Group 1: Postwar Ideals & Early Federalist vs. Intergovernmental Visions

Ventotene Manifesto

Drafted in 1941 on the Italian prison island of Ventotene by antifascist prisoners Altiero Spinelli and Ernesto Rossi, the manifesto was secretly published in 1944. Written during World War II, it argued that absolute national sovereignty and state-backed monopolies were the main causes of war, imperialism, and fascism. To stop future conflicts, Spinelli and Rossi called for getting rid of independent nation-states in favor of a single European Federation with its own army and shared economy. The text proposed a socialist plan to nationalize major monopolies, share wealth, and break down trade barriers between countries. Coming out of the anti-fascist Resistance, it tried to mobilize everyday workers and intellectuals to rebuild Europe from the bottom up. In class terms, the manifesto represents the idealistic, bottom-up federalist dream of replacing traditional nation-states with a unified European government.

Congress of Europe in The Hague

Held in May 1948 in The Hague, Netherlands, the Congress of Europe brought together about 750 Western European leaders and activists, including Winston Churchill and Altiero Spinelli. Organized by pro-European groups, this major meeting aimed to figure out a plan for political, economic, and cultural unity across the continent. However, discussions revealed a huge split between radical federalists who wanted countries to give up power to a central European government and conservative unionists who wanted independent nations to just cooperate. Even though delegates passed broad resolutions favoring unity, they failed to set up any real supranational government. As a result, the meeting marked the end of immediate postwar hopes for a quick federal union. For our course, The Hague Congress was a major turning point that shifted momentum away from federalist dreams and pushed governments toward creating the intergovernmental Council of Europe in 1949.

Council of Europe

Created in 1949 and based in Strasbourg, France, the Council of Europe was set up through negotiations among ten Western European founding countries. Built around a Committee of Ministers and a Parliamentary Assembly, it gave nations a permanent place to cooperate on politics, democracy, and human rights, leading to the European Convention on Human Rights in 1950. Crucially, the organization was strictly intergovernmental, meaning member states did not give up or share any of their national sovereignty. Unlike federalist proposals, the Council had no central power or real authority to force governments to do anything. So every country kept 100% of its sovereignty while working together on common goals. In the context of this class, the Council of Europe shows the victory of practical intergovernmentalism over radical federalism, proving that early European cooperation would rely on sovereign states working together through treaties rather than a single European state.

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