The first European sailors to reach the Falkland Islands in the 16th century were Englishmen. The Spaniards claimed that these islands in the southern Atlantic should belong to them. The islands were uninhabited by the mid-18th century.
After the end of the Seven Years’ War, the French built the settlement of Port Louis in 1764 in East Falkland. After two years, English officer John Byron established the settlement of Port Egmont in West Falkland. This led to a conflict with Spain. It proclaimed the entire island in 1766 as part of the Buenos Aires General Office. The Spanish acquired the French settlement the following year and renamed it Puerto Puerto Soledad. It looked as if England and Spain were going to make war, but both sides were actually trying to avoid war and there was a compromise – the English would not mind the Spaniards settling in and vice versa.
When the Spanish ship San Felipe encountered the English ship Tamar on the border between West and East Falkland in 1769, the British commander called the Spanish and detained him. He released him on the condition that his ship leave the Falkland Islands. Then the Spaniards demanded that in 6 months all Britons leave the islands. The English rejected this with the argument that they had discovered them.
The Spaniards sent three ships but retreated after an unsuccessful battle. The Spanish sent greater reinforcements and occupied Port Egmont. Fortification was destroyed and the British were ordered to leave the islands. As the Spaniards did not want to provoke war, they justified themselves to the British by accusing the governor of Buenos Aires of arbitrary behavior. The British, in turn, sent much of the Navy’s forces to the Falkland Islands. At the end of 1770, a war really broke out. Finally there is the British King Djuro III. concluded that the conflict should be resolved through diplomatic channels.
Spain has agreed to withdraw its army from Port Egmont to this day in 1771. The conflict between Spain and the United Kingdom over the Falkland Islands between 1769 and 1771 is called the Falkland Crisis. The issue of belonging to the islands was not resolved until 1832.
