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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.
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.