Photo Gallery Thatcher's Mistrust
British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher forces a smile during a meeting with German Chancellor Helmut Kohl in 1986. She was initially fiercely opposed to German reunification, fearing they would gain too much power in Europe.
Former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, left, greets former French President Francois Mitterrand 1989. The French head of state also mistrusted the German reunification project. The newly-released documents showed how he warned Thatcher that reunification would result in "bad" Germans gaining more European influence than Hitler ever had.
Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, center left, shakes hands with a German highschool student during a visit to Bonn, Germany, in 1989.
Helmut Kohl greets a flag-waving crowd during an election rally in Erfurt, a city in the former East, in 1990.
Thatcher stands next door to Kohl in this photo taken in 1988. Although she gradually got used to working with a united Germany, she never lost her deep mistrust of the Germans.
Helmut Kohl and the Soviet head of state Mikhail Gorbachev in 1990, the year of German reunification.
The US President Ronald Reagan speaks in front of the Berlin Wall near Brandenburg Gate in 1987.
James Baker of the U.S. and Eduard Shevardnadze of the Soviet Union are seen together at an international meeting in 1990.
