In the spring of 1982, Britain, in severe geopolitical and economic contraction since the end of World War II, was faced with one of the most dramatic military crises of the last fifty years, the Argentine invasion of the Falklands. Buenos Aires, ruled by an authoritarian military junta, had decided to take possession of this small archipelago of islands hitherto controlled by Great Britain and inhabited by just two thousand people. A handful of islands that were apparently insignificant but concealed a symbolic significance of fundamental importance,

Margaret Thatcher was at that time the first woman to hold the post of prime minister in the United Kingdom and found herself making decisions of fundamental importance for the future of British geopolitical projection. The defence of the Falklands was not about strategic or military objectives of great importance but rather the defence of Britain's image in the world as a great power still capable of projecting its influence overseas.

Thatcher's decision was decisive and immediate, in less than three days the ‘Iron Lady’ ordered the deployment of a rapid intervention naval force to recapture the islands. The war was short, only 72 days, but the death toll and destruction caused was substantial with 649 Argentine and 255 British dead. The clear British victory was celebrated with great triumphalism at home, old England had shown that it could still defend its place in the world, however the drama of the war left its mark on many young people. Thousands of the soldiers involved were conscripts in their early twenties and the war left a deep mark on their lives.

The Falklands victory enormously strengthened Thatcher's popularity, seen by many British people as a heroic figure, almost a ‘’new Churchill‘’ capable of defeating a country led by fascist tyranny and protecting British citizens. In this sense her phrase ‘’You cannot negotiate with a dictator. You can only defeat him‘’ - a phrase also often repeated in newspapers or in public debates. The conflict also raised debates and critical voices, especially from Labour intellectuals who criticised Thatcher for causing the death of young British men for defending ‘’two stones‘’ in the Atlantic. The war consolidated the myth of Thatcher, a figure loved as much as hated by the British and perhaps whose political vision remains a subject of lively debate to this day.