In 1982, when the world was still under the cloud of US-Soviet hegemony, a fierce war was ignited on the Malvinas Islands in the southern Atlantic.
Argentine military president Leopoldo Galtieri declared war on the old empire of Great Britain in order to regain sovereignty over the island of Malvinas.
Although Margaret Thatcher, who had been prime minister for three years, was busy improving the British economy, she was not afraid of Argentina's declaration of war, and she was even happy to see it happen.
She embraced an empire that was no longer glorious, shrinking in size, declining in international standing, and deteriorating in economic condition.
What's worse, the people's fighting spirit is not high, and the willingness to produce is not strong, and she needs an opportunity to stimulate the people and lead the country back to its old glory.
Thatcher wanted to fight, but it wasn't that easy.
A war that both sides need
War is ugly, it destroys lives, people lose their homes and displace.
Most people hate war, but at certain moments, there are people who need war.
Argentina's President Galtieri and Britain's Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher belong to the latter.
They all needed war to lead them out of the predicament of their time.
In the early eighties, the Argentine economy deteriorated dramatically, with inflation of more than 600 per cent, GDP falling by 11.4 per cent and the level of industrial development falling sharply.
The economic regression had seriously affected people's lives, and a large number of workers had lost their jobs and sources of income.
Galtieri, who held supreme power in a military coup, returned home in an unfamiliar economic field, his weapons could not reverse the collapse of Argentina's economy, and the popular support for him at home was getting lower and lower.
Desperate workers carried out one strike after another under the organization of the trade unions, and Galtieri's rule was in jeopardy.
Less than a year after coming to power, Galtieri was so challenged that Galtieri was overwhelmed by the backlash of domestic opposition.
He hoped that the people at home would turn their attention away from economic issues and give themselves a respite.
Thus, the question of the sovereignty of the island of Malvinas was raised again.
Historically, the sovereignty of the Malvinas Islands in the southern Atlantic Ocean has been disputed, with France, Britain, Spain, Argentina and other countries setting up settlements on the island.
The British believed that sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands belonged to the British, citing its long history of settlement and the "open, continuous and de facto ownership and occupation" of the islands after 1833.
Argentina, on the other hand, had been part of Spain by the early withdrawal of the British from the Falklands for many years, and had inherited the Malvinas Islands from Spain as a result of the claim to the island in 1820.
Since the nineteenth century, the two sides have been at loggerheads over the Falklands issue. Both countries have their own views as sovereign owners of the Malvinas Islands.
During the dispute, Britain expelled all Argentine officials from the Malvinas Islands in 1833 and sent officials to rule the area in 1841.
The move drew outrage in Argentina.
Successive Argentine governments have insisted on their sovereignty, but they have not been able to organize strong forces to drive the British out of the Falklands.
After the Second World War, the United Nations mediated the sovereignty of the Falklands, but no breakthrough was made.
Given that the Falklands issue has always been too controversial, the international community has expressed its desire for the United Kingdom and Argentina to resolve the dispute by peaceful means, and people do not want the world that has just emerged from the quagmire of war to return to the past.
Britain and Argentina also had reservations about the war in the early post-war period, and both sides signaled a desire to resolve the issue at the negotiating table.
Before Galtieri came to power, the two countries had been negotiating the Falklands issue for at least fifteen years.
The sovereignty dispute over the Falklands Islands has not been perfectly resolved as a result of more than a decade of negotiations.
Forced by domestic contradictions, Galtieri revived the Falklands issue like a lifesaver.
He is secretly preparing for the war to regain the Falklands.
Galtieri's ideas were quickly acquired by British intelligence, and Margaret Thatcher already knew Galtieri's intentions on the other side of the Atlantic.
At this time, she did not resist the war as the international community expected, and she even hoped that Galtieri would move faster to recover the Falklands.
Margaret Thatcher was someone who had witnessed the glory of the Empire that never set, and she had always hoped to do something to revive the British Empire.
But the situation in Britain that she accepted was not particularly good.
The national strength has obviously declined, the economy has staggered, and the people's sense of struggle is not strong.
In order to turn the economy around, Margaret Thatcher adopted deflationary policies after coming to power, cutting public spending and taxes to curb inflation.
These policies have effectively reversed inflation, but the morale of the people has not been revived.
Public opinion plays a vital role in nation-building, and if the people do not cooperate and show their own strength to build the country together, then even Margaret Thatcher's strong policies cannot create a prosperous country out of thin air.
The intelligence system provided information about the movements of the Argentine president in the Falklands gave Margaret Thatcher hope, hoping to improve the cohesion of the population at home through a war.
But starting a war is not an easy task, it requires the support of a strong economy and public opinion. Even a head of state cannot easily wage war against another.
Margaret Thatcher, who had been in office for three years, was not on a firm footing, and rashly said that she would face great resistance to starting a war.
The best scenario for Thatcher would be for Argentina to fire first, so she would have a legitimate reason to send troops to the Falklands.
To this end, Britain also launched a series of provocative actions.
Thatcher increased the military power of the Falklands, and the British Empire's army flaunted its might on the Malvinas Islands. They hoped to use this to force Galtieri to take the lead in the war.
On 28 March 1982, Britain sent three nuclear submarines near the Falklands and published the news in the newspapers with great arrogance, giving Argentina an "ultimatum" to withdraw their civilians from the Malvinas Islands.
The Falklands are isolated for Britain, but very close to Argentina and strategically important. The issue of sovereignty over the Falklands is a matter of Argentina's national character, and successive governments have not dared to say that they want to give up the Falklands, and these moves by the United Kingdom have left the Argentine government with no choice but to send troops.
Galtieri, who was already in urgent need of diverting domestic contradictions, saw this, so he pushed the boat along the water and sent troops to occupy the Falklands on April 2 of that year.
At this point, the earth in the clouds of the Cold War once again had artillery fire.
Who lights the flames of war first
Argentina's first start in the war gave Margaret Thatcher a justification to send troops, but she could not rush to the war, she needed to get international and domestic support first.
The United States is a very important part of the process of winning international support.
Before the war, Britain and Argentina wanted the support of the United States, and both Margaret Thatcher and Galtieri were confident that the United States would be on their side.
Britain had already decided before the war that it wanted to maintain close diplomatic relations with the United States. Churchill maintained this attitude when she was prime minister, and Margaret Thatcher continued the policy of her predecessors after taking office.
She maintained a good personal relationship with U.S. President Ronald Reagan, whom they had met in 1975 before they became heads of state.
At that time, both were marginal characters who were not favored in their own countries and in their own parties, and they cherished each other and shared their views on many issues.
Since then, Margaret Thatcher has maintained a good personal relationship with Reagan.
She is confident that the United States will support Britain on the Falklands issue.
And Argentina's Galtieri is equally hopeful for the United States.
During his term of office, he pursued a comprehensive pro-American diplomatic line, frantically suppressing domestic reactionaries and attacking the communist movement at home according to the will of the United States.
Galtieri's actions satisfied US President Ronald Reagan and sent some friendly signals to him.
He believes that his "surrender" is effective, and the United States should at least stand by and watch, if not support him on the Falklands issue.
But his hopes were dashed.
The United States is still on the side of Britain.
From the perspective of the United States, the choice of the United Kingdom is almost inevitable.
President Reagan and Margaret Thatcher aside, there is overlap in international interests between the two countries. And Britain's international standing is clearly not comparable to Argentina's.
In addition, the Argentine government has done some things that the United States has disgusted.
The United States intelligence service was informed of Argentina's secret preparations for the manufacture of nuclear weapons at home. For small countries to build nuclear weapons, this is what the United States does not want to see, so the United States chose Britain.
However, due to previous relations with Argentina, the United States did not openly support Britain, but only secretly provided weapons support to Britain.
In addition, the United States has also helped Britain diplomatically.
As soon as the US ambassador to the United Nations, Mrs. Kirkpatrick, came forward to prevent Argentine Ambassador to the United Nations Loca from wanting to complain to the United Nations Security Council about Britain's provocative behavior, the British representative rebuked Argentina at the United Nations for sending troops to the Falklands and undermining regional peace.
Margaret Thatcher, who has the secret support of the United States, is fully committed to the United Nations, and she hopes to gain the support of the international community. If you don't support it, at least keep them out of the way.
But as the war progressed, the international community continued to call for a ceasefire between the two countries, and Margaret Thatcher turned to seek domestic support.
Domestic resistance is also great, with the opposition believing that there is no need for Britain to fight for the Falklands and hoping to resolve the Falklands dispute through negotiations.
Margaret Thatcher was not a reckless man, and instead of confronting the domestic opposition, she accepted their proposal for peace talks.
On the one hand, she sent representatives to sit back at the negotiating table with the Argentine government, and on the other hand, she accelerated preparations for war at home.
The negotiations proceeded very slowly – something Margaret Thatcher had deliberately done, and she wanted to delay herself to be better prepared.
At the same time, she is also waiting for an opportunity, that is, Argentina to sabotage the peace talks.
After many confrontations, Margaret Thatcher handed the international community a satisfactory solution to the Falklands issue, but this solution was rejected by Argentina.
In this way, Argentina successfully fell into Margaret Thatcher's trap, and by rejecting the plan, it became the one who offended the sabotage of peace talks.
At this point, Margaret Thatcher finally gained international and domestic support.
At home and abroad, Britain has created an image of cherishing peace, they have always maintained exchanges with Argentina, and have patiently accepted the revision of the peace negotiation plan many times, and now Argentina has rejected the plan recognized by the international community, which is undoubtedly insincere peace talks.
After a long period of dormancy, Margaret Thatcher decisively sent troops to the Falklands.
The British Royal Navy contingent touched, aircraft carriers, aircraft and other modern weapons and equipment were put into battle.
A war on land, sea and air began.
Britain, which was well equipped and combat-ready, in sharp contrast to Argentina, won the war in only 74 days.
The victory in the war revived national confidence, as Margaret Thatcher had envisioned.
The British were proud of Britain's performance on the battlefield and their support for Thatcher grew.
Looking back at Margaret Thatcher's performance in the Falklands War, we will once again marvel at Margaret Thatcher's political wisdom.
She has a great vision and can accurately grasp opportunities; Calm and calm in case of accidents, he has always strived to obtain support at home and abroad; She also has the courage of a leader to strike quickly and decisively.
It was these qualities that enabled Margaret Thatcher to lead Britain to victory in the Falklands War and to become the most influential female prime minister in British history.
After the war, Britain continued to strengthen its control over the Falklands, but Argentina still did not give up sovereignty over the Falklands, and the Falklands issue remained controversial.