Berlin: Visit by Margaret Thatcher, UK Prime Minister, to Berlin, October 1982

Summary

A file containing documents concerning a visit to West Berlin by the British prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, in October 1982. Subjects covered in the file include Thatcher's desire to place a tribute to those killed crossing the Berlin Wall; a plan for Thatcher to join a British military police patrol; the Anglo-German summit in Bonn preceding the visit to Berlin; practical arrangements for the visit; and protests against the visit by the Soviet ambassador in London, Viktor Popov, and his East German counterpart, Martin Bierbach. Documents in the file include several versions of the speech to be given by Thatcher, entitled "Britain's support for freedom"; and briefing papers on the golden book ceremony, West Berlin politics, the West Berlin economy, inner-German relations, and the imprisoned Nazi war criminal Rudolf Hess. The file also includes information on a visit to London by a delegation of the East German Volkskammer.

Tags

united kingdom international relations police official visits soviet union war criminals berlin speeches east germany military operations margaret thatcher british armed forces west germany economic policies helmut kohl berlin wall soviet foreign policy Anglo-East German relations Anglo-Soviet relations british foreign policy East German-West German relations Anglo-West German relations West Berlin East German foreign policy West German politics Rudolf Hess Inter-Parliamentary Union (I.P.U.) former Nazis Malcolm Rifkind Francis Pym John Taylor Spandau Prison David Mostyn Viktor Popov East German Volkskammer Berlin garrison Horst Sindermann Richard von Weizsäcker Martin Bierbach