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Margaret Thatcher is political career and achievements Every thing about him Part 5Margaret Thatcher is political career and achievements Every thing about him Part 5
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00:00Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 1979-1990
00:08Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Iron Lady Margaret Thatcher
00:13His Political Career and Achievements Everything About the United Kingdom
00:17and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Margaret Thatcher
00:21Her Life and Everything About Him Part 5
00:25Thatcher appointed Lord Carrington an ennobled member of the party
00:29and former Secretary of State for Defense to run the foreign office in 1979
00:34Although considered a wet, he avoided domestic affairs and got along well with Thatcher
00:40One issue was what to do with Rhodesia
00:42where the white minority had determined to rule the prosperous, black-majority breakaway colony
00:48in the face of overwhelming international criticism
00:51With the 1975 Portuguese collapse in the continent
00:55South Africa, which had been Rhodesia's chief supporter
00:58realized that their ally was a liability
01:01Black rule was inevitable, and the Thatcher government brokered a peaceful solution to
01:05end the Rhodesian Bush War in December 1979 via the Lancaster House Agreement
01:11The conference at Lancaster House was attended by Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Smith as well
01:15as by the key black leaders, Muzarewa, Mugabe, Nkomo, and Tongogara
01:20The result was the new Zimbabwean nation under black rule in 1980
01:24Thatcher's first foreign policy crisis came with the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
01:30She condemned the invasion, said it showed the bankruptcy of a detente policy, and helped convince
01:36some British athletes to boycott the 1980 Moscow Olympics
01:40She gave weak support to U.S. President Jimmy Carter who tried to punish the USSR with economic sanctions
01:47Britain's economic situation was precarious, and most of NATO was reluctant to cut trade ties
01:52Thatcher nevertheless gave the go-ahead for Whitehall to approve MI6 along with the SAS to undertake disruptive action in Afghanistan
02:01As well as working with the CIA in Operation Cyclone, they also supplied weapons, training, and intelligence to the Mujahideen
02:09The Financial Times reported in 2011 that her government had secretly supplied Iraq under Saddam Hussein with non-lethal military equipment since 1981
02:18Having withdrawn formal recognition from the Pol Pot regime in 1979, the Thatcher government backed the Khmer Rouge
02:26keeping their UN seat after they were ousted from power in Cambodia by the Cambodian-Vietnamese War
02:31Although Thatcher denied it at the time, it was revealed in 1991 that, while not directly training any Khmer Rouge from 1983
02:39The Special Air Service, SAS, was sent to secretly train the armed forces of the Cambodian non-communist resistance
02:47that remained loyal to Prince Noradam Sihanouk and his former Prime Minister Son Son in the fight against the Vietnamese-backed puppet regime
02:54Thatcher was one of the first Western leaders to respond warmly to reformist Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev
03:01Following Reagan-Gorbachev's summit meetings and reforms enacted by Gorbachev in the USSR, she declared in November 1988
03:09that we are not in a Cold War now, but rather in a new relationship much wider than the Cold War ever was
03:16She went on a state visit to the Soviet Union in 1984 and met with Gorbachev and Council of Ministers Chairman Nikolai Rishkov
03:24Despite opposite personalities, Thatcher bonded quickly with U.S. President Ronald Reagan
03:30She gave strong support to the Reagan administration's Cold War policies based on their shared distrust of communism
03:36A sharp disagreement came in 1983, when Reagan did not consult with her on the invasion of Granada
03:44During her first year as Prime Minister, she supported NATO's decision to deploy U.S. nuclear crews and Pershing-2 missiles in Western Europe
03:52Permitting the U.S. to station more than 160 cruise missiles at RAF Greenham Common, starting in November 1983
03:59and triggering mass protests by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
04:04She bought the Trident nuclear missile submarine system from the U.S. to replace Polaris,
04:09tripling the U.K.'s nuclear forces at an eventual cost of more than £12 billion, at 1996-97 prices
04:16Thatcher's preference for defense ties with the U.S. was demonstrated in the Westland affair of 1985-86
04:23when she acted with colleagues to allow the struggling helicopter manufacturer Westland to refuse a takeover offer from the Italian firm Augusta
04:31in favor of the management's preferred option, a link with Sikorsky aircraft
04:35Defense Secretary Michael Hesseltine, who had supported the Augusta deal, resigned from the government in protest
04:42In April 1986, she permitted USF-111s to use Royal Air Force bases for the bombing of Libya
04:49in retaliation for the Libyan bombing of a Berlin discotheque, citing the right of self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter
04:57Polls suggested that fewer than one in three British citizens approved of her decision
05:02Thatcher was in the U.S. on a state visit when Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in August 1990
05:09During her talks with President George H.W. Bush, who succeeded Reagan in 1989,
05:15she recommended intervention and put pressure on Bush to deploy troops in the Middle East to drive the Iraqi army out of Kuwait
05:21Bush was apprehensive about the plan, prompting Thatcher to remark to him during a telephone conversation
05:27This was no time to go wobbly
05:29Thatcher's government supplied military forces to the International Coalition in the build-up to the Gulf War
05:35but she had resigned by the time hostilities began on the 17th of January 1991
05:40She applauded the coalition victory on the backbenches
05:43while warning that the victories of peace will take longer than the battles of war
05:47It was disclosed in 2017 that Thatcher had suggested threatening Saddam with chemical weapons after the invasion of Kuwait
05:55On the 2nd of April 1982, the military junta in Argentina
05:59ordered the invasion of the crown colony of the Falkland Islands and its dependency of South Georgia
06:05beginning the Falklands War
06:07The subsequent crisis was
06:09a defining moment of Thatcher's premiership
06:12At the suggestion of Harold McMillan and Robert Armstrong, she set up and chaired a small war cabinet
06:18to oversee the conduct of the war
06:20which by the 5th to the 6th of April
06:22had authorized and dispatched a naval task force to retake the islands
06:26Argentina surrendered on the 14th of June
06:29and Operation Corporate was hailed a success
06:32notwithstanding the deaths of 255 British servicemen and 3 Falkland Islanders
06:37Argentine fatalities totaled 649, half of them aboard RA General Belgrano
06:43that was torpedoed and sunk by HMS Conqueror on the 2nd of May
06:47Thatcher was criticized for the neglect of the Falklands, defense that led to the war
06:52and especially by Labour MP Tam Daliel in Parliament for the decision to torpedo the General Belgrano
06:57but overall she was considered a competent and committed war leader
07:01The Falklands factor, an economic recovery beginning early in 1982
07:06and a bitterly divided opposition all contributed to Thatcher's second election victory in 1983
07:12Thatcher often referred after the war to the Falklands spirit
07:15In September 1982, she visited China to discuss with Deng Xiaoping the sovereignty of Hong Kong
07:21after 1997
07:22China was the first communist state Thatcher had visited as prime minister
07:27and she was the first British prime minister to visit China
07:31Throughout their meeting, she sought the PRC's agreement
07:34to a continued British presence in the territory
07:36Deng insisted that the PRC's sovereignty over Hong Kong was non-negotiable
07:41but stated his willingness to settle the sovereignty issue with the British government
07:45through formal negotiations
07:47Both governments promised to maintain Hong Kong's stability and prosperity
07:51After the two-year negotiations, Thatcher conceded to the PRC government
07:56and signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration in Beijing in 1984
08:01agreeing to hand over Hong Kong's sovereignty in 1997
08:05Despite saying that she was in favor of peaceful negotiations to end apartheid
08:10Thatcher opposed sanctions imposed on South Africa by the Commonwealth and the European Economic Community
08:16EEC
08:17She attempted to preserve trade with South Africa while persuading its government to abandon apartheid
08:23This included asking herself as President Botha's candid friend and inviting him to visit the UK in 1984
08:30despite the inevitable demonstrations against his government
08:34Alan Meridoux of the Canadian broadcaster BCTV News
08:37asked Thatcher what her response was to a reported ANC statement that they will target British firms in South Africa
08:44To which she later replied
08:46Jam, when the ANC says that they will target British companies
08:50This shows what a typical terrorist organization it is
08:54I fought terrorism all my life and if more people fought it
08:58and we were all more successful
09:00We should not have it
09:01And I hope that everyone in this hall will think it is right
09:03to go on fighting terrorism
09:05During his visit to Britain five months after his release from prison
09:08Nelson Mandela praised Thatcher
09:11She is an enemy of apartheid
09:13We have much to thank her for
09:14Thatcher and her party supported British membership of the EEC in the 1975 National Referendum
09:20and the Single European Act of 1986
09:23and obtained the UK rebate on contributions
09:26But she believed that the role of the organization should be limited to ensuring free trade and effective competition
09:32and feared that the EEC approach was at odds with her views on smaller government and deregulation
09:38Believing that the single market would result in political integration
09:41Thatcher's opposition to further European integration became more pronounced during her premiership
09:47and particularly after her third government in 1987
09:50In her Bruges speech in 1988
09:53Thatcher outlined her opposition to proposals from the EEC
09:57Forerunner of the European Union
09:59for a federal structure and increased centralization of decision-making
10:02We have not successfully rolled back the frontiers of the state in Britain
10:07only to see them reimposed at a European level
10:10with a European super-state exercising a new dominance from Brussels
10:14Sharing the concerns of French President Francois Mitterrand
10:17Thatcher was initially opposed to German reunification
10:21Telling Gorbachev that it would lead to a change to post-war borders
10:24And we cannot allow that because such a development would undermine the stability of the whole international situation
10:30and could endanger our security
10:32She expressed concern that a united Germany would align itself more closely with the Soviet Union and move away from NATO
10:38In March 1990
10:40Thatcher held a Checkers seminar on the subject of German reunification
10:44that was attended by members of her cabinet and historians such as Norman Stone, George Urban, Timothy Garten-Ash, and Gordon A. Craig
10:53During the seminar, Thatcher described what Urban called saloon-bar clichés about the German character
11:00including angst, aggressiveness, assertiveness, bullying, egotism, inferiority complex, and sentimentality
11:09Those present were shocked to hear Thatcher's utterances
11:12and appalled at how she was apparently unaware about the post-war German collective guilt and Germans' attempts to work through their past
11:20The words of the meeting were leaked by her foreign policy advisor Charles Powell
11:24and, subsequently, her comments were met with fierce backlash and controversy
11:29During the same month, German Chancellor Helmut Kohl reassured Thatcher that he would keep her informed of all his intentions about unification
11:37and that he was prepared to disclose matters which even his cabinet would not know
11:42During her premiership, Thatcher had the second-lowest average approval rating, 40% of any post-war prime minister
11:49Since Nigel Lawson's resignation as Chancellor in October 1989, polls consistently showed that she was less popular than her party
11:57A self-described conviction politician, Thatcher always insisted that she did not care about her poll ratings
12:03and pointed instead to her unbeaten election record
12:06In December 1989, Thatcher was challenged for the leadership of the Conservative Party
12:11by the little-known backbench MP Sir Anthony Meyer
12:14Of the 374 Conservative MPs eligible to vote, 314 voted for Thatcher and 33 for Meyer
12:22Her supporters in the party viewed the result as a success
12:26and rejected suggestions that there was discontent within the party
12:29Opinion polls in September 1990 reported that Labour had established a 14% lead over the Conservatives
12:36and by November, the Conservatives had been trailing Labour for 18 months
12:41These ratings, together with Thatcher's combative personality and tendency to override collegiate opinion
12:47contributed to further discontent within her party
12:50In July 1989, Thatcher removed Geoffrey Howe as Foreign Secretary
12:55after he and Lawson had forced her to agree to a plan for Britain to join the European Exchange Rate Mechanism, ERM
13:02Britain joined the ERM in October 1990
13:05On the 1st of November 1990, Howe, by then the last remaining member of Thatcher's original 1979 cabinet
13:13resigned as Deputy Prime Minister, ostensibly over her open hostility to moves towards European Monetary Union
13:20In his resignation speech on the 13th of November, which was instrumental in Thatcher's downfall
13:26Howe attacked Thatcher's openly dismissive attitude to the government's proposal for a new European currency
13:32competing against existing currencies? A hard ECU
13:36How on earth are the Chancellor and the Governor of the Bank of England, commending the hard ECU as they strive to,
13:42to be taken as serious participants in the debate against that kind of background noise?
13:47I believe that both the Chancellor and the Governor are cricketing enthusiasts,
13:51so I hope that there is no monopoly of cricketing metaphors.
13:54It is rather like sending your opening batsmen to the crease only for them to find,
13:59the moment the first balls are bowled, that their bats have been broken before the game by the team captain.
14:04On the 14th of November, Michael Heseltine mounted a challenge for the leadership of the Conservative Party.
14:10Opinion polls had indicated that he would give the Conservatives a national lead over Labour.
14:14Although Thatcher led on the first ballot with the votes of 204 Conservative MPs, 54.8%, to 152 votes, 40.9% for Heseltine,
14:25with 16 abstentions, she was four votes short of the required 15% majority.
14:30A second ballot was therefore necessary.
14:33Thatcher initially declared her intention to fight on and fight to win the second ballot,
14:38but consultation with her cabinet persuaded her to withdraw.
14:40After holding an audience with the Queen, calling other world leaders, and making one final common speech,
14:47on the 28th of November she left Downing Street in tears.
14:51She reportedly regarded her ousting as a betrayal.
14:54Her resignation was a shock to many outside Britain,
14:57with such foreign observers as Henry Kissinger and Gorbachev expressing private consternation.
15:02Chancellor John Major replaced Thatcher as head of government and party leader,
15:06whose lead over Heseltine in the second ballot was sufficient for Heseltine to drop out.
15:12Major oversaw an upturn in Conservative support in the 17 months leading to the 1992 general election,
15:18and led the party to a fourth successive victory on the 9th of April 1992.
15:23Thatcher had lobbied for Major in the leadership contest against Heseltine,
15:27but her support for him waned in later years.
15:30After leaving the Premiership, Thatcher returned to the backbenches as a constituency parliamentarian.
15:35Her domestic approval rating recovered after her resignation,
15:39though public opinion remained divided on whether her government had been good for the country.
15:44Aged 66, she retired from the House of Commons at the 1992 general election,
15:49saying that leaving the Commons would allow her more freedom to speak her mind.
15:53On leaving the Commons, Thatcher became the first former British Prime Minister to set up a foundation.
15:58The British wing of the Margaret Thatcher Foundation was dissolved in 2005 due to financial difficulties.
16:03She wrote two volumes of memoirs, The Downing Street Years, 1993, and The Path to Power, 1995.
16:12In 1991, she and her husband Dennis moved to a house in Chester Square,
16:17a residential garden square in central London's Belgravia district.
16:21Thatcher was hired by the tobacco company Philip Morris as a geopolitical consultant in July 1992 for $250,000 per year,
16:30and an annual contribution of $250,000 to her foundation.
16:34Thatcher earned $50,000 for each speech she delivered.
16:38Thatcher became an advocate of Croatian and Slovenian independence.
16:41Commenting on the Yugoslav wars, in a 1991 interview for Croatian radio television,
16:48she was critical of Western governments for not recognizing the breakaway republics of Croatia and Slovenia as independent,
16:55and for not supplying them with arms after the Serbian-led Yugoslav army attacked.
16:59In August 1992, she called for NATO to stop the Serbian assault on Gorozde and Sarajevo to end ethnic cleansing during the Bosnian war,
17:09comparing the situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina to the barbarities of Hitlers and Stalins.
17:16She made a series of speeches in the Lords criticizing the Maastricht Treaty,
17:20describing it as a treaty too far, and stated,
17:23I could never have signed this treaty.
17:26She cited A.V. Dicey when arguing that, as all three main parties were in favor of the treaty,
17:32the people should have their say in a referendum.
17:36Thatcher served as Honorary Chancellor of the College of William and Mary in Virginia from 1993 to 2000,
17:42while also serving as Chancellor of the Private University of Buckingham from 1992 to 1998,
17:47a university she had formally opened in 1976 as the former Education Secretary.
17:53I stop at this point today.
17:55Until next time, stay curious, stay informed, and keep exploring the world's incredible stories.
18:01Soon, we will publish Part 6.
18:04If you have any comments, please leave us your comments, because they are important to us.
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