the military operation and accepted the mediation. On 9 January 1979, Chile and Argentina signed the Act of Montevideo formally requesting mediation by the Vatican and renouncing the use of force.
Mario Benjamin Menéndez was the Argentine governor of the Falklands during the 1982 Argentine occupation of the islands. He also served in the Argentine Army. Menéndez surrendered Argentine forces to Britain during the Falklands War.
The aftermath of the 1982 Falklands War between the United Kingdom and Argentina affected world geopolitics, the local political culture in Argentina and the UK, military thought, medical treatment, and the lives of those who were directly involved in the war.
The Argentine Military Cemetery, Spanish: Cementerio de Darwin, is a military cemetery on East Falkland that holds the remains of 236 Argentine combatants killed during the 1982 Falklands War. It is located at Fish Creek to the east of the Darwin Settlement the location of the Battle of Goose Green. There is a replica of the cemetery at Berazategui in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina.
Antonio "El Gaucho" Rivero was a gaucho known for his leading role in the Port Louis Murders of 26 August 1833, in which five prominent members of the settlement of Port Louis on the Falkland Islands were murdered. In Argentine revisionist historiography and public consciousness, Rivero is viewed as a patriotic hero who rebelled against British authority. However, academic historians both in Argentina and abroad agree that Rivero's actions were not motivated by patriotism, but by disputes over pay and working conditions with the representatives of Louis Vernet, the former Argentine Political and Military Commander of the islands.
Eduardo Alejandro Roca was an Argentine lawyer, academic, and diplomat. He was Ambassador of Argentina to the United States (1968–1970) and was appointed as a permanent representative to the United Nations during the 1982 Falklands War.
The Falklands Naval Station was the main base of the naval component of Argentina in the Falklands Islands, during the South Atlantic conflict of 1982.
Oscar Ismael Poltronieri is an Argentine former soldier, who fought in the Falklands War in 1982. He is the only private who received antemortem the highest military distinction of Argentina, the Cross for Heroic Valour in Combat, for his actions during the Battle of Two Sisters.
The performance of Bolivia during the Falklands War refers to all the acts that the country carried out during the time that the war in the Falklands Islands lasted. Bolivia had become in 1833 the first country in the Americas to protest the English invasion of the Falkland Islands.
Margaret Thatcher Day is celebrated every 10 January on the islands and a street is named Thatcher Drive after her in the capital Port Stanley.