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After writing about some of britain's kings, queens and prime ministers, as well as the president of the United States, I will write about the first female prime minister in British history. Women, as national leaders, have more hardships than men. Although when Margaret Thatcher was prime minister, the British royal family was also a woman as a queen, but that was in the seventies and eighties of the last century, the difference in the rights and status of men and women is unimaginable to people now. The queen inherited the throne because of the royal bloodline, and the British people could not influence it at all. Margaret Thatcher became prime minister by election, and it is not easy to stand out among the many male MPs in the Conservative Party. I watched a Documentary filmed in England interviewing a number of members of her Cabinet at the time, who said that Margaret Thatcher relied on her many initiatives to convince the men step by step, and felt that no one could do better than her before she became Prime Minister.
On 11 February 46 years ago, she was elected leader of the Conservative Party, thus beginning her nearly 15-year career as party leader, who was re-elected and elected three terms of British Prime Minister. So I'll start this article with one of my favorite photos of her to tell her extraordinary life! The length is a bit long, so it is divided into three chapters.
Early years
Margaret Hilda Roberts was born on 13 October 1925 (Lycaenne) in Grantham, Kent, England, with the full name Margaret Hilda Roberts.
Her father, Alfred Roberts, runs a grocery store in the local town and is passionate about local politics. Margaret Thatcher's mother was Beatrice Roberts, whose maiden name was Stephenson, and she also had a younger sister named Muriel. Thatcher's family were devout Methodists.
Influenced by her father as a child, she developed a certain understanding of conservative views and positions and a keen interest in politics. In order to be able to continue her studies at Oxford University, she spent a year studying Latin, which is usually four years. Her father single-handedly raised her as a rigorous Methodist. She received a scholarship at Kestvin-Grantham Girls' High School. She was evaluated by the school as extremely hard-working, but her grades were not outstanding, and she liked to play hockey and swim in extracurricular activities.
Margaret in 1938 was 13 years old (really a little precocious)
Reading a lot of history and biographies, I found that outstanding people have a commonality, that is, when they are very young, they have set clear goals, such as knowing from an early age what university they want to go to and what line of work to do, rather than waiting for their parents to arrange without opinion. Their birth families (parents, the best elders in the family, etc.) have a lot of positive influence on them, and they will put in more effort than their peers for their goals. So don't blame your children for not working hard to read, it's just that they see your unenterprising behavior, which is indirectly affected, and blames others before blaming themselves.
Although Margaret is not a particularly beautiful beauty, but according to the British documentary, her former cabinet members and reporters who have interviewed her for many years recall, she will always use her personal charm in a timely manner to make those male leaders stunned, probably they did not expect that Margaret Thatcher, known as the Iron Lady, would also smile softly at them like ordinary women, and did not forcefully exchange political views with them, which is what our ancients said: "Eruke gang". The occasional smile of a proud strong woman is far more effective than the sweet person who has always smiled at each other, after all, things are rare and expensive!
She joined Somerville Women's College, Oxford, in 1943 to study natural sciences, majoring in chemistry. He received a Bachelor of Science (1949) and a Master of Arts (1950) from Oxford University.
In 1943, she entered Oxford University to study chemistry, and her enthusiasm for chemistry was far less than her enthusiasm for politics. She joined the Conservative Association here shortly after she arrived and became president, and at the age of 18 she once said that "politics has melted into my blood". In 1946 she became president of the Conservative Association of Oxford University, the third woman in the history of the position. From 1947 to 1951, he was a chemistry researcher at two chemical companies, and spent his spare time studying law. After graduating from college, she worked for a plastics manufacturing company, but did not give up her pursuit, often taking weekends to London or elsewhere to attend Conservative Party meetings, debates, mass meetings and other events, and using the money earned from her work as a fund for political activities.
Speaking on behalf of the Oxford Graduate Conservative Association at the 1948 Conservative Party Annual Meeting, she was nominated by Miller to be a parliamentary representative for the Dartford constituency.
Family
In the 1950 and 1951 elections, Margaret Hilda Roberts was elected to the Dartford constituency, which had always been occupied by the Labour Party, becoming the youngest Conservative female candidate at the time. Her active involvement in Conservative Party activities in Kent led her to the acquaintance of Denis Thatcher, who later married in 1951 (when she was 26). Danny was a wealthy businessman who was able to fund her admission to the Bar Association, and she successfully qualified as a solicitor in 1953. In the same year, the couple gave birth to another twin, named Carol and Mark.
Above, Margaret and her husband, Sir Dennis Thatcher (baron, Margaret Thatcher was knighted after leaving office), were instrumental in Thatcher's success. First, her husband is ten years older than she is and has been divorced, so he will know better about what he wants for his second marriage. He was born into a merchant's family, joined the army, retired as a major with a medal of honor, and later sold his company to a public company, so the economic pressure of that Thatcher's life was very small. Their pair of dragon and phoenix fetuses also have a good educational environment, and the help of the nanny can also make Thatcher devote herself to her political career, although later because of the long-term neglect of the family, her relationship with a pair of children is more strained.
When her husband proposed to her, Margaret Thatcher said, "If you want a woman who will make you tea, wash and cook at home with children, I don't think we are suitable." Mr. Thatcher returned: "All I want is you, I'm glad you can be yourself and work hard for the politics you like, and I'll give you my full support." "Couples who share a common goal and are willing to fight willingly can go on forever."
The image of Thatcher, 31 years old
She was lucky to meet a lover who would accompany her for the rest of her life. At the same time, more importantly, because she is excellent, she deserves the company of such a man. When many women complain that they have not met a good person, they should also reflect on whether they are also good people. The way people get along with each other is often much more important than the external conditions. No matter how beautiful a beauty is, if her personality is difficult to accept, it will also make people leave her.
The Thatchers and their twin daughters
Shortly after his resignation as Prime Minister in 1990, he was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal by Queen Elizabeth II. Her husband, Thatcher, was made a Baron in 1991 to ensure that her son Mark Thatcher had a title to inherit. And this is the only title from baron since 1965.
Son: Sir Mark Thatcher has been entangled in different controversies. He disappeared in the Sahara Desert in 1982, and in January 2005 he was arrested for financing the purchase of an airplane for plotting a coup d'état in Equatorial Guinea, and was sentenced to four years' probation and fined R3 million in South Africa.
Daughter: Her Excellency Carol Thatcher is a journalist and commentator on current affairs. Daughter Carol Thatcher won the title of "Queen of the Jungle" after participating in a wilderness survival challenge show in Australia in 2005, becoming another "Iron Lady". She's on the UK reality show, the fifth episode of "I'm a Celebrity, Take Me Away!" (I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!) wins.
On December 13, 1976, Margaret Thatcher celebrated their silver wedding with her husband
The prime minister also has to do housework The prime minister also has to do housework
In 1985, Margaret Thatcher and her husband shared tea time
Sir Dennis Thatcher died in June 2003 at the age of 88 and the couple was married for 52 years. (Queen Victoria I expressed great envy, the husband and wife are very affectionate, but the husband died early, and now the American drama queen Victoria that describes her has been broadcast to the third season, you can also see an article I wrote about her before, "Kan Kan Victoria and Elizabeth II", click this link to jump).)
Period of political participation
Margaret Thatcher in 1974
Margaret Thatcher became a member of the Conservative Parliament in 1959, parliamentary secretary for the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance in 1961, and front speaker of the Conservative Party in the House of Commons in 1964. After the first parliament, she served as Junior Minister of Pensions in Macmillan's government.
In 1970, after the Conservative Party won the general election, Margaret Thatcher entered the cabinet as she wished.
In order to cut education spending, when the Conservatives won the 1970 general election and Thatcher became Secretary of State for Education and Science for the first month, she decided to cancel the policy of providing free milk to schools across the country. As a result, all kindergarten and elementary school students no longer receive free milk. The incident sparked a barrage of public demonstrations, in which The Sun nicknamed Mrs. Thatcher "Maggie Thatcher, milk snatcher." Another move she made during her tenure was to embrace the proposal to close more grammar schools and replace them with comprehensive secondary schools. By the end of her tenure, the number of students switching to comprehensive secondary schools had risen from 32 per cent to 62 per cent.
In fact, many of the policies she implemented, in the eyes of the British people of that era, she was a "witch", because she moved the cake of the common people (the loss of vital interests, even if it is small, will still resent the prime minister). That's why, on that day of Margaret Thatcher's funeral, many opponents took to the streets to celebrate her death, chanting, "Ding-dong!" The old witch is dead! "Some Labour MPs oppose paying For Thatcher's funeral with taxpayer money.
I don't think the controversial characters are certainly big people. The implementation of any policy is absolutely impossible to please everyone. She is the top ten most popular British people voted by the people, and at the same time, she is also the top three most hated by the people. Prime Minister Churchill, whom I wrote about before ("Churchill - Britain's most famous prime minister", click on this link to jump), he is also a prime minister who makes the British people love and hate, and only Churchill and Margaret Thatcher can get state funeral treatment after death in British history, Queen Elizabeth II attended, not the ceremonial funerals of other prime ministers, the queen did not have to attend, send royal representatives. In this sense, the two of them are definitely in the top two of all prime ministers.
However, from the current point of view, many countries have adopted similar policies as those of her reign. When she first decided to start the privatization of state-owned enterprises and fight against the power of trade unions, it caused a great social backlash, but it was earlier than many countries and the pioneers of Western countries in this regard, which required great courage, and also needed to be planned and then moved, which will be described in detail later. Most countries have experienced the privatization process of state-owned enterprises, but some countries have not achieved good results, and the poor privatization reform of state-owned enterprises in the process of the collapse of the Soviet Union is also a driving force.
In February 1974, the Conservative Party lost the General Election in The United Kingdom, and Margaret Thatcher became the Shadow Cabinet Secretary for the Environment.
On 11 February 1975, at the age of 50, Margaret Thatcher overcame Heath's desired successor, William Whitelaw, to become the leader of the Conservative Party in a second round of voting, and she subsequently appointed William Whitelaw as deputy leader. (Above is a photo of her being elected party leader on the day she was elected.)
When the Conservatives won the General Election on 3 May 1979, Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister, becoming the first female Prime Minister in British history. （1979-1982）
Thatcher and his wife stand in front of the Prime Minister's Official Residence at 10 Downing Street Thatcher and his wife stand in front of the Prime Minister's Residence at 10 Downing Street
Second election (1983-1986)
With the help of victory in the Falklands War in 1982 and a fragmented opposition, Margaret Thatcher won an overwhelming victory in the 1983 re-elections. In 1984, she narrowly escaped the bomb set by the IRA at the Conservative Convention in Brighton.
Third election (1987-1990)
In the 1987 election, Margaret Thatcher won an unprecedented third term in her office. But controversial policies, including the poll tax and her opposition to anything more closely integrated with Europe, split within the Conservative Party, leading to a leadership challenge.
When she was prime minister for three terms, the changes were quite large, of course, this is also related to the external political situation. Because this article I am going to tell in chronological order, and finally summarize, I will detail the changes between the three sessions.
Weakening of trade union rights
In 1984, after Margaret Thatcher cracked down on union forces, the populace (mainly coal miners) went on strike and caused many clashes with the police. (I prepared a lot of documentary clips, but after the public account was uploaded, it has not been able to pass the review, as long as it involves political figures, it is more difficult to pass the review, helpless... Everyone can only listen to me and tell the story. ）
Above are her original Words from the 1984 Miners' Dispute, which translates as follows:
"We had to fight the enemy in the Falkland Islands. We must always be aware of the enemy within, which is more difficult to fight and more dangerous to freedom. ”
Although Thatcher merely described the miners' leaders and left-wing authorities as "enemies within", her opponents were quick to mistake it for all miners and to show her contempt for the organised working class. Therefore, this sentence was always used against her.
Here is a knowledge point of the Falklands War, and she also won a second re-election because of this victory.
The War of the Malvinas Islands, or the Falklands War (Spanish: Guerra de las Malvinas, Latino states also known as Guerra del AtlánticoSur, translated as "South Atlantic War", English: Malvinas War, also known as: Falklands War, translation: Falklands War or Falklands Naval Battle, some media abbreviations: Fukushima War), was between April and June 1982, A war between Britain and Argentina over sovereignty over the Falklands (known to Argentina as the Malvinas Islands).
In 1982, Argentina occupied the Falklands. Ten weeks later, Mrs. Thatcher resolutely sent troops without fear of being thousands of miles away, sinking Argentina's only aircraft carrier, the "General Belgrano", and writing off Argentina from the list of naval powers, which dispelled Argentina's idea of solving the Falklands problem by force.
The War of the Malvinas Islands was regarded as the largest and most intense joint operation between land, sea and air during the Cold War, and it also created a classic example of strategic delivery at sea.
Margaret Thatcher believed that trade unions were harmful to ordinary unionists and the public. She worked to weaken the power of trade unions, accusing them of undermining parliamentary democracy and economic performance through strike action. Several unions went on strike against legislation restricting their powers, but resistance eventually collapsed. In the 1983 general election, only 39 per cent of unionists voted for Labour. According to a 2004 BBC report, Thatcher "managed to destroy the power of unions for nearly a generation". The miners' strike of 1984-1985 was the biggest and most destructive confrontation between the unions and the government.
She publicly appealed in Parliament on the matter: "This is intimidation, this is an unlawful assembly, and our duty and the interests of the country demand that we see that violence has not paid a price, that their evil has not paid a price." The attitude was still very tough, and she wanted to complete the purges once and for all. Even when she learned that someone had been killed in the conflict, cabinet members urged her to restart negotiations with the unions, saying, "Never succumb to violence!" To that end, she also made sure the police were fully trained and equipped with riot gear, which helped her beat the striking miners.
In March 1984, the National Coal Board (NCB) proposed to close 20 of the 174 state-owned coal mines and cut 20,000 jobs from 187,000. Two-thirds of the country's miners, led by the National Union of Miners' Unions (NUM), led by Arthur Scargill, went on strike in protest. However, Skargier refused to vote on the strike, having previously lost three votes in the national strikes (January and October 1982 and March 1983). This led to the strike being declared illegal by the High Court.
More than forty years ago, Thatcher was very prescient to realize that unions were too powerful and could wreak havoc on the economy. The excessive use of power by trade unions, in order to achieve the purpose of salary increases, strikes at every turn, France is a good example, the use of strikes to coerce the government to agree to the conditions, only to make the situation worse, there was the yellow vest incident at the end of last year. This is also an example of populism being abused, as detailed in my previous article, "Talking About Populism"!
To take another example from the United States, on July 18, 2013, the city of Detroit, known as the "City of Automobiles", had more than $18 billion in debt and had officially filed for bankruptcy protection, becoming the largest city in the United States to file for bankruptcy protection so far.
In 1908, the Ford Model T rolled off the production line. In Ford with other car pioneers William H. With the joint efforts of C. Durant, John Francis Dodge, Horace Elgin Dodge Brothers, Walter Chrysler, etc., Detroit has slowly become the capital of the world's automotive industry. Industrial development attracted a large number of residents from the southern United States, causing Detroit's population to grow dramatically in the first half of the 20th century.
80% of the city's economy depends on the automobile industry, so the rights of the automobile union are the largest, the United Automobile Union was established in the 1930s, and with the increasing intensity of labor disputes, the labor expenditure of automobile companies has been rising under the threat of a strike by the trade union, and the market competitiveness has gradually declined. In the end, the U.S. auto manufacturing industry was impacted by competitors in Europe, Japan, South Korea, China and other places, and some auto and auto parts manufacturing companies have moved out. The municipal government eventually went bankrupt, and in the course of more than half a century, the unions scared away the automobile conglomerate on the road to power and discourse, and eventually everyone ended up unemployed and had to leave Detroit to find another way out.
At the end of 2017, detroit held its first round of mayoral elections, and half of the 8 mayoral candidates who participated in the election were former felons, and they were all involved in felonies such as drugs, murder, and shooting. The U.S. website 24/7 Wall Street ranked the nation's worst 50 cities in 2017, with Detroit, Michigan topping the list with dilapidated infrastructure, rampant crime and shrinking population. Don't you think it's hard to imagine? In the United States, the world's largest country, the mayoral candidate turned out to be a lot of felons. Chicago is also a place with a very high crime rate, with more than 300 murders in Chicago last year, and the shootings were even more exaggerated, often dozens of shootings in an hour. The workers' movement led by the trade unions in the last century also made the gangsters find that they could use the workers' movement to go to politics. Don't be afraid of hooligan crimes, you are afraid of hooligans having culture, and you are even more afraid of hooligans becoming officials!
Therefore, Margaret Thatcher saw that the power of the trade unions was too great, intervened with an iron fist, and did not compromise because of resistance. Looking at the current French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron, it didn't take long for the yellow vest incident to compromise. Thatcher withstood the pressure, and after a year of strike, in March 1985, NUM leadership admitted that no deal had been reached. The economic cost is estimated at least £1.5 billion, and people are beginning to blame the strike for causing the pound to fall sharply against the dollar.
But before Margaret Thatcher decided to crack down on the trade unions, she did a very strategic preventive work, and let the Ministry of Coal quietly establish a reserve pool in advance, and hoarded the amount of coal needed for more than a year for the power plant, which was also a chip that she had the courage to fight the union to the end. At that time, she was criticized for ignoring the situation of unemployed laborers, "as a woman, you should be compassionate", and Thatcher's husband Dennis reacted to this: "The word 'sympathy' never appeared in her dictionary". This is the helplessness that female leaders sometimes have to face, and if it were a man as prime minister, the people would certainly not say so.
In 1979, the uk had 4,583 shutdowns, when more than 29 million working days were lost. In 1984, there were 1,221 strikes by miners, resulting in losses of more than 27 million working days. During Margaret Thatcher's term as prime minister, the number of strikes began to decline steadily; In 1990, the number of strikes was less than 630 and less than 2 million working days were lost, and they have continued to decline ever since. Margaret Thatcher's tenure also saw a sharp decline in union density, with the proportion of workers belonging to unions falling from 57.3 per cent in 1979 to 49.5 per cent in 1985. In 1979 until 1990, the last year of Thatcher's administration, the number of union members also fell from 13.5 million in 1979 to less than 10 million.
The strife was the first major challenge she had faced since coming to power and a pivotal time to test her leadership skills, and in the end she won and the coal industry began to decline. London used to be called the "Fog Capital", in large part because the coal industry caused huge air pollution. When industry declines, the power of trade unions is naturally disintegrated. At the end of the strike, Thatcher said "if anyone wins", it is "miners who stay at work" and those who "keep Britain going".
I think that if it were not for her heavy blow at that time, the British would certainly not be weaker than France on the other side. The French have gone through strikes, wages have risen, welfare has increased, the number of holiday days has increased, and now the French have 150 days of legal leave a year, including 5 weeks of paid leave, so how can the country's comprehensive productive forces go up. The government was engulfed in strike marches led by major trade unions! It is very detrimental to the development of the national economy!
Get lucky to survive
Beginning on 1 March 1981, members of the IRA in prison went on hunger strikes in batches. Seven months later, the hunger strike finally stopped, but 16 IRA members had died in succession. During the 7-month hunger strike, Margaret Thatcher's heart of stone left a deep impression on the world.
Margaret Thatcher gave a speech in the House of Commons (the House of Commons; the House of Lords is composed of nobles, has no real power and does not require election; the House of Commons is elected and has real power), declaring: "To make concessions to IRA prisoners is to give them a permit to massacre innocents." ”
This also angered the IRA, which led to the subsequent bombings.
She narrowly escaped the bomb set by the IRA at the Conservative Convention in Brighton
The attack took place during Margaret Thatcher's second term
The bomb incident killed 5 people and injured 31 others
Her husband had just taken a shower and was reading in the bedroom
At this point, her voice choked
Do not bow down to the forces of evil
A few days afterwards, she said in an interview: "When I saw the sun over the church and spilling into the garden, I could have not seen it. "The rest of my life!"
The original words are: "Democracy will prevail", democracy will eventually prevail!
The Irish Republican Army, founded in 1919 by the Irish Volunteer Army, a nationalist military organization aimed at establishing an independent Irish Republic, fought against British troops stationed in Ireland and used violence for a long time to achieve political demands, and was regarded as a terrorist organization by many countries. Fought for the independence of Ireland and now for the unification of Northern Ireland, and is divided into Orthodox and Provisional, abbreviated in English as IRA.
Between 1968 and July 2002, 3,600 people were killed in violent clashes in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, for which the IRA and other organisations were responsible for at least 2,000 deaths. This is why the garbage cans in the city of London are all transparent plastic bags, because they are afraid that the IRA will put bombs in the garbage cans. To this day, they still cause a lot of conflict.
The United Kingdom is a Western European island nation consisting of England, Wales and Scotland on the island of Great Britain, as well as Northern Ireland in the northeast of the island of Ireland, as well as a series of affiliated islands. This is why some Northern Irish have always wanted independence, after all, they were once an independent country. After the British referendum to leave the European Union, it also aroused Scotland's brexit heart, if they also succeeded in leaving the European Union, there will be politicians who will start to incite Scottish independence, because they were also once an independent country. The flames of the civil rights movement have never been extinguished. It is understandable to want to be independent, but it cannot be achieved by endangering the lives of others.
Relationship with the Queen
When writing about Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Churchill, I watched a lot of documentaries, including interviews with former cabinet members of the government, journalists, former employees of the royal family, etc., who said that Queen Elizabeth II had said many times in private that her favorite prime minister was Churchill, and the most hated prime minister was Margaret Thatcher, but she liked The Blair Prime Minister who appeared in the next two terms. I don't know if it is because of the principle of same-sex repulsion, two strong women are more difficult to like each other, huh! So look at the picture above, when Margaret Thatcher touched the queen with her hand, how did I feel the queen's expression, smiling a little embarrassed!
Since the implementation of the parliamentary constitutional monarchy in the United Kingdom, the Queen has no real power, but the Prime Minister will often visit the Queen to listen to her advice. When Churchill was prime minister, he went to see the Queen at least once a week on average. And the queen would take a red suitcase from the staff at regular intervals, containing important information from all over the world. Personal emotional likes aside, the two of them, one queen and one prime minister, also maintained a weekly meeting based on the information I found in the archives of the Margaret Thatcher Foundation's official website. Attached is an interesting original archive that already elaborates on her relationship with the Queen:
One question that continued to fascinate the public about the phenomenon of a woman Prime Minister was how she got on with the Queen. The answer is that their relations were punctiliously correct, but there was little love lost on either side. As two women of very similar age – Mrs Thatcher was six months older – occupying parallel positions at the top of the social pyramid, one the head of government, the other head of state, they were bound to be in some sense rivals. Mrs Thatcher's attitude to the Queen was ambivalent. On the one hand she had an almost mystical reverence for the institution of the monarchy ... Yet at the same time she was trying to modernise the country and sweep away many of the values and practices which the monarchy perpetuated.
Translation: One question that has always made the public very curious is how the female prime minister got along with the Queen. The answer is that their relationship is very correct (the word punctiliously is used here, literally means meticulous, you can see the relationship between them, on the surface is very formal), but both sides are missing a little love. Since the two women are similar in age – Margaret Thatcher is six months older – both occupy the top of the social pyramid and are in more parallel positions (half a pound and eight twos), one is the prime minister of the government and the other is the queen of the federation, and they must be in a sense a bit of a competition. Thatcher's attitude toward the Queen was contradictory. On the one hand, she has almost a mysterious reverence for monarchy ... But at the same time, she sought to modernize the country and sweep away many of the values and practices that the monarchy had perpetuated.
Whether the personal relationship is good or not depends on fate, in the face of official affairs, they are both very meticulous, and they do not embarrass each other because of personal feelings. In 1995, Margaret Thatcher was awarded the Order of the Garter (also after Churchill left office), an honor that has always been given to the former Prime Minister and is the highest of the British Knights' Medals. Margaret Thatcher said before she died that she did not want to hold a state funeral, and felt that it was too extravagant and wasteful. After Margaret Thatcher's death, a state funeral was held, and in the face of pressure from domestic opponents, the government and the royal family finally gave her the highest standard funeral considering her contribution to the country, and the queen herself made an exception to attend in person, which also brought a perfect end to their relationship.
Because the length is a bit long, so in the end it was decided to divide into two articles to publish, but when writing down, I found that there was too much content to write, and it could only become the upper, middle and lower three chapters, and the reader would save more effort. Friends who are interested in Thatcher's life can continue to pay attention to tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.