Introduction
Richard Nikolaus Coudenhove-Kalergi – a Man and a Movement
Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi was born in Tokyo on 17 November 1894, the son of the old Austrian-Far Eastern couple Heinrich Count Coudenhove-Kalergi and Mitsouko Ayoma (See, for example, Richard Nikolaus Coudenhove-Kalergi (1966) or Anita Ziegerhofer-Prettenthaler (2004)) In 1896, he returned with his family to his father’s estate in Ronsperg (Poběžovice, Czech Republic), where he grew up in a cosmopolitan atmosphere. This time and as a student at the elite Theresianum school in Vienna served as inspiration for his later pan-Europeanism. After graduating from high school, he enrolled at the University of Vienna to study history and philosophy and received his doctorate in 1917. After the end of the First World War, Coudenhove-Kalergi, who felt as a citizen of the world throughout his life, took Czechoslovakian citizenship (he would become a French citizen in 1939). Coudenhove-Kalergi published his plan for the unification of European states, Pan-Europe, in the Wiener Neue Freie Presse onNovember 17, 1922 (“Pan-Europe. A Proposal”, November 17, 1922, 2-3). This newspaper article is regarded as the initial spark for the Pan-Europe movement, which he founded in Vienna on 1 October 1923. Prior to this, the book Pan-Europa was published. Between October 1923 and April 1924, Coudenhove-Kalergi moved into rooms in the Vienna Hofburg (Adlerstiege), which had been made available to him by the Austrian federal government. Vienna became the headquarters of the movement, and over time Pan-European Unions were established in almost all European capitals and even in New York in 1926. The first issue of the magazine Pan-Europa appeared in April 1924 and was published monthly (with the exception of the summer months) until 1938.
Coudenhove-Kalergi regarded the founding of Pan-Europe as an urgent necessity due to the renewed danger of war within Europe, the threat of economic collapse due to the rising economic power of the USA and the threat of Bolshevism. Only through political, economic and cultural unification of European states could the European continent regain the position of a world power it had lost as a result of the First World War, according to his plan. Pan-Europe was to consist of 26 states, seven small territories and European colonies. Coudenhove-Kalergi assumed that the British Empire would be a non-European empire, which is why he proposed the creation of a British-European entente instead of membership. For him, who rejected Bolshevism throughout his life, membership of the Soviet Union was only an option under changed political circumstances. Pan-Europe could not be founded in one fell swoop, but should first be established in the form of a Pan-European conference, a type of government. The conclusion of arbitration and guarantee treaties and the creation of a pan-European customs union would be further steps. The crowning achievement of Pan-Europe was the formation of the United States of Europe, modeled on the constitutions of the United States of America and Switzerland. The political and economic confederation would have to be based on equality and peace. Pan-Europe, conceived as a non-partisan mass movement, also meant friendly cooperation with all states worldwide and with the League of Nations. Similarly to the American Monroe Doctrine, the Pan-European Union was committed to the principle of non-interference in internal political issues.
To popularise Pan-Europe, Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi created the Pan-European sign — a red cross against a golden background — and organised the first of a total of four Pan-European Congresses within twelve years in Vienna at the beginning of October 1926. He travelled tirelessly as a speaker throughout Europe and the USA, trying to win over representatives from politics, business and culture to his idea.
Draft for a Pan–European Pact
When Aristide Briand, who was the Honorary President of the Pan-European movement, made the proposal that the European states should unite to form a European Union in September 1929 as part of his League of Nations’ speech (Anita Ziegerhofer (1999), Coudenhove-Kalergi published a Draft for a Pan-European Pact (Anita Prettenthaler-Ziegerhofer (2000)). This will now be briefly presented here as an example of the legal structure of Pan-Europe (The present author is planning an article on Pan-Europe and law, which will be published in the course of 2025). It should be noted that Coudenhove-Kalergi published this draft as a private individual and not as a Pan-European, so as not to pre-empt a statement by the Pan-European Union. In February 1930, he sent the draft comprising 20 articles with comments to the Austrian Federal Chancellor Ignaz Seipel and the German Foreign Ministry. The draft was rejected there and Seipel did not consider it worth replying (In May 1930, a reprint of the draft appeared in: Paneuropa 5/1930, 149-165). With the draft, Coudenhove-Kalergi wanted to prove that “even today, with good will, far-reaching federal cooperation between European states would be possible without restricting their sovereignty”. Through this European confederation, the full sovereignty of the European states would be maintained, war between European states would be practically impossible and an attack on European states would be futile. Further goals would be European disarmament, the prevention of national and colonial causes of war in Europe, the creation of a European customs union or the “awakening” of a European sense of solidarity.
The “European Confederation” would then be established as soon as states with a total population of at least 120 million Europeans had ratified this pact. Unconditional accession to this union was open to all states whose territory (excluding colonies) was wholly or largely located in Europe (Art. 2 of the Draft for a Pan-European Pact). Coudenhove-Kalergi proposed Bern, Brussels, Luxembourg or Vienna as the capital of Pan-Europe (Art. 3). European citizenship was envisaged; all citizens of the European federal states should also be European citizens (Art. 5). With regard to the relationship with the League of Nations, Coudenhove-Kalergi described the European Confederation as a regional agreement within the meaning of Article 21 of the League of Nations Covenant. Disputed questions of competence between the League of Nations and the European Confederation of States were to be decided by a mixed court, half of which would consist of judges of the International Court of Justice and half of judges of the European Federal Court (Art. 6).
Articles 7 to 13 of the Draft for a Pan-European Pact contain the obligations of the members of the Confederation. These include compliance with the Statutes of the League of Nations and the Anti-War Pact (Kellogg Pact), a duty of mutual assistance on the part of the members of the Confederation, recognition of the Federal Court as the “European Court of Justice” and its judgments. In all conflicts with states that are not members of the Confederation, the highest court of appeal should be the League of Nations or the International Court of Justice in The Hague (Art.7-Art.9).
It was important to Coudenhove-Kalergi to formulate basic rights such as the equal rights of national and religious minorities before the law or the free exercise of their mother tongue and cult in school, church, press, courts and authorities. All European citizens were to have equal economic rights in the tropical colonies of European states in Africa. In the other colonies of the federal states, European citizens were to enjoy at least most-favored-nation treatment vis-à-vis citizens of states not belonging to the Confederation. (Arts.10-13)
With regard to governmental power, Coudenhove-Kalergi envisaged the following “federal bodies” (Art.14-Art.19): a two-chamber system with a Federal Council (representing the European governments) as the first chamber and a Federal Assembly (representing the European parliaments) as the second chamber, as well as a Federal Court and a Federal Office (Art. 14).
The Federal Council was to be entrusted with the leadership of all pan-European politics; decisions that curtailed the sovereignty of the federal states had to be taken unanimously and ratified by all federal states. In other matters that did not affect the sovereignty of the states, voting would be by a simple majority. Each government could send a representative to the Federal Council (Art. 15). The Federal Council was to meet at least twice a month in the Federal Palace. It would have the right to veto the election of federal civil servants and federal judges.
The Federal Chamber was to be made up of delegates from the legislative bodies of the allied states. The Federal Chancellor was responsible for convening the Federal Chamber, twice a year in the Federal Palace. The Federal Chamber was to elect the Federal Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor, Federal Treasurer and federal judges. The control of federal finances, legislating in the Federal District, and the right of proposal in all federal matters would be its further powers. The Federal Chancellor would be obliged to submit for resolution to the Federal Council any proposal that had received a majority in the Federal Assembly. The number of delegates, whose term of office was to last four years, was determined according to a certain quota per member state (Art. 16).
The federal court was to rule on conflicts between member states and ensure compliance with the federal covenant. It would exercise jurisdiction in the Federal District and interpret the Articles of Confederation. It would consist of three chambers of five federal judges each, who would elect a president and vice-president each year. Federal judges would be immune, irremovable and must be over 35 and under 65. The election was to be carried out by the Federal Assembly; the European universities and the supreme courts of the European states would each have the right to nominate one candidate, so that the election would be as independent as possible from political influences (Art. 17).
The Federal Office, i.e. the government, would consist of the Federal Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor, Federal Treasurer, Federal Secretaries and other federal civil servants and would be subject to the control of both chambers. It would be obliged to cooperate constantly with the Federal Council. The Federal Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor and Federal Treasurer would each be elected for a term of four years. The Federal Chancellor would also be the chairman of the Federal Council and the Federal Assembly — he could propose resolutions to both chambers; the Federal Chancellor would be in charge of the Federal Police, would represent the Confederation, appoint federal civil servants and federal employees, and convene the chambers. The number of federal secretaries would correspond to the number of technical committees (Art. 18), which advise the Federal Council on issues, such as the economy, transport, finance, education, etc. (Art. 15). Over time, these federal secretaries would become European federal ministers.
With regard to the federal finances, the draft provided that these would be managed by the Federal Treasurer and subject to the control of the Federal Assembly. All federal revenue would flow into the federal treasury. To this end, it was planned to levy a landing tax on all non-Europeans in all seaports of the members of the Confederation. This would have to be based on the level of the American landing tax. Should the federal budget be exceeded, the federal states would have to pay for the federal financing either through subsidies or other federal taxes (Art. 19).
It is interesting that Coudenhove-Kalergi referred to the Draft for a Pan-European Pact as a constitution when he spoke of constitutional amendments in Art. 20. According to this, amendments affecting the issue of sovereignty could only be made unanimously by the Federal Council and were subject to ratification by the member states and the approval of the Federal Assembly. All other amendments would require a two-thirds majority of both chambers.
As already mentioned, Coudenhove-Kalergi’s Pan-European Pact was not a success, did not find public resonance and was dismissed as a utopia. This also applied to Aristide Briand’s proposal, which he had sent to all European members of the League of Nations in May 1930 in the form of a memorandum on the establishment of a European Union. Germany, Italy and Great Britain immediately rejected the memorandum. This rendered the “Europe” project obsolete for years. For Coudenhove-Kalergi, this was a severe setback from which the movement was unable to recover. Three years later, when Adolf Hitler came to power on 30 January 1933, politics in Europe were to change completely and the realisation of a common, peaceful and democratic, politically united Pan-Europe was a distant prospect. January 1933 was therefore not only a political turning point for Europe, but also for the Pan-European Union. As a result, all Pan-Europe offices in Germany were closed and the movement was banned. This meant that the Pan-European Movement lost its most important financial backer — the German industry. From this point onwards, the Pan-European Movement had to reorient itself, no longer aiming for the political, but rather the economic and ultimately cultural unification of Europe. The “Anschluss” of Austria to Germany finally put an end to all pan-European attempts in Europe.
The “Anschluss” to Nazi Germany on March 1938 marked another profound turning point for Coudenhove-Kalergi. Together with his wife Ida, who was half-Jewish, and her daughter Erika, they managed to flee to Czechoslovakia on the night of 12 March 1938. From there, the family fled via Italy to Switzerland, where they owned a farmhouse. At the beginning of August 1940, the family fled Europe for New York on a clipper. Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi had founded a Pan-European office there in 1926 and, thanks to his contacts, he received a teaching position at New York University in 1941 and the title of Visiting Professor in 1944 (Anita Ziegerhofer-Prettenthaler (2003)). Coudenhove-Kalergi, who fought tirelessly for Pan-Europe even in exile, returned to Europe in 1946. Winston Churchill contacted him in the run-up to the founding of the Council of Europe and asked him to establish contacts with “Europeans”. However, Coudenhove-Kalergi was not invited to the founding ceremony of the Council of Europe in August 1949.
After his arrival in Europe, Coudenhove-Kalergi set up the European Parliamentary Union (EPU) and finally the reorganisation of Pan-Europe took place in Baden-Baden in 1954. Richard Nikolaus Coudenhove-Kalergi witnessed the founding of the EEC and EFTA before he died in Schruns/Vorarlberg on 27 July 1972. The “Ambassador of Europe” (Anita Ziegerhofer) found his final resting place in Gstaad.
Richard Nikolaus Coudenhove-Kalergi received many honours, including being the first person to be awarded the prestigious Charlemagne Prize in Aachen in 1950 for his commitment to Europe. Other important awards include, for example, the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany with Star. In his honour, a Europa Coudenhove-Kalergi fountain was erected at the church square in Schruns/Vorarlberg and a memorial plaque was attached to the walls of the Theresianum in Vienna. However, attempts to win the Nobel Peace Prize were unsuccessful. He was the head of the Pan-European movement until his death. Some elements of the Pan-European Pact, such as European citizenship, the duty of mutual assistance or institutions, as well as other ideas of the Pan-European movement, such as the economic union and the euro, have been realised in the European Union. It remains to be seen whether the European Union will ever have a constitution, as Coudenhove-Kalergi had planned for Europe in 1930.
Posted by Univ.-Prof. Dr. Anita Ziegerhofer, University of Graz, Austria
This piece belongs to Season 3 of the “Cross-jurisdictional dialogues in the Interwar period” series dedicated to less-known legal transfers which have had a palpable impact on the advancement of the law. The Interwar period was a time of disillusionment with well-established paradigms and legislative models, but also a time of hope in which comparative dialogue and exchange of ideas between jurisdictions thrived. The series is edited by Prof Yseult Marique (Essex University) and Dr Radosveta Vassileva (Middlesex University). To access the other pieces from this series, either select the ‘Interwar Dialogue’ category or click on the #Series_Interwar_Dialogue tag on the BACL Blog.
Bibliography:
Anita Ziegerhofer, Richard Nikolaus Coudenhove-Kalergi, Paneuropa und die Tschechoslowakei, in: BRGÖ 12/2/2022, 203.
Richard Nikolaus Coudenhove-Kalergi, Ein Leben für Europa. Meine Lebenserinnerungen, Cologne 1966.
Anita Ziegerhofer-Prettenthaler, Botschafter Europas. Richard Nikolaus Coudenhove-Kalergi und die Paneuropa-Bewegung in den zwanziger- und dreißiger Jahren, Vienna 2004.
Anita Ziegerhofer, Österreich und das Memorandum von Aristide Briand über die Einrichtung einer Europäischen Union von 1930, in: Mitteilungen des Instituts für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung 107, Vienna 1999, 377-397.
Anita Prettenthaler-Ziegerhofer, Aristide Briand und Richard Nikolaus Coudenhove–Kalergi. Zwei Europa-Protagonisten und ihre Entwürfe für ein vereintes Europa aus dem Jahr 1930, in: Andreas Bauer/Karl H.L. Welker, Europa und seine Regionen. 2000 Jahre Rechtsgeschichte, Vienna 2007, 681-733.
Anita Ziegerhofer-Prettenthaler, Richard Nikolaus Coudenhove-Kalergi. in: Deutschsprachige Exilliteratur seit 1933. Band 3: USA, ed. by John M. Spalek/Konrad Feilchenfeldt/Sandra Hawrylchak, Zurich et.al. 2003, 14.
SUGGESTED CITATION: A. Ziegerhofer, “Richard Nikolaus Coudenhove-Kalergi and the Draft for a Pan-European Pact” BACL blog published on 18th October 2024
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British Association of Comparative Law 