She was one of the most famous female politicians in the world, she was the first female prime minister of Britain, she was known as the "Iron Lady", she was the famous Thatcher.
In addition, for the Chinese, when it comes to Margaret Thatcher, people naturally think of the issue of Hong Kong's return to the motherland, why did the "Iron Lady", who was so tough in the political arena, choose to plan Hong Kong to China? However, what people did not expect was that Thatcher's later life would be so miserable and miserable.
1. The contest between China and the United Kingdom on the sovereignty issue of Hong Kong
In April 1982, Britain traveled thousands of miles to fight on the gates of Argentina, and after more than two months of hard work, Britain won the Falklands War in June. Because of this war, the British people saw the iron-blooded wrist of the female prime minister, and Thatcher's status was recognized in Britain.
At this time, Margaret Thatcher visited China in September of that year and chose to negotiate with the Chinese government on the issue of Hong Kong's return to China. What she did not expect, however, was that the Chinese government's tough attitude really gave her a blow to the head.
China's attitude is very clear, that is, Hong Kong must be returned to the motherland in 1997, and China is not Argentina, Hong Kong is not the Falklands, and if you want to fight, Chinese will never be afraid, because Chinese is not frightened.
Thatcher, known as the Iron Lady, was so frightened by Deng Xiaoping's toughness that she changed her tactics, claiming that it was necessary for Britain to continue to lead Hong Kong.
Thatcher particularly emphasized that under British rule, Hong Kong's economy has developed rapidly, becoming the center of Asian finance, and if China wants to take back Hong Kong, it will inevitably have a certain impact on Hong Kong.
Deng Xiaoping's answer made Thatcher completely die, when Deng Xiaoping said that although Chinese was poor, he was never afraid of death in war.
In this negotiation, Thatcher really felt that China would not back down in terms of sovereignty, so in this game she did not get the result she wanted.
Later, in her memoirs in her later years, Thatcher also highlighted the fact that she was extremely impressed by the negotiations at that time.
Second, Thatcher's ironclad hand in politics
As a child, Margaret Thatcher developed a keen interest in politics, and her leadership skills continued to emerge during her university years, leading to her successful election as president of the Conservative Party Association of Oxford University.
On 3 May 1979, Margaret Thatcher, the leader of the Conservative Party, defeated her opponents in the general election and successfully became Prime Minister, thus giving birth to the first female Prime Minister in British history. In a bunch of male politicians, Thatcher did things that were difficult for others to do, and her powerful aura always gave people a special deterrent.
When meeting other national leaders, Thatcher was always able to talk and laugh with them, as if she were born to be a high-profile politician, "politics has melted into her blood."
When Thatcher took over as Prime Minister, Britain's economic depression, high unemployment and serious inflation problems, her first task was to free Britain from this dilemma.
In order to solve the problem of high unemployment, Thatcher made state-owned assets private, cut people's spending on social public welfare, and cracked down on the power of British trade unions, making the reform achieve immediate results.
But it is precisely because of these measures taken by Thatcher that the gap between rich and poor in Britain has become more serious, so many people say that Thatcher "divided Britain". But how could this woman who dared to be a bold prime minister care what others said, and her iron-blooded policy allowed her to occupy the center of British power for many years.
Third, Thatcher's later years were very bleak
In 1990, Margaret Thatcher, in her sixties, stepped down as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and she has remained active in British politics ever since. However, one day in 2003, the loss of her beloved Thatcher suddenly felt inexplicably lonely, and the death of her husband Dennis hit her very hard, and she had to face the rest of her life alone.
When Thatcher had just become a candidate for the Conservative Party, Dennis, the heir to the family business, came into her sight, and the two fell in love at first sight, and soon after they met, they entered the palace of marriage.
With Dennis's help, Thatcher was able to qualify as a lawyer and go further and further down the road to politics. Thatcher and her husband had a very good relationship, and they walked hand in hand through more than fifty spring, summer, autumn and winter. Even after Margaret Thatcher was elected prime minister, she insisted on making breakfast for her husband every day.
But a happy married life does not mean that Thatcher has a happy family, she is successful as a politician, but as a mother, she seems to be unqualified. Because she put most of her energy and time into work, there was a big gap between her and her own children.
Although her daughter was more obedient, her relationship with Margaret Thatcher was very cold. Her son is even more unsettling, completely clumsy, very unfashionable, often causing all kinds of trouble, every time Thatcher has to come forward to settle for it.
In her later years, Margaret Thatcher's health was very bad, and she even suffered from amnesia, and she could only live alone in an apartment every day, and sometimes she often recalled her young years, unable to distinguish between the past, the present and the future, so that in the eyes of outsiders, she was just a demented old man.
epilogue
When Thatcher died in 2013, her family was not with her, and as Britain's first prime minister, she died so lonely.