ABSTRACT
Retinger's diagnosis of the state of European affairs as the war commenced rested on the conviction that Europe had lost its original unity as a result of the following: colonial imperialism and the discovery of sources of wealth beyond the borders of the continent; the end of religious unity, and the development of nationalism. This led to faith in the state as the central social institution, and the growth of an individualistic point of view of state standing in opposition to humanitarianism. These led to rivalry and war, which would ultimately be ruinous to European civilization. The solution was a United States of Europe which required a remaking of the European world. Retinger proved of inestimable value to Sikorski in monitoring and reporting to him regarding the highest reaches of British politics, to which he had been ingratiating himself for years. Sikorski depended on Retinger for both contacts with the British political world and reports from that source.
