In 2002, the United Kingdom conducted a survey of "The 100 Greatest Britons in Your Mind". In this survey, Mrs. Thatcher, known as the "Iron Lady" , ranked 16th. Strangely, in the second year's selection of "The 100 British People You Hate Most", Mrs. Thatcher ranked third. It can be seen how complicated the British feel towards this "Iron Lady".
Margaret Hilda Thatcher , served as the British Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990. She was the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the longest-serving British Prime Minister since the early 19th century. During her tenure as Prime Minister, a series of policies she adopted had a profound impact on changing the economic, social and cultural landscape of Britain. Because Thatcher was nicknamed the "Iron Lady" by the Soviet media, this nickname has now become her main symbol.
Why on earth does such a female prime minister make the British love and hate her? What is her life like? Let’s talk briefly today.
Successfully drove the British out of their comfort zone
In 1979, Mrs. Thatcher was elected as the British Prime Minister for the first time. For the first female prime minister in the history of the United Kingdom, most people would think that a woman would be gentler in power. However, to the surprise of all British people, Mrs. Thatcher gave the British a blow as soon as she came to power. Everyone knows that Britain is known as the "Empire on which the Sun Never Sets" and has accumulated countless wealth during its 300 years of world domination. As a developed country, its welfare policies are also very good. For example, the government will raise your children for you, and the government will also allocate houses. Even if you don't work, you can live in a small mansion and many other benefits. Therefore, the British people could be said to be quite happy at that time. With excellent welfare policies, many people chose not to work, government taxes were reduced, and high expenditures put huge financial pressure on the British government. After all, the afterglow of the "Empire on which the Sun Never Sets" had dissipated.
Faced with the plight of the British government, Mrs. Thatcher decisively carried out economic reforms after taking office, cutting off more than half of the superior welfare system, reducing the government's financial pressure, all-round marketization in the economy, shutting down state-owned enterprises with serious losses, privatizing large enterprises, reducing government intervention, and economic reforms began to pick up the British economy. At this time, the British who were accustomed to high welfare stopped working, and various strikes and demonstrations occurred from time to time. But the British underestimated Thatcher's iron-fisted methods. She adopted tough repressive measures and suppressed all these strikes. Through these, the British got a taste of the Iron Lady's iron fist. This was one of the reasons why Mrs. Thatcher was hated by the British, and it also caused her approval rating to fall to the bottom.
Restore national dignity and win back the voice of support
Faced with the plummeting approval rate, many British people believed that Mrs. Thatcher would never serve as the next prime minister. However, with the outbreak of the Falklands War, her approval rate returned to its peak. The Malvinas Islands is a territory that has been disputed between the United Kingdom and Argentina. Both sides claim sovereignty over the islands, but actual control has always been in the hands of the British. In 1982, Argentina believed that the British had no time to take care of this place far away from the British mainland, so it sneak attacked and occupied the Malvinas Islands. Faced with such a place far away from the British mainland, most British people believe that there is really no need to go to war with Argentina for such a place that has no resources and is far away from the mainland.
But Mrs. Thatcher’s decision exceeded the British expectations. She believed that Argentina’s move challenged British authority and the Falklands must be taken back. Eventually, Britain declared war on Argentina. In this way, Mrs. Thatcher led Britain into the war. The war lasted for ten weeks. The task force sent by the British defeated the Argentine Navy in one fell swoop and finally recaptured the Falklands. The victory of this war made the British feel that they had maintained their dignity. Mrs. Thatcher also regained the support of the people, which in turn gained her a valuable reputation for her re-election. The "Iron Lady" was once again recognized by the public.
Taking off her armor, her old age was desolate
In 1991, Mrs. Thatcher officially ended her career as prime minister, but she was still active in politics. It was not until around 2000 that she began her real retirement life. But what is unexpected is that Mrs. Thatcher's life in her later years was very desolate. In 2003, her husband Daniel passed away, which was a big blow to Mrs. Thatcher. Mrs. Thatcher had a son and a daughter, but she had different attitudes toward their education. Because of her busy daily work, Thatcher preferred her son Mark, who was lazy and inactive. Perhaps she thought her son was more obedient, but she had a headache for her daughter Carol, who was usually lively. She was too partial to her son, and over time her daughter became no longer close to her.
But Mrs. Thatcher’s favorite son failed to live up to expectations. Mark often used Mrs. Thatcher’s influence to illegally obtain huge profits overseas, causing Mrs. Thatcher a lot of trouble and embarrassing her. In 2004, Mark was arrested at home, and Mrs. Thatcher, 79, paid a fine for her son. After that, Mrs. Thatcher suffered from stroke and later suffered from Alzheimer's . However, her favored son Mark rarely visited Mrs. Thatcher, let alone her daughter who had been neglected. The death of her husband and the indifference of her children made her old age seem very desolate.
For the British, no matter whether they love or hate Mrs. Thatcher, they cannot deny her influence on the UK. It is said that after Mrs. Thatcher passed away, Thatcher became a forbidden topic for discussion in the UK because it is easy to have family quarrels due to different views.
What do you think of this Iron Lady? Comments are welcome!
