Ventotene Manifesto


The Ventotene Manifesto, officially entitled For a Free and United Europe. A Draft Manifesto, is a political statement written by Altiero Spinelli while he was imprisoned on the Italian island of Ventotene during World War II. Completed in June 1941, the Manifesto was circulated within the Italian Resistance, and it soon became the programme of the Movimento Federalista Europeo. The Manifesto called for a federation of Europe and the world. In the text, European Federalism and World Federalism are presented as a way to prevent future wars. Vayssière notes that the manifesto is widely seen as the birth of European federalism. Spinelli, a former Communist, became a leader of the federalist movement due to his primary authorship of the Manifesto and his postwar advocacy. The manifesto called for a break with Europe's past to form a new political system through a restructuring of politics and extensive social reform. It was presented not as an ideal, but as the best option for Europe's postwar condition.

Key text

The most important assessment was the assertion that
This statement was in contrast with the idea, then prevailing, that unity could be achieved almost naturally and only as a secondary goal, after the attainment of political purposes in individual countries.

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