Thatcher feared Nazis' rise if Wall fell

LONDON, Sept. 10 (UPI) -- Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher feared the fall of the Berlin Wall would lead to a rise of Nazism in Germany, government documents indicate.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office documents, to be released Friday, revealed the anxiety both Thatcher and French President Francois Mitterrand had after the wall came down in 1989, The Daily Telegraph said.

The documents indicated Mitterrand warned Thatcher that a unified Germany might "make even more ground than had Hitler."

Thatcher's opposition to reunification and her disagreement with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office over the matter also emerged, the newspaper said.

In one document, she reportedly considered the views of Christopher Mallaby, the British ambassador to Germany, "alarming" and expressed astonishment that he seemed to welcome the prospect of a united Germany.

The British government's publication of the papers comes ahead of 20th anniversary celebrations of the fall of the wall.