Cultural impact of the Falklands War
Encyclopedia
The cultural impact of the Falklands War
spanned several media in both Britain
and Argentina
.
and Simon Jenkins
' The Battle for the Falklands. 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). In Argentina, one of the most well-known is Commodore Pablo Carballo
's Halcones de Malvinas, a collection of personal experiences of fighter pilots and many others and mandatory reading for admission to FAA
' Escuela de Aviación Militar.
, himself partly of British descent and bilingual in Spanish and English, wrote in 1985
a short poem (Juan López y John Ward) about two fictional soldiers (one of each side) that died in the Falklands, which he refers to as "islands that were too famous". He also said about the war: "The Falklands thing was a fight between two bald men over a comb."
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.
A number of films and television productions emerged from the conflict.
was the official war artist
accompanying British troops during the Falklands Conflict. She created over 400 drawings of the daily life of the troops. Many of Kitson's drawings are now part of the Imperial War Museum
’s art collection, and were exhibited to the general public in November 1982. They are featured again in the Museum's exhibition Women War Artists, in 2011-2012. All of Kitson's drawings which were not retained by the Museum were sold.
's popular Argentine midfielder Ossie Ardiles had helped beat Leicester City
one day after the invasion, to no ill effect, although he subsequently left the UK for a year, of his own volition. Ardiles' cousin, José Ardiles, a fighter pilot, was killed during the early stages of the air campaign. 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
. (See Argentina and England football rivalry
.)
Prior to the Falklands war, the Argentine military had considered its "rockeros" (rock and roll music enthusiasts and artists) as internal enemies of the state. For a time during the war, popular music in English was prohibited on radio stations. Subsequent to the war and the defeat of the military junta, popular music in Argentina reacted strongly to its prior oppression as well as the impacts of the war.
A number of popular songs grew out of the aftermath of the conflict, including "Para la Vida" by León Gieco.
Not all post-conflict Argentine popular music was directed against the former military junta. For example, an Argentine group called "Pedro y Pablo" directed a song entitled "Señora violencia e hijos" to Margaret Thatcher; the pop singer Raúl Porchetto wrote the song named "Reina Madre" (Mother Queen) where the son of the Queen of England tells his mother the experience of killing people without knowing why ("in a distant place I don´t even remember the name").
The popular argentinian musician Charly García composed his classic "No bombardeen Buenos Aires" ("don´t bomb Buenos Aires") during the war. The song is a great synthesis of the socio-political climate in Argentina during the time.
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, there are two holidays as a result of the war, Margaret Thatcher Day on 10 January, and Liberation Day on 14 June (or first Monday after, if it falls on a weekend).
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.
-speaking countries and has also been used by some socialist groups in English
-speaking countries.
The name "Guerra del Atlántico Sur", meaning "War of the South Atlantic" is also used in Spanish. Unlike the term "Falklands/Malvinas War", this reflects the fact that some of the conflict occurred in South Georgia, and the deep ocean.
Falklands War
The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
spanned several media in both Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
.
Non-fiction
The war provided a wealth of material for writers, and many dozens of books came from it; in the United Kingdom (UK) the definitive account became Max HastingsMax Hastings
Sir Max Hugh Macdonald Hastings, FRSL is a British journalist, editor, historian and author. He is the son of Macdonald Hastings, the noted British journalist and war correspondent and Anne Scott-James, sometime editor of Harper's Bazaar.-Life and career:Hastings was educated at Charterhouse...
and Simon Jenkins
Simon Jenkins
Sir Simon David Jenkins is a British newspaper columnist and author, and since November 2008 has been chairman of the National Trust. He currently writes columns for both The Guardian and London's Evening Standard, and was previously a commentator for The Times, which he edited from 1990 to 1992...
' The Battle for the Falklands. 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
Adrian Weale
Adrian Weale is a British writer, journalist, illustrator and photographer of Welsh origin. He was educated at Latymer Upper School, University of York and Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.- Biography :...
'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). In Argentina, one of the most well-known is Commodore Pablo Carballo
Pablo Carballo
Commodore Pablo Marcos Rafael Carballo is a retired member of the Argentine Air Force - the Fuerza Aérea Argentina - who fought in the 1982 Falklands War where he participated in actions that led to the sinking of three Royal Navy ships...
's Halcones de Malvinas, a collection of personal experiences of fighter pilots and many others and mandatory reading for admission to FAA
Argentine Air Force
The Argentine Air Force is the national aviation branch of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic. , it had 14,606 military and 6,854 civilian staff.-History:...
' Escuela de Aviación Militar.
Fiction
- Jack HigginsJack HigginsJack Higgins is the principal pseudonym of UK novelist Harry Patterson. Patterson is the author of more than 60 novels. As Higgins, most have been thrillers of various types and, since his breakthrough novel The Eagle Has Landed in 1975, nearly all have been bestsellers...
' thriller ExocetExocetThe Exocet is a French-built anti-ship missile whose various versions can be launched from surface vessels, submarines, helicopters and fixed wing aircraft. Hundreds were fired in combat during the 1980s.-Etymology:...
dealt with one of the war's most famous "buzz-words"; for many years afterwards, "Exocet" became synonymous with "missile" in the UK ("YompYompYomp is Royal Marines slang describing a long distance march carrying full kit.British Army slang for the same thing is 'tab'. The term 'tab' has its roots in an acronym, being an abbreviation of Tactical Advance to Battle...
" and "Task ForceTask forceA task force is a unit or formation established to work on a single defined task or activity. Originally introduced by the United States Navy, the term has now caught on for general usage and is a standard part of NATO terminology...
" also entered the language). - In 1983 Pierre BoullePierre BoullePierre Boulle was a French novelist largely known for two famous works, The Bridge over the River Kwai and Planet of the Apes .-Biography:...
published the novel La Baleine des Malouines, translated in the UK as The Falklands Whale and in the US as The Whale of the Victoria Cross, about a blue whaleBlue WhaleThe blue whale is a marine mammal belonging to the suborder of baleen whales . At in length and or more in weight, it is the largest known animal to have ever existed....
which befriends the British task force. - Raymond BriggsRaymond BriggsRaymond Redvers Briggs is an English illustrator, cartoonist, graphic novelist, and author who has achieved critical and popular success among adults and children...
' picture book The Tin-Pot Foreign General and the Old Iron WomanThe Tin-Pot Foreign General and the Old Iron WomanThe Tin-Pot Foreign General and the Old Iron Woman is a 1984 picture book, ostensibly for very young children, written and illustrated by Raymond Briggs and published by Hamish Hamilton. It satirises the Falklands War....
(1984) is a satireSatireSatire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
of the Falklands War. - In 1997 Australian Jim Thorn wrote a novel about a fictional sequel to the conflict, "Falklands 2".
- The first chapters of Chris RyanChris RyanSergeant ‘Chris Ryan’ MM is the pseudonym of a former British Special Forces operative and soldier turned novelist...
's novel Land Of Fire are set in the Falklands WarFalklands WarThe Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
, while the latter part involves a plot by a new military junta to re-invade the islands. - The novel Ghost ForceGhost Force (novel)Ghost Force is a 2006 publication, the most recent novel in a series of works by British author Patrick Robinson. It contains characters found in previous Robinson novels.-Plot summary:...
by Patrick Robinson depicts the Argentines reinvading the Falklands. - On Foreign Ground by Eduardo Quiroga, a fiction novel in diary/letter form
- David MitchellDavid Mitchell (author)David Stephen Mitchell is an English novelist. He has written five novels, two of which were shortlisted for the Booker Prize.- Biography :...
's 2006 bildungsromanBildungsromanIn literary criticism, bildungsroman or coming-of-age story is a literary genre which focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood , and in which character change is thus extremely important...
Black Swan GreenBlack Swan GreenBlack Swan Green is a semi-autobiographical bildungsroman written by David Mitchell. It was published in April 2006 in the U.S. and May 2006 in the UK. The novel's thirteen chapters each represent one month—from January 1982 through January 1983—in the life of 13-year-old Worcestershire boy Jason...
is set in WorcestershireWorcestershireWorcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...
, England, in 1982, and contains many references to the Falklands War.
Poetry
The Argentinian writer Jorge Luis BorgesJorge Luis Borges
Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo , known as Jorge Luis Borges , was an Argentine writer, essayist, poet and translator born in Buenos Aires. In 1914 his family moved to Switzerland where he attended school, receiving his baccalauréat from the Collège de Genève in 1918. The family...
, himself partly of British descent and bilingual in Spanish and English, wrote in 1985
1985 in literature
The year 1985 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-New books:*Isaac Asimov - Robots and Empire*Margaret Atwood - The Handmaid's Tale*Jean M. Auel - The Mammoth Hunters*Iain Banks - Walking on Glass...
a short poem (Juan López y John Ward) about two fictional soldiers (one of each side) that died in the Falklands, which he refers to as "islands that were too famous". He also said about the war: "The Falklands thing was a fight between two bald men over a comb."
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.
Films and television
- Simon WestonSimon WestonSimon Weston OBE is a former British Army soldier who became well known throughout the United Kingdom for his recovery and charity work after suffering severe burn injuries during the Falklands War.-Early life:...
, a Welsh GuardsWelsh GuardsThe Welsh Guards is an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Guards Division.-Creation :The Welsh Guards came into existence on 26 February 1915 by Royal Warrant of His Majesty King George V in order to include Wales in the national component to the Foot Guards, "..though the order...
man who had suffered serious burns during the bombing of Sir Galahad, became a popular figure due to British media coverage. A series of television documentaries followed the progress of rehabilitation and eventual recovery from his injuries, the first being Simon's War (6 April 1983) in BBC OneBBC OneBBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
's QEDQ.E.D. (BBC TV series)Q.E.D. was the name of a strand of BBC popular science documentary films which aired in the United Kingdom from 1982 to 1999.-Format:...
series. - The first Argentine film about the war was Los chicos de la guerra ("The Boys of the War") http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087045/, directed by Bebe Kamin in 1984.
- The film version of Whoops ApocalypseWhoops ApocalypseWhoops Apocalypse is a six-part 1982 television sitcom by Andrew Marshall and David Renwick, made by London Weekend Television for ITV. Marshall and Renwick later reworked the concept as a 1986 movie from ITC Entertainment, with almost completely different characters and plot, although one or two...
(1986) features a conflict very similar to the Falklands War between the United Kingdom and a fictional caribbeanCaribbeanThe Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
country Maguadora over the fictional Santa Maya. - The 31 May 1988 BBC drama TumbledownTumbledownTumbledown is a 1988 BBC Television drama film set during the Falklands War.-Synopsis:The film centres on the experiences of Robert Lawrence MC , an officer of the Scots Guards during the Falklands Campaign of 1982. While fighting at the Battle of Mount Tumbledown, Lawrence is shot in the head by...
, told the story of Robert LawrenceRobert Lawrence (British Army officer)Robert Alasdair Davidson Lawrence MC is a former British Army officer who fought and was severely wounded in the Falklands War...
MCMilitary CrossThe Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
, a junior officerJunior officerThe term junior officer is sometimes used to make clear that an officer in a military or paramilitary unit is not in overall command. The term senior officer is reserved for the officer in overall command....
in the Scots GuardsScots GuardsThe Scots Guards is a regiment of the Guards Division of the British Army, whose origins lie in the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland...
(Colin FirthColin FirthSirColin Andrew Firth, CBE is a British film, television, and theatre actor. Firth gained wide public attention in the 1990s for his portrayal of Mr. Darcy in the 1995 television adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice...
) left paralysed down his left side by a gunshot wound to the head inflicted by an Argentinian sniper on Mount Tumbledown during the final push for Stanley, and his adjustment to disabled life after the war. - The 1989 British film1989 in film-Events:* Batman is released on June 23, and goes on to gross over $410 million worldwide.* Actress Kim Basinger and her brother Mick purchase Braselton, Georgia, for $20 million...
Resurrected http://imdb.com/title/tt0098190/, directed by Paul GreengrassPaul GreengrassPaul Greengrass is an English film director, screenwriter and former journalist. He specialises in dramatisations of real-life events and is known for his signature use of hand-held cameras.-Life and career:...
, had David ThewlisDavid ThewlisDavid Thewlis is an English actor of stage and screen. His most commercially successful role to date has been that of Remus Lupin, in the Harry Potter film series...
as a British soldier previously presumed dead in the war reappearing alive weeks after the end of the conflict. - The 1989 American/British film "For Queen and CountryFor Queen and CountryFor Queen and Country is a 1989 crime drama film produced by Working Title Films and Zenith, starring Denzel Washington. Washington stars as Reuben James, a Black British former paratrooper, who joined the British Army to escape the poverty of inner city London.-Plot synopsis:Reuben , although...
" starring Denzel WashingtonDenzel WashingtonDenzel Hayes Washington Jr. is an American actor, screenwriter, director, and film producer. He first rose to prominence when he joined the cast of the medical drama, St. Elsewhere, playing Dr...
. Reuben is a St. Lucia-born ex-British para finding it difficult to adjust to civilian life some years after the war. The film deals with the poverty and crime that Reuben encounters back home and how he is ignored by both society and government despite his service to the country. - On 13 June 1992 the BBC film An Ungentlemanly ActAn Ungentlemanly ActAn Ungentlemanly Act is a 1992 BBC television film about the first days of the invasion of the Falkland Islands in 1982.-Production:The film was written and directed by Stuart Urban, and commissioned to mark the tenth anniversary of the Falklands War...
was released depicting the events leading up to and during the initial occupation of the Islands by the Argentine Army. Based on true events, the film was produced to mark the 10th anniversary of the conflict and starred actors Ian Richardson as Governor Rex Hunt and Bob Peck as Major Mike Norman. - In 1995, the CrackerCracker (UK TV series)Cracker is a British crime drama series produced by Granada Television for ITV and created and principally written by Jimmy McGovern. The series is centered on a criminal psychologist , Eddie "Fitz" Fitzgerald, played by Robbie Coltrane. Set in Manchester, it consists of three series which were...
episode "Brotherly Love" features a psychologically damaged war hero from the Falklands War, Barney (Ron Donachie), who gets into a brief argument with DS Jimmy Beck (Lorcan CranitchLorcan CranitchLorcan Cranitch is an Irish actor.Born in Dublin, Cranitch became involved in drama while a student, and moved to London where he entered RADA in 1980. His first major role on British television was as Tim Healy in the 1991 BBC drama series, Parnell and the Englishwoman...
) and flies into an insane rage when Beck shows no interest in Barney's exploits in the war. - Although the drama by Ian CurteisIan CurteisIan Bayley Curteis is a British television dramatist and former television director.In a career as a television dramatist from the late 1960s onwards, Curteis wrote for many of the series of the day, including The Onedin Line and Crown Court. In 1979, two television plays by Curteis were...
that became known simply as The Falklands PlayThe Falklands PlayThe Falklands Play is a dramatic account of the political events leading up to, and including, the 1982 Falklands War. The play was written by Ian Curteis, an experienced writer who had started his television career in drama, but had increasingly come to specialise in dramatic reconstructions of...
was originally commissioned by the BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
in 1983 and then temporarily set aside until 1985, the Corporation subsequently gave a number of reasons why it could not be made, including that it would have been broadcast too close to the 1987 General Election. Curteis maintained that the generally sympathetic portrayal of Margaret ThatcherMargaret ThatcherMargaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
, and his refusal to include material that was contrary to both the official record and what his interviews with the major protagonists had revealed, went against a perceived BBC anti-government bias, citing the fact that TumbledownTumbledownTumbledown is a 1988 BBC Television drama film set during the Falklands War.-Synopsis:The film centres on the experiences of Robert Lawrence MC , an officer of the Scots Guards during the Falklands Campaign of 1982. While fighting at the Battle of Mount Tumbledown, Lawrence is shot in the head by...
- which he and others claimed was more "anti-establishment"Anti-establishmentAn anti-establishment view or belief is one which stands in opposition to the conventional social, political, and economic principles of a society. The term was first used in the modern sense in 1958, by the British magazine New Statesman to refer to its political and social agenda...
- was made and broadcast. Curteis's play was eventually recorded in a truncated form and screened by the digital satellite channel BBC FourBBC FourBBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....
in 2002. - The 2005 Argentinian film2005 in film- Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2005...
Iluminados por el fuegoIluminados Por El FuegoBlessed by Fire is an Argentine film about the Falklands War written and directed by Tristán Bauer. The film features Gastón Pauls, Pablo Ribba, César Albarracín and Hugo Carrizo among others...
("Enlightened by Fire") http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0288569/, directed by Tristán BauerTristán BauerTristán Bauer is an Argentine film maker and screenwriter. His work has received several international awards, particularly for his films Iluminados por el fuego , Después de la tormenta and Cortázar .Bauer serves, from 2007 as the director of the Public Media System of...
and starred by Gastón PaulsGastón PaulsGaston Pauls is an Argentina actor, TV host and producer. He started his career on television as a host of a videoclip show before starring in the teen soap opera Montaña Rusa, where he met Nancy Duplaa whom he dated for a few years...
, a docudramaDocudramaIn film, television programming and staged theatre, docudrama is a documentary-style genre that features dramatized re-enactments of actual historical events. As a neologism, the term is often confused with docufiction....
movie based on the autobiographical novel of the same name by Argentine Falklands veteran Edgardo Esteban, who fought in the conflict as an 18-year-old conscript, received a San Sebastián Festival special award. The film tells about a veteran's memories, re-awakened after he learns of the suicide of a former soldier comrade. The movie gave a realistic portrait of the extreme weather and psychologically stressful conditions the Argentine soldiers faced in the field, the brutality and indifference to the suffering of the soldiers by their leaders and the horrors of modern conflict. The movie won several awards, including a GoyaGoya AwardsThe Goya Awards, known in Spanish as los Premios Goya, are Spain's main national film awards, considered by many in Spain, and internationally, to be the Spanish equivalent of the American Academy Awards....
. - The 2006 British film2006 in film- Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2006...
This Is EnglandThis Is England-Track listing:#"54-46 Was My Number" - Toots & The Maytals#"Come On Eileen" - Dexys Midnight Runners#"Tainted Love" - Soft Cell#"Underpass/Flares" - Movie Dialogue From This Is England#"Nicole " - Gravenhurst...
http://imdb.com/title/tt0480025/, directed by Shane MeadowsShane MeadowsShane Meadows is an English film director, screenwriter, occasional actor and BAFTA winner.-Background:Meadows grew up in the Westlands Road area of Uttoxeter, Staffordshire. His father was a long distance lorry driver and his mother worked in a fish and chip shop...
, is set in July 1983 in a small town in EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and includes documentary footage and extracts from radio broadcasts about the Falklands War. The main character of the film is 12-year-old Shaun, whose father was killed fighting in the war. - The British science fiction series Ashes to AshesAshes to Ashes (TV series)Ashes to Ashes is a British science fiction and police procedural drama television series, serving as the sequel to Life on Mars.The series began airing on BBC One in February 2008. A second series began broadcasting in April 2009...
uses the Falklands War as a backdrop during its second series.
Visual arts
Linda KitsonLinda Kitson
Linda Kitson is a British artist. She is best known for her work as an official war artist during the Falklands Conflict.-Early life:Kitson studied at St Martins School of Art and the Royal College of Art, where she specialised in illustration...
was the official war artist
War artist
A war artist depicts some aspect of war through art; this might be a pictorial record or it might commemorate how "war shapes lives." War artists have explored a visual and sensory dimension of war which is often absent in written histories or other accounts of warfare.- Definition and context:A...
accompanying British troops during the Falklands Conflict. She created over 400 drawings of the daily life of the troops. Many of Kitson's drawings are now part of the Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museum is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. The museum was founded during the First World War in 1917 and intended as a record of the war effort and sacrifice of Britain and her Empire...
’s art collection, and were exhibited to the general public in November 1982. They are featured again in the Museum's exhibition Women War Artists, in 2011-2012. All of Kitson's drawings which were not retained by the Museum were sold.
Theatre
- British playwright Steven BerkoffSteven BerkoffSteven Berkoff is an English actor, writer and director. Best known for his performance as General Orlov in the James Bond film Octopussy, he is typically cast in villanous roles, such as Lt...
wrote the highly critical satirical play Sink the Belgrano!Sink the Belgrano!Sink the Belgrano! is a 1986 satirical play by English playwright Steven Berkoff about British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's decision to torpedo the Argentinian ship General Belgrano, as it was purportedly retreating during the 1982 Falklands War between the United Kingdom and Argentina...
about the British decision to go to war and the sinking of Belgrano.
Sport
Tottenham HotspurTottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....
's popular Argentine midfielder Ossie Ardiles had helped beat Leicester City
Leicester City F.C.
Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...
one day after the invasion, to no ill effect, although he subsequently left the UK for a year, of his own volition. Ardiles' cousin, José Ardiles, a fighter pilot, was killed during the early stages of the air campaign. The war also created heightened passions between Argentina
Argentina national football team
The Argentina national football team represents Argentina in association football and is controlled by the Argentine Football Association , the governing body for football in Argentina. Argentina's home stadium is Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti and their head coach is Alejandro...
and England in the 1986, 1998, and 2002 FIFA World Cups, featuring play by Diego Maradona
Diego Maradona
Diego Armando Maradona is a retired Argentine football player and widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time. Over the course of his professional club career Maradona played for Argentinos Juniors, Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Napoli, Sevilla and Newell's Old Boys, setting...
, Peter Shilton
Peter Shilton
Peter Leslie Shilton OBE is a former English footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He currently holds the record for playing more games for England than anyone else, earning 125 caps....
, and David Beckham
David Beckham
David Robert Joseph Beckham, OBE is an English footballer who plays midfield for Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer, having previously played for Manchester United, Preston North End, Real Madrid, and A.C...
. (See Argentina and England football rivalry
Argentina and England football rivalry
The Argentina–England football rivalry is a highly competitive sports rivalry that exists between the national football teams of the two countries, as well as their respective sets of fans...
.)
Music
Music referencing the war includes:- The Argentine punk-rock band Los VioladoresLos VioladoresLos Violadores is a punk band from Argentina and the pioneers of the genre in Latin America.-History:Los Violadores was founded in 1981 by guitarist Hari B . The rest of the band included Stuka , Pil Trafa and Sergio Gramatika...
wrote the song "Comunicado #166" at their album Y ahora qué pasa ¿eh?. The song is critical with the military Junta, and the role of the United States. Pil Trafa, the lead singer, commented in 2001 that Argentina should not try to annex the islands, but rather improve as a country, and then the Falklanders themselves would emigrate to Argentina. - The Falklands War provided much of the subject matter for Pink FloydPink FloydPink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
's 1983 album The Final CutThe Final Cut (album)The Final Cut is the twelfth studio album by English progressive rock group Pink Floyd. It was released in March 1983 by Harvest Records in the United Kingdom, and several weeks later by Columbia Records in the United States. A concept album, The Final Cut is the last of the band's releases to...
, written by Roger Waters. The lyrics are highly critical of perceived British jingoism and of the Thatcher government's actions. A specific lyric protesting the sinking of ARA General Belgrano reads: "...Galtieri took the Union Jack. And Maggie, over lunch one day, took a cruiser with all hands... apparently to make him give it back." - Pop musician Elvis CostelloElvis CostelloElvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
wrote the song "ShipbuildingShipbuilding (song)"Shipbuilding" is a song written by Elvis Costello and Clive Langer . Written during the Falklands War of 1982, Costello's lyrics discuss the contradiction of the war bringing back prosperity to traditional shipbuilding areas of Merseyside , North East England and Belfast to build new ships to...
" (1983) with Clive LangerClive LangerClive Langer is a British record producer active from the mid 1970s onwards. He usually works with Alan Winstanley. He composed the music for the films Still Crazy and Brothers of the Head. Prior to his record producing career he was a guitarist with the British cult band Deaf SchoolLanger...
in response to the Falklands War. Written from the point of view of workers in a depressed shipbuilding town, it points out that their jobs come at the expense of the lives lost in the war. - Much material produced around this time by the anarchist punkPunk rockPunk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band CrassCrassCrass are an English punk rock band that was formed in 1977, which promoted anarchism as a political ideology, way of living, and as a resistance movement. Crass popularised the seminal anarcho-punk movement of the punk subculture, and advocated direct action, animal rights, and environmentalism...
was extremely critical of the war and its aftermath, in particular the album Yes Sir, I WillYes Sir, I WillYes Sir, I Will, released by Crass in 1983 , was the band's last 'official' album. The record consists of one continuous piece of music spread over the two sides of the original vinyl release , making it the longest punk song ever recorded, although this is intercut with two brief interludes; a...
and the singles "Sheep Farming in the Falklands" and "How Does it Feel to be the Mother of 1000 Dead?" The latter, intended as a statement directed at Mrs. Thatcher, led to questions in parliament and a request for prosecution for obscenityObscene Publications ActSince 1857, a series of obscenity laws known as the Obscene Publications Acts have governed what can be published in England and Wales. The classic definition of criminal obscenity is if it "tends to deprave and corrupt," stated in 1868 by John Duke Coleridge, 1st Baron Coleridge.There have been...
from Conservative MP for Enfield North, Timothy EggarTimothy EggarTimothy John Crommelin Eggar is a company director, a Governor of Shiplake College, an independent school for boys in the village of Shiplake in Oxfordshire, and is a former British Conservative Member of Parliament....
http://www.southern.com/southern/label/CRC/09422b.html. Crass were also responsible for ThatchergateThatchergateThatchergate was the colloquial title of a hoax perpetrated by members of the anarcho-punk band Crass during the aftermath of the 1982 Falklands War. Using excerpts from speeches by Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, a recording was spliced together which purported to be a telephone conversation...
, a hoaxHoaxA hoax is a deliberately fabricated falsehood made to masquerade as truth. It is distinguishable from errors in observation or judgment, or rumors, urban legends, pseudosciences or April Fools' Day events that are passed along in good faith by believers or as jokes.-Definition:The British...
tape, originally attributed to the SovietSoviet UnionThe Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
KGBKGBThe KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
, on which the spliced voice of Margaret Thatcher appears to imply that the HMS Sheffield was deliberately sacrificed in order to escalate the conflict. - The folk rock band The LevellersThe Levellers (band)The Levellers are an English rock band, founded in 1988 and based in Brighton, England. Their musical style is said to be influenced by punk and traditional English music.-1988-1990:...
wrote and produced the song "Another Man's Cause" featuring the lyrics "Your daddy well he died in the Falklands." - In 1998, British heavy metal band Iron MaidenIron MaidenIron Maiden are an English heavy metal band from Leyton in east London, formed in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. Since their inception, the band's discography has grown to include a total of thirty-six albums: fifteen studio albums; eleven live albums; four EPs; and six...
recorded a song called "Como Estais Amigos" for their album Virtual XI. The song was about the Falklands War. http://www.ironmaidencommentary.com/?url=album11_vxi/commentary11_vxi&lang=eng&link=albums#track8. Then-singer Blaze BayleyBlaze BayleyBlaze Bayley is an English singer and songwriter. He has been the lead singer of Wolfsbane from 1984 to 1994, and nowadays since their recent reunion. Blaze is however world-known for having been the lead singer of British metal band Iron Maiden from 1994 to 1999...
had a friend who fought in the war. - Macclesfield based punk band The Macc Lads penned a typically un-PCPolitical correctnessPolitical correctness is a term which denotes language, ideas, policies, and behavior seen as seeking to minimize social and institutional offense in occupational, gender, racial, cultural, sexual orientation, certain other religions, beliefs or ideologies, disability, and age-related contexts,...
song called "Buenos Aires (1982, Falklands War Mix)" which included lyrics such as "Costas Mendes lives in fear / Of men who drink real beer!" and "hey hey hey / The Boys are on their way / With their planes and tanks and tommy guns / and their bellies full of Boddingtons." - Joe JacksonJoe Jackson (musician)Joe Jackson is an English musician and singer-songwriter now living in Berlin, whose five Grammy Award nominations span from 1979 to 2001...
's song "Tango Atlantico" (from the 1986 album Big WorldBig WorldBig World is a 1986 live album by Joe Jackson. The album was recorded in front of an invited audience at the Roundabout Theatre in New York City on 22–25 January 1986. Jackson's intent was to capture the excitement and spontaneity of a live performance, but without any noise from the crowd...
) represents a look back at the Falklands War. - The title track of The ExploitedThe ExploitedThe Exploited are a Scottish punk band from the second wave of UK punk, formed in 1979. Originally a street punk band, they transformed into a faster hardcore punk band with a heavy political influence. From about 1987 on they changed into a crossover thrash band...
's 1983 album Let's Start a WarLet's Start a WarLet's Start a War, or Let's Start a War... , is the third album by the punk rock band The Exploited, released in 1983 through Pax Records [PAX 18]. The title refers to Margaret Thatcher's decision to go to war over the Falkland Islands in 1982, suggesting that she did so almost on a whim...
directly addresses the Falklands War, implying Margaret Thatcher started it almost on a whim, for her own benefit and to take the focus away from other problems Britain was facing at the time such as unemployment. - On their album From Here to Eternity: LiveFrom Here to Eternity: LiveFrom Here to Eternity: Live is a live album by English punk rock band The Clash. It was released on 4 October 1999. The songs were recorded at different shows. Some of the recordings featured also appear in the movie Rude Boy...
, The ClashThe ClashThe Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
, substitute a line in "Career Opportunities" for "I don't wanna die, fighting in the Falkland Strait" which was a common adlib during their set at the time. - Some people in Britain took the song "Six Months in a Leaky Boat" by the New Zealand pop group Split EnzSplit EnzSplit Enz were a New Zealand band of the 1970s and early 1980s featuring Phil Judd and brothers Tim Finn and Neil Finn. They achieved chart success in New Zealand, Australia, and Canada during the early 1980s ‒ most notably with the single "I Got You", and built a cult following elsewhere...
to be a criticism of the war, and the song was banned by the BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
. The group denied that this was the song's intent http://www.dummocrats.com/archives/000809.php particularly because the song was recorded earlier in 1982. - Relating to the sinking of the Belgrano, British garage band Thee Milkshakes recorded the instrumental song "General Belgrano" on their fourth album "The Men With The Golden Guitars" released in 1983. The song begins with the sound of a submarine's sonar.
- Punk band New Model ArmyNew Model Army (band)New Model Army are an English rock band, who were formed in Bradford, West Yorkshire in 1980. They have been variously classified by Allmusic as post-punk and alternative rock.-Overview:...
's "Spirit of the Falklands" took a highly critical stance of the war and its 'selling' to the public by the British Government. - In 2006, SwedishSwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
power metalPower metalPower metal is a style of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. The term refers to two different but related styles: the first pioneered and largely practiced in North America with a harder sound similar to speed metal, and a...
band SabatonSabaton (band)Sabaton is a Grammis-nominated power metal band from Falun, Sweden formed in 1999. The band's main lyrical themes are those of historical wars. This is heard in albums Primo Victoria, Attero Dominatus and Coat of Arms where all of the songs, except final tracks, take inspiration from historical...
released the album Attero DominatusAttero DominatusAttero Dominatus is the third album by Swedish power metal band Sabaton, as well as the first to feature keyboardist Daniel Mÿhr.The Latin name is intended to mean 'Destroy Tyranny' . However it is syntactically incorrect...
, featuring a song entitled "Back In Control", whose subject is the Falklands War. It features lyrics along the lines of "Back in control, push them further out to sea / Falklands in our hands, back under British reign". - Political Singer / Songwriter Billy BraggBilly BraggStephen William Bragg , better known as Billy Bragg, is an English alternative rock musician and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, and his lyrics mostly deal with political or romantic themes...
's 1983 album Brewing Up with Billy BraggBrewing Up with Billy BraggBrewing Up with Billy Bragg is the second album by Billy Bragg, released in 1984.While his debut album Life's a Riot with Spy Vs Spy was performed by Bragg accompanied only by his guitar, Brewing Up with Billy Bragg began to use subtle overdubs, such as backing vocals on "Love Gets Dangerous",...
featured a song Island of no Return, in which a soldier details his experiences 'fighting fascists in the southern sea'. Bragg joined the British ArmyBritish ArmyThe British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
in 1981, but bought his way out a few months later. - The Falklands Hymn by Iain Dale
- The song 'Uninvited Guest' by British group The ChristiansThe ChristiansThe Christians are a musical ensemble from Liverpool, England, who had several UK and international chart hits in the late 1980s and early 1990s.-Band biography:...
mentions the Falkland Wars briefly in its lyrics. - American Midwestern Disc-Jockey/Musician Steve DahlSteve DahlSteven Robert Dahl has been an American radio personality and humorist for more than thirty years. He is currently podcasting, and releases the podcasts for download daily from his own website as well as the iTunes store...
parodied the war using his own lyrics but the music of The J. Geils Band song "Freeze-Frame". - The Finnish rock band Eppu NormaaliEppu NormaaliEppu Normaali is one of the most popular rock bands in Finland. The band formed in 1976 in Ylöjärvi, a small town near Tampere. The band is the best-selling music artist in Finland, with certified sales surpassing 1.5 million records...
published a song Argentiina on their LP Tie Vie, comparing the war to a bad football game with cheating, incompetent referee (who understands only baseballBaseballBaseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
) and "the choir of the disappeared" as the cheerleaders. - The ClashThe ClashThe Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
make reference to the war in the song "This is EnglandThis Is England (song)"This Is England" is a song by English punk rock band The Clash, released in September 1985 as the only single from their sixth and final critically maligned studio album Cut the Crap...
". - New wave band Spear of Destiny addressed the war in a song "Mickey", fictional story about a young soldier losing his sight in an explosion of a landmine
- New York indie rock band, Vampire WeekendVampire WeekendVampire Weekend is an American indie rock band from New York City that formed in 2006 and signed to XL Recordings. The Band has four members: Ezra Koenig, Rostam Batmanglij, Chris Tomson, and Chris Baio. The band released its first album Vampire Weekend in 2008, which produced the singles "Mansard...
, references the war in the song "Mansard Roof", saying "The Argentines collapse in defeat; The Admiralty surveys the remnants of the fleet" - British New Wave band The FixxThe FixxThe Fixx is an English rock band formed in London in 1979. Their hits include "One Thing Leads to Another," "Red Skies," "Stand or Fall," "Saved by Zero," "Sign of Fire," "Are We Ourselves?," "Secret Separation," "Driven Out," "How Much Is Enough?," and "Deeper and Deeper," which was featured on...
single Stand or Fall was given little radio play due to its anti-war lyrics,which coincided with the Falklands conflict. - The war is mentioned briefly in the song "Cráneo Candente" of the Argentine band HerméticaHerméticaHermética was an Argentine band considered to be one of the most important bands in the history of Argentine heavy metal.-Biography:After the dissolution of V8 in 1987, its members split and formed their own groups; Osvaldo Civile created Horcas, Alberto Zamarbide, Miguel Roldán and Adrián Cenci...
, from the eponymous 1989 LP - Irish folk band Wolfe TonesWolfe TonesThe Wolfe Tones are an Irish rebel music band who incorporate elements of Irish traditional music in their songs. They are named after the Irish rebel and patriot Theobald Wolfe Tone, one of the leaders of the Irish Rebellion of 1798, with the double entendre that a wolf tone is a spurious sound...
wrote a song about Admiral William BrownWilliam Brown (admiral)Admiral William Brown was an Irish-born Argentine Admiral. Brown's victories in the Independence War, the Argentina-Brazil War, and the Anglo-French blockade of the Río de la Plata earned the respect and appreciation of the Argentine people, and today he is regarded as one of Argentina's national...
, Argentine Navy founder, in which they state their support to Argentina on the Falklands' issue.
Prior to the Falklands war, the Argentine military had considered its "rockeros" (rock and roll music enthusiasts and artists) as internal enemies of the state. For a time during the war, popular music in English was prohibited on radio stations. Subsequent to the war and the defeat of the military junta, popular music in Argentina reacted strongly to its prior oppression as well as the impacts of the war.
A number of popular songs grew out of the aftermath of the conflict, including "Para la Vida" by León Gieco.
Not all post-conflict Argentine popular music was directed against the former military junta. For example, an Argentine group called "Pedro y Pablo" directed a song entitled "Señora violencia e hijos" to Margaret Thatcher; the pop singer Raúl Porchetto wrote the song named "Reina Madre" (Mother Queen) where the son of the Queen of England tells his mother the experience of killing people without knowing why ("in a distant place I don´t even remember the name").
The popular argentinian musician Charly García composed his classic "No bombardeen Buenos Aires" ("don´t bomb Buenos Aires") during the war. The song is a great synthesis of the socio-political climate in Argentina during the time.
Games
- The popular computer games Harrier AttackHarrier AttackHarrier Attack is a computer game for the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, Oric 1 and ZX Spectrum initially released in 1983 by Durell Software.-Summary:...
and YompYomp (computer game)Yomp was a computer game for the ZX Spectrum published by Virgin Games in 1983. The name of the game comes from the military slang "yomp", made popular by the Falklands War. The game was basically a Frogger clone; the player had to guide a paratrooper across a road of speeding army trucks and then...
presented unofficial portraits of the fighting. - The naval strategy game Strike FleetStrike FleetStrike Fleet is a 1987 computer game developed by Lucasfilm Games and published by Electronic Arts. It was released for the Amiga, Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 64, and DOS...
included a scenario set in the Falklands, where the player took control of British destroyers under attack from Argentine submarines. - The naval strategy game Janes Fleet Command included a scenario set in the Falklands, where the player controlled the entire naval force, from Carriers to Destroyers and Aircraft.
- Malvinas 2032 is a real-time strategy game, in which the player has to command the Argentine forces and re-take the Falkland Islands for Argentina, developed by Sabarasa.
- Falklands War - 1982 — This scenario collection, created with the Harpoon3 naval warfare simulator, is intended to accurately recreate the real-life war from 1982.
- The Falklands War 1982 - Old game published by Shrapnel Games.
- Port Stanley: Battle for the Falklands - published in 1984 by 3W, a battalion level board war game of the land campeign.
- John Tiller's Squad Battles Falklands is a turn-based, realistic videogame based on Falklands land war.
State recognition
Public holidays in Argentina
The following are the National public holidays and other observances of Argentina.Though holidays of many faiths are respected, public holidays usually include most Catholic holidays...
, on 2 April. It is sometimes referred to as Malvinas Day
Malvinas Day
Malvinas Day , officially Day of the Veterans and Fallen of the Malvinas War , is a public holiday in Argentina, celebrated each year on April 2...
.
In Britain, those who lost their lives are remembered as part of Remembrance Sunday
Remembrance Sunday
In the United Kingdom, 'Remembrance Sunday' is held on the second Sunday in November, which is the Sunday nearest to 11 November Armistice Day. It is the anniversary of the end of hostilities in the First World War at 11 a.m...
.
In the Falkland Islands themselves, there are two holidays as a result of the war, Margaret Thatcher Day on 10 January, and Liberation Day on 14 June (or first Monday after, if it falls on a weekend).
In the United Kingdom, there is a national memorial at Pangbourne College
Pangbourne College
Pangbourne College is a coeducational independent school located in the civil parish of Pangbourne, just South West of the village, in the English County of Berkshire....
, a small co-educational public school in Berkshire; it is titled the Falkland Islands Memorial Chapel.
Terminology
This war is also occasionally written as The Falklands/Malvinas War, recognising the international split over the Islands' name. Other constructs 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 SpanishSpanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
-speaking countries and has also been used by some socialist groups in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
-speaking countries.
The name "Guerra del Atlántico Sur", meaning "War of the South Atlantic" is also used in Spanish. Unlike the term "Falklands/Malvinas War", this reflects the fact that some of the conflict occurred in South Georgia, and the deep ocean.