ABSTRACT
A valuable insight into Józef Hieronim Retinger's federal idea is a memorandum he prepared in 1943 where he outlined a detailed plan about the Poles taking the lead in "regional federation". Poland should work for Balkan and Scandinavian federations. In the interwar era, Poland "suffered from the mutual jealousies of the Big Powers, from the lack of co-operation among the smaller ones and from the spirit of mutual suspicion that everywhere prevailed". Retinger's internationalism was a function of his Polish patriotism: Poland could only be helped by an indirect route, by building an international order, returning power to Europe and creating a structure in which Poland could find protection. In 1946, Van Zeeland travelled to the United States preaching that economic unity in Europe was the alternative to "disaster". Retinger accompanied him and they elicited interest in a planned "congress" with Retinger, as usual, in the background.
