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yes / This analysis of British Ostpolitik focuses on Margaret Thatcher’s diplomacy, exploring her quietly pragmatic efforts to bring about a gradual transformation of Eastern Europe at the cost of supporting selected communist regimes. The analysis reveals how a market-oriented economic experiment in Budapest first sparked the prime minister’s interest in Hungary and inspired her foreign policy in Eastern Europe. It documents the British search for a socialist transition ‘model’, which led to unprecedented diplomatic overtures towards a small enemy state on the brink of bankruptcy. Based on extensive archival research in Budapest and London, as well as on the personal recollections of three senior British diplomats, this case study challenges some of the common assumptions of the historical literature about Thatcher’s chosen method of combating communism and Britain’s long-term strategy towards the Eastern bloc. / Hungarian Academy of Sciences

The main aim of this diploma thesis is to analyse the economic and political development in the United Kingdom under Margaret Thatcher and to judge, to which degree the measures applied by the government of Margaret Thatcher were applicable to the Czech Republic, respectively, to which degree the government of Václav Klaus (1992 -- 1997) was inspired by the British approach and which the practical results of this inspiration were.

Cette thèse s’attache à étudier l’image politique de Margaret Thatcher à travers des caractéristiques personnelles telles son parcours, ses idées, sa présentation physique, ses postures politiques ou encore les stratégies de communication dont elle fit usage. L’objectif est de mettre en lumière les différents éléments mis en avant par Margaret Thatcher et par les canaux de diffusion d’image, principalement constitués des médias et de son entourage politique. En ce qui concerne le bornage temporel, l’étude tient compte des quarante années qui s’écoulèrent entre la première candidature de Margaret Thatcher à une élection, pour la circonscription de Dartford en 1950, et la fin de son dernier mandat de Premier ministre en 1990. Cette thèse présente également l’intérêt de porter sur une période qui vit de nombreuses techniques de communication politique se développer : les conseillers en communication vinrent à jouer un rôle prépondérant. / The main ambition of this PhD thesis is to provide a study of Margaret Thatcher’s political image through the lens of various personal characteristics like her experience, ideas, physical presentation, political postures or the communication strategies she relied on. The objective is to emphasize the different elements put forward by Margaret Thatcher and by the image transmission channels, notably the media and her political circle. The period studied encompasses the forty years that went by between the first time Margaret Thatcher stood for election, for the Dartford constituency in 1950, until the end of her last Prime Ministerial mandate in 1990. This PhD thesis also has the advantage of focusing on a period of time during which many political communication techniques developed while communication advisers came to play a predominant role.

This paper explores the rhetoric and actions of Margaret Thatcher, Golda Meir, and Indira Gandhi regarding feminism and their gender before they became prime minister. The paper finds that none of the leaders identified as feminists, and did not actively focus on women’s issues or elevate the status of women while in office. Yet, all of these leaders called for women to mobilize and pursue careers, either via their actions or speeches. Thatcher, particularly in the crucial period in which she rose to power, explicitly encouraged women to mobilize as voters and pursue work outside the home in her formal speeches, public statements, letters and interviews. Through their organized activities before they obtained office, Meir and Gandhi worked to mobilize women politically, although their rhetoric did not explicitly encourage women over men to participate politically. The paper explores nuanced ways that each leader associated with her gender and preached for other women to pursue careers. Looking ahead at one case study shows that women now are not necessarily averse to explicitly associating with their gender. Tzipi Livni, the candidate for the Kadima Party in the 2009 Israeli election, used her gender as a campaign tactic. Hopefully this paper helps lay the groundwork for future study on women candidate’s rhetoric and actions regarding feminism before they are elected.

Cette thèse aborde le sujet du conservatisme britannique, notamment le conservatisme de1979 jusqu’à 1990, la période qui correspond aux mandats de Margaret Thatcher. Ce travail vise à démontrer que la continuité a été l’aspect déterminant du parti conservateur depuis les XVIIIe et XIXe siècles. Les valeurs premières du conservatisme ont continué à être appliquées avec l’avènement de Margaret Thatcher au pouvoir même si elle incarnait, pour beaucoup de gens, le changement. Ceci apparait dans les discours que Margaret Thatcher tenait quand elle était leader de l’opposition. Le changement était nécessaire selon elle car la société britannique était stagnante. En effet, Thatcher ne pouvait pas accepter ce qu’elle considérait comme étant une « société oisive ».Dès son jeune âge, elle avait appris que travailler dur était à la fois une responsabilité et un plaisir. Ce plaisir-là émane des principes d’indépendance et de persévérance auxquels elle a toujours cru très profondément. Dans ce sens, le changement signifie essentiellement la remise en question du consensus de l’après-guerre, conçu pour aider le pays et ses habitants à se reconstruire. Margaret Thatcher était déterminée à démanteler la social-démocratie keynésienne qui avait imprégné la politique britannique depuis la Seconde Guerre mondiale à cause des circonstances changeantes. L’originalité de sa politique réside dans l’abandon du consensus de l’après-guerre largement basé sur l’état providence et l’intervention de l’état ainsi que l’encouragement des membres de la société à être autonomes et indépendants en plus d’une économie forte et capable de s’autoréguler sans avoir besoin d’intervention de la part du gouvernement. La liberté, l’individualisme et l’autonomie sont les conséquences ultimes de la dérégulation. Ces valeurs étaient les valeurs premières du conservatisme et leur application durant les années quatre-vingt n’étaient que retour au vieux parti conservateur. La continuité du parti conservateur, qui a été interrompue par le keynésianisme du parti travailliste, a été alors rétablie. Pour prouver de cette continuité, un nombre de documents d’archives ont été étudiés au Churchill Archives Centre à Cambridge; des archives telles que les procès-verbaux des réunions du parti conservateur et les discussions qui se sont déroulées entre conservateurs. Par ailleurs, savoir comment les conservateurs eux-mêmes définissent le conservatisme britannique élucide la nature du conservatisme. Pendant longtemps, le parti conservateur a été considéré comme étant le parti monolithique par excellence. Mais le retour en force d’autres partis, comme le parti travailliste après la Seconde Guerre mondiale, a poussé les conservateurs à réfléchir davantage, à innover, à créer des thinks tanks et à ne plus avoir peur d’exprimer leurs opinions diverses. Désormais, ils ne craignent plus le changement, partant du principe que « les choses doivent changer pour qu’elles restent identiques » (The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa). Une large partie de cette thèse porte sur la politique économique. La variable de la politique économique constitue peut-être le critère de réussite le plus visible notamment du fait qu’il est aisément quantifiable, et révèle que l’économie a toujours été une priorité chez les conservateurs. Selon Margaret Thatcher par exemple, le keynésianisme de l’après-guerre avait échoué et devait être abandonné. Pour Thatcher, le problème majeur à résoudre n’était pas le chômage mais l’inflation. La dichotomie entre continuité et changement sera analysée non seulement dans les discours publics de Margaret Thatcher mais aussi dans les discussions internes du parti conservateur. La pléthore de définitions et opinions pose également la question de l’héritage de la dame de fer, à travers son successeur John Major et des événements contemporains tels que le Brexit. / This thesis focuses on the dynamics of continuity and change within the Conservative Party from 1979 to 1990, the period of Margaret Thatcher’s premierships. The aim of this thesis is to demonstrate that continuity had been the defining feature of the Conservative Party since the 18th and 19th centuries. The implementation of the primary values of early Conservatism continued with the advent of M. Thatcher to power although she represented, for many people, the epitome of change. This was all the more obvious in Margaret Thatcher’s public speeches when she was Leader of the Opposition. Change was, to her, necessary since British society was stagnant. In fact, Mrs. Thatcher could not accept what she considered as an “idle society.” When she was very little, Mrs. Thatcher learned that working hard was not only a duty but also an enjoyment. These feelings emanated from the values that she dearly cherished such as independence and perseverance. In this sense, therefore, change only meant the questioning of the postwar consensus. The policies implemented during the consensus period aimed at helping Britain and her citizens reconstruct. Margaret Thatcher was determined to dismantle the Keynesian social democracy that had permeated British politics since World War Two because of changing circumstances. The novelty of her politics lay in getting rid of the postwar consensus, broadly based on the welfare state and government intervention and encouraging a society whose members should be self-reliant and independent in addition to a strong economy capable of self-regulating without the need for regulation from the government. Freedom, individualism and autonomy were the ultimate consequences of deregulation. These values were the original values of Conservatism and their implementation in the 1980s was nothing but a return to Old Tory Conservatism. The continuity of the Conservative Party, which was interrupted by the politics of Keynesianism of the Labour Party, had therefore been reestablished. In order to trace this continuity, a number of archival material have been studied in the Churchill Archives Centre in Cambridge; archival material such as the minutes of the Conservative Party or the discussions that took place among Conservatives. Besides, how members of the Conservative Party themselves define British Conservatism sheds light on the nature of Conservatism. The Conservative Party has been considered to be the monolithic party par excellence but as a result of the increasing influence of other parties, notably the Labour Party after World War Two, Conservatives became more aware of the need to think more, innovate, create thinks tanks and express their distinct opinions more widely. They were no longer afraid of change given that “Everything needs to change, so that everything can stay the same” (The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa). An important part of this thesis deals with the economy. The variable of economic policy is perhaps the most visible criterion of success namely because it is easily quantifiable. It also reveals that economy has always been a priority among Conservatives. For Margaret Thatcher for instance, the Keynesianism of the postwar era had failed and should be abandoned. According to Thatcher, inflation was the problem to solve, not unemployment. The dichotomy between continuity and change will be analyzed not only in the public speeches of Margaret Thatcher but also the internal discussions of Conservatives. This plethora of definitions and opinions also concerns the legacy of the Iron Lady mainly through her successor, John Major, in addition to contemporary events such as the Brexit.

The thesis focuses on the analysis of the relations between the punk movement and Thatcherism. It explores the roots both of Thatcherism and punk in the seventies and eighties. Next it examines the social and economic crisis of Britain in these years and its consequences on the thinking of the youth and Conservatives. It show both movements had common starting- points and to a certain extent even conclusions. The thesis the focuses on punk's effect on politics and its perception by the society. It also analyses the political background in the second half of 1970s and the victory of Margaret Thatcher in the 1979 election. The last part of the thesis discusses the second punk generation and its perception of Thatcherism. In the end it examines the political conversion of old punkers.

This thesis is an historical study of the formation of Thatcherite economic thinking and policymaking with a particular focus upon investigating the part played by economic ideas and economists in Thatcherism. While some economists and economic ideas are closely associated with Thatcherism, Thatcherites were hostile to the bulk of Britain’s economists residing in universities and in the Government Economic Service and skeptical of the usefulness of economic theory in policymaking. Thatcherites thought that British academic and government economists supported a ‘Keynesian consensus’ which was purported to have been in operation since the Second World War and had allegedly retarded Britain’s growth from a quasi-mythical free-enterprise Victorian high-point. However, Thatcherites were keen to win the ‘battle of ideas’ and became eager ‘buyers’ of economic ideas – Keith Joseph particularly – in a ‘marketplace in economic ideas’ which developed over the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Yet, Thatcherites were not suddenly converted to neoliberal economic thinking by the marketplace in economic ideas. Instead, Thatcherites pragmatically sought out ideas which could be adopted and adapted in combination with long-standing ideological beliefs which were hostile to the size and role of the state and in favour of ‘sound money.’ Thatcherite economic thinking developed to include sometimes contradictory strands of supply-side economics, Austrian economics, monetarism/rational expectations and public choice economics but also contained, particularly for Margaret Thatcher, elements of ‘businessmen’s economics’ and ‘housewife economics.’ A case study of privatisation policy illustrates the point that pre-existing Thatcherite thinking, such as the desire to ‘roll back the state’, provided the core underlying rationale for economic policies. Yet, Thatcherites were also able to use a jumbled amalgam of economic ideas such as Austrian and neoclassical economics to promote secondary objectives such as introducing competition when conditions were judged as favourable by Thatcherites.

The diploma thesis called Labour Party during the Premiership of Margaret Thatcher (1979- 1990) focuses on the causes of the defeats of the Labour Party in 1979, 1983 and 1987. For this purpose it examines the relations of the individual party factions. Attention is also paid to opinion polls, especially party preferences. Last but not least, it is taken into account how the Labor Party turned towards centrism and rejected the more radical left-wing policy it had enforced in its first opposition period. Key words Labour Party, Militant, Social Democratic Party, Tony Benn, Neil Kinnock, David Owen, Michael Foot, National Executive Committee, Tony Benn, Trade unions