Foreign policy

• Special relationship

  • Falkland’s war, cruise missiles and tough on USSR
  • gave permission to bomb libya despite unpopularity in uk
  • Grenada invasion against thatcher wishes
• Moves to end cold war :

  • soviets invade Afghanistan - bleeds their resources
  • Protect and survive handed out, BBC Threads drama accounted nuclear attack + Kate Bush song
  • 200k people marched with CND against nukes
• Single European act

  • Thatcher gave Bruges speech - EEC only a trade association and resented federalism and closer union
  • Caused division as major and howe thought shes backtracking
  • Bruges group argued eec was evolving into other than trade
  • Enthusiastic for Eastern Europe to join EEC after communism fall to defeat communism
  • Never openly antI Europe until out of office
• single European act

  • supranationality established
  • right of individual member states veto abolished
  • committed to closer monetary and political union
• ERM

  • Means of fighting inflation
  • openly declared not joining single currency
  • later claimed Lawson and Howe misled her into joining
  • Lawson resigned after she preferred an advisor alan Waltors instead of chancellor
  • Howe claimed aggressive anti europanism distorted entry to ERM
• Issue of federalism

  • Stressed how young EU institutions were - none predated 1945 where britain was centuries old
  • EEC could creep to socialism
• Collapse of communism

  • Reagan and thatcher teamwork and negotiation that brought peaceful end
  • symbolism of freedom a iron lady
  • criticised for pro trade union in poland but anti at home
• thatcher and Reagan

  • spent 10 billion on trident to replace obsolete Polaris
  • allowed us to place cruise missiles in green ham common