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Thatcher was Supicious of Polish Solidarity Movement
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,817778,00.htmlAP
Documents show British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was suspicious of the Polish Solidarity Regime, the trade union movement which helped topple communism in Europe.
With the trade union Solidarity, the charismatic leader Lech Walesa helped rattle the foundations of Soviet communism. But new evidence, reported in Monday's SPIEGEL magazine reveals British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was suspicious about the influential movement and Lech Walesa, the man who later became a Nobel Laureate.
In September 1981, British Premier Thatcher even considered supporting the Eastern bloc regime in Warsaw in quelling Solidarity, a German Foreign Ministry document, long treated as classified, showed.
According to the document, Thatcher's Foreign Secretary, Lord Peter Carrington, told colleagues in New York that Britain sympathizied with Solidarity. But if Solidarity got out of control and the government had to take repressive measures, it might make sense to help the government, he added.
Carrington had earlier outlined the UK's position, saying that his government only backed Solidarity out of respect for public opinion, but that perhaps, from a more rational position, they would actually be "on the side of the Polish government".
*** i simply have nothing good to say about margaret thatcher
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Thatcher was Supicious of Polish Solidarity Movement (Original Post)
xchrom
Feb 2012
OP
no_hypocrisy
(46,185 posts)1. Apparently PM Thatcher never met a Labour Movement she trusted.
TexasProgresive
(12,158 posts)5. +Infinity
WE have a winner.
LuvNewcastle
(16,856 posts)2. Well, I'm sure Solidarity had nothing to do with
bringing the end of communism to eastern Europe. That all happened because Ronald Reagan got up and gave a speech.
EC
(12,287 posts)3. Well of course
she was a right wing anti union - how else would she react? I'm guessing Reagan felt the same.
LeftishBrit
(41,210 posts)4. I don't think Thatcher was ever very fond of ANY trade union.
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)6. Why am I not surprised that
the vicious old bat would have sided with even the Soviets against a real labor movement?
xchrom
(108,903 posts)7. Well said! Nt