[Dr. Sivana]

Ah, just invoke the Treaty of Tordesillas and give ‘em to Spain.

[Vigilanteman]

Very interesting timeline detail for the Falklands dispute.

Long story short is that it dates back five centuries or so.

The French were first to colonize the islands, then the British.

The Argentines claimed that they colonized the islands in 1822 after their declaration of independence from Spain. This is where their claim is based. But close examination shows the following:

1. The colonization was opportunistic based on the Monroe Doctrine which specifically excluded Europeans from setting up any new colonies on the American continent.
   
2. Argentina used said loophole to claim they were the rightful successors to Spain and, at the same time, they were exempt from the Monroe Doctrine since they were not a European power. Clever and maybe even technically correct except that:
   
3. Argentina's colonization was never anything more than seasonal gauchos hunting wild cattle and other game to establish said claim.
   
4. Both British and American whaling expeditions had been doing the same thing for the decades before the Argentine gauchos got involved.
   
5. Indeed, on more than one occasion when the gauchos stayed too long into the season and would have perished through starvation, it was American or British whaling ships which rescued them and took them back to the mainland.
   
6. Whaling was a HUGE business at this time and it was only the British and Americans which had the technological capability to move ships to and from the Falklands for most of the year.
   
7. Nobody really cares about the gauchos doing seasonal hunting on the Falklands because British and American vessels are doing the same thing, the only difference being the type of game sought.
   
8. Said situation continues for seven years until, in 1829, Argentina declares sole sovereignty over the islands, a move immediately met with diplomatic protests by both the United States and Great Britain.
   
9. Hunting pretty much goes on as it always has for the next 18 months or so. Then Argentina decides to up the ante by stationing a military garrison on the island.
   
10. The first American whaling vessel Harriett is seized on 30 July 1831. Other seizures follow of both American and British vessels.
    
11. The United States responds mostly with diplomatic protests, having little navy to enforce its claims. The British respond the same way but also ink agreements with Brazil to station naval vessels in Rio de Janeiro.
    
12. Two of these vessels, the HMS Clio and HMS Tyne leave port on November 29, 1832 with orders to visit the Falklands.
    
13. Whether in response to rumors or just coincidence, the Argentine garrison revolts and kills their commander the following day. The second in command is reluctant to take charge (for obvious reasons) which leaves no formal authority when the British arrive.
    
14. An American whaler has transported a number of the mutinous garrison out of Dodge before the British arrive.
    
15. Lt. Col. Pinedo, the ranking surviving officer, is finally able to restore order among the remaining garrison.
    
16. On January 3, 1833, the Brits lower the Argentine flag and raise the Union Jack without resistance. The triband ensign is folded with due respect and returned to the Sardini (Argentine civil authority) with a message that the British had found; "a foreign flag in the territory of His Majesty. Pinedo can do nothing but protest.
    
17. Interestingly, the Argentine gauchos have little love for their military government and all except four accept British cash payments to remain. They later pledge allegiance to the British crown and become the nucleus of the new Falklands settlement bolstered by later arriving immigrants from Scotland and Ireland.
    
18. The Sardini departs with all those who wish to leave on January 5.
    
19. The British do likewise on January 10, leaving behind William Dickson, an Irishman in charge of the ship's store houses, as the civil authority in the colony.
    
20. Of course, the Argentina government is furious when word of these events reaches Buenos Aires with the Sardini, garrison and handful of gauchos who wanted to return. They launch a diplomatic protest and call upon the American to invoke the Monroe Doctrine. The Americans basically tell them to pound sand, being happy to revoke to the pre-1831 situation where they will be allowed to hunt and fish in the seas around the Falkland Islands without interference.
    
21. The neutered Argentines basically have to amuse themselves by putting on trial the ringleaders of the garrison muntiny of November 30 and standing a number of them before firing squads. Lt. Col. Pinedo merely gets a demotion for not offering sufficient resistance.