Luiss Open: Luigi Einaudi and the pro-European project
Luigi Einaudi's cultural contribution to the European project is often overlooked, as his heirs may not understand the reasons behind the legacy they've received from previous generations.
We are also living in a time when openly anti-European forces and the confusing situation in the UK are fueling a regressive narrative about economic and social dynamics. Therefore, revisiting Einaudi's writings could help us understand the problems of the past and identify the real issues of today.
Einaudi's federalism spanned a long period of time. He himself autobiographically recalled the circumstances in which his first Europeanist-inspired piece took shape. Following the war Greece declared on the Ottoman Empire in 1897 over the possession of Crete, the combined fleets of England, France, Russia, Italy, Germany, and Austria immediately intervened to end the Greek occupation of the island.
This provided an opportunity for the great British journalist William T. Stead, who later perished in the sinking of the Titanic, to “write an imaginary biography of the United States of Europe.” As Einaudi himself recalled, it also prompted him, “probably before anyone else in Italy,” to state that “the right to peace and war had now been restricted to the six major powers.”
The autobiographical reference is to an article published in "La Stampa" in 1897, which includes the following statement: "The birth of the European federation will not be any less glorious just because it arises from mutual fear and distrust rather than from brotherly love and humanitarian ideals."