Europe to-morrow: the shifting frontiers of European civilization in the political thought of Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi

This paper revisits the political thought of propagandist Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi (1894-1972), revisiting his idea of a Pan-European Union in the light of past and present crises of European identity. Looking at his changing conceptions of Europe’s frontiers, this article argues that Coudenhove’s case offers many insights to those who seek to understand the cultural prehistory of the Cold War frontiers. His movement constitutes an example of what Michael Freeden has called a ‘thin-centred ideology’, and the article proceeds by contextualising Coudenhove’s activities in the light of this paradigm. The article also reviews how historians’ interest in his work has been shaped by present crises in European integration. The history of Pan-Europa also offers a contextualisation of such phenomena as the rise of populism and the emergence of global pan-movements in the wake of political crises.