Thatcher: Foreign Policy

Question 1

I) When did the Bruges speech take place?

II) What did it set out?

Answer 1

I) September 1988

II) Britain’s views on the EEC

Question 2

What was Thatcher’s major word about the EEC?

Answer 2

That it would become too centralised and suppress nationhood

Question 3

When did Britain enter the ERM?

Answer 3

July 1990

Question 4

When did Britain withdraw from the ERM?

Answer 4

November 1992

Question 5

When was the Maastricht Treaty signed?

Answer 5

February 1992

Question 6

I) When was the single European Act signed?

II) What did it lay out?

Answer 6

I) 1986
II) The single European market, the assembly becoming a parliament and opened the door for discussions of future European monetary unions.

Question 7

What was Thatchers issue with the SEA?

Answer 7

It transpired that it limited single nations influence

Question 8

What was Thatchers overwhelming fear about the EEC

Answer 8

It would become federalised

Question 9

I) Who was the president of the European Commission?

II) What direction did he want to take the EEC in?

Answer 9

I) Jaque Delores

II) He wanted to federalise it

Question 10

Why did the Bruges speech cause party divisions?

Answer 10

Eurosceptics saw it as a green light to oppose the EEC, and party members like Geoffrey Howe and John Major saw it as backtracking

Question 11

What were the two main reasons Thatcher wanted to expand the EEC after the fall of communism?

Answer 11

1) It would make sure communism was truly defeated

2) It weekend the European commission, hopefully leading to a wider but shallower union

Question 12

Why was a wider and shallower union ideal for Thatcher?

Answer 12

It would lessen the power the European commission had over Britain while strengthening the trade links in the union

Question 13

What did the Maastricht treaty stipulate?

Answer 13

The EEC would become the EU and greater ties would be set such as the single currency

Question 14

How did Major get opt outs for Britain in the Maastricht treaty?

Answer 14

He had good personal relations with European leaders, especially the German chancellor Helmut Kohl

Question 15

What parts of the EEC did major negotiate opt outs for?

Answer 15

The single currency and the Social Chapter

Question 16

I) What did social chapter as set out in the Maastricht treaty aim to do?
II) Why did the Conservative party oppose it

Answer 16

I) Regulate working conditions, maximum working hours and part time employment benefits
II) They favoured de-regulation

Question 17

How did major get support for the Maastricht treaty from his most volatile opposition?

Answer 17

He threatened a vote of no confidence, which if he lost would have led to a general election that the conservatives would almost certainly have lost

Question 18

What were 2 signs that divisions remained even after the Maastricht treaty was ratified?

Answer 18

1) Majors “Back me or sack me” resignation brought euro-scepticism into public conversation
2) Multiple anti-europe parties were set up, including the Anti-federalist league and the Referendum Party