Europe To-Morrow: The Shifting Frontiers of European Civilization in the Political Thought of Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi

Abstract

This paper revisits the political thought of propagandist Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi (1894-1972), revisitinghis idea of a Pan-European Union in the light of past and present crises of European identity. Looking at hischanging conceptions of Europe’s frontiers, this article argues that Coudenhove’s case offers many insightsto those who seek to understand the cultural prehistory of the Cold War frontiers. His movement constitutesan example of what Michael Freeden has called a ‘thin-centred ideology’, and the article proceeds bycontextualising Coudenhove’s activities in the light of this paradigm. The article also reviews how historians’interest in his work has been shaped by present crises in European integration. The history of Pan-Europaalso offers a contextualisation of such phenomena as the rise of populism and the emergence of global panmovementsin the wake of political crises.