Pan European Movement

introduction
The rapid establishment of the European Union couldn't have been possible if
the idea of United Europe hadn't already been spread across the continent
over the course of a few decades. This was thanks to Coudenhove Kalergi and
his Pan-European movement which had actively spread and planted the idea
of Pan-Europe to the European audience beginning from 1920.
Coudenhove aims to shed a new light on the ignored Pan-European
movement by winning the audience over politicians, the media and the public
wirh conferences and speeches which successfully convince many people
toward his idea of a United Europe.

1. Beginings of the idea

In 1919, after WWI appeared the first signs of disintegration and tension
within the European continent . Dissatisfaction with the Paris Treaties
emerged in many countries such as Germany, Turkey and Hungary. Also,
victorious countries as well as the defeated went through severe economic
decline. Especially in Germany, people refused to accept the Versailles Treaty
and regarded their current government as traitors who had signed the
armistice. In addition, severe economic difficulties created by the war
reparations created an social environment full of despair and instability in
which the seeds of Nazism and anti-Semitism were spread. Europe seemed to
be heading rapidly towards another big confrontation.
In this situation, Coudenhove believed that the only hope for securing longlasting peace for the European Continent was the League of Nations.
However, this hope was soon shattered as the American Senate refused to
ratify the Covenant of the League. In the continent, each government's
nationalist interests had taken over its original goals of peace and freedom
created the possibility of another European civil conflict. This risk led America
to pursue an isolationist policy in order not to get involved in European
problems. Unfortunately, Coudenhove knew that without America the
"League could never be more than a fragmentary institution, doomed to
ultimate failure." (2)
As Coudenhove tried to find a formula that would enable the United States
to join the League of Nations without giving up its own Monroe Doctrine, he
reached the conclusion that the solution would be the merging of 26
European democracies into one large union. "Then the United States would
find it easy to join the League since she would no longer risk being entangled
in European conflicts." (3) Also the Union of European nations would ensure a

peaceful and quick rise in the European standard of living by a system of

military alliances, a customs union, a common currency and an effective
safeguard for minorities. In addition, Coudenhove anticipated that a PanEurope would be an effective solution against the mounting Russian threat.
To successfully fulfill the European Union, Coudenhove believed that
one group of powers should take the initiative. Since France was then
dominated by Poincare's nationalist majority, Germany was distrusted across
the European continent, Italy was rent asunder by internal dissent, and
England had its Empire preventing it from becoming excessively involved in
the Pan-European movement the only group of powers able to take the
initiative was the Little Entente consisting of Czechoslovakia, Romania, and
Yugoslavia. Therefore Coudenhove decided to start spreading his idea from
Prague, Czechoslovakia.
Although Coudenhove continuously sought a European politician of stature
who would turn his idea into the leading theme of European foreign policy, he
ultimately failed in gaining government support. Undiscouraged Coudenhove
took the movement into his own hands. The publication of his book PanEurope in 1923 brought in thousands of members and a significant amount of
donation. With the donation Coudenhove appointed two trustees: Geheimrat
Fritsch of the Dresdner Bank for the German tranche and Vice-President
Brosche of the Kreditanstalt for the Austrian tranche. In 1925, the Austrian
Government allowed the movement to use the former imperial palace in
Vienna as Pan-European headquarters. Consequently Austria became the
center of the Pan-European movement in its formative years
How did he spread the Idea?

convincing politicians: In the beginning he tried to persuade the

politicians by writing personal letters to them or by sending articles to
them concerning the Pan-European idea. As the movement began to
gain popularity he was able to attend congresses and give speeches to
a wide audience of politicians. In addition, the few politicians he had
met earlier on in the movement furthered Coudenhove's contacts by
arranging personal meetings with other influential people.

Organizing conferences

Influencing the media: Influencing the media was vital in not only
changing the public's opinion but also in grabbing the attention of the
government and its politicians. Coudenhove influenced the attitude the
media took towards the Pan-European idea by making personal
friendships with editors and journalists of periodicals and also regularly
contributing ar0_ticles to these periodicals.

Winnig over the public: Coudenhove won over the public by publishing
books and pamphlets targeted to the ordinary people and also giving
tours while traveling all over the European continent and Northern
America. Moreover, the politicians Coudenhove succeeded in
convincing played an important role in winning over the support and
trust of the general public. The public who had been supportive of a
certain government official was likely to support the movement as well
if that government official announced his favorable views toward the
movement and the Pan-European idea. In addition, conferences
attended by prestigious Europeans and Americans and the media
reports on the workings on the movement played a substantial role in
winning over the public's opinion.

- Coudenhove decided that Prague was the most appropriate place to start
the movement since it was the center of the Little Entente and also a close
ally of France.
- In 1923 Coudenhove published a book titled Pan-Europe and within a few
years the book was translated into almost all European languages. The book
was dedicated to the youth of Europe urging them to take action in creating a
united Europe.
- In 1923, Vienna became the center of the movement since the Austrian
government had obligingly allowed the Pan-European Union to use the
Imperial Palace in Vienna. The Vienna newspapers were favorable to the
movement from the beginning. "
When Coudenhove first formulated the idea of a politically, economically and
militarily united Europe, he initially sought out a prestigious statesman who
could make his idea into one of the leading policies of European foreign
policies. With this intention in mind, he met in turn Masaryk, president of
Czechoslovakia, and Mussolini, the newly appointed Prime Minister of Italy. It
should be noted how Coudenhove carefully weighed his options when he
chose Masaryk as the first person to ask to take the programs initiative.
First of all, Masaryk was a well respected leader of his nation and had a
favorable reputation across Europe making him an appropriate leader for
such a program. In addition, at that time Czechoslovakia was the only
possible European nation who could have carried out such a program and win
the support of all European nations. Coudenhove's approach in convincing
Masaryk was fairly simplistic. He sent Masaryk a few articles that he had
written hoping that it would catch his attention, and when he received an
invitation he tried his best to explain to Masaryk the benefits of a United
Europe. Perhaps because Coudenhove failed to provide Masaryk a strong

enough motivation: a concrete benefit for him and his nation if Masaryk was
to initiate the Pan-European program, he failed in persuading Masaryk to
launch the program.
The next person that Coudenhove chose to convince was Mussolini,
the newly elected Prime Minister of Italy. Since he was newly elected
Coudenhove didn't yet know for sure what foreign policy Mussolini would
take, on the other hand, Coudenhove knew for sure that Mussolini needed to
raise the reputation and prestige of himself and his nation since he had newly
arrived. With this in mind, Coudenhove published a letter addressed to
Mussolini in which he attempted to incite Mussolini's interest in the idea by
implying that Mussolini could become the main leader behind a United
Europe and that Rome could become the Washington of the United States of
Europe. Thus Coudenhove specifically used the fact that Mussolini was an
ambitious newly elected prime minister in need of a rise in international
reputation towards his own purpose. Unfortunately, Coudenhove didn't
receive any reply letter from Mussolini. His failure in convincing Mussolini
could perhaps have been predicted if Coudenhove had had a true
understanding of Mussolini's political views. True, Mussolini did have a wish of
expansionism but that was of a totally nationalistic kind and not fitting with
the European view that Coudenhove had. Thus, if Coudenhove had known
that he could have taken on a different approach in persuading Mussolini.
Contrary to what Coudenhove had first envisioned when he
formulated the idea, the most productive method of persuasion in this period
turned out to be not persuading politicians, but reaching out to the public
directly. Most politicians at that time were skeptical and also cautious about
taking on an idea that didn't have any public support or at that recognition.
However the public, thankfully, were more easy to win over. Through books,
pamphlets and articles published in newspapers Coudenhove diligently
worked to spread his idea. His idea of including a card requesting for
membership of the movement proved especially effective as thousands of
members enrolled in the first month alone. Slowly but surely the PanEuropean movement was beginning to make itself know to the European
public.