Margaret Thatcher(1925 — 2013)
Margaret Thatcher
Royaume-Uni, Royaume-Uni de Grande-Bretagne et d'Irlande
7 min read
Margaret Thatcher, première femme Premier ministre du Royaume-Uni (1979-1990), a transformé l'économie britannique par une politique libérale radicale. Surnommée la « Dame de fer », elle a privatisé les entreprises publiques, combattu les syndicats et joué un rôle majeur dans la fin de la Guerre froide aux côtés de Reagan et Gorbatchev.
Frequently asked questions
Famous Quotes
« There is no such thing as society. »
« The lady's not for turning. »
Key Facts
- Première femme élue Premier ministre en Europe occidentale, en 1979
- Conduit la guerre des Malouines contre l'Argentine en 1982, victorieuse pour le Royaume-Uni
- Privatise de nombreuses entreprises publiques et affronte les syndicats des mineurs lors de la grève de 1984-1985
- Joue un rôle diplomatique clé dans les négociations de la fin de la Guerre froide
- Démissionne en 1990 après avoir perdu le soutien de son propre parti sur la question de la taxe locale
Works & Achievements
Political memoirs covering her eleven years at Downing Street, detailing her major decisions (Falklands, miners' strike, economic reforms). An essential first-hand account for understanding her policies.
Second volume of her memoirs covering her youth in Grantham, her studies at Oxford, and her rise in politics up to 1979. Sheds light on the ideological and personal foundations of Thatcherism.
Work on international politics setting out her views on NATO, Europe, and globalisation, written after her political retirement. Reveals her growing Euroscepticism.
A series of laws strictly regulating the right to strike and limiting union power, a cornerstone measure of Thatcherism that durably transformed British industrial relations.
A sweeping programme of state-owned enterprise sell-offs (British Telecom, British Gas, British Airways, British Steel) that inspired similar reforms across Western Europe.
Paradoxically, Thatcher signed this treaty creating the European single market, which she supported before becoming increasingly critical of European integration.
Anecdotes
Margaret Thatcher is the daughter of a Grantham grocer, Alfred Roberts, who passed on to her his values of rigour and thrift. She liked to repeat that it was in the family shop that she had learned to manage a budget before managing that of the state.
During the Falklands War in 1982, Thatcher made the controversial decision to send a military fleet 13,000 km away to retake the islands from the Argentinians. This decision, deemed risky by many, earned her a spectacular surge in popularity following the British victory.
Nicknamed 'The Iron Lady' by a Soviet military newspaper in 1976 on account of her staunch anti-communist stance, she embraced the nickname with pride and made it one of her most enduring political emblems.
Thatcher slept only four hours a night according to her aides, which allowed her to work until dawn on her files. She would readily declare that 'people who succeed don't have time to sleep'.
In 1984, she narrowly survived an IRA bomb attack that destroyed the Grand Hotel in Brighton where the Conservative Party's annual conference was being held. Five people died. Thatcher delivered her speech the following morning as planned, refusing to show the slightest sign of weakness.
Primary Sources
I knew that my convictions were not abstract ideas, but practical truths that had been tested in the real difficulties of life.
Today we were unlucky, but remember — we only have to be lucky once; you will have to be lucky always. This attack has failed. All attempts to destroy democracy by terrorism will fail.
We have ceased to be a nation in retreat. We have instead a new-found confidence — born in the economic battles at home and tested and found true 8,000 miles away.
Economics are the method; the object is to change the heart and soul.
You turn if you want to. The lady's not for turning.
Key Places
Thatcher's hometown, where her father Alfred Roberts ran a grocery shop above which she grew up. This provincial, commercial setting profoundly shaped her values of thrift and self-reliance.
The official residence of the British Prime Minister, which Thatcher occupied for eleven and a half years (1979–1990), longer than any other Prime Minister of the 20th century.
The seat of the British Parliament where Thatcher, first as an MP and then as Prime Minister, delivered some of the most memorable debates in contemporary British political history.
South Atlantic archipelago whose military recapture in 1982 following the Argentine invasion became the defining moment of the Thatcher legend.
The site of the IRA bombing in October 1984 that nearly killed Thatcher and a large part of her Cabinet, who had gathered for the annual Conservative Party conference.
Liens externes & ressources
Références
Œuvres
The Downing Street Years
1993
The Path to Power
1995
Statecraft: Strategies for a Changing World
2002
Réforme du marché du travail (Employment Acts 1980-1982-1984)
1980-1984
Privatisations des entreprises nationales
1979-1990
Single European Act (Acte Unique Européen)
1986
