Editing Margaret Thatcher (section)

====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]].