Falkland Islands

To be precise, this territorial conflict is about the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. These have in fact been disputed between Spain, later Argentina, and Great Britain since the later 18th century. Argentina invokes the legal succession of the Spanish Viceroyalty of Río de la Plata, which existed from 1776 to 1814. As early as 1770/71, there were almost armed conflicts between Spain and Great Britain. The latter had been asserting claims by landing its own troops since 1766. After a period of relative calm, the British flag was finally hoisted on the islands in 1833. Subsequently, the islands were further "Britisized" and finally a British governor was appointed in 1842. In 1849, the Argentine Confederation and Great Britain concluded a treaty in which all differences were settled. Subsequently, until 1941, the islands were no longer addressed as a point of conflict between the two countries. After that, Argentina began to reassert its claim. A request by the UN General Assembly to the two countries in 1965 to find a solution remained without result.

On April 2, 1982, Argentine troops landed on the Falkland Islands, and a day later on South Georgia. The armed conflict lasted until Britain declared the end of the war on June 20, 1982, with Argentina's complete defeat. As a result, the Argentine military junta resigned. To this day, Argentina maintains its claim to the Falkland Islands.

Philatelically, the Falkland Islands have issued their own stamps since 1878, and two stamp issues were objected to by Argentina during the postal war. Argentina itself keeps issuing stamps to support its own claim to the respective islands. In 2013, the Falkland Islands issued a stamp issue to mark a referendum by the local population on its desire to remain part of the United Kingdom. 99.8% voted in favor of remaining part of the United Kingdom. The referendum was described as a "farce" by Argentina.