ABSTRACT
In December 1945, Denis de Rougemont stood before a meeting of the fledgling Movement of European Federalists and delivered his now renowned ‘Message to Europeans’. Lying in ruins after yet another unthinkably destructive European war, Europe, to de Rougemont, was in a situation of grave danger. The deep wounds dividing Europe he saw as not only material but also spiritual. ‘Europe is threatened,’ he proclaimed,
Europe is divided, and the greatest threat comes from its divisions. Impoverished, burdened by the barriers that hinder the circulation of her goods, but which are incapable of protecting her, our disunited Europe is marching toward its end. No one of our countries can alone aspire seriously to defend her independence. No one of our countries can alone resolve the problems with which the modern economy confronts her. In the absence of a freely consented union, our present anarchy will expose us tomorrow to a forced unification, either by the intervention of an empire from without, or by the usurpation of a party from within.
