Provocative Memories
What did she say to make Europe so mad?
When Margaret Thatcher released her memoirs in 1993, it created a furor in Europe. The German press was outraged. She told of Britain’s attempts to stop German reunification under her administration. She disagreed vehemently with Chancellor Helmut Kohl over that issue.
The German magazine Der Spiegel extracted eight pages from Mrs. Thatcher’s book and titled it, “Stop the German Monster”! This book has made the Germans more hostile toward Britain than they already are! This book could also have a great deal to do with pushing Britain out of the European Union. We have said for many years that this would undoubtedly happen.
Der Spiegel is probably Germany’s most prestigious magazine internationally, and it states that Mrs. Thatcher was making Germany look like a monster! This is a violent reaction to the simple truth.
It reveals that Germany has not deeply repented of starting both world wars—and starting many other wars as a part of the Holy Roman Empire. Only the U.S. has the power and influence to control the Germans. But we have done just the opposite! We have pushed and empowered them to be the masters of Europe.
Mrs. Thatcher also revealed how she and French President François Mitterrand both wanted “to check the German juggernaut.” Mr. Mitterand chose to move faster toward a United Europe “in order to tie down the German giant.” Germany is already the greatest economic power in Europe—by far!
Margaret Thatcher wrote in her book (emphasis mine): “There was—and still is—a tendency to regard the ‘German problem’ as something too delicate for well-brought-up politicians to discuss. This always seemed to me a mistake. The problem had several elements which could only be addressed if non-Germans considered them openly and constructively. I do not believe in collective guilt: It is individuals who are morally accountable for their actions. But I do believe in national character, which is molded by a range of complex factors: The fact that national caricatures are often absurd and inaccurate does not detract from that. Since the unification of Germany under Bismarck—perhaps partly because national unification came so late—Germany has veered unpredictably between aggression and self-doubt….
“As I have already argued, that is one reason why so many Germans genuinely—I believe wrongly—want to see Germany locked in to a federal Europe. In fact, Germany is more rather than less likely to dominate within that framework; for a reunited Germany is simply too big and powerful to be just another player within Europe…. Germany is thus by its very nature a destabilizing rather than a stabilizing force in Europe. Only the military and political engagement of the United States in Europe and close relations between the other two strongest sovereign states in Europe—Britain and France—are sufficient to balance German power: and nothing of the sort would be possible within a European superstate.
“One obstacle to achieving such a balance of power when I was in office was the refusal of France under President Mitterrand to follow his and French instincts and challenge German interests. This would have required abandoning the Franco-German axis on which he had been relying and, as I shall describe, the wrench proved just too difficult for him” (The Downing Street Years).
She sees that America and France have failed to challenge the Germans—especially America.
