English: Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher"Maggie money is too tight too mention!

"The nickname "The Iron Lady" was originally given to Mrs. Thatcher by a Soviet Union newspaper as a critique. Today most British people are in two minds about (hin- und hergerissen sein) ex-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. She is both admired (bewundern) and despised (verachten) for her uncompromising politics and leadership. To get an idea of Mrs. Thatcher's views, see a selection of her quotes (Zitaten) at the end of this article.

In the 1980s British society changed drastically. At the forefront (vorderste Front) of these changes was Margaret Thatcher. In the 1970s Britain had been called "the poor man" of Europe, because of its high inflation and a weak pound. I remember the huge patriotism that Thatcher evoked (hervorrufen), as well as massive (riesig) unemployment, the violent struggle of the miners and people getting rich overnight (ganz plötzlich). One of the new words of the 1980s was "yuppies" (young professionals earning loads of money and living extravagantly - the expression comes from the first letters of the words "young, urban, professional").

Mrs. Thatcher the woman
Born in 1925, Margaret Hilda Roberts, was the daughter of a dressmaker (Damen-schneiderin)and a shopkeeper (Ladeninhaber) in Lincolnshire (south-west England). An industrious (fleißig/eifrig) woman, she got a university grant (Stipendium) and went to Oxford University where she took two degrees, in chemistry and law. In 1951 she married businessman Denis Thatcher (1915-2003) and had two children, Carol and Mark.

Mrs. Thatcher the politician
Thatcher was a hardliner who pursued (eine Politik/Strategie betreiben) monetarist economics, which proved to be crucial in modernizing Britain and lifting the country out of the economic and political crisis of the 1970s. However, these same policies were a severe blow (schwerer Schlag) to the millions of families which had to endure (ertragen/erleiden) massive (riesig) unemployment (Arbeitslosigkeit) and the bankruptcy (Konkurs) of small businesses.Her political career began in 1959 when, at the age of 34, she went to Parliament as the conservative MP (=Member of Parliament) for the district of Finchley in north London. During the Tory (= British Conservative) government of Prime Minister Edward Heath (1970-1974) she was the cabinet minister (Kabinettsministerin) responsible for education and science. In 1974, after the Labour Party won the elections, Mrs. Thatcher took over (übernehmen) as leader of the Conservative Party.

The succeeding (nachfolgend) Labour governments of Harold Wilson (1974-1976) and James Callaghan (1976-1979) led to the political crisis known as the "Winter of Discontent" (Unzufriedenheit) - a period during the winter on 1978-1979 when endless strikes by powerful trade unions (Gewerkschaft) resulted in food and power shortages (knappheit) as well as disrupted (zum reliegen bringen) transport and public services; during this time many hospitals only dealt with (sich mit jdm/etwas befassen) emergency cases and there was no refuse (Abfall) collection!

The government's inability to deal with the strikes helped the conservatives gain popularity and eventually (schließlich) led to Mrs. Thatcher's victory at the general election (Parlamentswahlen) of 1979. "Who governs Britain?" (regieren), she asked once as trade unions leaders opposed her, by the end of 1980, everyone knew the answer: Thatcher governs. During her premiership (Amt des Premierministers) she fought against the trade unions, and practically ended their power. She also privatized (privatisieren) state (staatlicher) industries and pushed (propagieren/pushen) free-market (freie Marktwirtschaft) policies. Under the slogan of "Popular Capitalism" she made it possible for average British people to buy shares in the newly privatized ex-state industries such as steel, electricity, gas, water and even (sogar) the national airline British Airways. The newly privatized industries made many people redundant (jemand entlassen) and unemployment escalated very quickly. The closing of unprofitable coal mines (Kohlenbergwerk) led to violent opposition and strikes by the miners. Mrs. Thatcher was a tough advocate (engangierte Befürworterin) of strong law and order and police authorities controlled the strikers with handedly (schroff/plump).

Thatcher believed that individual citizens, not the government, should be responsible for their communities. In 1987 she said, "There is no such thing as society. There are individual men and women, and there are families."She drastically reduced the amount of money the government spent on local public services (Staatsdienst), such as local transport, sport and social centres and care institutions (Pflege) such as homes for the elderly (Senioren) and the homeless (Obdachlosen).In 1982 she acted without hesitation and sent immediately a naval task force to retake by force the Falkland Islands from Argentina. The result was a wave of patriotic enthusiasm and support for her government.In 1984 she survived an assassination attempt (Attentat/Mordanschlag) by the IRA (Irish Revolutionary Army) because of her government's Nothern Ireland policies.She was a strong ally of US President Ronald Regan, and supported him in his anti-Soviet Union politics. Together with Reagan she pushed Mikhail Gorbachev to pursue (verwirklichen) his perestroika policy.By 1990 people in Britain had grown weary (erschöpft/überdrüssig werden) of "Thatcherism" and she was forced to resign by the Conservative Party over differences on (Meinungsverschiedenheiten) European Community policy.

The party then elected John Major to become party leader and take over as Prime Minister. Her work was done!Mrs. Thatcher was the longest serving prime minister of the 20th century.In 1992 she was awarded the title of Baroness (Baronin) Thatcher of Kesteven which entitles (berechtigen) her to take a seat in (ein Sitz) the House of Lords (das britische (Parliament) Oberhaus), and today she is still active in politics for her party.By the time (als) Tony Blair became Prime Minister, Britain was a different and richer country.These are some famous quotes from Mrs. Thatcher:"I am in politics because of the struggle between good and evil. I believe that in the end good will triumph.""To wear your heart on your sleeve (idiom: das Herz auf der Zunge tragen) isn't a very good plan; you should wear it inside, where it functions best.""Standing in the middle of the road (mitten auf der Straße/Mittelweg)is very dangerous; you get knocked down (überfahren) by the traffic (Verkehr) from both sides.""You may have to fight a battle more than once to win.""If you just set out to (sich vornehmen) be liked, you would be prepared (bereit) to compromise (nachgeben/Kompromiss schließen) on anything at any time, and you would achieve nothing.""I'm extraordinarily (außerordentlich) patient (geduldig) provided (sofern) I get my own way (meinen Wille durchsetze) in the end."

Author: Gareth Landers