Editing Margaret Thatcher (section)

===Foreign affairs===
{{multiple image
|direction=vertical
|image1=Jimmy Carter and Margaret Thatcher in 1979 (cropped).jpg
|alt1=Thatcher sitting with Jimmy Carter
|caption1=With [[President Carter]] in the Oval&nbsp;Office, 1979
|image2=President Ronald Reagan and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher of the United Kingdom.jpg
|alt2=Thatcher sitting with Ronald Reagan
|caption2=With [[President Reagan]] in the Oval&nbsp;Office, 1988
|image3=Thatcher and Bush - 1990 - P14935-18A.jpg
|alt3=Thatcher standing with George H. W. Bush
|caption3=With [[George H. W. Bush|President Bush]] in 1990
}}
Thatcher appointed Lord Carrington, an ennobled member of the party and former [[Secretary of State for Defence]], to run the [[Foreign Office]] in 1979.{{sfnp|Sked|Cook|1993|pages=364–422}} Although considered a "wet", he avoided domestic affairs and got along well with Thatcher. One issue was what to do with [[Rhodesia]], where the white minority had determined to rule the prosperous, black-majority breakaway colony in the face of overwhelming international criticism. With the 1975 [[Portuguese Empire|Portuguese]] collapse in the continent, South Africa (which had been Rhodesia's chief supporter) realised that their ally was a liability; black rule was inevitable, and the Thatcher government brokered a peaceful solution to end the [[Rhodesian Bush War]] in December 1979 via the [[Lancaster House Agreement]]. The conference at Lancaster House was attended by Rhodesian prime minister [[Ian Smith]], as well as by the key black leaders: [[Muzorewa]], [[Mugabe]], [[Joshua Nkomo|Nkomo]] and [[Tongogara]]. The result was the new Zimbabwean nation under black rule in 1980.{{sfnmp|1a1=Lewis|1y=1980|2a1=Soames|2y=1980}}

====Cold War====
Thatcher's first foreign-policy crisis came with the 1979 [[Soviet invasion of Afghanistan]]. She condemned the invasion, said it showed the bankruptcy of a [[détente]] policy and helped convince some British athletes to boycott the [[1980 Moscow Olympics]]. She gave weak support to US president Jimmy Carter who tried to punish the USSR with economic sanctions. Britain's economic situation was precarious, and most of NATO was reluctant to cut trade ties.{{sfnp|Lahey|2013}} Thatcher nevertheless gave the go-ahead for [[Whitehall]] to approve [[MI6]] (along with the SAS) to undertake [[United Kingdom in the Soviet–Afghan War|"disruptive action" in Afghanistan]].{{sfnp|Dorril|2002|p={{nowrap|{{plainlink|https://archive.org/details/mi6insidecovertw00dorr/page/752|752}} {{closed access}}}}}} As well as working with the CIA in [[Operation Cyclone]], they also supplied weapons, training and intelligence to the ''[[mujaheddin]]''.{{sfnp|Cormac|2018|pages=233–36}}

The ''[[Financial Times]]'' reported in 2011 that her government had secretly supplied [[Iraq under Saddam Hussein]] with [[British support for Iraq during the Iran–Iraq war|"non-lethal" military equipment since 1981]].<ref name="Thatcher Hussein secret">{{Cite web |last=Stothard |first=Michael |date=30 December 2011 |title=UK secretly supplied Saddam |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/52add2c4-30b4-11e1-9436-00144feabdc0.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160701032514/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/52add2c4-30b4-11e1-9436-00144feabdc0.html |archive-date=1 July 2016 |access-date=11 October 2015 |newspaper=Financial Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Leigh |first1=David |author-link1=David Leigh (journalist) |last2=Evans |first2=Rob |name-list-style=amp |date=27 February 2003 |title=How £1bn was lost when Thatcher propped up Saddam |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/feb/28/iraq.politics1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170811011113/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/feb/28/iraq.politics1 |archive-date=11 August 2017 |access-date=2 August 2017 |work=The Guardian}}</ref>

Having withdrawn formal recognition from the [[Pol Pot regime]] in 1979,<ref>{{Cite Hansard |title=Kampuchea |house=House of Commons |date=16 May 1985 |volume=79 |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1985/may/16/kampuchea |column_start=486 |column_end=490 |access-date=22 October 2020}}</ref> the Thatcher government backed the [[Khmer Rouge]] keeping their UN seat after they were ousted from power in Cambodia by the [[Cambodian–Vietnamese War]]. Although Thatcher denied it at the time,<ref>{{Cite Hansard |title=Cambodia |house=House of Commons |date=26 October 1990 |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm198990/cmhansrd/1990-10-26/Debate-3.html |column_start=655 |column_end=667 |access-date=22 October 2020}}</ref> it was revealed in 1991 that, while not directly training any Khmer Rouge,{{sfnp|Neville|2016|p=20}} from 1983 the [[Special Air Service]] (SAS) was sent to secretly train "the armed forces of the [[Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea|Cambodian non-communist resistance]]" that remained loyal to Prince [[Norodom Sihanouk]] and his former prime minister [[Son Sann]] in the fight against the [[People's Republic of Kampuchea|Vietnamese-backed puppet regime]].<ref>{{Cite Hansard |title=Cambodia |house=House of Commons |date=22 July 1991 |volume=195 |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1991/jul/22/cambodia |column_start=863 |column_end=883 |access-date=22 October 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=9 January 2000 |title=Butcher of Cambodia set to expose Thatcher's role |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/jan/09/cambodia |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612144544/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/jan/09/cambodia |archive-date=12 June 2018 |access-date=26 May 2011 |work=The Observer}}</ref>

Thatcher was one of the first Western leaders to respond warmly to reformist Soviet leader [[Mikhail Gorbachev]]. Following Reagan–Gorbachev summit meetings and reforms enacted by Gorbachev in the USSR, she declared in November 1988 that "[{{lcfirst:W]e're}} not in a Cold War now" but rather in a "new relationship much wider than the Cold War ever was".<ref name="reforms1988">{{Cite news |date=18 November 1988 |title=Gorbachev Policy Has Ended The Cold War, Thatcher Says |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE2DC1738F93BA25752C1A96E948260 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111173109/https://www.nytimes.com/1988/11/18/world/gorbachev-policy-has-ended-the-cold-war-thatcher-says.html |archive-date=11 January 2021 |access-date=30 October 2008 |work=The New York Times |agency=Associated Press}}</ref> She went on a state visit to the Soviet Union in 1984 and met with Gorbachev and Council of Ministers chairman [[Nikolai Ryzhkov]].{{sfnp|Zemcov|Farrar|1989|page=138}}

====Ties with the US====
[[File:Reagan-Thatcher cabinet talks.jpg|thumb|alt=photograph|upright=1.2|Meeting [[Reagan's cabinet]] with ministers in the [[White House Cabinet Room]], 1981]]
Despite opposite personalities, Thatcher bonded quickly with US president [[Ronald Reagan]].{{refn|{{harvtxt|Cannadine|2017}}: <q>In many ways they were very different figures: he was sunny, genial, charming, relaxed, upbeat, and with little intellectual curiosity or command of policy detail; she was domineering, belligerent, confrontational, tireless, hyperactive, and with an unrivalled command of facts and figures. But the chemistry between them worked. Reagan had been grateful for her interest in him at a time when the British establishment refused to take him seriously; she agreed with him about the importance of creating wealth, cutting taxes, and building up stronger defences against Soviet Russia; and both believed in liberty and free-market freedom, and in the need to outface what [[Evil Empire speech|Reagan would later call 'the evil empire']].</q>|group=nb}} She gave strong support to the [[Reagan administration]]'s [[Reagan Doctrine|Cold War policies]] based on their shared [[Anti-communism|distrust of communism]].{{r|thatcher-cw}} A sharp disagreement came in 1983 when Reagan did not consult with her on the [[invasion of Grenada]].{{sfnp|Williams|2001}}<ref>{{Cite web |date=6 June 2004 |title=Ronald Reagan |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/111260 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170628180545/http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/111260 |archive-date=28 June 2017 |access-date=5 July 2017 |type=Obituary |via=the Margaret Thatcher Foundation |newspaper=[[The Times]]}}</ref>

During her first year as prime minister, she supported [[NATO]]'s decision to deploy US nuclear [[BGM-109G Ground Launched Cruise Missile|cruise]] and [[Pershing II]] missiles in Western Europe,{{r|thatcher-cw}} permitting the US to station more than 160&nbsp;cruise missiles at [[RAF Greenham Common]], starting in November 1983 and triggering mass protests by the [[Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament]].{{r|thatcher-cw}} She bought the [[Trident nuclear missile]] submarine system from the US to replace Polaris, tripling the UK's nuclear forces<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=28 July 1980 |title=Trident is go |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,922079,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080904225816/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,922079,00.html |archive-date=4 September 2008 |access-date=16 January 2011 |magazine=Time}}</ref> at an eventual cost of more than £12&nbsp;billion (at 1996–97 prices).<ref>{{Cite web |date=5 November 1999 |title=Vanguard Class Ballistic Missile Submarine |url=https://fas.org/nuke/guide/uk/slbm/vanguard.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101123230232/http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/uk/slbm/vanguard.htm |archive-date=23 November 2010 |access-date=16 January 2011 |publisher=[[Federation of American Scientists]]}}</ref> Thatcher's preference for defence ties with the US was demonstrated in the [[Westland affair]] of 1985–86 when she acted with colleagues to allow the struggling helicopter manufacturer [[Westland Helicopters|Westland]] to refuse a takeover offer from the Italian firm [[Agusta]] in favour of the management's preferred option, a link with [[Sikorsky Aircraft]]. Defence Secretary [[Michael Heseltine]], who had supported the Agusta deal, resigned from the government in protest.{{sfnp|Marr|2007|p=419}}

In April 1986 she permitted US [[General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark|F-111s]] to use [[Royal Air Force]] bases for the [[1986 United States bombing of Libya|bombing of Libya]] in retaliation for the [[West Berlin discotheque bombing|Libyan bombing of a Berlin discothèque]],<ref name="Cannon">{{Cite news |last=Cannon |first=Lou |author-link=Lou Cannon |date=15 April 1986 |title=Reagan Acted Upon 'Irrefutable' Evidence |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1986/04/15/reagan-acted-upon-irrefutable-evidence/61170c59-b355-4e0a-8ab5-411bba4879e8 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170906092229/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1986/04/15/reagan-acted-upon-irrefutable-evidence/61170c59-b355-4e0a-8ab5-411bba4879e8/ |archive-date=6 September 2017 |access-date=5 July 2017 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> citing the right of self-defence under [[Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter|Article 51 of the UN Charter]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Riddell |first=Peter |date=16 April 1986 |title=Thatcher Defends US Use Of British Bases in Libya bombing raid |work=Financial Times |page=1}}</ref>{{refn|<q>The United States has more than 330,000&nbsp;members of her forces in Europe to defend our liberty. Because they are here, they are subject to terrorist attack. It is inconceivable that they should be refused the right to use American aircraft and American pilots in the inherent right of self-defence, to defend their own people.</q><ref>{{Cite Hansard |title=Engagements |house=House of Commons |date=15 April 1986 |volume=95 |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1986/apr/15/engagements |access-date=22 October 2020 |pages=723–728}}</ref>|group=nb}} Polls suggested that fewer than one in three British citizens approved of her decision.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lejeune |first=Anthony |date=23 May 1986 |title=A friend in need |work=National Review |page=27 |volume=38 |issue=1}}</ref>

Thatcher was in the US on a state visit when Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein [[Iraqi invasion of Kuwait|invaded Kuwait]] in August 1990.<ref name="gw-pbs">{{Cite web |title=Oral History: Margaret Thatcher |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/gulf/oral/thatcher/1.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202075000/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/gulf/oral/thatcher/1.html |archive-date=2 December 2008 |access-date=1 November 2008 |publisher=PBS}}</ref> During her talks with President [[George H. W. Bush]], who succeeded Reagan in 1989, she recommended intervention,{{r|gw-pbs}} and put pressure on Bush to deploy troops in the Middle East to drive the [[Iraqi Army]] out of Kuwait.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lewis |first=Anthony |author-link=Anthony Lewis |date=7 August 1992 |title=Abroad at Home; Will Bush Take Real Action? |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CEED9113AF934A3575BC0A964958260 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111173131/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/08/07/opinion/abroad-at-home-will-bush-take-real-action.html |archive-date=11 January 2021 |access-date=1 November 2008 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> Bush was apprehensive about the plan, prompting Thatcher to remark to him during a telephone conversation: "This was no time to go wobbly!"<ref>{{Cite web |date=26 August 1990 |title=Gulf War: Bush–Thatcher phone conversation (no time to go wobbly) |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/commentary/displaydocument.asp?docid=110711 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080420093131/http://www.margaretthatcher.org/commentary/displaydocument.asp?docid=110711 |archive-date=20 April 2008 |access-date=1 November 2008 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Tisdall |first=Simon |author-link=Simon Tisdall |date=8 April 2013 |title=No-nonsense Iron Lady punched above UK's weight on world stage |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/apr/08/margaret-thatcher-iron-lady-world-stage |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170731063611/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/apr/08/margaret-thatcher-iron-lady-world-stage |archive-date=31 July 2017 |access-date=18 June 2017 |newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref> Thatcher's government supplied military forces to the international coalition in the build-up to the [[Gulf War]], but she had resigned by the time hostilities began on 17&nbsp;January 1991.{{sfnp|Aitken|2013|pp=600–601}}<ref name="grice">{{Cite news |last=Grice |first=Andrew |date=13 October 2005 |title=Thatcher reveals her doubts over basis for Iraq war |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/thatcher-reveals-her-doubts-over-basis-for-iraq-war-319542.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171025132508/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/thatcher-reveals-her-doubts-over-basis-for-iraq-war-319542.html |archive-date=25 October 2017 |access-date=22 September 2016 |work=The Independent}}</ref> She applauded the coalition victory on the backbenches, while warning that "the victories of peace will take longer than the battles of war".<ref>{{Cite Hansard |title=The Gulf |house=House of Commons |date=28 February 1991 |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1991/feb/28/the-gulf#column_1120 |column=1120 |access-date=28 October 2020}}</ref> It was disclosed in 2017 that Thatcher had suggested threatening Saddam with [[chemical weapon]]s after the invasion of Kuwait.<ref>{{Cite news |date=20 July 2017 |title=Margaret Thatcher suggested threatening Saddam with chemical weapons |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-40667031 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170722005112/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-40667031 |archive-date=22 July 2017 |access-date=22 July 2017 |work=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Mance |first=Henry |date=20 July 2017 |title=Thatcher wanted to threaten Saddam with chemical weapons |url=https://www.ft.com/content/e2d78a20-6bcd-11e7-b9c7-15af748b60d0 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20170720180853/https://www.ft.com/content/e2d78a20-6bcd-11e7-b9c7-15af748b60d0 |archive-date=20 July 2017 |access-date=31 July 2017 |work=Financial Times}}</ref>

====Crisis in the South Atlantic====
{{See also|Rejoice (Margaret Thatcher)|label1="Rejoice"|Sinking of the ARA General Belgrano|label2=sinking of the ARA ''General Belgrano''|Diana Gould–Margaret Thatcher exchange|label3=the Diana Gould exchange}}
On 2&nbsp;April 1982, the ruling [[National Reorganization Process|military junta in Argentina]] ordered the invasion of the [[British Overseas Territories]] of the [[Falkland Islands]] and [[South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands|South Georgia]], [[Events leading to the Falklands War|triggering the Falklands War]].{{sfnp|Smith|1989|p=21}} The [[Occupation of the Falkland Islands|subsequent crisis]] was "a defining moment of {{interp|Thatcher's}} premiership".{{sfnp|Jackling|2005|p=230}} At the suggestion of Harold Macmillan and [[Robert Armstrong, Baron Armstrong of Ilminster|Robert Armstrong]],{{sfnp|Jackling|2005|p=230}} she set up and chaired a small [[War cabinet#Falklands War|War Cabinet]] (formally called ODSA, Overseas and Defence committee, South Atlantic) to oversee the conduct of the war,{{sfnp|Hastings|Jenkins|1983|pp=80–81}} which by 5–6&nbsp;April had authorised and dispatched [[British naval forces in the Falklands War|a naval task force]] to retake the islands.{{sfnp|Hastings|Jenkins|1983|p=95}} Argentina [[Argentine surrender in the Falklands War|surrendered on 14&nbsp;June]] and ''Operation Corporate'' was hailed a success, notwithstanding the deaths of 255&nbsp;British servicemen and three Falkland Islanders. Argentine fatalities totalled 649, half of them after the nuclear-powered submarine {{HMS|Conqueror|S48|6}} torpedoed and sank the cruiser {{ship|ARA|General Belgrano}} on 2&nbsp;May.<ref name="liberation">{{Cite news |last=Evans |first=Michael |date=15 June 2007 |title=The Falklands: 25 years since the Iron Lady won her war |url=https://www.thetimes.com/comment/register/article/the-falklands-25-years-since-the-iron-lady-won-her-war-v3dp2zx3h5h |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210913174010/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-falklands-25-years-since-the-iron-lady-won-her-war-v3dp2zx3h5h |archive-date=13 September 2021 |access-date=5 July 2017 |work=[[The Times]]}}</ref>

Thatcher was criticised for the neglect of the Falklands' defence that led to the war, and especially by Labour MP [[Tam Dalyell]] in Parliament for the decision to torpedo the ''General Belgrano'', but overall, she was considered a competent and committed war leader.{{sfnp|Hastings|Jenkins|1983|pp=335–336}} The "[[Falklands factor]]", an economic recovery beginning early in 1982, and a bitterly divided opposition all contributed to Thatcher's second election victory in [[1983 United Kingdom general election|1983]].{{sfnp|Sanders|Ward|Marsh|1987}} Thatcher frequently referred after the war to the "Falklands spirit";<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jenkins |first=Simon |author-link=Simon Jenkins |date=1 April 2012 |title=Falklands war 30 years on and how it turned Thatcher into a world celebrity |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/apr/01/falklands-war-thatcher-30-years |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170905232855/https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/apr/01/falklands-war-thatcher-30-years |archive-date=5 September 2017 |access-date=26 May 2017 |newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref> {{harvtxt|Hastings|Jenkins|1983|p=329}} suggests that this reflected her preference for the streamlined decision-making of her War Cabinet over the painstaking deal-making of peacetime [[cabinet government]].

====Negotiating Hong Kong====
In September 1982, she visited China to discuss with [[Deng Xiaoping]] the [[sovereignty of Hong Kong]] after 1997. China was the first communist state Thatcher had visited as prime minister, and she was the first British prime minister to visit China. Throughout their meeting, she sought the PRC's agreement to a continued British presence in the territory. Deng insisted that the PRC's sovereignty over Hong Kong was non-negotiable but stated his willingness to settle the sovereignty issue with the British government through formal negotiations. Both governments promised to maintain Hong Kong's stability and prosperity.{{sfnp|Yahuda|1996|page=155}} After the two-year negotiations, Thatcher conceded to the PRC government and signed the [[Sino-British Joint Declaration]] in Beijing in 1984, agreeing to hand over Hong Kong's sovereignty in 1997.{{sfnp|Reitan|2003|p=116}}

====Apartheid in South Africa====
Despite saying that she was in favour of "peaceful negotiations" to end [[apartheid]],<ref>{{Cite Hansard |title=Engagements |house=House of Commons |date=25 February 1988 |volume=128 |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1988/feb/25/engagements#S6CV0128P0_19880225_HOC_113 |column=437 |access-date=22 October 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Hansard |title=South Africa |house=Written Answers HC Deb |date=11 July 1988 |volume=137 |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1988/jul/11/south-africa#S6CV0137P0_19880711_CWA_21 |column_start=3 |column_end=4W |access-date=22 October 2020}}</ref> Thatcher opposed [[Disinvestment from South Africa|sanctions imposed on South Africa]] by the Commonwealth and the [[European Economic Community]] (EEC).{{sfnp|Campbell|2011a|p=322}} She attempted to preserve trade with South Africa while persuading its government to abandon apartheid. This included "[c]asting herself as [[President Botha]]'s candid friend" and inviting him to visit the UK in 1984,<ref name="Hanning">{{Cite news |last=Hanning |first=James |date=8 December 2013 |title=The 'terrorist' and the Tories: What did Nelson Mandela really think of Margaret Thatcher? |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/the-terrorist-and-the-tories-what-did-nelson-mandela-really-think-of-margaret-thatcher-8990872.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131208093841/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/the-terrorist-and-the-tories-what-did-nelson-mandela-really-think-of-margaret-thatcher-8990872.html |archive-date=8 December 2013 |access-date=24 October 2017 |work=The Independent}}</ref> despite the "inevitable demonstrations" against his government.{{sfnp|Campbell|2011a|p=325}} Alan Merrydew of the Canadian broadcaster [[BCTV News]] asked Thatcher what her response was "to a reported ANC statement that they will target British firms in South Africa?" to which she later replied: "[...] when the ANC says that they will target British companies [...] This shows what a typical terrorist organisation it is. I fought terrorism all my life and if more people fought it, and we were all more successful, we should not have it and I hope that everyone in this hall will think it is right to go on fighting terrorism."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Plaut |first=Martin |date=29 August 2018 |title=Did Margaret Thatcher really call Nelson Mandela a terrorist? |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2018/08/did-margaret-thatcher-really-call-nelson-mandela-terrorist |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180906233752/https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2018/08/did-margaret-thatcher-really-call-nelson-mandela-terrorist |archive-date=6 September 2018 |access-date=6 September 2018 |magazine=New Statesman}}</ref> During his visit to Britain five months after his release from prison, [[Nelson Mandela]] praised Thatcher: "She is an enemy of apartheid [...] We have much to thank her for."{{r|Hanning}}

====Europe====
{{See also|Bruges speech}}
{{External media |topic=1988 speech to the [[College of Europe]] |video1={{Cite speech |title=Speech to the College of Europe'' ('The Bruges Speech')'' |url=https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/113688 |via=the Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}<ref name="Bruges" />}}

Thatcher and her party supported British membership of the EEC in the [[1975 United Kingdom European Communities membership referendum|1975 national referendum]]<ref name="upi19750604">{{Cite news |date=4 June 1975 |title=Conservatives favor remaining in market |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=M7QsAAAAIBAJ&pg=2825%2C608551 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031074621/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=M7QsAAAAIBAJ&pg=2825%2C608551 |archive-date=31 October 2020 |access-date=26 December 2011 |work=Wilmington Morning Star |page=5 |agency=United Press International}}</ref> and the [[Single European Act]] of 1986, and obtained the [[UK rebate]] on contributions,<ref name="kuper20190620">{{Cite news |last=Kuper |first=Simon |date=20 June 2019 |title=How Oxford university shaped Brexit – and Britain's next prime minister |url=https://www.ft.com/content/85fc694c-9222-11e9-b7ea-60e35ef678d2 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190621101919/https://www.ft.com/content/85fc694c-9222-11e9-b7ea-60e35ef678d2 |archive-date=21 June 2019 |access-date=23 October 2020 |work=Financial Times}}</ref> but she believed that the role of the organisation should be limited to ensuring free trade and effective competition, and feared that the EEC approach was at odds with her views on smaller government and deregulation.{{sfnp|Senden|2004|p=9}} Believing that the single market would result in political integration,{{r|kuper20190620}} Thatcher's opposition to further [[European integration]] became more pronounced during her premiership and particularly after her third government in 1987.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pylas |first=Pan |date=23 January 2020 |title=Britain's EU Journey: When Thatcher turned all euroskeptic |url=https://apnews.com/64855d1ff67454443db5132bdfb22ea6 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030173846/https://apnews.com/64855d1ff67454443db5132bdfb22ea6 |archive-date=30 October 2020 |access-date=22 October 2020 |work=Associated Press News}}</ref> In her Bruges speech in 1988, Thatcher outlined her opposition to proposals from the EEC,<ref name="Bruges">{{Cite web |date=20 September 1988 |title=Speech to the College of Europe ('The Bruges Speech') |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=107332 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120513020525/http://margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=107332 |archive-date=13 May 2012 |access-date=31 October 2008 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}</ref> forerunner of the [[European Union]], for a federal structure and increased centralisation of decision-making:{{blockquote |We have not successfully rolled back the frontiers of the state in Britain, only to see them re-imposed at a European level, with a European super-state exercising a new dominance from Brussels.{{sfnp|Senden|2004|p=9}}}}

Sharing the concerns of French president [[François Mitterrand]],<ref>{{Cite news |last=Blitz |first=James |date=9 September 2009 |title=Mitterrand feared emergence of 'bad' Germans |url=https://www.ft.com/content/886192ba-9d7d-11de-9f4a-00144feabdc0 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190131042253/https://www.ft.com/content/886192ba-9d7d-11de-9f4a-00144feabdc0 |archive-date=31 January 2019 |access-date=14 May 2017 |work=Financial Times}}</ref> Thatcher was initially opposed to [[German reunification]],{{refn|She was decidedly cool towards reunification prior to 1990, but made no attempt to block it.{{sfnp|Ratti|2017|loc=chpt.&nbsp;4}}|group=nb}} telling Gorbachev that it "would lead to a change to postwar borders, and we cannot allow that because such a development would undermine the stability of the whole international situation and could endanger our security". She expressed concern that a united Germany would align itself more closely with the Soviet Union and move away from NATO.{{sfnp|Görtemaker|2006|p=198}}

In March 1990, Thatcher held a Chequers seminar on the subject of German reunification that was attended by members of her cabinet and historians such as [[Norman Stone]], [[George Urban]], [[Timothy Garton Ash]] and [[Gordon A. Craig]]. During the seminar, Thatcher described "what Urban called 'saloon bar [[cliché]]s' about the German character, including '[[angst]], aggressiveness, [[assertiveness]], bullying, [[egotism]], [[inferiority complex]] {{interp|and}} [[sentimentality]]{{'"}}. Those present were shocked to hear Thatcher's utterances and "appalled" at how she was "apparently unaware" about the post-war [[German collective guilt]] and Germans' attempts to [[Vergangenheitsbewältigung|work through their past]].{{sfnp|Campbell|2011a|p=634}} The words of the meeting were leaked by her foreign-policy advisor [[Charles Powell, Baron Powell of Bayswater|Charles Powell]] and, subsequently, her comments were met with fierce backlash and controversy.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Low |first=Valentine |date=30 December 2016 |title=Germans seen as self-pitying, egotistical and bullying race |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/germans-seen-as-self-pitying-egotistical-and-bullying-race-chl0zfqtd |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210821212858/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/germans-seen-as-self-pitying-egotistical-and-bullying-race-chl0zfqtd |archive-date=21 August 2021 |access-date=17 December 2020 |work=[[The Times]]}}</ref>

During the same month, German chancellor [[Helmut Kohl]] reassured Thatcher that he would keep her "informed of all his intentions about unification",<ref name="Bowcott">{{Cite web |last=Bowcott |first=Owen |date=30 December 2016 |title=Kohl offered Thatcher secret access to reunification plans |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/dec/30/helmut-kohl-margaret-thatcher-reunification-plans-national-archives-files |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517040338/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/dec/30/helmut-kohl-margaret-thatcher-reunification-plans-national-archives-files |archive-date=17 May 2019 |access-date=18 June 2017 |newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref> and that he was prepared to disclose "matters which even his cabinet would not know".{{r|Bowcott}}