In 1982 A group of 50 Argentineans landed on Saint Georgia, an Island dependency of the Falkland Islands, and hoisted the Argentine Flag. The Falkland Islands were claimed by Britain before Argentina existed as a country but they have disputed their claim to the islands on several occasions meeting with British opposition (the first instance was on the 1st of January 1883). Initially the group were believed to be there under a commercial capacity and they were requested to seek United Kingdom’s permission before working. It soon became apparent that this was the start of an invasion and on the 2nd of April 1982, Argentine Forces began a full blown invasion of the Falklands. This began a war between the United Kingdom and Argentina which led to the deaths of 655 Argentineans and 255 British with Argentina surrendering on the 14th of June 1982.
In 1970 The leaders of East and West Germany met for the first time since the division in 1949. After World War II tougher restrictions were put on Germany compared with the First World War. Part of the restrictions included the country being put under the control of the major powers of the ‘Allies’ (United Kingdom, United States, France and Russia) with each country controlling a section. On the 23rd of May 1949 the Western areas were united as the Federal Republic of Germany (Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or BRD) and shortly after, on the 7th of October 1949, the Soviet controlled side or Eastern side became the German Democratic Republic (Deutsche Demokratische Republik, or DDR) with control of the capital city of Berlin was also split accordingly. West Germany enjoyed economic growth and entry into both NATO and the EEC (later to become the European Union). East Germany was under much stricter control from Russia and the economy had much slower growth making life harder for the people. Tensions grew more between the two sides when proper gander circulated about an invasion from the west and in 1961 a wall was built in Berlin to prevent East Germans escaping to the West. This meeting between the leaders of the two divisions of Germany was a big step and subsequent meetings led to the two sides becoming members of the United Nations as well as the destruction of the Berlin wall (first breached on the 9th of November 1989. Finally on the 12th of September 1990 the ‘Two Plus Four’ Treaty was signed when the major powers gave up any control of Germany and the countries sovereignty returned on the 3rd of October 1990.
