How Margaret Thatcher Won the Cold War

The Wall Street Journal ^ | December 23, 2015 | Charles Moore

[Cecily]

As we confront a hostile Russia today, the West is unsure what to do. For guidance, perhaps we should look back to the Soviet era, when we possessed a decidedly stronger sense of allied purpose.

In February 1984, Margaret Thatcher flew home from the Moscow funeral of the Soviet leader Yuri Andropov. Frustrated by his equally aged successor, Konstantin Chernenko, the British prime minister told her aides, “For heaven’s sake, try and find me a young Russian.”

She was searching for change. In London in April 1975, as leader of Britain’s opposition, Thatcher had her first one-on-one meeting with a former governor of California named Ronald Reagan. He, too, was out of office, seeking the 1976 Republican presidential nomination. The pair agreed that the West was giving away too much to the Soviets, while Moscow was winning the arms race. This was an unpopular view, so the Reagan-Thatcher friendship was forged in adversity. It would prove the stronger for it.

Thatcher gained power in 1979, Reagan in January, 1981. Together, against big protest movements, they installed a new class of nuclear weapons in Europe to counter the burgeoning Soviet arsenal. Having achieved this position of strength, Thatcher thought it should be bargained from. In September 1983, she said publicly in Washington, “We stand ready…if and when the circumstances are right—to talk to the Soviet leadership.” Reagan told her, privately, that he agreed.

[Cecily]

What would Margaret have made of Vlad Putin and his activities in Ukraine?

[Gay State Conservative]

Thatcher played a pivotal role for sure.But the fact is that Reagan,Thatcher and John Paul II,together,brought down the Berlin Wall.And IMO it could be said that Helmut Kohl also played a noteworthy role as well.

Our enemies know that the modern Rat Party can be played for limp wristed pansies every single time.Carter...Clinton...Obola...and Clinton II were/are not to be feared by those who JFK once warned "we will support *any* friend,oppose *any* foe..".

[FatherofFive]

[Nifster]

Kohl was such a minor player. Germany had no power position at all save what the US gave it

[wally_bert]

I miss Maggie.

[detective]

This article is less than accurate. It attributes the victory in the cold war and freeing of the former Soviet Union and eastern Europe from Communist oppression to Gorbachev “with his beautiful suits and his French ties and a stunning wife” and Prime Minister Thatcher's persuasion at private meetings.

Mrs. Thatcher had an influence but it was Ronald Reagan's resolve and willingness to publicly articulate the case against Communism, Pope John Paul II, the people of Solidarity in Poland and the strength of the U.S. military that caused the collapse of the evil empire of Communism.

Gorbachev was not a reformer. Glasnost was a propaganda tool and nothing else. Mrs. Thatcher was a strong, intelligent and insightful leader but she did not singlehandedly win the cold war.

[Gay State Conservative]

Kohl was such a minor player. Germany had no power position at all save what the US gave it

It's true that Kohl was the weakest of the group in military/economic/moral terms.But it's hard to imagine that he had *no* influence on ordinary Germans living in the East.IIRC the typical East German could easily tune into West German TV and radio and see and hear about the Audis and BMWs there and the nice vacations West Germans were able to take.It's also easy for me to believe that he had *some* influence on at least *some* East German officials.

[Sans-Culotte]

Great article. God, how our enemies must love pushing around feckless ‘leaders” like Obama, Kerry, Hillary, Merkel, et al.

[detective]

“Kohl was such a minor player. Germany had no power position at all save what the US gave it.”

The positioning of missiles in Germany that directly threatened the Soviet Union was an integral part in the strategy that succeeded against the Soviets. Liberals and leftists in the United States and Germany fought their installation bitterly. The American and European media backed the Soviets and opposed missile deployment. Helmut Kohl courageously stood beside Reagan and was able to get the missiles deployed in Germany despite opposition. This was a major advantage against the Soviets.

[Gay State Conservative]

Gorbachev was not a reformer.

That may be true.But one thing you *must* give Gorby credit for is that when push came to shove he didn't fire on his own people as the Butchers of Beijing had done a couple of years earlier.

[okie01]

Mrs. Thatcher was a strong, intelligent and insightful leader but she did not singlehandedly win the cold war.

For all intents and purposes, though, Mrs. Thatcher assumed effective leadership of the West when Reagan left office.

Recall her advice to the first President Bush;

"Don't go all wobbly, George."

[ExpatGator]

We, the United States military brought down the USSR. They knew we would kick their asses on the land sea and in the air.

[Chode]

thank you... JPII played no small part in that play

[1rudeboy]

There are some dead people in the Baltics who’d like to have a word with you.

[katana]

It was more than a propaganda exercise. Gorbachev and the younger Soviets realized that their system was a decrepit empty shell in need of a respite from the struggle with the West to survive. So Glasnost was a truce, a time out, and Perestroika (restructuring) was supposed to be an adjustment, not a changeover to Capitalism. But by early 1991, and especially after the first Gulf War had demonstrated how far behind Russia's military industry had fallen, the momentum toward radical change was unstoppable. The first really free election for Russian president was held in May of that year. Then the attempted coup by the hard liners was the final straw.

I was in Russia for the last two weeks of April that year and the sense of change and relief was palpable. We would sit across from our Russian hosts and after a few vodkas we'd start grinning at each other talking about surviving how close we'd come to annihilating each other. They took glee in taking us through facilities, like a factory that made miniature precision bearings used in rocket engines, that a few years before they'd have been arrested for mentioning to a westerner. It was heady stuff.

[detective]

“Mrs. Thatcher assumed effective leadership of the West when Reagan left office.”

The sad fact is there has been very little “effective leadership” in the west since Reagan left office. Mrs. Thatcher was very strong and very capable. But beyond Thatcher, Reagan and a few others western leaders have been either incompetent, treasonous or both.

When I compare the position America was in when Reagan left office and the position America is in today it makes me very angry.

[detective]

“Glasnost was a truce, a time out, and Perestroika (restructuring) was supposed to be an adjustment, not a changeover to Capitalism.”

Glasnost was a propaganda tool to convince people that the Soviet Union was no longer totalitarian and expansionist. It did try to make the western governments lower their guard so you can say it was kind of a call for a truce. But it was completely dishonest.

Perestroika was an attempt by the Communist Party and the Soviet government to restore order, discipline and competence to the corrupt Soviet system. It failed completely.

[Incorrigible]

The German protests against GW Bush were nothing compared to those against Reagan during the Peacekeeper missile deployment. Helmut Kohl was definitely a positive factor.

[mjp]

Reagan won the cold war, which ended on June 1, 1988, when Reagan and Gorbachev exchanged signed copies of the INF treaty and issued a joint statement which included the key line: both countries were determined "to prevent any war between the United States and Soviet Union, whether nuclear or conventional," and disavowed "any intention to achieve military superiority." This treaty was made possible by the Russians having to make the concessions necessary to open the way to a comprehensive new arms treaty.

Margaret Thatcher, on Nov. 28,1988 stated "The cold war is already at an end."

[DiogenesLamp]

I miss Maggie.

One of her best speeches. (It's short.)

https://youtu.be/DQ6TgaPJcR0