Stung by the ineptitude of the Foreign Office in not having foreseen such a turn of events, she was all the more resolute to get the islands back. A task force of Royal and Merchant Navy ships was sent to the south Atlantic within days and, within six weeks or so of its arriving at its destination, the islands were liberated and the Argentinians roundly defeated. For Margaret Thatcher, the Argentinians had been a most useful enemy: for the fascist dictatorship to seek to take over British sovereign territory, and British subjects, was an act that united almost the whole country. When the Falklands war started Mrs Thatcher was still struggling with the consequences of the economic restructuring, and was enormously out of favour with the electorate. By the end of it she was a heroine to many and her victory at the next election was assured.