While the world seemed in relative balance since the end of the Second World War, history was shaken up in 1979. With Brice Couturier, journalist and essayist, author of 1979, the great change of the worldLa Loupe looks back on four of these major events. In this third episode, we focus on the new economic policies put in place by Margaret Thatcher and Deng Xiaoping.
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The team: Charlotte Baris (presentation and writing), Jules Krot (editing and direction)
Credits: INA
Music and dressing: Emmanuel Herschon/Studio Torrent
Logo: Jérémy Cambour
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Charlotte Baris: The front page of L’Express, which I am going to talk to you about today, stands out from the other covers of 1979. Most often in the archives of that year we find photos, strong images which capture a moment real. But at the beginning of May, the magazine made a slightly different choice…
On the cover, a drawing. The style resembles movie posters from this period, such as Star Wars. We see a woman, in medieval armor, brandishing a sparkling sword. This fighter is Margaret Thatcher. The title that accompanies this image: English electroshock. For a few days, she has been the new British Prime Minister. And the one who is already nicknamed “the iron lady” because of her anti-communism, promises to change England, as we can read in this issue of L’Express.
Faced with the rebellion advocated by punk culture – at its peak in 1979 with the release of the album London Calling of the group The Clash – a conservative wave is sweeping among the British. A movement that will quickly spread throughout the world.
To go further:
Jean-Pierre Cabestan: “In China, today we feel a nostalgia for Deng Xiaoping”
1979, a historic turning point? Why this year continues to haunt us in so many ways
Daniel Raisbeck: “Javier Milei is a mix of Macron and Thatcher”