ABSTRACT
Elitist Retinger confided to de Rougemont during "these sad days of Easter" that he considered a "manifesto" with a great many signatures to be gathered as an essential goal of the congress. The manifesto was to be a "principal and immediate" accomplishment of the congress to make its ideas known to the general population–a mass movement. Retinger was the major figure in pre-conference efforts. He sent the congress rules and guidelines to those who were to attend, and maintained a furious correspondence. Retinger particularly impressed his European colleagues. Retinger and his colleagues decided to organize the American Committee on United Europe (ACUE). The ACUE was sought by European federative agencies, including Kalergi's. The Hague was the turning point in the history of the postwar pan-European movement, "an Historic landmark in the annals of Europe". The Hague produced the European Movement, the basis for all subsequent efforts at European federation.
