Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher She died at the age of 88 in London. The cause of death was a stroke.
Thatcher dies 'peacefully' after stroke
Thatcher died this morning. "Mark and Carol Thatcher have announced that their mother, Baroness Thatcher, has died peacefully after suffering a stroke," spokesman Lord Timothy Bell said, promising to make an extended statement later.
British Prime Minister David Cameron interrupted his European tour due to the death of the Iron Lady. He will return to the country in the next few hours.
Flags are currently flown at half mast at 10 Downing Street, the Prime Minister's Residence.
According to the BBC, Thatcher will be buried with full honors. It will be like the Queen Mother's funeral. The service will be held at St. Paul's Cathedral in the presence of a large number of people who have ever met or worked with Thatcher. The body, according to her will, will be cremated.
Thatcher ordered her funeral two years before her death
Thatcher herself back in 2011, so that the funeral would be arranged with the usual ceremonial events in such cases. The ex-premier asked that access to the coffin, exhibited in Westminster Hall, be open only to her relatives, specially invited persons and MPs. Among those invited should be Queen Elizabeth II, members of the royal family, as well as major political figures of the Thatcher era, including ex-USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev.
In giving orders for the farewell ceremony, Thatcher did not forget that during her tenure as prime minister, Great Britain defeated Argentina in the 1982 Falklands conflict. This military victory gave her the right to be buried with military honors, but the baroness also considered the flight of a military squadron unnecessary.
She asked for a funeral at St. Paul's Cathedral. The orchestra will play selected works by English composer Edward Elgar. Thatcher will be buried in the cemetery of the Royal Hospital in Chelsea, next to her husband, who died in 2003.
Age of the Iron Lady
The daughter of a grocer from a provincial town, Margaret Thatcher received a law degree in 1954. In 1959, she became a member of the House of Commons, and in 1961 - 1964. worked as Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Pensions and Social Security. In 1970 - 1974 Thatcher headed the Ministry of Education and Science in the cabinet of Edward Heath. In February 1975, she was elected leader of the Conservative Party. And in May 1979, she became the first (and so far the only) woman to hold the post of Prime Minister of Great Britain.
Thatcher spent 11 years as head of the British Cabinet - from 1979 to 1990. For decisive action and adamant adherence to the chosen course, Thatcher was named the Iron Lady. The era when it carried out a series of tough political and economic reforms was called Thatcherism.
Thanks to Thatcher's will, Britain retained control of the Falklands after Argentina attempted to occupy the disputed territory in 1982. Skillfully playing on the patriotic sentiments of the British, Thatcher brought her party a second election victory in 1983.
The third term of premiership was given to Thatcher with difficulty. In 1990, she voluntarily resigned "for the sake of party unity and the prospect of winning the general election." In 1992, Queen Elizabeth II conferred the title of Baroness on Thatcher.
In recent years, Thatcher failed health
Thatcher's health has recently raised serious concerns. In 2005, doctors forbade her to perform in public. The Iron Lady rarely attended social events; the last time she appeared in public in September - at a speech by Benedict XVI, who paid an official visit to the UK.
Last year, the ex-premier was hospitalized with a broken arm after she fell at home. Before that, she had already been hospitalized several times due to poor health. In addition, as the daughter of the Iron Lady Carol claimed, in recent years her mother suffered from dementia.
Last December, Thatcher underwent surgery to remove a small tumor on her bladder. She spent all the Christmas holidays in the hospital and was discharged before the New Year.
Mayor of London Boris Johnson took the initiative to perpetuate the memory of the deceased ex-prime minister Margret Thatcher. According to the mayor, Baroness Thatcher deserved her work. Most likely, it can be placed on the famous Trafalgar Square, next to the monuments King George IV and two great military leaders - General Charles Napier and Henry Havelock.
First of all, the idea of the monument is supported by veterans of the Falklands War of 1982, during which Great Britain, under the rule of Margaret Thatcher, defended its sovereignty over a small piece of land in the Atlantic in the fight against Argentina.
bad memory
However, it can already be assumed that the appearance of such a monument will add headaches to the authorities of London, because the attitude towards the person of the Prime Minister in the UK is, to put it mildly, ambiguous.
Immediately after the news of Thatcher's death, on the streets of the country's cities, they did not hide their jubilation and drank champagne in honor of the significant event.
It got to the point that there were open clashes with police forces trying to stop this "dance on the bones." In the London Borough of Brixton, protesters climbed onto the roof of the Ritzy cinema and folded the words "Margaret Thatcher is dead - LOL" out of letters on a poster.
Fans of the English "Liverpool" in honor of the death of the "Iron Lady" sang the popular song among the people and written quite a long time ago "When Thatcher dies, we will have a party."
Even George Galloway, a member of the British Parliament from Bradford, posted the following post on his microblog: “Thatcher called Nelson Mandela a terrorist. I saw it myself. May she burn in hell!”
Everything is so serious that even the body of the “iron lady” after her death was transported to a guarded, strictly secret place, fearing possible excesses.
Why, then, is a politician so unpopular among the people, about whom in the last two decades in Russia they have not been written otherwise than in a laudatory tone?
"Milk Thief"
When TV journalists showed the apartment in which Margaret Thatcher lived for many years in the news, in addition to bouquets of flowers from grieving fans, a bottle of milk was also found there.
This milk sends us back to the days when the future "iron lady" in the early 1970s was the Minister of Science and Education in the conservative cabinet of Prime Minister Edward Heath. In her post, Thatcher was noted for cutting spending on public schools and, in particular, abolishing the free distribution of milk to schoolchildren between the ages of seven and eleven. The British remembered this "noble" step for a long time - even after the news of the ex-premier's death, her opponents brought milk instead of flowers to her house. Some of the reporters tried to see in this milk a "symbol of reconciliation", although the opponents clearly put a different meaning into it. Approximately the same as the one used by the fighters against evil spirits, driving an aspen stake into the grave of a ghoul.
It was after that story that Thatcher received her first nickname - "milk thief". In her autobiography, she describes this episode of her career as follows: “I learned a valuable lesson. Incurred the maximum political hatred for the minimum political benefit.
Margret Thatcher will sow hatred around herself throughout her political career.
The destruction of the "workshop of the world"
In its economic policy, the "Iron Lady" was based on the ideas of monetarism, relying in every possible way on the notorious "invisible hand of the market, which will regulate everything itself." The policy that later became known as "Thatcherism" proceeded from the following logic: "The poor should not be given money, they will squander it all. We need to give money to the rich, who will invest it, after which the funds will “leak out” to the poor.”
Thatcher's fetish was the fight against the budget deficit, for which everything was sacrificed: subsidies to state enterprises, spending on health care, education, housing and communal services, assistance to depressed regions.
All the so-called "unpopular measures" led to the impoverishment of workers and employees, but they removed the most well-to-do from the blow.
An ardent anti-communist, Prime Minister Margret Thatcher during her reign did everything to lower the social status of skilled British workers, whom she considered an obstacle to the success of her reforms.
Long before the advent of the Russian reformers, the "iron lady" pulled off a favorite trick of liberal economists in the UK - in the struggle for eye-pleasing numbers, the real economy was replaced by the economy of stock market speculation.
Thanks to Thatcher's consistent course towards the privatization of state-owned enterprises, both subsidized and quite successful, Great Britain, which had the status of the "workshop of the world" since the beginning of the 19th century, experienced an unprecedented decline in industrial production. Businessmen who did not want to pay highly skilled workers in Britain moved production to third countries, dooming the working class of the country to poverty and unemployment.
Behind these dry words lie the fates of hundreds of thousands, millions of ordinary Britons, who in the 1980s fell into the millstones of "Thatcherism" in the same way that the Russians themselves fell into the millstones of "shock therapy" in the early 1990s.
social war
A real social war broke out in the country, the peak of which was a year-long strike by British miners against the closure of mines and the dismissal of more than 20 thousand people. Margret Thatcher responded to pickets and strikes with more and more restrictions on trade union rights, declaring: “We had to fight the enemy outside the country, in the Falkland Islands. We must always be aware of the enemy within the country, which is more difficult to fight and which poses a great danger to freedom.”
The "Iron Lady" was of little interest to the working people, who were doomed to poverty by her. To cope with the strikes, she began to encourage the arrival of "guest workers" who were ready to work for a pittance. The fight against unemployment resulted in the reduction of benefits, the removal of state regulation of rental housing prices and other measures that often turned yesterday's successful workers into "homeless people".
As a result, Thatcher's rule turned the "workshop of the world" into an oasis of financial speculators who make money from money.
It was the “iron lady” who created the UK, which became the promised land for the oligarchs around the world.
It is not very common to write about the fact that in addition to “Britain of diamonds, luxurious yachts and royal receptions” there is another Britain, which the late prime minister considered an “internal enemy”, it is not very common to write outside the United Kingdom. It's not as cute as the size of the new yacht Abramovich or the pregnancy of the young wife of the heir to the throne.
But the British, who have known all the delights of "Thatcherism" in their own skin, are not ready to share the world's sorrow for the "Iron Lady".
In 1990, their own reformers were raging in the USSR with might and main, because the British rebellion against Thatcher in our country went almost unnoticed. The Prime Minister, continuing to bend his line, introduced the so-called "poll tax" in the country. Instead of a tax proportional to the cost of housing, the British had to pay a tax to the local budget, based on how many adults live in the apartment.
That is, a lonely billionaire living in a luxurious 15-room apartment paid less than a large family huddled in a "odnushka".
This was all Margaret Thatcher, rightly adored by high society, but also rightly hated by the common people.
The "poll tax" led to a mass demonstration in London on July 31, 1990, which resulted in open clashes with the police in Trafalgar Square, where a monument to Thatcher is now being planned.
It was after this that Thatcher's party comrades reasonably decided that it was better to throw the "Iron Lady" off the ship of history until the angry British threw all the conservatives overboard en masse.
"We will dance on your grave, Mrs. Thatcher"
This was the name of one of the songs popular among the protesters during the reign of Margaret Thatcher.
Since then, more than two decades have passed, but the British have constantly proved that they are not vindictive, but simply evil and have a good memory.
What we in Russia read as an "iron lady" is deciphered by ordinary Englishmen as a "cold bitch". Moreover, “bitch” is one of the mildest epithets that haunted Margaret Thatcher until the very last days.
In 2008, the London theater released a production called "The Death of Margaret Thatcher", whose characters expressed their emotions regarding the then "stage" death of the "Iron Lady". One of the characters was a former miner, with a group of comrades walking from Sheffield to London on foot with one goal - to spit on the prime minister's grave. The film "Iron Lady" with Meryl Streep as Thatcher, filmed in Hollywood, was smashed by British critics, offended by the fact that "they tried to humanize the monster."
In the fall of 2012, at the Congress of British Trade Unions in Brighton, its participants were offered T-shirts with the inscription “Hey ho the witch is dead” (Hey ho, the witch is dead) and the indication on the packaging: “In case of Thatcher’s death, open the package and put on a T-shirt for only 10 pounds immediately".
In a more detailed version, the set contained a bottle of whiskey, which was supposed to be drunk on a "significant occasion."
When death took place, the intensity of passions went off scale. Song Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead, from the 1940s film The Wizard of Oz, skyrocketed on the English charts and became a hit on the Internet.
And the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph has closed comments on its website to all materials on the death of Margaret Thatcher, due to the abundance of offensive comments about the deceased. Moreover, readers filled up the corporate mail of the publication with such letters, and then, when the editorial office suspended its work, they switched to accounts in social networks.
According to the BBC radio station, the Football Association of England decided not to hold a moment of silence during the upcoming weekend during the national championship matches in memory of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who died last Monday. “Although the absolute majority of the top management of the association are fans of Thatcher, they did not dare to introduce a minute of silence in the stadiums, as they are not sure of the reaction of the audience,” the radio station emphasized.
All this says only one thing - Margaret Thatcher will not be forgotten in Foggy Albion. And it will have to be kept under reliable protection: too many grateful fellow citizens want to dance on it.
ALL PHOTOS
"I will stay until I get tired.
And while Britain needs me
I will never get tired."
(M. Thatcher)
Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has died in the UK, Reuters reports. The Iron Lady has passed away at the age of 87. Flags have already been flown at half mast on British government buildings.
"This is a great loss, Mark and Carol Thatcher reported that their mother, Baroness Thatcher, died of natural causes as a result of a previous stroke this morning," a spokeswoman for the deceased told Sky News. According to ITAR-TASS, Margaret Thatcher had a stroke. In recent years, she suffered from Alzheimer's disease.
Cameron is in Madrid, where he is consulting with the Spanish government on EU reform. From there, he was supposed to fly to Paris, however, according to Reuters, citing Cameron's official representative, the head of the cabinet decided to interrupt his trip. He will return to London in the next few hours.
A BBC correspondent reports that flowers are being brought to her home in London's Belgravia as a mark of respect for Thatcher's memory. Flags have already been flown at half mast on the buildings of British government agencies, Interfax reports.
Margaret Thatcher was the 71st Prime Minister of Great Britain, she held this post from 1979 to 1990 and was the first and only woman in history to head the British government.
Recent years - struggle with senile dementia
Starting in 2002, Margaret Thatcher's health deteriorated significantly, and she gradually withdrew from public and political activities. Ten years ago, Thatcher suffered a series of minor strokes and doctors advised her to stop public speaking, according to the BBC Russian Service.
The ex-premier's daughter, Carol Thatcher, published a book in 2008 in which she spoke about her mother's struggle with senile dementia.
For health reasons, the "Iron Lady" this summer was unable to attend a gala dinner in honor of former prime ministers, which Queen Elizabeth II gave in honor of the 60th anniversary of her reign.
Two years ago, Prime Minister David Cameron gave a reception at 10 Downing Street in honor of Margaret Thatcher's 85th birthday, but then she also could not attend the celebration.
Before Christmas, it was reported that Margaret Thatcher was hospitalized and operated on: she had a bladder tumor removed. The operation was simple, Thatcher's relatives reported that "the doctors are satisfied."
Thatcher planned her exit
Representatives of Prime Minister Cameron said that Margaret Thatcher asked not to give her a state funeral. For several more years, the British media wrote that Margaret Thatcher had given orders for her own funeral. The ceremony has been planned since 2007, since any events in which the Queen takes part require advance preparation.
So, Thatcher wished that access to the coffin was open only to her relatives, specially invited persons and MPs. Among those invited should be Queen Elizabeth II, members of the royal family, as well as the largest political figures of the era of her premiership.
The funeral will take place at London's St. Paul's Cathedral. According to Thatcher's last will, the orchestra will have to play selected works by the English composer Edward Elgar. The victory over Argentina in the Falklands conflict in 1982 gives the former prime minister the right to be buried with military honors, but the baroness asked to remove the flight of the squadron from the ceremony.
Thatcher will be buried at the cemetery of the Royal Hospital in Chelsea, next to her husband Denis, who died in 2003.
Iron Lady: how chemist Roberts became Prime Minister Thatcher
Margaret Roberts was born on October 13, 1925 in Grantham in the East of England. After school, she entered Somersville College, Oxford University, where she did research in practical chemistry.
In 1946 she became chairman of the Oxford University Conservative Party Association. After graduation, Roberts moved to Colchester, Essex, where she worked for BX Plastics.
At Colchester, she joined the local Conservative Party association and became a spokesperson for her university's Conservative Alumni Association.
In 1951, Margaret married businessman Denis Thatcher, and two years later received a law degree and worked as a lawyer for five years. In 1950, she ran for parliament for the first time, but the first attempt was unsuccessful. However, Thatcher attracted attention as the youngest candidate and the only woman to run in the constituency.
In 1959, she once again entered the race for a seat in Parliament in the wealthy London suburb of Finchley and won. In 1961, Prime Minister Harold MacMillan recognized Thatcher's abilities and appointed her Joint Parliamentary Secretary for Pensions and National Insurance. In 1967, Conservative leader Edward Heath appointed her Shadow Cabinet Minister for Gas, Electricity and Nuclear Energy, and a little later as Secretary of Transportation, Education and Science. When Heath became prime minister in 1970, Thatcher became the only female member of his cabinet, gaining the post of minister of education and science.
When the Conservative Party suffered two defeats from Labor in 1974, against the backdrop of declining support for the party among the population, Thatcher entered the struggle for the position of party chairman. In the 1975 presidential election, Thatcher defeated Heath in the first round of voting. In the second round, she defeated William Whitelaw, who was seen as Heath's most preferred successor, and on February 11, 1975, she officially became chairman of the Conservative Party, appointing Whitelaw as her deputy.
According to biographers, it was then, and not during the years of premiership, that the nickname "Iron Lady" was assigned to her. In 1976, Thatcher made a strong criticism of the Soviet Union in one of her public speeches as head of the Conservatives. She said, in part: "The Russians are set on world domination, and they are rapidly acquiring the means necessary to become the most powerful imperial state the world has ever seen. The men in the Soviet Politburo need not worry about the rapid change in public opinion. They chose guns over butter, while for us almost everything else is more important than guns." In response to this, the newspaper of the USSR Ministry of Defense, Krasnaya Zvezda, called Thatcher an "iron lady". The Sunday Times newspaper translated this turnover as Iron Lady, and another translation into Russian resulted in the "iron lady".
The Conservatives built their campaign promises around economic issues, arguing for the need for privatization and liberal reforms. They promised to fight inflation and work to weaken the unions, since the strikes they organized caused significant damage to the economy.
On May 3, 1979, the Conservatives confidently won, receiving 43.9%, and on May 4, Thatcher became the first woman Prime Minister of Great Britain. In this position, Thatcher launched a vigorous effort to reform the British economy and society as a whole.
Thanks to tough and unpopular measures in the economy and the social sphere, the country managed to achieve stable economic growth. Foreign investments contributed to the modernization of production and increase the competitiveness of manufactured products. At the same time, the Thatcher government managed to keep inflation at a very low level for a long time. In addition, by the end of the 1980s, thanks to the measures taken, the unemployment rate was significantly reduced.
In April 1982, the prime minister responded decisively to the Argentine army's invasion of the Falkland Islands by immediately sending a naval squadron to the archipelago. On June 14, Argentina capitulated.
In the parliamentary elections of 1983, the Thatcher-led Conservatives received the support of 42.43% of the voters, while the Labor Party received only 27.57% of the vote. In 1987, the Conservatives won again, receiving 42.3% of the vote against 30.83% for Labor.
Her foreign policy was aimed at strengthening the role of the United Kingdom on the world stage, which, in her opinion, had noticeably weakened during the years of the Labor leadership of the country. She found a close friend in US President Ronald Reagan, who shared many of her views on the economy, and, unexpectedly for many, entered into an alliance with Mikhail Gorbachev.
During her third premier term, Thatcher introduced a reform of taxation, the proceeds of which went to the budgets of local governments: instead of a tax based on the nominal rental value of a house, a so-called "poll tax" was introduced, which had to be paid by every adult resident of each house.
The reform of the tax system became one of the most unpopular measures during Thatcher's premiership. On March 31, 1990, public discontent resulted in large demonstrations in London, in which about 70,000 people took part. The demonstrations in Trafalgar Square eventually turned into riots in which 113 people were injured and 340 arrested.
Opinion polls indicated that her popularity was below that of the Conservative Party. However, the self-confident Thatcher always insisted that she had little interest in various ratings, pointing to record support during the parliamentary elections. However, the ratings, as well as the belligerent personality of the prime minister and her disregard for the opinions of her colleagues, caused disagreements within the Conservative Party, which eventually got rid of Margaret Thatcher herself.
At first, she intended to continue the fight to the bitter end in the second round of the election of the party leader in 1990, but after consultations with the cabinet, she decided to withdraw from the elections. After an audience with the Queen and a closing speech in the House of Commons, Thatcher resigned as prime minister. She considered her removal from office a betrayal.
The post of Prime Minister of Great Britain and chairman of the Conservative Party passed to John Major, at the head of which the Conservative Party managed to win the 1992 parliamentary elections.
After leaving the premiership, Thatcher was a member of the House of Commons for Finchley for two years. In 1992, at the age of 66, she decided to leave parliament, which, in her opinion, gave her the opportunity to more openly express her opinion on certain events.
Thatcher received the title of Baroness of Kesteven (this is a place in her native Lincolnshire), and in 1995 - the Most Noble Order of the Garter, the highest order of chivalry in Great Britain, whose cavaliers at any given time cannot be more than 25 people, including the monarch. Only in 2001, when her health began to fail, did Baroness Thatcher begin to curtail her political activities.
Thatcher's premiership was the longest in the 20th century. For her supporters, she forever remained a political figure who was able to restore the British economy, deal a significant blow to trade unions and restore Britain's image as a world power. However, the unwillingness to compromise on fundamental issues made Thatcher a very controversial figure, and dissatisfaction with her policies and her style of management led over time to a revolt even in the ranks of her own party.
Many believe that the quintessence of Margaret Thatcher's philosophy can be found in a magazine interview she gave in 1987, BBC Russian Service writes.
"I think we've gone through a period where too many people have been told 'I have a problem and it's up to the government to deal with it' or 'I have a problem and I need to get funds to deal with it'," I'm homeless, the government should put me somewhere" - and they shifted their problems to society, but society - who is it? It does not exist! There are individual men and women, there are families, and no government can do anything without people, and people should think of themselves." "Our duty is to take care of ourselves and help take care of our neighbors," Margaret Thatcher said at the time.
The role of Thatcher in the history of Russia
Margaret Thatcher is famous in Russia much more than other British politicians. And so far in our country there are several myths associated with her name back in the days of the Soviet Union. Here are just a few of them.
When in the UK the BBC showed the third part of the Soviet television series about Sherlock Holmes, where Vasily Livanov starred as the great detective, Thatcher, who watched this picture, said in an interview with a British newspaper that of everything she had seen, "Russian Holmes is the most best".
In the late 1980s, Thatcher, speaking about the economic prospects of the USSR, allegedly stated that "on the territory of the USSR, 15 million people can live economically." However, historians cannot find this phrase in any documents.
But those documented facts related to Thatcher's activities in relation to the USSR prove that her role and influence on our country are really great. Relations between the USSR and the West in the 1980s were extremely tense. And her personal attitude to the Soviet state was complex and contradictory.
For example, responding to Alexei Kosygin, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, to a greeting on the occasion of her accession to the post of prime minister, Thatcher wrote that she shared his hopes for the development of relations between countries, and even expressed England's interest in developing economic ties with the USSR. But from the second half of 1979 there was a turn to the Cold War. The ratification of the Soviet-American SALT-2 treaty began to be delayed. The Thatcher government began to express fears that this treaty would weaken US guarantees regarding the security of Western Europe. And in the fall of 1979, Thatcher announced that one could only talk with the USSR from a position of strength.
The entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan only exacerbated this attitude of the British Prime Minister towards the USSR. The British government recalled the ambassador from Kabul, severed all ties with Afghanistan and called on the members of the EEC and NATO to impose sanctions against the USSR, qualifying this as an act of aggression. On December 29, 1979, Thatcher sent an official protest to the leadership of the USSR, announcing a review of all relationships. Soviet-British cooperation was curtailed in all areas.
In London in 1981, Prime Minister Thatcher declared that the Soviet Union was the "major threat" to the Western way of life.
The events in Poland in 1981 became the next stage in the discord in relations between Great Britain and the USSR. In April, Thatcher issued a "warning" to Moscow about a "possible invasion of Poland", noting that it "would be a disaster for the Soviet Union as well as for Poland" and NATO sanctions would follow immediately.
When Yury Andropov, General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, suggested that the US and the West agree on reducing medium-range missiles in Europe by about 25%, Thatcher reacted negatively, saying that Britain would not agree to this, and ruled out the possibility of Britain participating in the strategic arms reduction process.
In early 1983, Thatcher called for the West to achieve military superiority over the USSR. Her government has taken a course on the deployment of US cruise missiles in Western Europe.
In 1983, on the initiative of Thatcher, the congress of the International Democratic Union (IDU) was convened in London. In her opening speech, Thatcher called for the unity of anti-communist forces against the USSR.
However, under pressure from British business circles, the Thatcher government still showed interest in developing trade and economic relations with the Soviet Union. In February 1984, Thatcher made the extraordinary decision to fly to Moscow to attend the funeral of Yuri Andropov and meet the new Soviet leader, although until that moment no British politician had even expressed condolences on his death.
At a meeting with the new Secretary General of the Central Committee of the CPSU Konstantin Chernenko, Margaret Thatcher said that she wanted to build new relations with the USSR and made it clear that England had very good relations with the United States, and she herself had with Reagan, who listens to her opinion.
Thatcher's visit to Moscow was followed by an invitation to England for a delegation of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR headed by Politburo member of the CPSU Central Committee Mikhail Gorbachev. After meeting with the future president of the USSR, Thatcher said: "I like him. We can deal with each other." The results of this visit were highly appreciated both in Great Britain and in the USSR; they opened a new phase in relations between the two countries.
In March 1985, Thatcher again visited Moscow, at the funeral of Chernenko. Then she met again with Gorbachev. Soviet-British relations began to develop faster on a number of issues, in particular, the elimination of chemical weapons, the prevention of incidents at sea, the settlement of financial and property claims, and so on.
In March 1987, Thatcher was again in Moscow, where Gorbachev outlined to her the Soviet program to create a system of universal security, to reduce and completely eliminate nuclear weapons. But Thatcher was always of the opinion that if there were no nuclear weapons, then the world would be overwhelmed by world wars, and nuclear forces would deter enemies. Her now widely known expression is: "A world without nuclear weapons would be less stable and much more dangerous for all of us."
In the same 1987, Thatcher met with Gorbachev again, approving the signing of the treaty on the elimination of intermediate and shorter range missiles (INF). She supported the "perestroika" announced by Gorbachev, considering it the collapse of the socialist system. But she continued to believe that the foreign policy of the USSR was aimed at weakening and dividing the West.
"Winged" expressions of Margaret Thatcher
Many phrases uttered at one time by Margaret Thatcher are now widely known and have long become aphorisms.
- "Marx and Spencer" (a large trading network in Britain) defeated Marx and Engels.
All men are weak, and gentlemen are the weakest.
90% of our worries are about things that will never happen.
To win a battle, it sometimes has to be given twice.
Without economic freedom there can be no other freedom.
The rooster may be a good crow, but the hen still lays the eggs.
Politeness is valued more and more today, impudence has no price at all.
You need to study your enemy well, then one day you can turn him into a friend.
Making up my impression of a person in the first 10 seconds, I very rarely change it.
A world without nuclear weapons would be less stable and much more dangerous for all of us.
I will stay until I get tired. As long as Britain needs me, I will never tire.
Democratic nations must learn to shut off the terrorists the oxygen they need.
If a woman shows character, they say about her: "A harmful woman." If a man shows character, they say about him: "He is a good guy."
The wealth of the country is not necessarily built on its own natural resources, it is achievable even in their complete absence. The most important resource is a person. The state only needs to create the basis for the flourishing of people's talent.
There is only one way to be a leader: this is when the leader goes into voluntary slavery to those who are led, and not vice versa. If even one-hundredth of claims for any advantage over them or privileges appears in his behavior, then sooner or later these 0.01 grow into suppression, despotism and tyranny.
Biography and episodes of life Margaret Thatcher. When born and died Thatcher, memorable places and dates of important events in her life. politics quotes, Photo and video.
Life of Margaret Thatcher:
born October 13, 1925, died April 8, 2013
Epitaph
Let the fire not go out until the end
And the memory of the one will remain
What awakened hearts for life,
And now I have found eternal rest.
Biography
The whole world considered her an "iron lady", but at home she remained a loving wife and mother, who lived with her husband in a happy marriage until his death. She ruled the whole country, but every evening she always prepared dinner for her husband, never resorting to the services of a personal chef.
Margaret Thatcher met her future husband at the very beginning of her political career - then she was still a graduate of Somerville College and was engaged in research in the field of chemistry. It was Denis who helped Margaret become a member of the bar association, and then get a law degree. It was he who supported all her political aspirations. The entire biography of Margaret Thatcher is the story of a working and purposeful woman, but perhaps it was the support of loved ones that played a decisive role in her success.
At 45, Thatcher was already Minister of Science and Education, but not all of her reforms found support in society. Nevertheless, she was able to win the 1979 election and become Prime Minister of Great Britain, the first woman to hold this post. But, as it turned out, Margaret could rule the country no less harshly, if not more than any man. For firmness in defending her methods and views, she received the nickname "Iron Lady". At a time when society condemned her methods, Margaret led the country out of the crisis and returned her international prestige. One of Thatcher's quotes is: “I will stay until I get tired. And as long as Britain needs me, I will never tire." Nevertheless, in 1990, Margaret was forced to resign.
Thatcher survived her husband by 10 years and died of a stroke shortly after her operation. Thatcher died at the Ritz on April 8, 2013. Thatcher's funeral took place on April 17, she was buried in the cemetery of the military hospital in Chelsea, not far from the grave of her husband. At the end of her life, smart and powerful Thatcher suffered from dementia, but nevertheless she left behind a huge memory - the memory of an outstanding woman politician. Thatcher's biography has been written many times, many feature films and documentaries have been made about her.
The birth of children did not prevent Margaret Thatcher from building a political career
life line
October 13, 1925 Date of birth of Margaret Thatcher (nee Margaret Hilda Roberts).
1943-1947 Studying at Somerville College, Oxford University.
1951 The beginning of a political career.
December 1951 Marriage to Denis Thatcher.
1953 Birth of twins - daughter Carol and son Mark.
1970-1974 Minister of Education and Science.
May 4, 1979 The victory of Margaret Thatcher in the elections, the beginning of work as Prime Minister of Great Britain.
1985 Margaret Thatcher's visit to the USSR.
November 28, 1990 Departure of Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister of Great Britain.
June 26, 2003 Death of Thatcher's husband.
April 8, 2013 Date of death of Margaret Thatcher.
April 17, 20013 Funeral of Margaret Thatcher.
Memorable places
1. The house where Margaret Thatcher was born and where a memorial plaque to Thatcher is installed.
2. Somerville College, Oxford University, graduated from Margaret Thatcher.
3. Residence of the Prime Ministers of Great Britain, where Margaret Thatcher lived in 1979-1990.
4. The Ritz Hotel in London, where Margaret Thatcher died.
5. St. Paul's Cathedral in London, where the funeral of Margaret Thatcher took place.
6. Cemetery of the Royal Military Hospital in Chelsea, where Margaret Thatcher is buried.
Episodes of life
During her tenure as Minister of Science and Education, Margaret Thatcher became famous for her reform to abolish the issuance of free milk to schoolchildren from 7 to 11 years old. So Thatcher planned to cut spending on public schools. This caused great indignation in society, and Thatcher even received the nickname "milk thief". Later in her autobiography, Thatcher admitted: “I learned a valuable lesson. Incurred the maximum political hatred for the minimum political benefit.
Margaret Thatcher's husband was 11 years older than her and was already divorced at the time of the meeting with Margaret. Thatcher always said that without the support of her husband, she could not achieve anything. “To be prime minister is always to be alone. In a sense, this is how it should be: you cannot manage from the crowd. But with Denis by my side, I was never alone. Here is a man. Here is the husband. That's a friend!" Their relationship has always seemed perfect and, apparently, it was.
Margaret Thatcher was a happy wife and mother
Testaments
“The wealth of a country is not necessarily built on its own natural resources, it is achievable even in their complete absence. The most important resource is a person. The state only needs to create the basis for the flourishing of people's talent.
"It is impossible to understand everyone if you do not listen to everyone."
Documentary "Margaret Thatcher. Woman at war
condolences
“Today is a truly tragic day for our country. We have lost a great Prime Minister, a great leader and an Englishwoman with a capital P. Her legacy is that she not only faithfully fulfilled her duties, but also saved her country. And she did it with courage. People after tens and perhaps even hundreds of years will read about her actions and achievements. That's her legacy."
David Cameron, British Prime Minister
“She was an exceptional woman, unique in history, the only woman minister. During the ten years of her reign, economic difficulties, decline, all the problems of the 70s and 80s fell, but she changed, transformed the atmosphere. And what happened next - the success of the subsequent government - it happened only because of her actions.
Giscard d'Estaing, former President of France
"With the passing of Baroness Margaret Thatcher, the world has lost a great freedom fighter and America a true friend."
Barack Obama, US President
“She was an innovative leader who contributed to peace and security, especially during the height of the Cold War. Margaret Thatcher not only demonstrated her ability to lead, but gave great hope to many women for gender equality in Parliament. Her talent has inspired people around the world to work for peace, security and human rights."
Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary General
"It is with great sadness that Mark and Carol Thatcher announced that their mother, Baroness Thatcher, has passed away following a stroke this morning," spokesman Lord Tim Bell said.
Note that in 2002 she experienced several heart attacks. Thatcher was last hospitalized in 2010 due to an infectious disease. On the advice of doctors, a few years ago, the ex-premier, who suffered a series of microstrokes, stopped participating in public events and withdrew from social and political activities.
For the first time in a long period, the ex-prime minister appeared in public in September 2011. In the same year, Thatcher drafted his own funeral ceremony.
Thus, the Iron Lady chose to renounce a number of state honors during the ceremony, in particular, the overflight of military aircraft and a civil memorial service with the participation of the general public.
In addition, at the funeral service in St. Paul's Cathedral, the music of the English composer Edward Elgar performed by the orchestra should sound. According to Thatcher's will, the body should be buried in the cemetery of the Royal Hospital in Chelsea next to her husband Denis, who died in 2003.
II, accompanied by members of the royal family, as well as world figures of the era of Thatcher's premiership, including the first President of the USSR Mikhail, the widow of former US President Nancy Reagan and others, will have to take part in the farewell ceremony for the legend of British and world politics, accompanied by members of the royal family.
Recall that Thatcher was the only British woman prime minister. Reuters states that Thatcher's tough and outspoken style has led the Conservatives to three electoral victories.
She also has the longest uninterrupted period in the office of Prime Minister of Great Britain since the beginning of the 20th century - from 1979 to 1990.
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