Thatcher's war: The Falklands - BBC News BBC News By Paul Reynolds Former BBC correspondent 8 April 2013 Close share panel Media captionPrime Minister Thatcher on the Falklands campaign at the 1982 party conference. British reporters who found themselves in Buenos Aires during the Falklands war of 1982 naturally wondered if the British government was serious about retaking the islands. After all, the Royal Navy was no longer properly equipped for expeditionary warfare. It had no fleet airborne radar, for a start. Its planners and political masters (including the Conservative government) had decided that its main role would be anti-submarine actions against the Soviet navy. Its big aircraft carrier, Hermes, without which the Falklands would probably not have been retaken, was to be sold to India and replaced by a smaller ship. No hesitation Radar cover would be provided by the RAF from land. No such land, of course, was available in the South Atlantic. So it was suggested that the despatch of the Task Force was a bluff designed to get as good a face-saving diplomatic settlement as possible. For me, such naive notions were dispelled by Mrs Thatcher herself.

The BBC in London fed House of Commons debates and prime minister's question time down the phone to us in the Sheraton Hotel. Image caption The Royal Navy suffered losses It was instructive listening and injected a dose of reality into the fantasies we had at odd moments entertained that the British government would not fight. From her comments about the need to restore British sovereignty and her refusal to negotiate anything close to what the Argentine junta might accept (leaseback, a fixed term before a handover, shared rule, a UN protectorate), we knew that war was coming. It turned out that she had not hesitated, having established in the first hours after the Argentine invasion that the Royal Navy thought a re-invasion could be carried out. The First Sea Lord Sir Henry Leach had told her that a task force could sail within days and it did. US support "We have to recover those islands," she said. "We have to recover them for the people on them are British and British stock and they still owe allegiance to the crown and want to be British." She had decided that if the Argentines could be removed by diplomacy, then that would be fine. If they could not, then it would be war.

There then followed some difficult days during which Mrs Thatcher's resolve was tested. The sinking of the Argentine cruiser Belgrano, the shock of HMS Sheffield going down (that it was a French missile which destroyed it only added to the humiliation), the steady loss of British ships to the daring Argentine air force - none of this shook her. Image caption The war boosted Margaret Thatcher's political standing at home The fact was that her basic instincts had been roused. She believed in the defence of what she saw as fundamental British interests. The Falkland Islands may have been a couple of barren rocks inhabited mainly by sheep to some observers (President Reagan among them) but to Mrs Thatcher they were a British outpost. They were not even an issue for argument. They became instead an issue for war. And she soon got President Reagan to rally round. American air-to-air missiles followed. Mrs Thatcher was always the practical grocer's daughter, knowing that words might lead the way but that weapons win wars. Some of the tensions did show from time to time.

When South Georgia was recaptured early on, she made the announcement herself in Downing Street and, on being asked what would happen next, she turned back from returning inside to deliver to the cameras her famous instruction simply to "Rejoice!" In overcoming the Argentines, she also overcame her political opponents at home and it was the war which set her up for an election win and many more years in power. Senkaku Dispute: Japan PM Takes Page from Thatcher’s Falklands War | TIME.com Follow @TIMEWorld Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose country is in conflict with China over islets in the East China Sea, cited former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s reflections on the 1982 Falkland Islands war to stress the importance of the rule of law at sea. During a speech to parliament on Thursday, Abe said Japan’s national interests “lie in making the seas, which are the foundation of our nation’s existence, completely open, free and peaceful,” the Telegraph reported .

(MORE: Japan Boosts Defense Spending, More or Less ) The Japanese Prime Minister, who took office in December, quoted Thatcher’s memoirs reflecting the Falkland Islands war, in which she said Britain was defending the fundamental principle that international law should prevail over the use of force, according to Reuters. “Looking back at the Falkland Islands conflict, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said the following: ‘The rule of international law must triumph over exertion of force,’” the Wall Street Journal quoted Abe as saying to his fellow lawmakers. Thatcher rallied Britain to support the 74-day armed conflict, which started when Argentine troops landed on the Falkland Islands on April 2, 1982. It drew skepticism at the time from other British leaders — and some British allies, who didn’t think the territory was worth defending after Argentina seized control, according to the Wall Street Journal. The conflict killed about 650 Argentine and 255 British troops. (MORE: History Threatens Repeat in Renewed Pacific War ) Abe continued in his own words: “The rule of law at sea.

I want to appeal to international society that in modern times changes to the status quo by the use of force will justify nothing.” Ties between Tokyo and Beijing have been shaky after the Japanese government last September bought three of the five islands in the East China Sea, known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China. The islands are controlled by Japan but also claimed by China. (MORE: Chinese View of Islands Conflict: ‘Make It Quick’ ) An escalation in tensions in the territorial dispute has raised fears of an unintended military incident near the islands, where both countries’ militaries have each started to mobilize in the surrounding area, the Wall Street Journal pointed out. The U.S. has said the islets fall under a U.S.-Japan security pact, but “Washington is keen to avoid a clash in the economically vital region,” the Telegraph reported. Abe reiterated in his speech that the islands are Japanese territory and urged Beijing not to escalate tensions. However, he added that Sino-Japanese relations were vital for Japan and that he was always willing to a discussion.

Falklands War - ITV News Falklands War New documents revealing former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's unpublished testimony to the Franks Inquiry into the Falklands conflict is "like a film script", according to a Professor of Contemporary British History. Professor Peter Hennessy, of Queen Mary University of London, described Thatcher's recollection of the conflict as "vivid". Official files reveal Falklands missile row with France Fears France could allow Argentina to acquire deadly Exocet missiles at the height of the Falklands War strained Margaret Thatcher's relationship with president Francois Mitterrand close to breaking point, according to official files made public today. Publicly Thatcher always praised Mitterrand for his support during the conflict, but papers released by the National Archives under the 30 year rule reveal the intense suspicion and distrust of the French in London. Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Credit: PA/PA Wire/Press Association Images At one point, a furious Thatcher warned the president it could have "disastrous" consequences for the entire Nato alliance if a fresh consignment of the French-built Exocets was allowed to reach Argentina.

Britain woke up to the threat of the Exocet on May 4, when a pair of Argentinian air force Super Etendard fighters attacked the British Task Force heading towards the Falklands and unleashed two sea-skimming guided missiles. British agents uncovered secret arms flights from Libya A secret plot by Libyan dictator Colonel Muammar Gaddafi to supply arms to the Argentinian junta in the midst of the Falklands War was dramatically unmasked by British agents, according to newly published documents. A British air attache discovered the Argentines were using the airport at Recife in Brazil as a staging post for shipping weapons from Libya. The attache had a source at the airport who was able to board an Aerolineas Argentinas flight and saw for himself boxes apparently packed with missiles. The British government decided to embarrass the Brazilians into halting the flights by leaking details through a third country, in order to protect the air attache's source.

Articles about Falklands War - tribunedigital-chicagotribune Japan PM Abe cites Thatcher reflections on Falklands war Reuters | February 27, 2013 TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose country is embroiled in a row with China over tiny islands, on Thursday quoted former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's reflections on the 1982 Falklands war with Argentina to stress the importance of the rule of law at sea. "Our national interests have been immutable. They lie in making the seas, which are the foundation of our nation's existence, completely open, free and peaceful," Abe said in a... NEWS Crimea vote as worthless as Falklands poll: Argentina president Reuters | March 19, 2014 PARIS (Reuters) - Argentine President Cristina Fernandez, who has been campaigning for the Falkland Islands to become part of Argentina, said last week's referendum in Crimea was as worthless as a vote held last year over the British territory in the South Atlantic. Fernandez has been increasingly vocal about Argentina's claim to the archipelago, a British Overseas Territory over which Britain and Argentina fought a war in 1982. "This referendum (in Crimea) is...

Advertisement Probes Launched In Alleged Falklands War Executions By Gary Marx, Chicago Tribune | August 31, 1992 In a move that may complicate improved relations between Britain and Argentina, the two nations are investigating reports that British soldiers executed several Argentine prisoners during the 1982 Falklands war. The investigations were spurred by accusations in a book written by a British Falklands war veteran. The book claims that several Argentine soldiers were shot to death after surrendering to British paratroopers during a critical battle for control of the... NEWS As Afghan deployment winds down, UK ponders military's role Reuters | February 9, 2014 * UK cutting defence spending 8 pct over five years * Thinktank sees combat capability down 20-30 percent * France seen more militarily assertive * Defence chief warns of "strategically incoherent" force By Peter Apps LONDON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - As British troops strip down equipment and load containers to leave Afghanistan, its military self-confidence has rarely been lower. When Britain ramped up its presence in Helmand Province in 2006, it...

NEWS `82 Falklands War Refought In Court By David Beard, Special to The Tribune | November 22, 1985 In a sweltering courtroom inside army division headquarters here, a group of Argentines are refighting the 1982 Falklands war. On one side stands military prosecutor Hector Canale. On the other sit 16 high-ranking military officers, including ex-President and Army Commander Leopoldo Galtieri. Facing them is an eight-man military tribunal, which will determine whether some or all of them are guilty of negligence for their role in the country's military debacle in the South Atlantic. NEWS Leftists protest Britain at Olympics meeting in Argentina Reuters | September 6, 2013 BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - About 250 leftist Argentines protested Britain's presence at the meeting of the International Olympic Committee in Buenos Aires on Friday, burning the Union Jack and chanting anti-British slogans stemming from the 1982 Falklands War. The demonstration was the latest organized by the "Quebracho" group of activists that in April of last year held protests in front of the British Embassy in Buenos Aires during which several Argentine... NEWS Dinosaurs?

By Jack Fox | June 2, 1987 The experiences of the USS Stark and of the British destroyer sunk by an Exocet in the Falklands war indicate that surface ships are a thing of the past. When a cheap Exocet missile can sink or incapacitate a multimillion-dollar warship, then it's pretty obvious that money spent on surface ships is totally wasted. NEWS Britain snubs Argentina's Fernandez over Thatcher funeral Andrew Osborn and Reuters | April 11, 2013 LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will not invite Argentine President Cristina Fernandez to Margaret Thatcher's funeral next week in a snub likely to deepen a long-running diplomatic dispute over the Falkland Islands. Thatcher, 87, who died on Monday, led Britain at the time of the 1982 Falklands war ordering her armed forces to repel an Argentine invasion of the contested South Atlantic archipelago which Argentina calls Las Malvinas. Just over 30 years later, memories of...

NEWS 1st Post-falklands Argentine Visit Set By From Tribune News Services | November 5, 1997 Britain on Tuesday invited President Carlos Menem to pay the first visit to London by an Argentine head of state since the 1982 Falklands War. A British Foreign Office spokesman said Menem's visit next year would focus on bilateral relations between the two nations. Relations already had begun to thaw under the Conservative government that was ousted in Britain's general election on May 1 and a visit by Menem had been under discussion for some time. NEWS Japan PM Abe cites Thatcher reflections on Falklands war Reuters | February 27, 2013 TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose country is embroiled in a row with China over tiny islands, on Thursday quoted former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's reflections on the 1982 Falklands war with Argentina to stress the importance of the rule of law at sea. "Our national interests have been immutable. They lie in making the seas, which are the foundation of our nation's existence, completely open, free and peaceful," Abe said in a...

NEWS Britain brushes off request for apology By Items compiled from Tribune news services | December 8, 2003 Argentina's president said Britain should apologize for deploying nuclear-armed ships during the 1982 Falklands War. But London on Sunday refused, saying it had done nothing wrong. The British Ministry of Defense has said that some of its naval ships carried nuclear weapons during the 78-day war over the island chain occupied by Britain in 1833. It noted the vessels did not enter South American waters and Britain did not consider using the arms. "The United Kingdom should... NEWS Secret UK files lift lid on Thatcher-Reagan Falklands contacts Reuters | December 27, 2012 * Files offer glimpse of Thatcher-Reagan dynamic * Show extent of stress Thatcher felt she was under * Reveal her frustration with Reagan communication style By Alessandra Prentice LONDON, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Britain's former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher wrote an emotional letter to U.S. President Ronald Reagan during the 1982 Falklands War calling him the "only person" who could understand her position, formerly secret documents showed on...

ENTERTAINMENT A Funny Thing Happens When David Zucker Writes Rules By David Zucker, New York Times News Service | July 26, 1991 In 20 years of writing, producing and directing comedy, I never once read a book about it. Prior to that, the longest time I ever went without reading a book was perhaps the four years I spent in college. But that makes it no easier to write about. In writing "The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear," I have relied on 15 simple rules of comedy that were formulated while making films with my brother, Jerry, and my partner, Jim Abrahams. (We used to have 19 rules, until four...

ENTERTAINMENT Trio of plays about war doesn't connect Chris Jones and Theater critic | October 6, 2012 Sometimes, journeyman writers enjoy a late-in-life renaissance, and so it has gone in Britain with Yorkshire scribe Robert Holman, a 60-ish playwright who grew up a Quaker, wrote unassuming plays eschewing the various "in-yer-face" and political trends of the past 20 years in favor of dramas about the struggles of ordinary folks, and eventually came to be seen as a powerful influence on an entire generation of young writers. Holman is also beloved by his peers for his widely hailed... NEWS Argentina's Leader Lands In Britain To Reconcile War By From Tribune News Services | October 28, 1998 The first visit to Britain by an Argentine president since the two countries went to war in 1982 over the Falkland Islands began Tuesday with the arrival of Carlos Menem at Heathrow Airport. Menem's jet taxied with the Argentine flag and Britain's Union Jack flying outside the cockpit. On Wednesday, Menem was scheduled to attend a reconciliation service at St.

Paul's Cathedral and lay a wreath for the 970 people killed in the Falklands War, 255 of them British... NEWS War Crimes Probe In Falklands Opens By Gary Marx, Chicago Tribune | June 9, 1993 In a move that could complicate relations between Argentina and Britain, the Argentine government this week will open an investigation into allegations that British soldiers executed several Argentine soldiers during the 1982 Falklands war. A British veteran of the war said last week that he saw British soldiers deliberately shoot dead an unarmed Argentine prisoner. Former Capt. Anthony Mason told British television that he saw a badly wounded Argentine prisoner "shot over an open grave." NEWS Leftists protest Britain at Olympics meeting in Argentina Reuters | September 6, 2013 BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - About 250 leftist Argentines protested Britain's presence at the meeting of the International Olympic Committee in Buenos Aires on Friday, burning the Union Jack and chanting anti-British slogans stemming from the 1982 Falklands War.

The demonstration was the latest organized by the "Quebracho" group of activists that in April of last year held protests in front of the British Embassy in Buenos Aires during which several Argentine... Articles about Falklands War - latimes Margaret Thatcher: In her own words April 8, 2013 | By Alexandra Zavis As education secretary in the 1970s, Margaret Thatcher said she did not think a woman would become British prime minister in her lifetime. She would occupy the job for nearly a dozen years, moving into 10 Downing St. in 1979. Thatcher died Monday at the age of 87. Here are memorable quotes from her political career: “I stand before you tonight in my Red Star chiffon evening gown, my face softly made up and my fair hair gently waved, the 'Iron Lady' of the Western world. Advertisement Nicanor Costa Mendez; Key Figure in 1982 Falklands War August 7, 1992 Nicanor Costa Mendez, 69, a former Argentine foreign minister and key figure in the Falklands war in 1982.

A lawyer linked to right-wing Catholic groups, Costa Mendez gained prominence 10 years ago as one of the people who inspired Argentina's internationally rebuffed attempt to retake the Falkland Islands, a British Crown Colony since 1832. He was appointed foreign minister and the principal civilian counselor of military President Gen. Leopoldo Galtieri. NEWS Argentina's president demands Britain return Falklands January 3, 2013 | By Janet Stobart LONDON -- In an open letter to British Prime Minister David Cameron, published as an advertisement in the Guardian and other newspapers Thursday, the president of Argentina demanded the return of the British-ruled Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic. In the letter, copied to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner called for a U.N. resolution to return the Malvinas, as they are known in Argentina, to...

CALIFORNIA | LOCAL Lord John Fieldhouse; British Commander in Falklands War February 19, 1992 | From Times Staff and Wire Reports Lord John Fieldhouse, commander of British forces during the 1982 Falklands War, has died at 64, the Ministry of Defense announced Tuesday without giving a cause of death. He died Monday at a hospital in Southampton, about 80 miles southwest of London. Fieldhouse retired as a fleet admiral in 1988 because of his health. He was Britain's highest-ranking admiral when Argentina invaded the Falklands on April 2, 1982, claiming sovereignty over the south Atlantic island group. NEWS Argentina, Britain Heal Rift Caused by Falklands War February 16, 1990 | Associated Press Argentina and Britain announced an agreement Thursday to restore full diplomatic ties, nearly eight years after they fought a 74-day war over the Falkland Islands, a sparsely populated archipelago off Argentina's coast in the South Atlantic Ocean. The announcement capped two days of talks here between Argentine and British officials.

Britain agreed to lift by March 31 a 150-mile military protection zone enforced around the islands since Argentina invaded them in 1982. NEWS Britain Brushes Off Talks on Falklands November 18, 1986 | United Press International Britain today brushed off a new Argentine offer for peace talks on the disputed Falklands, saying that it will not discuss sovereignty over the islands and that the proposal appears to offer nothing new. On Monday, Argentina proposed replacing the truce that ended the 1982 Falklands War with a permanent cease-fire if Britain lifts its 150-mile military protection zone in the south Atlantic around the Falklands. (Story, Page 7.) NEWS India Purchases British Carrier Used in Falklands April 24, 1986 | From Reuters India has bought the aircraft carrier Hermes, Britain's flagship during the 1982 Falklands War with Argentina, for about $90 million, officials here said Wednesday. The deal, signed over the weekend, ended 10 months of negotiations for the 28,000-ton ship, which will be India's second carrier, the officials said. The price includes a six-month refitting in Britain.

The Hermes was built toward the end of World War II and went into service in the 1950s. NEWS THE GULF WAR: The Battle Front : AV-BB Harrier II January 31, 1991 Both the United States and Britain have versions of the so-called jump jet, popularized during the Falklands War. The unusual fighter, produced for the U.S. Marine Corps., is capable of vertical takeoffs and landings, delivering thousands of pounds of vertically on an unimproved forward site. Crew: one Max speed: .88 Mach at sea level Armament: 25-mm gun, Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, Maverick air-to-ground missile, Laser-guided and gravity bombs, Rocket launchers. NEWS The World September 4, 1988 A federal prosecutor recommended that members of a former ruling junta in Argentina, including former President Leopoldo F. Galtieri, be imprisoned for from 15 to 20 years for starting the 1982 Falklands War. Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo told a federal appeals court that Gen. Galtieri, Adm. Jorge I. Anaya and Gen.

Basilio Lami Dozo, the air force commander, are responsible for the loss to Britain of the 74-day war and for the deaths of 712 Argentine servicemen. OPINION War destroys November 12, 2010 | By Eric Cummings In his mostly excellent Nov. 3 Op-Ed article, "War Is Hell," Jonathan Zimmerman makes a very good point: You can't judge a war by the atrocities committed fighting it. This makes sense logically; the larger moral purpose of a war doesn't necessarily have anything to do with how soldiers fight that war. But Zimmerman ignores the larger implication of wartime atrocities: You can judge all wars by the atrocities committed in any war, because violence... CALIFORNIA | LOCAL Sir Nicholas Henderson dies at 89; British diplomat fostered U.S. support for Falklands war March 19, 2009 | Adam Bernstein Nicholas Henderson, a British diplomat who served as ambassador to the United States during the Falkland Islands war and helped build U.S. support for the British military operation that regained control of the islands, died Monday at his home in London. He was 89.

"Nicko" Henderson, as he had been called since his school days, was an urbane Oxford graduate who managed to look unkempt even in Savile Row tailoring. CALIFORNIA | LOCAL British foreign secretary was critical of Margaret Thatcher March 9, 2008 | From the Associated Press Francis Pym, an antagonist of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher who served as her foreign secretary during the Falklands War, died Friday after a long illness, his family said. He was 86. Pym served two years as defense secretary during Thatcher's first term as prime minister. In 1982, while Britain was battling Argentina to keep control of the Falkland Islands, he was named foreign secretary after the resignation of Peter Carrington. Thatcher fired Pym after winning the 1983 election, and he became increasingly critical of her policies. CALIFORNIA | LOCAL A Life on a Truly Operatic Scale February 1, 2004 | Tony Perry, Times Staff Writer In the world of opera, where performers must learn to summon up emotions caused by fictional incidents of horror, death and destruction, Argentine tenor Dario Volonte stands alone.

He's seen those things for real and felt the trauma. NEWS Bad Weather Halts Hunt for Sunken Ship March 16, 2003 | Kevin Gray, Associated Press Writer Heavy winds and high seas off Argentina's rugged South Atlantic coast forced explorers Friday to suspend the search for an Argentine warship sunk by Britain in the 1982 Falkland Islands war. The expedition, led by the National Geographic Society, struggled for 12 days to locate the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano, whose recovery was to be the centerpiece of a planned two-hour documentary. OPINION British Action in the Falklands No 'Invasion' March 4, 2003 Re "How to Win Friends, Influence Diplomats," Commentary, Feb. 28: That Allan Gerson was former chief counsel to the U.S. delegation to the U.N. during the Reagan administration says a great deal about the Keystone Kops handling of the Falklands War in 1982. Gerson's disingenuous characterization of Britain's response to an Argentine incursion upon British sovereign territory as an "invasion" is absurd.

That he would call Britain's defense of her citizens from an occupationist army in the Falklands a "violation of international law" is patently outrageous. CALIFORNIA | LOCAL 'Prudent Yet Restrained' October 30, 1987 I read John M. Broder's commentary on the "antique" Chinese Silkworm missile (Op-Ed Page, Oct. 17). He describes that the missile is a Chinese copy of the Soviet SS-N-2 (Styx) cruise missile, first built in 1959 and that it "is not highly accurate." However, Broder has a very poor sense of history. The Styx and its current incarnation the Silkworm have sunk or seriously damaged more naval vessels in different conflicts than any other missiles in history! In October, 1967, the Israeli destroyer Elath was sunk by Styx cruise missiles, and in 1971 the Indians sank one Pakistani destroyer and badly damaged a second with these same cruise missiles.

War of Words Precedes Argentine President's Visit to Britain October 24, 1998 | MARJORIE MILLER, TIMES STAFF WRITER Preparing for the first visit to Britain by an Argentine leader since the 1982 Falklands War, President Carlos Menem said Friday that he "deeply regretted" the bloody Anglo-Argentine conflict and hoped to further relations between the two countries next week. But his regrets, conveyed in the Sun tabloid Friday morning, served to open old wounds rather than heal them. NEWS Argentina Seeks to Punish Falklands War Transgressors February 9, 1994 | Reuters Argentina will insist on punishment for any British veterans of the 1982 Falklands war who may be found guilty of crimes against Argentine prisoners, President Carlos Menem said Tuesday. Britain's metropolitan police are probing allegations made by veterans of both sides that British soldiers had tortured and shot Argentine prisoners during the 10-week war in the South Atlantic. BBC NEWS | In Depth Falklands today On 2 April 1982, Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands, a remote UK colony in the South Atlantic. The move led to a brief, but bitter war.

Argentina's military junta hoped to restore its support at a time of economic crisis, by reclaiming sovereignty of the islands. It said it had inherited them from Spain in the 1800s and they were close to South America. The UK, which had ruled the islands for 150 years, quickly chose to fight. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said the 1,800 Falklanders were "of British tradition and stock". A task force was sent to reclaim the islands, 8,000 miles away. In the fighting that followed, 655 Argentine and 255 British servicemen lost their lives, as did three Falkland Islanders.

Clockwise from top left: Captured Argentine soldiers; injured British serviceman from HMS Sheffield; UK soldier during advance; HMS Sheffield on fire; UK troops raise flag: Argentine soldiers on Falklands British Prime Minister Thatcher's Speech after Falklands War, July 1982 - Council on Foreign Relations Council on Foreign Relations British Prime Minister Thatcher's Speech After Falklands War, July 1982 Connect With Us: British Prime Minister Thatcher's Speech after Falklands War, July 1982 Speaker: Margaret Thatcher British Prime Minister Thatcher's Speech after Falklands War, July 1982 British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher gave this speech on July 3, 1982, about a month after Argentina surrended to Britain in the Falklands War. "Today we meet in the aftermath of the Falklands Battle. Our country has won a great victory and we are entitled to be proud. This nation had the resolution to do what it knew had to be done—to do what it knew was right. We fought to show that aggression does not pay and that the robber cannot be allowed to get away with his swag. We fought with the support of so many throughout the world.

The Security Council, the Commonwealth, the European Community, and the United States. Yet we also fought alone—for we fought for our own people and for our own sovereign territory. Now that it is all over, things cannot be the same again for we have learned something about ourselves—a lesson which we desperately needed to learn. When we started out, there were the waverers and the fainthearts. The people who thought that Britain could no longer seize the initiative for herself. The people who thought we could no longer do the great things which we once did. Those who believed that our decline was irreversible—that we could never again be what we were. There were those who would not admit it—even perhaps some here today—people who would have strenuously denied the suggestion but—in their heart of hearts—they too had their secret fears that it was true: that Britain was no longer the nation that had built an Empire and ruled a quarter of the world. Well they were wrong. The lesson of the Falklands is that Britain has not changed and that this nation still has those sterling qualities which shine through our history. This generation can match their fathers and grandfathers in ability, in courage, and in resolution. We have not changed.

When the demands of war and the dangers to our own people call us to arms—then we British are as we have always been:[fo 1] competent, courageous and resolute. When called to arms—ah, that's the problem. It took the battle in the South Atlantic for the shipyards to adapt ships way ahead of time; for dockyards to refit merchantmen and cruise liners, to fix helicopter platforms, to convert hospital ships—all faster than was thought possible; it took the demands of war for every stop to be pulled out and every man and woman to do their best. British people had to be threatened by foreign soldiers and British territory invaded and then—why then—the response was incomparable. [Beginning of section checked against BBC Radio News Report 2200 3 July 1982:] Yet why does it need a war to bring out our qualities and reassert our pride? Why do we have to be invaded before we throw aside our selfish aims and begin to work together as only we can work and achieve as only we can achieve? That, ladies and gentlemen, really is the challenge we as a nation face today.

We have to see that the spirit of the South Atlantic—the real spirit of Britain—is kindled not only by war but can now be fired by peace. [End of section checked against BBC Radio News Report 2200 3 July 1982.] We have the first pre-requisite. We know we can do it—we haven't lost the ability. That is the Falklands Factor. We have proved ourselves to ourselves. It is a lesson we must not now forget. Indeed it is a lesson which we must apply to peace just as we have learned it in war. The faltering and the self-doubt has given way to achievement and pride. We have the confidence and we must use it. Just look at the Task Force as an object lesson. Every man had his own task to do and did it superbly. Officers and men, senior NCO and newest recruit—every one realised that his contribution was essential for the success of the whole. All were equally valuable—each was differently qualified. By working together—each was able to do more than his best. As a team they raised the average to the level of the best and by each doing his utmost together they achieved the impossible.

That's an accurate picture of Britain at war—not yet of Britain at peace. But the spirit has stirred and the nation has begun to assert itself. Things are not going to be the same again. All over Britain, men and women are asking—why can't we achieve in peace what we can do so well in war? And they have good reason to ask.[fo 2] Look what British Aerospace workers did when their Nimrod aeroplane needed major modifications. They knew that only by mid-air refuelling could the Task Force be properly protected. They managed those complicated changes from drawing board to airworthy planes in sixteen days—one year faster than would normally have been the case. Achievements like that, if made in peacetime, could establish us as aeroplane makers to the world. That record performance was attained not only by superb teamwork, but by brilliant leadership in our factories at home which mirrored our forces overseas. It is one of the abiding elements of our success in the South Atlantic that our troops were superbly led. No praise is too high for the quality and expertise of our commanders in the field. Their example, too, must be taken to heart.

Now is the time for management to lift its sights and to lead with the professionalism and effectiveness it knows is possible. If the lessons of the South Atlantic are to be learned, then they have to be learned by us all. No one can afford to be left out. Success depends upon all of us—different in qualities, but equally valuable. During this past week, I have read again a little known speech of Winston Churchill, made just after the last war. This is what he said:- "We must find the means and the method of working together not only in times of war, and mortal anguish, but in times of peace, with all its bewilderments and clamour and clatter of tongues." Thirty-six years on, perhaps we are beginning to re-learn the truth which Churchill so clearly taught us. We saw the signs when, this week, the NUR came to understand that its strike on the railways and on the Underground just didn't fit—didn't match the spirit of these times. And yet on Tuesday, eight men, the leaders of ASLEF, misunderstanding the new mood of the nation, set out to bring the railways to a halt.

Ignoring the example of the NUR, the travelling public whom they are supposed to serve, and the jobs and future of their own members, this tiny group decided to use its undoubted power for what?—to delay Britain's recovery, which all our people long to see.[fo 3] Yet we can remember that on Monday, nearly a quarter of the members of NUR turned up for work. Today, we appeal to every train driver to put his family, his comrades, and his country first, by continuing to work tomorrow. That is the true solidarity which can save jobs and which stands in the proud tradition of British railwaymen. But it is not just on the railways that we need to find the means and the method of working together. It is just as true in the NHS. All who work there are caring, in one way or another for the sick. To meet their needs we have already offered to the ancillary workers almost exactly what we have given to our Armed Forces and to our teachers, and more than our Civil Servants have accepted. All of us know that there is a limit to what every employer can afford to pay out in wages.

The increases proposed for nurses and ancillary workers in the Health Service are the maximum which the Government can afford to pay. And we can't avoid one unchallengeable truth. The Government has no money of its own. All that it has it takes in taxes or borrows at interest. It's all of you—everyone here—that pays. Of course, there is another way. Instead of taking money from our people openly, in taxation or loans, we can take it surreptitiously, by subterfuge. We can print money in order to pay out of higher inflation what we dare not tax and cannot borrow. But that disreputable method is no longer open to us. Rightly this Government has abjured it. Increasingly this nation won't have it. Our people are now confident enough to face the facts of life. There is a new mood of realism in Britain. That too is part of the Falklands Factor. The battle of the South Atlantic was not won by ignoring the dangers or denying the risks. It was achieved by men and women who had no illusions about the difficulties. We faced them squarely and we were determined to overcome. That is increasingly the mood of Britain. And that's why the rail strike won't do.

We are no longer prepared to jeopardise our future just to defend manning practices agreed in 1919 when steam engines plied the tracks of the Grand Central Railway and the motor car had not yet taken over from the horse.[fo 4] What has indeed happened it that now once again Britain is not prepared to be pushed around. We have ceased to be a nation in retreat. We have instead a new-found confidence—born in the economic battles at home and tested and found true 8,000 miles away. That confidence comes from the re-discovery of ourselves, and grows with the recovery of our self-respect. And so today, we can rejoice at our success in the Falklands and take pride in the achievement of the men and women of our Task Force. But we do so, not as at some last flickering of a flame which must soon be dead. No—we rejoice that Britain has re-kindled that spirit which has fired her for generations past and which today has begun to burn as brightly as before. Britain found herself again in the South Atlantic and will not look back from the victory she has won."

Question: Who was the British Prime Minister during the Falklands War of 1982?
Answer: Margaret Thatcher