by Valerio Benedetti
One of the favorite topics of "conspiracyist" circles is undoubtedly the so-called “Kalergi Plan”. According to this theory, there would be a well-conceived plan systematically pursued by various subjects (United States, European Union, ecc.), which would have as its priority the destruction of the European peoples through a "racial mixture" with the huge foreign masses that flow into our continent every day. The initiator of this diabolical plan would be Count "Kalergi", who founded the Paneuropa movement.
To realize the amateurism of most of these "conspiracy" texts (on paper or online), it is simply enough to note the bizarre translations of some passages from the works of "Kalergi", the apocalyptic tones, as well as the claim of some authors to have finally written the first work on this obscure character that no one wants to deal with. And all this is proclaimed from the rooftops, although there is one scientific literature (especially in German) which he has long subjected to harsh criticism the hagiographic stories of the followers of the pan-European movement (1). Ora, to see clearly in this matter, a synthetic analysis of this man's biography and ideas is necessary.

The count Richard Nikolaus Coudenhove-Kalergi (this is his full and correct name) was born in Tokyo in 1894. His father Heinrich was ambassador to the Japanese capital on behalf of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, while her mother Mitsuko Aoyama was the daughter of a rich Japanese merchant. Grew up in Bohemia, he completed his high school and university studies in Vienna. Came into contact with Viennese aristocratic and intellectual circles, met and married in 1915 Ida Roland, an actress of Jewish origins. Following the Great War and the collapse of the Habsburg state, Coudenhove-Kalergi first assumed Czechoslovakian citizenship and was then naturalized French. As can be seen from these first biographical notes, we are dealing with a cosmopolitan in full order, or rather a «European cosmopolitan», as it has been effectively defined (2). His personal story and his philosophical training will definitely influence his ideas and his political militancy.
In the 1921 Coudenhove-Kalergi is initiated into Masonic lodge Viennese Humanitas, from which it separated a few years later, to prevent his affiliation from harming the newborn Paneuropa movement. Regular reader of Oswald Spengler, Friedrich Nietzsche, Giuseppe Mazzini e Rudolf Kjellén (the pioneer of geopolitics), these authors will play a key role in his diagnosis of the just concluded global conflict. Coudenhove lucidly interprets the Great War as one European civil war which weakened the Old Continent and sanctioned its moral and political decadence to the advantage of other geopolitical blocs. A divided and fragmented Europe can no longer compete with large state entities such as the United States and the Soviet Union. For this reason he enthusiastically greets the 14 points from the president Wilson and the constitution of League of Nations, which in principle should have guaranteed European and world peace. However, Coudenhove's hopes were dashed, since both the United States and the Soviet Union remained outside the League of Nations, which instead revealed itself only for what it actually was: a useful tool for the winners (especially France and Great Britain) in order to preserve it status quo established by the Treaty of Versailles. To give body and substance to his ideas, Coudenhove-Kalergi publishes in 1923 its volume Pan-Europe, which will become a editorial case in European cultured circles (3). With plain and captivating prose, the author outlines his political and cultural ideal, which will have a great resonance among politicians and intellectuals of the most varied orientations, from conservative to reformist ones. Following the publication of the volume, Coudenhove founded a real political-cultural movement, which will receive the support of even heads of state and which will be subsidized, among others, by the powerful banking institutions of Louis Rothschild e Max Warburg as well as from Robert Bosch, rich industrialist from Stuttgart (4). In principle, Pan-Europe is configured as a large European bloc from which, however, Russia and the British Empire remain excluded, but of which the French and Italian colonies are part. The project is vague and will not cease to change over the years in the face of events that will reshape the European political map. For example, the author speaks indifferently about Paneuropa, federation, confederation and United States of Europe.
Also on the level of cultural principles, Coudenhove-Kalergi's thought is not easily catalogued. The count tends to be sceptical, if not definitely against democratic regimes, which he interprets as a pure "façade" behind which the forces act plutocratic oligarchy (5). His elitist ideology, spiritualista, anti-capitalist and anti-egalitarian in fact, it cannot help but lead to the rejection of democratic postulates and, Therefore, to support a «neo-aristocratic principle» (6). For these reasons Vanessa Conze he compared Coudenhove's thought to the worldview of Conservative revolution: the elements of convergence would be skepticism towards parliamentarism and the simultaneous affirmation of authority, of dirigisme and of elitism, as well as the rejection of old conservative models, the fascination for certain aspects of socialism and the belief that only young and vigorous forces can "save" Europe from the current crisis. The themes that distance the count from Spengler, Younger, ecc. instead they are the myth of the nation and the warrior ethic - characterizing elements of the conservative Revolution, but practically absent in cosmopolitan and pacifist thought of Coudenhove (7). The lack of rigorous ideological presuppositions is also reflected in the count's political practice: if at first he finds a sensational support in the French prime minister Aristide Briand, he will then try several times to earn Benito Mussolini to the pan-European cause, also managing – after having waited a long time – to meet him officially (8). Coudenhove's own interpretation of the fascist movement leaves little doubt about the objective difficulties of finding mediation between democratic Europe and fascist Europe: «Paneuropa's fascist opponents have often attempted to identify the pan-European movement with democratic ideology. This attempt, however, is destined to fail simply due to the fact that my philosophical ideas have never been democratic, but always aristocratic" (9). In short, the count managed to be criticized by the democrats for his fascist fascination and, at the same time, to be dumped by the fascists for his pacifism, soon branded as "democratic" and functional to maintaining the Treaty of Versailles.
A further element that distinguishes Coudenhove-Kalergi's thought is its spiccato filogiudaismo, which he most likely inherited from his wife and father, which he had published, before his untimely death, a volume against anti-Semitism. The theme of Judaism intersects, of the rest, with the dominant discourse of its ideology, i.e. the creation of a new elite capable of governing the future pan-European nation. The count dedicated a pamphlet to this theme already in 1922, Meaning what Adel (Aristocracy), then merged into the work Practical idealism (1925). Coudenhove's arguments are characterized here by logical ease, imaginative historiographical simplifications e, sometimes, also from interesting and far from banal ideas. He starts from the distinction, theorized by himself, Between countryside/endogamy/paganism e city/crossbreeding/Christianity. The "rustic man" would be the classic product of endogamy (inbreeding); his qualities would be physical prowess, aggression, heroism, strength of character and will, while his vices would be an innate limitedness of horizons and poverty of spirit. The "urban man", on the contrary, it is the fruit of the mixing of blood (Blood mixture) and would be distinguished by open-mindedness, culture and richness of spirit; as a counterbalance he would be devoid of character and will, of physical courage and initiative. Starting from these assumptions, Coudenhove-Kalergi formulates the much incriminated phrase (and distorted) by conspiracy theorists. It will then be convenient to quote it in full: «The man of the distant future will be mixed-race (hybrid). The races and castes of today will be the victims of the overcoming of space, time and prejudice. The Eurasian-Negroid race of the future (Eurasian-Negroid future race), similar in appearance to the race of the ancient Egyptians, will replace the plurality of peoples with a multiplicity of personalities" (10). However disturbing it actually is, Coudenhove's prophecy does not specifically concern Europe, but the whole of humanity. However, it is also true that the count hopes for the emergence of a Europe in which the majority is a population spiritually strong e temperamentally weak, in order to preserve peace on the continent and in the world. The count would like to base the accuracy of this analysis - with a flight of fancy on a logical and historical level - on the fact that the European nations (which he does not deny at all) they would not really be communities of blood (Blood community), but community of spirit (Spiritual community). They would share, more than common ancestors, common heroes (11).
This speech certainly makes sense, if the goal is a future European nation. More complicated and not very consequential is the fact that, to a planetary standardization of technique, must follow one global ethnic and cultural homogenization (which, moreover, would contradict the European specificity asserted by Coudenhove). Anyway, There is also another aspect of the Count's theory that has worried both conspiracy theorists and academics. In identifying the new aristocracy of tomorrow, Coudenhove glimpses it inJudaism, That, hardened through centuries of persecution, now it would become the true "spiritual master race of Europe (spiritual leadership race of Europe)» (12). So commented Ulrich Wyrwa: «His statements, who would like to be philosemitic, present a disturbing proximity to anti-Semitic semantics" (13). Fromunion between the best elements of the "Jewish nation" and those of the ancient feudal nobility the "aristocracy of the future" will therefore arise (14). It won't be surprising at this point that Adolf Hitler has branded Coudenhove-Kalergi as «Allerweltsbastard», term that we could translate as "bastard of all races" (15). National Socialist hostility towards the count, Then, will force the latter to emigrate to the United States following the outbreak of the Second World War. Anyway, Hitler's offense towards Coudenhove, despite its vulgarity and its purposes, probably gets to the point of the question. The count is in fact described by historiographical critics as one extremely arrogant personality and suffering from delusions of grandeur, who will never stop promoting himself as the ideal representative of this "aristocracy of the future" of Pan-Europe. All his talk about mestizaje and the fusion between Judaism and old nobility could therefore be a direct consequence of his personal history: Austro-Japanese mestizo, wandering cosmopolitan, married to a Jewess. More than a historically founded theory, it could therefore be a simple one (and clumsy) political self-promotion.
But how important is the example of Coudenhove-Kalergi today in the debate on European integration? Actually very little. At most he is cited as an icon as the first to have spoken of a United States of Europe and a union of the nations of the Old Continent. His political influence (still relative) it is limited only to the 1920s and the beginning of the 1930s. Furthermore, the pan-European movement is today a small conservative pro-European grouping with very limited specific weight. His theories have also been harshly criticized by academic circles. Its elitism and anti-democratism, together with his speech on Paneuropa's right to exploit African colonies, not to mention his fascination with personalities such as Mussolini and Dollfuss, the demo-liberal establishment of the European Union and university circles do not like them at all. This is how Ulrich Wyrwa expresses himself: «Paneuropa it must therefore be considered a historically closed chapter, understandable only in light of the intellectual context of the interwar period, and which does not allow any connection with the current intellectual and political debate on the present and future of Europe" (16). In short, too little to be able to talk about "plan". Also because the projects of “great replacement” and ethno-cultural annihilation of the European peoples are prosecuted in broad daylight: they have very precise philosophical bases and are implemented by the same specific political and intellectual subjects. Instead of wasting energy on the megalomania and delusions of omnipotence of an old count from the 1920s, it would be much more appropriate to delve deeper into the dynamics of concrete interests that link Soros to Buzzi, confessional environments to financial ones, industrialists to cooperatives and NGOs. If you don't want to waste time, of course.

(1) Cfr. for example V. Conze, Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi. Controversial visionary of Europe, Zürich 2004; A. Ziegerhofer-Prettenthaler, Ambassador of Europe. Richard Nikolaus Coudenhove-Kalergi and the Pan-European movement in the 1920s and 1930s, Wien 2004; J. Rye grass, Pan-Europe de Coudenhove-Kalergi. The man, the project and the European Movement, in: «Human Security» 9 (2003/2004), pp. 205-209; U. Breach, Richard Nikolaus Count Coudenhove-Kalergi (1894-1972) and the Pan-European movement in the 1920s, in: “Historical Magazine” 283/1 (2006), pp. 103-122; Michael Pammer, More robust methods of government. Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi and the expediency of political principles, in: “Contemporary historical research/studies in contemporary history” 9 (2012), pp. 484-490. Most of the following information is taken from these works.
(2) Conze, Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi, cit., p. 11.
(3) R. Coudenhove-Kalergi, Pan-Europe, Wien 1923, 1982².
(4) Cfr. Ziegerhofer-Prettenthaler, Ambassador of Europe, cit., pp. 110-112.
(5) R. Coudenhove-Kalergi, Practical idealism, Vienna-Leipzig 1925, p. 39: “Today democracy is a facade of plutocracy”.
(6) R. Coudenhove-Kalergi, The Future of the Neo-Aristocratic Principle (1919), in: id., Crisis of worldview, Wien 1923, pp. 65-77.
(7) Cfr. Conze, Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi, cit., p. 13.
(8) There is one available online article by Gennaro Malgieri, in which the contents of the meetings between Coudenhove and Mussolini are described. However, the writing should be read with caution due to its strongly apologetic tones. Otherwise see. the account of R. himself. Coudenhove-Kalergi, Battle for Europe. From my life, Zürich 1949, pp. 91-94, and above all Ziegerhofer-Prettenthaler, Ambassador of Europe, cit., p. 399 ss.
(9) R. Coudenhove-Kalergi, Pan-Europe and fascism, in: «Paneuropa» 9/5 (1933), pp. 129-133.
(10) R. Coudenhove-Kalergi, Adel, Leipzig 1922, p. 17 = Practical idealism, cit., pp. 22-23.
(11) Cfr. Coudenhove-Kalergi, Pan-Europe, cit., pp. 135-149.
(12) Coudenhove-Kalergi, Adel, cit., pp. 39-42 = Practical idealism, cit., pp. 49-54.
(13) Breach, Richard Nikolaus Count Coudenhove-Kalergi, cit., p. 109.
(14) Coudenhove-Kalergi, Adel, cit., pp. 43-44 = Practical idealism, cit., pp. 55-57.
(15) G. L. Weinberg (ed.), Hitler's Second Book (1928), Stuttgart 1961, p. 131. The so-called "second book" was supposed to be a continuation of My fight. It will be published posthumously in 1961.
SOURCE: https://www.ilprimatonazionale.it/cultura/piano-kalergi-38849/