ABSTRACT
During the 1980s, Margaret Thatcher left her imprint on many policy areas but it was in the context of European integration that she expressed her attitude towards Europe or rather against Europe most forcefully and vocally. This chapter looks at the main features of Margaret Thatcher's approach to Europe, namely her political style, her belief in the importance of the nation-state, the impact of the Cold War on her attitude towards Europe and finally, the connection she made between socialism and Europe. It argues that her memoirs reveal several rational considerations which suggest that her antagonistic attitude towards Germany within the European context was guided by power politics and that she employed stereotypical representations of Germany in this context to justify her political strategies. Another significant factor which contributed to Margaret Thatcher's policy on Europe is that her attitude towards Europe was predominantly shaped by the Cold War rather than the European idea.
