Abstract
Reviewed by: Marleen Rensen, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Carl Wege’s study of the notion of ‘Das Neue Europa’ resonates with recent trends in historical scholarship, which have sought to investigate the European and transnational aspects of Fascism and National Socialism. Drawing on non-fictional books, travelogues and literary-political writings, Wege examines the European discourse of eight German writers and journalists in the Third Reich: Margret Boveri, Ernst Whilhelm Eschmann, Gustav R. Hocke, Walter Kiaulehn, Karl Korn, Friedrich Sieburg, Egon Vietta and Giselher Wirsing. They all published regularly in newspapers and journals that were controlled by the Party and state apparatus. Each of them wrote about foreign countries, while reflecting on the new Europe to come. Wege stresses that Nazi leaders never had serious intentions of building a unified Europe ‘as a federation of independent countries’ (21). However, ‘Das Neue Europa’ became a central notion in the Nazi propaganda, especially for promoting a common struggle against Bolshevism. It was discussed extensively in the writings of the authors Wege treats.
In the late 1930s and during the Second World War, Kiaulehn and others portrayed Europe as the ‘moderate’ continent, in between America and the Soviet Union, who were equated with ultra-modernity. While the Soviets aimed to erase the past and do away with all tradition, the Americans had already gone to extremes with their fast-growing cities, full of sky-high buildings. In contrast with these civilizations, the New Europe would exemplify an alternative form of modernity which combined old and new, tradition and development, spirit and technology. Notwithstanding differences in approach, each author had found his or her own example of this European-type, moderate modernity on their travels abroad, particularly in cities where modern architecture merged with historic sites and green spaces, like ‘the New Bari’ in Fascist Italy, or Marseille under Nazi occupation.
Wege illustrates well how these authors persistently reassess Europe’s geography to bring it in line with political developments. A prime example is Eschmann. In an essay of April 1939 he divides Europe in two: the ‘core countries’ Germany and Italy are the central powers of the continent; the ‘marginal countries’ are France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Portugal and Great Britain, who are oriented towards the Atlantic Ocean and the ‘West’. Shortly after the outbreak of war, he adjusts his view by arguing that the countries on the margin can ‘return home’ to Europe, either by (free) choice or by force (37). He no longer emphasizes the differences between core and margin, but rather upholds the unity of Europe. A new line is drawn between Europe and England, which had ‘fled’ in the direction of America.
All eight authors make selective use of geographical, historical and ethno-cultural arguments to mould their idea of Europe on to their particular interest. As biological arguments are not extensively discussed in Wege’s study, they seem to play a subordinate role in the writings. This leaves one wondering how exactly these authors fit within the larger reality of the Third Reich and how they relate to Europe as a racial order in Nazi thought and practice. Wege does, however, provide intellectual context and references to the writings of Valéry, Spengler and Coudenhoven-Kalergi. This helps to clarify how they juggle notions of Occident-Orient and North-South to argue, for instance, that Europe’s origins are Nordic-German, as much as Graeco-Roman, and to claim as European the entire Mediterranean region, including the Near-East and Africa.
Particularly interesting are the attempts to include Turkey in the New Europe as a country that could help spread European values in Asia. In 1944, Wirsing rhetorically asks: ‘Isn’t Turkey rightly a part of Europe, although it also includes a region called Asia Minor?’ (61). To further legitimize the consideration of Turkey as a part of Europe, he points at the progress and Europeanization engendered by Atatürk’s reforms. From a present-day perspective, it is remarkable that the notion of Christianity is irrelevant for Wirsing, just as any other idea of a shared cultural tradition. As Wege summarizes: ‘What is important is not where a country comes from, but in what direction it is moving and whose side it is on’ (62).
Wege not only demonstrates the contrasts to today’s European discourse, he also points out continuities. He shows how Sieburg and others draw on the traditional North-South polarity to present Germany as a Northern country which needs to drag Southern countries along on its path to a new, dynamic and prosperous Europe. Writing about Portugal and France in the 1930s, Sieburg suggested that taking part in the New Europe would require adaptation to the Northern work ethic. Hard work, drive and desire for innovation were needed to keep up with the pace. Indeed, the parallels with the present day are striking, even if Sieburg propagated his ideas under totally different circumstances.
The year of 1945 is generally perceived as a turning point, marking the transition from ‘a Europe of dictatorship’ to a ‘Europe of democracies’ (16). Notwithstanding the differences, the post-war European discourse is constructed by similar mechanisms of selection and argumentation strategy. At least, as Wege illustrates, some contemporary studies attempt to historically substantiate the idea of a common Europe of ‘unity in diversity’, by focusing on processes of democratization and reconciliation, while leaving out, or downplaying Europe’s dark side. One can, of course, argue that some concepts of Europe are more accurate and less ideologically biased than others. Nevertheless, Wege is indisputably right in his main argument that Europe is constantly being reinvented and given new meaning according to changing political circumstances. The timing of his study is appropriate, given the fact that Brexit and other ‘crises’ give cause to rethink what Europe is, what it represents in terms of values, where to draw its borders and how to tell its history of (dis-)integration. Whatever new constructions of Europe will come, Wege prompts us to inspect them critically in the context of Europe’s larger history.