History of the Falkland Islands

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When they were discovered in Europe, the Falkland Islands were uninhabited. But finds of canoes and arrowheads show that the islands were previously visited by the Yámana , an Indian people from Tierra del Fuego .

Falkland Island Postage Stamp (½ Penny) 1891

history

discovery

Unsecured sightings by Spaniards

Various sightings of the archipelago have been recorded but are controversial or are considered unsafe. Amerigo Vespucci in 1501 , Esteban Gomez in 1520 (one of Ferdinand Magellan's captains on his circumnavigation) and Francisco de Camargo in 1540 could have sighted the islands.

Confirmed discoveries

The first sighting that was considered certain was carried out in 1592 by the Englishman John Davis with the ship Desire , when he accompanied Thomas Cavendish on his last voyage.

The Englishman Richard Hawkins reached the archipelago in 1594 and named them as a combination of his own name and the name of Queen Elizabeth I , the Maid , in Hawkins' Maidenland .

The Dutchman Sebald de Weert visited the archipelago on January 24th, 1600 and named it Sebald Eilands . This name and the Spanish equivalents Islas Sebaldinas and Sebaldes were used on nautical charts well into the 19th century .

The islands were first set on in 1690 by John Strong , who discovered the Falklandsund and named it after Anthony Cary, 5th Viscount Falkland , a Scottish politician who was Treasurer of the Navy in charge of the finances of the Royal Navy at the time of the expedition . The modern name of the archipelago goes back to the name of the sound .

First settlements

The first settlement with French expelled from Canada was established by Louis Antoine de Bougainville in 1764 in East Falkland on Berkely Sound . The settlement was after Louis XV. Named Port Louis . The colony was sold to Spain in 1767 and at that time already had 150 settlers. With the Spanish takeover, Port Louis was renamed Puerto Soledad . The French name of the island group Les Nouvelles Malouines goes back to Bougainville's Breton sponsors from Saint-Malo and is the origin of the Spanish name Islas Malvinas or Malwinen, which is still in use today .

The British John Byron landed in Port Egmont Bay in 1765 and took West Falkland into possession of the British Crown.

Probably without knowledge of the French efforts, John McBride founded the first British base Port Egmont in 1766 on Saunders Island northwest of West Falkland . The aim of the settlement was to secure the strategically important sea routes through the Strait of Magellan and the Strait of Drake around Cape Horn .

However, the Spaniards were interested in controlling the entire island area, which led to the Falklands Crisis from 1769 to 1771. In 1770, superior Spanish forces landed in Port Egmont , who captured the far inferior British without a fight and drove them out. As a result, Great Britain threatened Spain with war, in which France also threatened to intervene on the Spanish side, which was followed by lengthy negotiations between Spain, Great Britain and France, as a result of which in 1771 the Spaniards agreed to a return of the British to Port Egmont as a compromise .

Three years later, in 1774, the British gave up their base for economic reasons. Another reason was the outbreak of the American Revolution , which required a regrouping of British forces. However, the British never gave up their claim to the islands and left a flag and a lead plaque at their base to manifest their claim.

In 1775, James Cook discovered the South Sandwich Islands and named them after the infamous first lord of the Admiralty . He mentioned Port Egmont several times in his travelogue , although he never visited the place.

Argentine independence and British occupation

After the Argentine May Revolution on May 25, 1810, the Spanish had to evacuate the islands in 1811. In 1816, the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata achieved final independence from Spain . The new state was called the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata and claimed the islands. The first settlement efforts began in 1820.

In 1823 the government in Buenos Aires granted the fishing and hunting rights to the private investor Jorge Pacheco . He ceded part of his concessions to Luis Vernet (a Hamburg merchant), who only traveled to the Malvinas in June 1826 and initially lived on cattle.

In 1829 Luis Vernet was appointed island commander. His youngest daughter Malvina was born on February 5, 1830, the first Argentine woman to be born on the islands. In addition to his family with now four children and himself, some British, German and Dutch families, about 100 people together, lived in Port Louis. Vernet tried to enforce its monopoly on named fishing and hunting rights by force against US whalers. As a result, the US Navy attacked Vernets settlement and destroyed Puerto Soledad . The United States declared the islands no man's land in 1831 and that they would consider any Argentine settlement on the islands as a pirate's nest .

Charles Darwin and Robert FitzRoy visited the islands with the HMS Beagle (1820) during their trip 1831-1836, which was to give Darwin the impetus to develop his theory of evolution , and were entertained by the Vernet family.

In 1832 the British returned to Port Egmont . On January 2, 1833, the British warship Clio anchored in the port of Puerto Louis . The Argentine officer coming on board was asked to lower the Argentine flag and leave the islands together with the Argentine administration, which happened on January 5th. The islands were officially taken over by Great Britain, while the USA did nothing. A colonial administration was established in 1837 and Port Stanley was established in 1843 , which was declared the capital in 1845.

In 1859 Spain recognized the independence of Argentina, but made no statement about the Falkland Islands .

British colony

In the following time a naval base was built and expanded in Stanley and the islands were populated by sheep farmers. During the First World War , the islands served as a relatively insignificant naval base . Nevertheless, on December 8, 1914, a sea ​​battle broke out in the Falkland Islands , in which the German East Asia Squadron was almost completely destroyed.

During the Second World War , the archipelago's occupation was increased as a Japanese invasion was feared. The naval base served as a strategic British bastion in the South Atlantic and had some importance in the destruction of Admiral Graf Spee .

After the Second World War, the UN tried several times to resolve the Falklands conflict. Among other things, in 1965, with UN Resolution 2065 , she called on both Argentina and Great Britain to resolve the conflict peacefully and in the interests of the inhabitants of the archipelago.

In 1966 there was a private Argentine invasion of Stanley airfield . In 1971 the two states agreed on a certain amount of cooperation. Among other things, the joint use of hospitals and schools on the mainland was regulated. Further discussions took place between 1980 and 1982.

Falklands War

Over the years, the islands' importance changed. Large deposits of fossil fuels have been suspected for a long time in the sea area of ​​the islands . In addition, the islands offer an ideal basis for territorial claims in the Antarctic . These reasons and the domestic political problems mentioned below led to the war.

As early as 1976, the Argentine military under Jorge Videla had put to power. In 1979, the conservative Margaret Thatcher won the UK elections. In 1981 General Galtieri became head of the military government in Buenos Aires . The Argentine military dictatorship was faced with an economic mess and had to fear for power after prolonged bloody unrest. They took advantage of the more than 200-year-old Falklands conflict and started the Falklands War on April 2, 1982 , although the links between the islands and Argentina had already become very close. Superior Argentine forces occupied the poorly defended Falkland and South Sandwich Islands without much resistance . The Conservative government in London also had domestic problems due to its tough and unpopular reforms, which was arguably one of the reasons for its uncompromising response. The British began to recapture the islands on May 1, 1982. The war ended with a British victory on June 20, 1982. As a result of the war, the Argentine military dictatorship fell.

post war period

Due to the Argentine attack, strong British land and air forces were stationed on the islands, which have remained there to this day (2012). It was not until 1990 that Argentina and Great Britain resumed diplomatic relations. To this day, Argentina insists on its claim just as much as Great Britain, changes in the current status are rejected. The population is pro-British.

In early 2010, the UK began drilling oil around the islands. Argentina then tightened controls on shipping to the Falkland Islands.

At the beginning of June 2012 the government of the Falkland Islands announced a referendum on the political status for the first half of 2013 . The decision on the referendum was made "with the full support of the British government" and should dispel all doubts about the desire of the population to remain a British overseas territory with an autonomous government. The referendum was held on March 10th and 11th, 2013. 99.8 percent of the residents spoke out in favor of remaining with Great Britain, 1672 people were entitled to vote. The turnout was around 92 percent.

Timetable

Until 1800

19th century

  • 1810 Argentina rebels against Spain
  • 1811 Spaniards leave the islands, which are henceforth uninhabited
  • 1816 Argentina gains independence and lays claim to the islands
  • 1820 Americans drive British whalers from East Falkland at the request of Argentina .
  • 1826 Argentina approves a colonization project.
  • 1829 Argentina constitutes an island command post.
  • 1831 American warships destroy port facilities. The US declares the islands to be no man's land .
  • 1832 British return to Port Egmont .
  • 1833 The British occupy the entire archipelago against massive Argentine protests . The US does not object.
  • 1837 Establishment of a British colonial administration.
  • 1843 founding of Port Stanley
  • 1845 Stanley becomes the capital
  • 1859 Spain recognizes the independence of Argentina, but does not comment on the Falkland Islands / Malwinen.

20th century

21st century

  • The 21st century began in Argentina with a severe economic crisis (see Argentina crisis ). This started in 1998; In 2001/02 the financial system collapsed. A period of great political instability followed. On August 3, 2012 - ten years after the national bankruptcy - Argentina paid off the rest of its debt stemming from this national bankruptcy. The final installment was US $ 2,3 billion.
  • 2012 President Kirchner presented the Argentinean concern to the UN Committee on Decolonization . The islands are "part of the South Atlantic and Argentina."
  • 2013 At the beginning of January 2013, the President of Argentina, Kirchner , asked British Prime Minister Cameron in an open letter to return the Falkland Islands.
  • 2013 On March 10 and 11, 2013 a referendum was held on the islands on the future political status of the archipelago. 99.8 percent of residents were in favor of staying with Great Britain. The Argentine President Kirchner had previously announced that she would not recognize the result of the referendum. After the large majority of the islanders decided to continue to belong to Great Britain, Kirchner described the referendum on March 12, 2013 as a “parody”. British Prime Minister David Cameron said Argentina had to recognize the referendum and the British government announced that it would do everything it could to defend the islands.
  • 2016 The UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf decided in March 2016 that the waters of Argentina include the Falkland Islands, as the water surface of the country was expanded by 1.7 million square kilometers according to a report by Argentina from 2009 and between 320 km and 560 km from the coast ends. The Falkland Islands government stated that the UN commission would not be allowed to rule on disputed areas and the implications of the decision initially remained unclear.

Web links

Commons : History of the Falkland Islands  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.mindspring.com/~koz/papers/FalklandPaper.html
  2. ↑ a b c d Joseph Oehrlein, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, October 25, 2013, p. 10.
  3. ↑ Decreto de creación de la Comandancia Civil y Militar, Buenos Aires, 10 de junio de 1829. (pdf) Dirección de Cultura y Educación, Buenos Aires, June 10, 1829, archived from the original ; Retrieved September 11, 2010 (Spanish).
  4. ↑ Argentina toughens shipping rules in Falklands oil row , in: BBC News, February 17, 2010
  5. ^ Territorial dispute Falkland Islands announce referendum on political status at zeit.de, June 12, 2012 (accessed June 12, 2012).
  6. ↑ Referendum on the Falkland Islands: 99.8 percent for Great Britain from Spiegel Online , March 12, 2013 (accessed March 12, 2013).
  7. ↑ Speech text (Spanish)
  8. ↑ zeit.de January 3, 2013: President Kirchner places a Falkland ad in the "Guardian"
  9. ↑ Falkland Islands vote on belonging to Great Britain. (No longer available online.) Dpa, March 10, 2013, formerly in the original ; Retrieved March 10, 2013 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.t-online.de  
  10. ↑ Falklands referendum: Islanders vote on British status. BBC News, March 10, 2013, accessed March 14, 2013 .
  11. ↑ zeit.de: Kirchner calls referendum on Falkland Islands "parody" ( memento of the original from April 8, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , March 13, 2013. Retrieved March 15, 2013 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.zeit.de
  12. ↑ welt.de: Cameron: Argentina must recognize the Falklands referendum , March 12, 2013. Accessed March 15, 2013
  13. ↑ dradio.de: London warns Buenos Aires of claims on the Falkland Islands , March 13, 2013. Retrieved March 15, 2013
  14. ↑ Falkland Islands lie in Argentinian waters, UN commission rules in: The Guardian , March 29, 2016, accessed on March 29, 2016