Three hundred miles to the east of South America lie the Falklands, a British Overseas Territory consisting of two main islands and over seven hundred smaller ones. The sovereignty of the Falklands, known to the Argentinians as the Islas Malvinas, has long been a source of dispute. On April 2, 1982, Argentine forces invaded the islands under orders from their new military leader, General Galtieri, who mistakenly believed that the British government would not respond militarily to this action. What followed was a 74-day occupation, before a United Kingdom task force, waging at times a tenuous, hard-fought campaign, forcibly recaptured the islands on behalf of the 1,800 British citizens living there.
