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Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1775 | - 1775—1783: American War of Independence
The period of the American War of Independence.
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| 2 | 1787 | - 1787—1799: French Revolution
The period of the revolution in France
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| 3 | 1914 | - 1914—1918: WW1
The First World War
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| 4 | 1939 | - 1939—1945: WW2
The Second World War
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| 5 | 1979 | - 4 May 1979—Nov 1990: Margaret Thatcher UK Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher won the 1979 General Election against the odds, beating James Callaghan (Labour) after the Winter of Discontent, when the Trades Unions tried to hold the country to ransom once again. Council workers went on strike and allowed the rubbish to pile high in the streets and even Grave Diggers refused to bury the dead, such was their contempt for the lawfully elected government.
Her first government did quickly become unpopular, as tough choices had to be made on the economy. At that time Britain was the sick man of Europe with low productivity and thousands of man days lost through strikes.
After the Falklands warin 1992 however, she never looked back. It probably helped that the opposition was led by a left wing intellectual - Michael Foot, who for the 1983 election, signed off a very left wing Manifesto, often referred to as, 'The Longest Suicide Note in History'.
Following an increased majority after the 1983 election, she felt confident enough to take on the miners, who under Arthur Scargill, were once again trying to bring down the government. After a long stand off, the miners were defeated and returned to work. Following which, the country enjoyed an economic renaissance for the rest of the decade, with deregulation and monetary policy bringing much benefit to the country at large and inward investment being attracted on a massive scale.
On the international stage, she worked closely with Reagan and Gorbachev and the cold war eventually came to an end, culminating with the destruction of the Berlin Wall. Her premiership ended in late 1990 when she was voted out by her party.
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| 6 | 1990 | - 28 Nov 1990—2 May 1997: John Major UK Prime Minister
John Major was Margaret Thatcher's preferred successor after she was deposed in a leadership challenge, instigated by Michael Hesletine, one of her arch enemy's in the Tory party.
Despite a recession, Major won the 1992 General Election with a record 14 million votes, although that only transcribed into a 20 seat majority, such are the vagaries of the 'First past the post' election system. (By comparison, in 1997, Blair achieved a majority of 197 seats on only 13 million votes.)
However, the Tories never really recovered from the disaster of Black Wednesday in 1992, when Sterling was ejected from the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM), having entered it at an over high valuation against the Deutschemark. Major had to contend with half his MP's being in favour of the EU and half, against it. He was never able to control his party and as his majority reduced through deaths and defections, the Tories lost credibility, with constant bickering and one sexual scandal after another. In 1997 they were rejected by the voting public, suffering their worst defeat since 1832.
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1886 - 1965 (79 years)
