Historical Case Study Example: Falklands War

Argentine had claimed sovereignty of Falklands for an extended period until the time it decided to use its military force to request its justice. For that matter, Falklands war principle adversaries were Argentine, and Britain who was fighting over the Falklands Islands termed as Malvinas. For that matter, Argentine and the British government became the most significant rivals of their time to the point of engaging in multiple warfares. The battle for two sisters and the struggle of Mount Harriet occurred on the night of 11th and 12th June 1982. Additionally, the action of Mount Longdon also occurred between date 11 and 12th June 1982 (Fremont-Barnes, 2012). The war took place at the Falklands Island, Malvinas which is the Argentine was claiming the possession from Britain. This scenario shows that Argentina was the cause of the war for claiming ownership of what was not theirs.

Strategic/Operational Overview

According to Fremont-Barnes (2012), the Falklands war started after Argentina claimed that Malvinas Island was part of the Argentina territory. It was termed as South Atlantic conflict and which lasted for a minimum of 10 weeks. Argentina started the war by invading the two British overseas lands that are around the South Atlantic, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands on Friday 2, 1982. Argentina was trying to establish sovereignty that it had claimed over the named Islands. To tackle the inversion, the British Government had to dispatch naval task forces. For that matter, the British naval forces engaged in Argentine Navy in conjunction with Airforce even before making their planned amphibious assault on the Islands. The battle lasted for 74 days after Argentine surrendered and returned the Islands to their subjects. The primary purpose of the British involvement in the war was to protect their sovereignty of the territories that belonged to it. On the other hand, Argentine insisted that the regions belonged to it and they wanted a reclamation. Since the British government the actions that Argentine took over the territories to be an invasion, the battle that was launched claimed over 900 lives with 255 being British soldiers, 649 were Argentine soldiers and three Falkland Islanders.

Area of Operations

After Argentine had deployed their military in South Georgia on 2nd April 1982, they continued using thousands of its military. Notwithstanding the fact that Winter was approaching, the Argentine Lieutenant general Leopoldo Galtieri failed to provide his army enough amenities, clothing and better food to enable them to survive the fight during the winter. The Winter period made it a problem for the Argentine military to tackle the British army that was heavily armed and prepared for the winter. Winter made the poorly trained Argentine military to be overpowered and caught as captives thus losing the sovereignty that they were claiming from the British government.

Terrain

Mount Harriet was the most strategic place for the Argentine troops to fight the British forces. The mountain offered a great height that showed a significant advantage to the forces on their way to Port Stanley thus saving them from being dangerously attacked in the rear. Mount Longdon had two platoons that faced north and west. The British attacked the Argentines in three Para well-trained battalion. However, the British army had a hard task since the mountain was facing Mount Vernet that was interspersed with minefields like five miles. The Mount Longdon made it difficult for the British troops to reveal the position of the Argentine army. Mount Harriet had a significant advantage over mount Longdon. Thus it made it possible to situate a more rad on top of the mountain that detected the movement of British Army thus setting fire on them.

The Principal Antagonists

The principle combats were the Argentine Army and British Troops. China supported the Argentines. On the other hand, the British troops were heavily supported by United States army. The Argentines had planned to use several warships, airplanes but were invaded by the US airlines that destroyed the planes that intended to be used to massacre the British emperor. The weapons used were in addition to the Rasit radar that detected and set fire on the British troops. The detector was placed in a way that it recognized any approaching British forces and set fire on them. The British Paras hade heavy machine-guns that were well handled. Other weapons used by the British were Artillery, ships, Anti-aircraft guns and anti-ship missiles.

Technology

The battle filed techniques included the Exocet that was used by the Argentines to sink two British Ships and damaged the third. The British army had anti-missiles that protected their aircrafts. There was also sea Dart that was used by the British naval medium as a medium range surface-to-air missile. The Argentines war machines were a little of high efficiency than those of British army, but their soldiers had little experience to adapt to the dirty game that the British applied.

Doctrine and training

Robinsons (2011) research outlines that the British armies had passed through several training programs than the Argentine troops who had been recruited in a period that was less than a month before they were deployed to tackle the old British forces that had participated in World war 2.

Logistical systems

The British army had an advantage in supplies and transportation while the Argentines were being attacked by both US military and the British troops. Britain had a power over the Argentines after Argentina failed to construct a good reputation with the USA.

Intelligence

Regarding Philos (2014) research, the Intelligence that the British army was using was achieved during their participation in the world war that gave them tactics to fight during the night, to perform night patrol, to employ dirty fight through their professionals who had served long in the army. Also, Britain had an advantage over Argentina since it sourced its intelligence from US army commanders.

Condition and morale

The morale of the Argentines was to take their portion no matter what could happen but their confidence was reduced when their allies got support from the USA which was known for its strong and tactful military base. The Weather affected the Argentina Troops since they had not been given enough food and clothing to carry them on during the winter. The Terrain favored Argentines, but their subjects had a long history of Gorilla tactics thus they were overshadowed and massacred.

Command and control

The British army had a strong command and control system that was in addition to the army that backed it up. It responded with the Amphibious landing. The ear tactics employed were decentralized thus overpowered the Argentine militias. Three Commando Brigade formed Royal marines. Alos, there were five Infantry brigades. Leaders were Lieutenants Mike, Malcolm Hunt, and Nick Vaux and were heavily trained with the tactics used during the World War 2.

References

Fremont-Barnes, G. (2012). The Falklands 1982: Ground operations in the South Atlantic. Bloomsbury Publishing.

Freedman, L. (2005). The Official History of the Falklands War.

Philo, G. (2014). The Glasgow media group reader, Vol. II: Industry, economy, war and politics. Routledge.

Robinson, L. (2011). Soldiers' stories of the Falklands War: recomposing trauma in memoir. Contemporary British History, 25(4), 569-589.