What do you think?
Rate this book
Pan-Europa (Raíces de Europa)
Pan-Europa Verlag, Wien, 1924. The Austro-Hungarian intellectual Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi (1894-1972) saw the end of World War I as the ideal time to finally create the centuries-old "object of longing," i.e., a peaceful, united Europe. In doing so, he inspired a large additional body of literature and a movement for a unified Europe which exists, albeit in a much-reduced role, down to the present day. His magnum opus, Pan-Europa is in the continuum of German-language treatments of Europe as a political project. This interwar text is especially interesting for scholars as it represents a rare bourgeois dissent against nationalistic pretensions prevalent in many other Weimar-era political treatises on the cultural position of Germany and Europe in the wider world. Pan-Europa contains much of interest beyond utopian policy prescriptions for interwar European statesmen, illuminating discussions on the pace, scope, and goals of European integration into the present day.
200 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1926
14 people are currently reading
341 people want to read
About the author
Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi
33 books22 followersRichard Nikolaus Eijiro, Count of Coudenhove-Kalergi, was an Austrian-Japanese politician, and philosopher. He was a pioneer of European integration, he served as the founding president of the Paneuropean Union for 49 years.
His parents were Heinrich von Coudenhove-Kalergi, an Austro-Hungarian diplomat, and Mitsuko Aoyama, the daughter of an oil merchant, antiques-dealer, and major landowner in Tokyo.
His childhood name in Japan was Aoyama Eijiro. He became a Czechoslovak citizen in 1919 and then took French nationality from 1939 until his death.
His parents were Heinrich von Coudenhove-Kalergi, an Austro-Hungarian diplomat, and Mitsuko Aoyama, the daughter of an oil merchant, antiques-dealer, and major landowner in Tokyo.
His childhood name in Japan was Aoyama Eijiro. He became a Czechoslovak citizen in 1919 and then took French nationality from 1939 until his death.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 1, 2019
Recipe for destruction of countries, their individuality and their citizens by creating one identical mass of stupidity with element of totalitarian.
January 8, 2026
Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi’s Pan-Europa (1923) is a foundational text in the intellectual history of European integration and one of the earliest systematic arguments for a federated Europe. Written in the aftermath of the First World War and amid the disintegration of Europe’s traditional imperial order, the book combines geopolitical analysis, cultural theory, and political advocacy. It is both a diagnosis of Europe’s crisis and a prescriptive manifesto proposing continental unity as the only viable path to peace, prosperity, and global relevance.
The central thesis of Pan-Europa is that the European nation-state system has become historically obsolete. Coudenhove-Kalergi argues that the persistence of sovereign rivalries within a technologically and economically interconnected continent renders war inevitable. In an international environment increasingly dominated by large geopolitical blocs—most notably the United States and the Soviet Union—Europe, he contends, can survive only by overcoming internal fragmentation through federation. Pan-Europe is thus presented not as an idealistic project but as a strategic necessity dictated by structural changes in world politics.
Coudenhove-Kalergi conceptualizes Europe as a distinct civilizational entity defined by a shared cultural heritage rooted in Greco-Roman antiquity, Christianity, and Enlightenment rationalism. This civilizational framing underpins his argument for political unity, suggesting that Europe already possesses the cultural prerequisites for federation. At the same time, Pan-Europa is explicitly exclusionary in its geopolitical boundaries, envisioning a European federation that excludes Britain’s empire, Soviet Russia, and, implicitly, Europe’s colonial periphery. These exclusions reflect both the geopolitical assumptions of the interwar period and the author’s belief that cultural cohesion is a prerequisite for political integration.
One of the book’s notable contributions is its anticipation of later theories of regional integration. Coudenhove-Kalergi emphasizes economic interdependence, common security, and institutionalized cooperation as mechanisms for transcending nationalism. His proposal for supranational institutions capable of constraining state sovereignty prefigures post-1945 developments such as the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community. While the institutional details in Pan-Europa remain underdeveloped, the conceptual logic of integration is articulated with remarkable foresight.
Methodologically, the work is programmatic rather than empirical. Coudenhove-Kalergi does not engage in systematic historical comparison or detailed economic analysis; instead, he relies on broad historical generalizations and normative claims. This approach lends the book rhetorical power but also limits its analytical rigor. Nationalism is treated largely as a pathological force rather than as a complex social and political phenomenon, and little attention is paid to domestic class conflict, democratic legitimacy, or mass political participation. European unity, in Coudenhove-Kalergi’s vision, is primarily an elite-driven project guided by statesmen and intellectuals.
From a contemporary perspective, Pan-Europa is marked by significant blind spots. Its civilizational essentialism risks reifying cultural boundaries, while its relative silence on colonialism and social inequality underscores the Eurocentric assumptions of early twentieth-century liberal internationalism. Nevertheless, these limitations do not diminish the book’s historical significance. On the contrary, they illuminate the ideological context in which early European federalist thought emerged.
Pan-Europa stands as a seminal text that shaped the vocabulary and aspirations of the European unity movement. Although many of its assumptions have been challenged by subsequent historical developments, the work remains indispensable for understanding the origins of European integration as an idea before it became an institutional reality. For scholars of international relations, European studies, and political thought, Coudenhove-Kalergi’s Pan-Europa offers a compelling example of how grand political projects are born from moments of profound crisis.
GPT
The central thesis of Pan-Europa is that the European nation-state system has become historically obsolete. Coudenhove-Kalergi argues that the persistence of sovereign rivalries within a technologically and economically interconnected continent renders war inevitable. In an international environment increasingly dominated by large geopolitical blocs—most notably the United States and the Soviet Union—Europe, he contends, can survive only by overcoming internal fragmentation through federation. Pan-Europe is thus presented not as an idealistic project but as a strategic necessity dictated by structural changes in world politics.
Coudenhove-Kalergi conceptualizes Europe as a distinct civilizational entity defined by a shared cultural heritage rooted in Greco-Roman antiquity, Christianity, and Enlightenment rationalism. This civilizational framing underpins his argument for political unity, suggesting that Europe already possesses the cultural prerequisites for federation. At the same time, Pan-Europa is explicitly exclusionary in its geopolitical boundaries, envisioning a European federation that excludes Britain’s empire, Soviet Russia, and, implicitly, Europe’s colonial periphery. These exclusions reflect both the geopolitical assumptions of the interwar period and the author’s belief that cultural cohesion is a prerequisite for political integration.
One of the book’s notable contributions is its anticipation of later theories of regional integration. Coudenhove-Kalergi emphasizes economic interdependence, common security, and institutionalized cooperation as mechanisms for transcending nationalism. His proposal for supranational institutions capable of constraining state sovereignty prefigures post-1945 developments such as the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community. While the institutional details in Pan-Europa remain underdeveloped, the conceptual logic of integration is articulated with remarkable foresight.
Methodologically, the work is programmatic rather than empirical. Coudenhove-Kalergi does not engage in systematic historical comparison or detailed economic analysis; instead, he relies on broad historical generalizations and normative claims. This approach lends the book rhetorical power but also limits its analytical rigor. Nationalism is treated largely as a pathological force rather than as a complex social and political phenomenon, and little attention is paid to domestic class conflict, democratic legitimacy, or mass political participation. European unity, in Coudenhove-Kalergi’s vision, is primarily an elite-driven project guided by statesmen and intellectuals.
From a contemporary perspective, Pan-Europa is marked by significant blind spots. Its civilizational essentialism risks reifying cultural boundaries, while its relative silence on colonialism and social inequality underscores the Eurocentric assumptions of early twentieth-century liberal internationalism. Nevertheless, these limitations do not diminish the book’s historical significance. On the contrary, they illuminate the ideological context in which early European federalist thought emerged.
Pan-Europa stands as a seminal text that shaped the vocabulary and aspirations of the European unity movement. Although many of its assumptions have been challenged by subsequent historical developments, the work remains indispensable for understanding the origins of European integration as an idea before it became an institutional reality. For scholars of international relations, European studies, and political thought, Coudenhove-Kalergi’s Pan-Europa offers a compelling example of how grand political projects are born from moments of profound crisis.
GPT
March 7, 2020
Great read!
Some healthy visions about Europe, organisation, administration and function of United States of Europe. Maybe it is more actual today than at the times it was written.
Some healthy visions about Europe, organisation, administration and function of United States of Europe. Maybe it is more actual today than at the times it was written.
May 21, 2025
Great manifesto (unlike most of Kalergi's works)
Highlights many geopolitical problems and needs of Europe which are accurate to this day.
Predicted pretty accurately the second World War, 20 years before it happened.
Kalergi overestimated the strengths of colonialism and the British Empire, while underestimating the United States of America.
Puts too much naive pressure on pacifism, other than that it's a very visionary book. Would recommend it to all people interested in European geopolitics and history.
Highlights many geopolitical problems and needs of Europe which are accurate to this day.
Predicted pretty accurately the second World War, 20 years before it happened.
Kalergi overestimated the strengths of colonialism and the British Empire, while underestimating the United States of America.
Puts too much naive pressure on pacifism, other than that it's a very visionary book. Would recommend it to all people interested in European geopolitics and history.
August 15, 2023
Περα απο τον θρυλο ,ειναι ενα ενδιαφέρον βιβλίο, αρκετά προφητικό, χωρίς όμως να είναι κάτι το ιδιαίτερο ο συγγραφέας του ως στοχαστής.
Το ενδιαφέρον βέβαια είναι πως ο συγκεκριμένος, παρότι μεικτης καταγωγής, αισθάνεται ξεκάθαρα λευκός Ευρωπαίος και είναι αναμφίβολα υπερ της λευκής ανωτεροτητας ,αλλα με τρόπο πασιφιστικο.
Τα αιτήματα του κατά των μικρόεθνικισμών της ηπείρου και υπέρ μιας ενότητας,που θα ξαναπάρει ηγεμονικη θέση στον πλανήτη, είχαν την λογική της
Το περίεργο είναι πως και ο ίδιος ο Χίτλερ που αρχικά τον κατηγορούσε, τελικά ήρθε και ο ίδιος στις θέσεις του Καλλέργη , τύπου πανΕυρωπης μετά την δεκαετία του 40.
Το ενδιαφέρον βέβαια είναι πως ο συγκεκριμένος, παρότι μεικτης καταγωγής, αισθάνεται ξεκάθαρα λευκός Ευρωπαίος και είναι αναμφίβολα υπερ της λευκής ανωτεροτητας ,αλλα με τρόπο πασιφιστικο.
Τα αιτήματα του κατά των μικρόεθνικισμών της ηπείρου και υπέρ μιας ενότητας,που θα ξαναπάρει ηγεμονικη θέση στον πλανήτη, είχαν την λογική της
Το περίεργο είναι πως και ο ίδιος ο Χίτλερ που αρχικά τον κατηγορούσε, τελικά ήρθε και ο ίδιος στις θέσεις του Καλλέργη , τύπου πανΕυρωπης μετά την δεκαετία του 40.
Want to read
October 8, 2023as an individual of mixed ethnicity myself, kalergi is my guy fr
October 17, 2024
El libro se vuelve más interesante conforme lo vas leyendo ya que 2/3 son para convencer al lector de la necesidad de pan-europa. Será mejor que no entres a este libro buscando respuestas prácticas a los problemas de Europa, sino como una oportunidad de ver como la gente abordó por primera vez el tema y como una persona veía el mundo a su alrededor en 1923. Aún así, y uno no se puede olvidar de esto, Kalergi comunica y expresa algunas realidades para el que siguen siendo verdad a día de hoy y de hecho son bastante proféticas; es sorprendente. Muy recomendable para cualquier persona interesada unidad de Europa y la Unión Europea.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews