Author: Juan Francisco Dávila y Verdin

84 Weymouth Avenue, W5 4SB, London, United Kingdom.

Email: juanfrancisco.davila@monaco.edu / davila_arg@hotmail.com
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juan-f-dávila-y-verdin/

Juan F. Dávila, a native of Santa Fe (1984, Argentina), BA (Hons.) in Global Politics and
International Relations from Birkbeck, University of London, is currently enrolled in the MBA
program at the International University of Monaco. He serves as a Senior Consultant Project
Manager in Strategic Partnership, Training, and Administration for TESH Invest, where he is a
Board Member of the company. He is also a Board member of the prestigious British San Martín
Institute (BSMI), where he serves as Communications and Events Manager. He is the author of
numerous academic essays, including Parliamentary System: ´The best alternative for newly
created states and future stronger democracies in the XXI century´, and ´Why do states
commemorate past wars? Argentina and the United Kingdom commemorating the Malvinas /
Falklands War (2019)´, ´How to ensure membership retention and growth in volunteers
organisations´, ‘New (and not so new) perspectives about Humour and Management’, among
many others.

Why do states commemorate past wars?

Argentina and the United Kingdom
commemorating the Falklands/Malvinas War.

By Juan F. Dávila

The commemorations and remembrance of past wars in Occident have been part of the
rituals carried by the ancient civilizations. Evidence of these usages can be traced back to
Egyptian, Greek, and Roman sources. They have been carried as a practice and tradition
through the centuries until our days, taking diverse forms and different emotive and social
significance. Nowadays, States frequently use the commemoration of past wars as a social
instrument to safeguard the social collective memory, bounding a common and shared
feeling around the national values, leaving aside, at least for the time of the
commemoration, the internal differences, by remembering those who felt defending the
principles and the honour of the country. In this essay, I will analyse how Argentina and the
United Kingdom are commemorating the Falklands/Malvinas War that took place in the
South Atlantic from 2 April to 10 June 1982. This would allow identifying multiple reasons
why each State commemorates wars.
In order to compare how the war is commemorated in each country, we must go back to its
causes and the historical relation between Argentina and the United Kingdom. In May 1810,
the Argentine Elite – formerly known as the United Provinces of the River Plate – deposed in
Buenos Aires, the Spanish Viceroy after receiving news from Spain that Napoleon has
imprisoned King Ferdinand VIII. They decided to form a provisional government in order to
start the independence process, which leads to the formal Declaration of Independence in
July 1816. Many academics consider that the May 1810 Revolution resulted in what H.S.
Ferns called the ‘beginning of the Anglo-Argentine relations’ (1960), when the British troops
invaded the River Plate with more than 1,100 soldiers in 1806 and again with 11,000 men in
1807: as Spain was unable to send arms to defend its South American colonies, the local
elite organised themselves to expel the British, and later the Spanish themselves. About this
example, most historian tend to recognise that most of the nation-states founded around
this period and before the mid-20th century emerged or were influenced by wars or internal
violence.
Between 1811 and 1812, General José de San Martín – Argentinian Father of the Nation and
Liberator of Argentina, Chile, and Perú – lived in London together with other representatives
of the Latin American illustrated freethought elite. They were planning the concrete
emancipation of the colonies from Spain with the support of British officials. Later, the
United Kingdom was the first country to recognize the Argentine independence from Spain;
in 1823, the British Government established unilateral instruments for friendly relations
with the Government of Buenos Aires and supported the appointment of a Consul General.
In 1825, a ‘Friendship, Commercial and Navigation Agreement between the United
Provinces of the River Plate and His Britannic Majesty’ was signed (Argentine Embassy in the
United Kingdom, 2018). It was quickly followed by similar agreements even if, on 3 January
1833, the Government of Buenos Aires complained to London about the constitution of a
colony in the Falklands/Malvinas Islands, those islands – dual name used by the Committee
of Decolonization of the United Nations – being considered by Buenos Aires as a part of the
United Provinces’ territory as heirs of the Spanish rights over the archipelago due to the
Treaty of Tordesillas of 1494 with the blessing of Pope Alexander VI and later confirmed and
ratified by Pope Julius II in 1506.
Besides the discussions over the sovereignty of the islands became a point of disagreement
between the both countries since then, the relationship between Argentina and the United
Kingdom flourished in other many areas up to reaching the point that the biggest British
community in South America was established in Argentina and sociality, economically and
culturally the British influence could be traced in the principal cities of the country; and
sports like football, rugby or polo became popular in the country, together with the trains
infrastructure developed with British capitals, and the architecture of some of the most
emblematic buildings in the country were designed by English. In exchange, Argentine
producers have exported meat, leather, and wool – among many other products - to the
United Kingdom for many years.
It is only during the last Argentine dictatorship (1976-1983), when the military facto-
government were willing to assert by force the global sovereignty of the country, that the
discussions about the Falkland/Malvinas Islands resurfaced violently. In April 1982,
Argentine forces landed in the islands. The British government reacted by dispatching army
forces. The conflict ended with the Argentine surrender in June, making 649 Argentine, 255
British and three civilian casualties. The Dictatorial Junta finished – because of the general
the discontent caused by the defeat – on 10 December 1983.
Since the end of the war and even after the reestablishment of the diplomatic relations
between Buenos Aires and London in 1990 during the Presidency of Carlos Menem, the
Argentine educational system teaches children, starting at primary school, about the
conflict. It aims to remember the Argentine claim over the South Atlantic islands. It
celebrates the ‘Day of the Argentine sovereignty over the Malvinas, Sandwich and South
Atlantic Islands’ (Ministry of Education of Argentina, n.d.). The British educational system does
not include any special reference to the conflict and remembers the period as the time were
Margaret Thatcher was the first woman to become a UK Primer Minister. Meanwhile, in the
islands, the British students commemorate the ‘Liberation Day’ on 14 June of each year
(MercoPress, 2018). Furthermore, two months after, on 14 August, the ‘Falklands Day’
commemorates the first recorded sighting of the archipelago by John David in the 1592 .
Argentina and Britain keep substantially different views about the sovereignty of the islands
and the arguments are exposed annually at the Committee of Decolonization of the United
Nations (2017). This highlights that war may be commemorated as well to attest or to
contest its denouement, of course with higher intensity by directly concerned populations
and that commemoration is often taught at school, to perpetuate memory.
The memories are still fresh for those who have participated in or supported the war. The
Argentine soldiers that fought in Malvinas were 18 to 22 years old and are now turning 60.
The millennials born after the return of the Democracy are still listening to those vivid
episodes of the life of their parents and grandparents. The same for the young population
living in the islands, while it is more distant for the British public in the mainland.
Additionally, it is important to highlight the role of the media in fuelling the obsession with
the commemoration of the war to develop a convenient market of best-seller books, Tv
specials, documentary and film releases, publications, exhibitions and tours to and around
the island’s battlefields (Evans, 2006) . The Falklands/Malvinas war also creates fascination
and rivalry in other fields: many Argentines and Britons are still talking about the ‘Hand of
God’ of Maradona during Mexico World Cup, but many prefer to forget its picture wearing a
Union Jack T-shirt in 1981 (a year only before the war) when the band Queen played in
Buenos Aires, or David Beckham wearing the Argentine national t-shirt while playing with
children in Buenos Aires in 2015. Commemoration does not only take place in official events
but also the collective memory and personal stories, modelling the country’s image and
collective identity.
For a still-young country like Argentina, the war of 1982 can be considered as one of the
bounding points on the national being. This is different in the United Kingdom, as the
country has a rich millennial military history and many other battles around the world as a
colonial power fighting for sovereignty over a specific piece of territory. Again, the
importance is given to war commemoration highly depends on the impact it gave to the
country historical trajectory.
Since 2015, Argentina and the United Kingdom started a new chapter of productive
relations and symbolic gestures. Recently in 2018, Boris Johnson, in the representation of
Her Majesty’s Government, paid tribute to the fallen soldiers in Buenos Aires. While a
representative of the Argentine Government saluted the memory of the British soldiers in
London, setting a historical precedent twenty years after the first Visit of State of an
Argentine Head of State in the UK. Commemoration not only reminds divergences and
forges national identity, but it may also celebrate cooperation and shared views.
Indeed, the United Kingdom and Argentina do not only commemorate opposition between
themselves. Even if the press of both countries most easily focuses on the South Atlantic
sovereignty issue when considering the relationship between both countries, Argentina also
fought alongside the British forces. According to the Anglo-Argentine Society – a charity
founded in London in 1948 – and to the Argentine British Community Council – a charity
founded in Buenos Aires in 1939 – 700 volunteers from Argentina fought during WWI, and
530 died on the battlefield. 4,000 Argentines fought in the British Army during WWII, of
which 237 lost their lives. In total, 767 Argentine soldiers lost their lives during both World
Wars, more than the 649 Argentine casualties reported during the Falklands/Malvinas war.
Those Argentine soldiers did not receive special consideration by the public because the
Argentine government remained neutral during both world wars, only breaking relations
with the Axis powers on 26 January 1944, declaring war on 27 March 1945. Recently in
2018, they received mediatic attention with the commemoration of the centennial
anniversary of the Armistice of the WWI and the tribute paid by the Chamber of Deputies of
the Argentine Parliament for the commemoration of the 73rd anniversary of the end of the
WWII. Events being commemorated or messages during commemorations may
progressively evolve to match with the present trends and targets, offering historical causes
to more recent developments.
As illustrated by the different and evolving usages of the commemoration of the
Falklands/Malvinas War, respectively, in the UK and Argentina, States do commemorate
past wars as a form of revindications of their values as nations, setting milestones to explain
their history and their present decisions. Commemorations also develop collective tools of
cohesion inside the country or across borders. Their practices, establishing and maintaining
ritual dates, spaces, and ceremonies, at official places, around monuments or in individual’s
lives, underline the historical continuity of the State and give emotive and social significance
to the past. Present efforts are given to the State.