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The '''Dirty War''' in Argentina, from 1976-1983, was a seven-year military dictatorship and counterinsurgency campaign by the Argentinian military junta against left-wing guerrillas and supporting civilians. Many people, both guerrillas and supporters among the civilian population, were "disappeared". They were taken to secret government detention centers where they were tortured and eventually killed. These people are known as internationally as ''"los desaparecidos"'' ("the disappeared").

The '''Dirty War''' in Argentina, from 1976-1983, was a seven-year military dictatorship and counterinsurgency campaign by the Argentinian military junta against left-wing guerrillas and supporting civilians. Many people, both guerrillas and supporters among the civilian population, were "disappeared". They were taken to secret government detention centers where they were tortured and eventually killed. These people are known as internationally as ''"los desaparecidos"'' ("the disappeared").

The Falklands/Malvinas Islands had been a source of contention between Argentina and Britain, which reoccupied them in 1833, and Argentina, which claims them, since independence. The junta had thought that it could occupy these islands without a British military response, regaining its popularity and control over its people in the process. However, the government was wrong in its conclusions when 72 days after the Operation ''Rosario'', the British 3rd Commando and 5th Infantry Brigades under Major-General Jeremy Moore won the ground war, having captured over 12,000 Argentine POWs.

This unexpected Argentinian military defeat during the Falklands/Malvinas War in 1982 final blow for the military junta, and in mid-1982 General Reynaldo Bignone restored basic civil liberties and retracted its ban on left-wing political parties. The ''Dirty War'' ended when Raul Alfonsin's civilian government took control of the country on December 10, 1983.

This unexpected Argentinian military defeat was the final blow for the military junta, and in 1982 General Reynaldo Bignone restored basic civil liberties and retracted its ban on political parties. The ''Dirty War'' ended when Raul Alfonsin's civilian government took control of the country on December 10, 1983.

Many people, 7,158<ref>"The justification for the Dirty War was the armed actions of the Montoneros and the ERP. From 1969 to 1979, there were 239 kidnappings and 1,020 murders by the guerrillas. During the same period, however, the military kidnapped 7,844 and murdered 7,850." The Psychology of Genocide and Violent Oppression: A Study of Mass Cruelty from Nazi Germany to Rwanda, Richard Morrock, William Marchak, p. 184, McFarland, 2010</ref><ref>[http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1621505-hablan-de-30000-desaparecidos-y-saben-que-es-falso Hablan de 30.000 desaparecidos y saben que es falso]</ref><ref>[http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1464650-videla-admitio-que-la-dictadura-mato-a-7-u-8-mil-personas Videla admitió la muerte y desaparición de "7 u 8 mil personas"]</ref>-13,000<ref>[http://edant.clarin.com/diario/2003/10/06/p-00801.htm Una duda histórica: no se sabe cuántos son los desaparecidos]</ref>, both Peronist and Marxist guerrillas as well as opponents of the Argentinian miltary regime were "disappeared" in the middle of the night. Tens of thousands were taken to secret government detention centers where they were killed or eventually freed under international diplomatic pressure. These people are known as "los desaparecidos" or "the disappeared."

The identified victims of the violence were 7,158 Marxist and Peronists guerrillas, militants and left-wing activists from trade unions, universities, law firms and civilians in the underground support network of the Montoneros believed to be 150,000-250,000-strong and 60,000-strong in the ERP,  as well as sympathizers among the civilian population.  The official number of disappeared under the Kirchner governments was reported to be 13,000<ref>[http://edant.clarin.com/diario/2003/10/06/p-00801.htm Una duda histórica: no se sabe cuántos son los desaparecidos]</ref>. Some 10,000 of the "disappeared" were admittedly guerrillas of the Montoneros (MPM) and the Marxist People's Revolutionary Army (ERP).  The leftist guerrillas caused at least 6,000 casualties among the military, police forces and civilian population, according to a ''National Geographic Magazine'' article in the mid-1980s.

The leftist guerrillas caused at least 5,000 casualties among the military and police forces, according to a ''National Geographic Magazine'' article in the mid-1980s.

==Origins==

==Origins==

British military historian Martin Middlebrook argues that the military junta occupied the Falklands/Malvinas in order to suppress its opposition, principally the exiled Peronists, because the cost - measured in terms of legitimacy - of suppressing their supporters was relatively low at the beginning of the junta's rule. But the cost of suppression increased over time because of the military regime's ruthless suppression of anyone who supported the guerrillas, its failed economic policies, and its defeat in the Falkland Islands/Malvinas War, and thus it had to tolerate its opposition and eventually return power to civilian authority.

British military historian Martin Middlebrook argues that the military junta occupied the Falklands/Malvinas in order to suppress its opposition, principally the exiled Peronists, because the cost - measured in terms of legitimacy - of suppressing their supporters was relatively low at the beginning of the junta's rule. But the cost of suppression increased over time because of the military regime's ruthless suppression of anyone who supported the guerrillas, its failed economic policies, and its defeat in the Falkland Islands/Malvinas War, and thus it had to tolerate its opposition and eventually return power to civilian authority.

== Notes ==

== Notes ==