Kalergi Plan

Last updated

Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi, supposed creator of the plan, pictured c. 1930 Graf Richard Nikolaus von Coudenhove-Kalergi (1894-1972) ~1930.jpg
Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi, supposed creator of the plan, pictured c. 1930

The Kalergi Plan, sometimes called the Coudenhove-Kalergi Conspiracy, [1] is a debunked far-right, antisemitic, white genocide conspiracy theory. [2] [3] The theory claims that Austrian-Japanese politician Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi, creator of the Paneuropean Union, concocted a plot to mix and replace white Europeans with other races via immigration. [4] The conspiracy theory is most often associated with European groups and parties, but it has also spread to North American politics. [5]

Contents

Origins

The conspiracy theory stems from a section of Kalergi's 1925 book Praktischer Idealismus ("Practical Idealism"), in which he predicted that a mixed race of the future would arise: "The man of the future will be of mixed race. Today's races and classes [lower-alpha 1]  will gradually disappear owing to the vanishing of space, time, and prejudice. The Eurasian-Negroid race of the future, similar in its appearance to the Ancient Egyptians, will replace the diversity of peoples with a diversity of individuals." [1] [6] Modern far-right individuals seek to draw relationships between contemporary European policy-making and this quote. [1]

Austrian neo-Nazi writer Gerd Honsik wrote about the subject in his book Kalergi Plan (2005). [7]

The conspiracy theory

The independent Italian newspaper Linkiesta investigated the conspiracy theory and described it as a hoax which is comparable to the fabricated antisemitic document The Protocols of the Elders of Zion . [8] The Southern Poverty Law Center describes the Kalergi plan as a distinctly European way of pushing the white genocide conspiracy theory on the continent, with white nationalists quoting Coudenhove-Kalergi's writings out of context in order to assert that the European Union's immigration policies were insidious plots that were hatched decades ago in order to destroy white people. [9] Hope Not Hate, an anti-racism advocacy group, has described it as a racist conspiracy theory which alleges that Coudenhove-Kalergi intended to influence Europe's policies on immigration in order to create a "populace devoid of identity" which would then supposedly be ruled by a Jewish elite. [10]

Recent history

In 2019, the right-wing nonprofit organization Turning Point USA posted a photograph on Twitter in which a person was holding a beach ball that featured text promoting this conspiracy theory. The tweet was deleted soon after. [11] [12]

See also

Footnotes

  1. Kalergi uses the German word Kasten, which means "castes" and not "social classes".

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zionist Occupation Government conspiracy theory</span> Antisemitic conspiracy theory

The Zionist occupation government, Zionist occupational government or Zionist-occupied government (ZOG), sometimes also referred to as the Jewish occupational government (JOG), is an antisemitic conspiracy theory claiming Jews secretly control the governments of Western states. It is a contemporary variation on the centuries-old belief in an international Jewish conspiracy. According to believers, a secret Zionist organization is actively controlling international banks, and through them governments, in order to collude against white, Christian, or Islamic interests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eurabia conspiracy theory</span> Far-right Islamophobic conspiracy theory

"Eurabia" is a far-right, anti-Muslim conspiracy theory that posits that globalist entities, led by French and Arab powers, aim to Islamize and Arabize Europe, thereby weakening its existing culture and undermining its previous alliances with the United States and Israel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paneuropean Union</span> Oldest European unification movement

The International Paneuropean Union, also referred to as the Pan-European Movement and the Pan-Europa Movement, is an international organisation and the oldest European unification movement. It began with the publishing of Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi's manifesto Paneuropa (1923), which presented the idea of a unified European State. The Union's General Secretariat is located in Munich, but maintains branches across Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coudenhove-Kalergi family</span> Bohemian noble family

The Coudenhove-Kalergi family is an Austro-Bohemian noble family of mixed Flemish and Cretan Greek descent, which was formed by the marriage of Count Franz Karl von Coudenhove (1825–1893) with Marie Kalergi (1840–1877) in 1857.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pan-European identity</span> Personal identification with Europe

Pan-European identity is the sense of personal identification with Europe, in a cultural or political sense. The concept is discussed in the context of European integration, historically in connection with hypothetical proposals, but since the formation of the European Union (EU) in the 1990s increasingly with regard to the project of ever-increasing federalisation of the EU. The model of a "pan-European" union is the Carolingian Empire, which first defined "Europe" as a cultural entity as the areas ruled by the Roman Catholic Church, later known as "Medieval Western Christendom". The original proposal for a Paneuropean Union was made in 1922 by Count Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi, who defined the term "pan-European" as referring to this historical sense of the western and central parts of continental Europe encompassing the cultures that evolved from medieval Western Christendom instead of the modern geographic definition of the continent of Europe. Coudenhove-Kalergi saw the pan-European state as a future "fifth great power", in explicit opposition to the Soviet Union, "Asia", Great Britain and the United States.

The race of the future is a theoretical composite race which will result from the ongoing racial admixture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ida Roland</span>

Ida Roland, born Ida Klausner, was a Jewish Austrian and German actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mitsuko Aoyama</span> One of the first Japanese people to immigrate to Europe

Mitsuko Thekla Maria, Countess of Coudenhove-Kalergi, formerly known as Mitsuko Aoyama (青山光子), was one of the first Japanese people to immigrate to Europe, after becoming the wife of an Austro-Hungarian diplomat, Heinrich von Coudenhove-Kalergi, in Tokyo. She was the mother of Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi and the Catholic author Ida Friederike Görres.

Antisemitism in contemporary Hungary principally takes the form of negative stereotypes relating to Jews, although historically it manifested itself more violently. Studies show antisemitism has become more prevalent since the fall of Communism, particularly among the younger generations. Surveys performed from 2009 and beyond have consistently found high levels of antisemitic feelings amongst the general population.

The Paneuropean Working Group in the European Parliament was established in 1985 by Otto von Habsburg. It aims at bringing Members of the European Parliament together, who follow the vision and principles of Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi. Already after the end of the First World War, he formulated his thoughts about a common Europe in freedom, rule of law and peace.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi</span> Politician and philosopher (1894–1972)

Richard Nikolaus Eijiro, Count of Coudenhove-Kalergi, was a politician, philosopher, and count of Coudenhove-Kalergi. A pioneer of European integration, he served as the founding president of the Paneuropean Union for 49 years. His parents were Heinrich von Coudenhove-Kalergi, an Austro-Hungarian diplomat, and Mitsuko Aoyama, the daughter of an oil merchant, antiques-dealer and major landowner in Tokyo. His childhood name in Japan was Eijiro Aoyama. Being a native Austrian-Hungarian citizen, he became a Czechoslovak citizen in 1919 and then took French citizenship from 1939 until his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White genocide conspiracy theory</span> White supremacist conspiracy theory

The white genocide, white extinction, or white replacement conspiracy theory is a white supremacist conspiracy theory that claims there is a deliberate plot to cause the extinction of whites through forced assimilation, mass immigration, and/or violent genocide. It purports that this goal is advanced through the promotion of miscegenation, interracial marriage, mass non-white immigration, racial integration, low fertility rates, abortion, pornography, LGBT identities, governmental land-confiscation from whites, organised violence, and eliminationism in majority white countries. Under some theories, black people, Hispanics, and Muslims are blamed for the secret plot, but usually as more fertile immigrants, invaders, or violent aggressors, rather than as the masterminds. A related, but distinct, conspiracy theory is the Great Replacement theory.

The Right Stuff is a neo-Nazi and white nationalist blog and discussion forum and the host of several podcasts, including The Daily Shoah. Founded by American neo-Nazi Mike Enoch, the website promotes Holocaust denial, and coined the use of "echoes", an antisemitic marker that uses triple parentheses around names to identify Jewish people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Enoch</span> American white supremacist blogger and podcast host(born 1977)

Michael Enoch Isaac Peinovich, more commonly known as Mike Enoch, is an American neo-Nazi, antisemitic conspiracy theorist, Holocaust denier, blogger, and podcast host. He founded the alt-right media network The Right Stuff and podcast The Daily Shoah. Through his work, Enoch ridicules African Americans, Jews, and other minorities, advocates racial discrimination, and promotes conspiracy theories such as Holocaust denial and white genocide.

The Great Replacement, also known as replacement theory or great replacement theory, is a white nationalist far-right conspiracy theory espoused by French author Renaud Camus. The original theory states that, with the complicity or cooperation of "replacist" elites, the ethnic French and white European populations at large are being demographically and culturally replaced by non-white peoples—especially from Muslim-majority countries—through mass migration, demographic growth and a drop in the birth rate of white Europeans. Since then, similar claims have been advanced in other national contexts, notably in the United States. Mainstream scholars have dismissed these claims of a conspiracy of "replacist" elites as rooted in a misunderstanding of demographic statistics and premised upon an unscientific, racist worldview. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, the Great Replacement "has been widely ridiculed for its blatant absurdity."

Renegade is an American white nationalist, conspiracy theory and anti-Semitic media platform, based in Deltona, Florida. Founded by Kyle Hunt, the project consists of two main outlets; Renegade Broadcasting, an internet radio network founded in October 2012 and Renegade Tribune, founded in 2013.

The international Jewish conspiracy or the world Jewish conspiracy has been described as "the most widespread and durable conspiracy theory of the twentieth century" and "one of the most widespread and long-running conspiracy theories". Although it typically claims that a malevolent, usually global Jewish circle, referred to as International Jewry, conspires for world domination, the conspiracy theory's content is extremely variable, which helps explain its wide distribution and long duration. It was popularized in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century especially by the antisemitic forgery The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Among the beliefs that posit an international Jewish conspiracy are Jewish Bolshevism, Cultural Marxism, Judeo-Masonic conspiracy theory, White genocide conspiracy theory and Holocaust denial. The Nazi leadership's belief in an international Jewish conspiracy that it blamed for starting World War II and controlling the Allied powers was key to their decision to launch the Final Solution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Corti</span> Swiss writer (1910–1990)

Walter Robert Corti was a Swiss philosopher and writer. He contributed to the newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung and the cultural magazine Du. In 1946 he helped found the Pestalozzi Children's Village which served homeless children and orphans from the war-torn countries.

Criticism of kashrut is criticism of or opposition to the laws of kashrut and/or dislike of kosher foods. Criticism of kashrut can either come from non-Jews or it can come from Jews who don't keep kosher, and it may or may not be motivated by antisemitism. In some European countries, kosher slaughter is either banned or restricted by law, often because nationalists or animal rights activists object to the practice. Certain aspects of kashrut have been alleged to promote sectarianism or racism, a claim that is rejected by Jews who keep kosher. Right-wing extremists sometimes criticize kashrut due to their belief in antisemitic canards and antisemitic conspiracy theories. In Classical Reform Judaism, the keeping of kosher has been discouraged, based on its belief that the keeping of Kosher is an unhelpful vestige of the past. In the Soviet Union, the keeping of Kosher was discouraged, due to the anti-religious and antisemitic policies of the Soviet government, and the anti-religious views of secular Jewish Communists.

In the United States, the populist Great Replacement conspiracy theory holds the view that "political elites" are purposefully seeking to increase the number of racial minorities in an attempt to displace the white American population. Believers in the conspiracy theory have used it as a racist trope in an attempt to advocate anti-immigration policies and dogwhistle to xenophobic ideology. The theory has received strong support in many sectors of the Republican Party. According to David Smith, "Two in three Republicans agree with the 'great replacement' theory." As a result, it has become a major issue of political debate. It has also stimulated violent reactionary responses, including mass murders. The name is derived from the "Great Replacement" theory, invented in 2011 by the French author Renaud Camus; it is promoted in Europe, and it also has some similarities to the white genocide conspiracy theory, popularized by the American terrorist David Lane in his 1995 White Genocide Manifesto.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Gaston, Sophia (November 2018). "Out of the Shadows: Conspiracy Thinking on Immigration" (PDF). Henry Jackson Society.
  2. "EXPOSED: For Britain and the "White Genocide" Conspiracy Theory". Hope not hate . 29 August 2022. Archived from the original on 29 March 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2019. large groups of people being radicalised daily and hourly, by far-right and neo-Nazi propaganda and a ubiquitous belief in wild conspiracy theories such as the Kalergi Plan.
  3. "TPUSA Shares Photo with Visual Nod to 'White Genocide' Conspiracy Theory which revolves around the philosophy and political organizing of Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi, an early 1900s Austrian politician who founded and presided over the Paneuropean Union. Some credit Kalergi for inspiring the later formation of the European Union". 12 April 2019.
  4. "Organization Candace Owens Represents Shares, Then Deletes, Photo Promoting White Genocide Conspiracy Days After Her Testimony". Newsweek . 12 April 2019. Believers in the Kalergi plan think that Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi, an Austrian politician in the early 1900s, constructed a plan to destroy white people in Europe by encouraging immigration
  5. "Qué es el "plan de Kalergi", la teoría conspirativa que usan los partidos de ultraderecha contra la Unión Europea" [What is the "Kalergi plan", the conspiracy theory used by the extreme right parties against the European Union] (in Spanish). BBC Mundo. October 22, 2018. It is the conspiracy theory known as "Kalergi's plan", which, for just over a decade, has been circulated among the members of several European nationalist and far-right parties
  6. Coudenhove-Kalergi, R. N. (1925). Praktischer Idealismus (in German). Vienna-Leipzig: Paneuropa-Verlag. pp. 22–23. Der Mensch der fernen Zukunft wird Mischling sein. Die heutigen Rassen und Kasten werden der zunehmenden Überwindung von Raum, Zeit und Vorurteil zum Opfer fallen. Die eurasisch-negroide Zukunftsrasse, äusserlich dem altägyptischen ähnlich, wird die Vielfalt der Völker durch eine Vielfalt der Persönlichkeiten ersetzen
  7. "Che cos'è – o sarebbe – il "Piano Kalergi"" [What is - or would be - the "Kalergi Plan"] (in Italian). Il Post. January 16, 2018.
  8. "Cos'è il piano Kalergi, la bufala dei migranti che uccideranno gli europei" [What is the Kalergi plan, the hoax about migrants killing Europeans] (in Italian). Linkiesta. September 28, 2015.
  9. "Day of the trope: White nationalist memes thrive on Reddit's r/The_Donald". Southern Poverty Law Center. 19 April 2019. With respect to Europe, the mythology of the "Kalergi plan" plays a similar role in constructing the "white genocide" narrative. Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi was an Austrian noble and early advocate of European integration. White nationalists mine his writings for evidence that the European Union is the culmination of a nefarious "plan" for white genocide put into motion decades ago.
  10. "EXPOSED: For Britain and the "White Genocide" Conspiracy Theory". Hope Not Hate. 18 April 2019. racist and antisemitic conspiracy theories have since developed that allege that Coudenhove-Kalergi devised a long-term scheme to undermine the white race by encouraging immigration into Europe, creating a populous devoid of identity who would supposedly be easily ruled by Jewish overlords.
  11. "Group Candace Owens represents shares post inadvertently promoting white genocide conspiracy days after her congressional testimony". Newsweek. 2019-04-12. Retrieved 2020-12-05.
  12. "Turning Point USA plug anti-Semitic conspiracy theory on Twitter". Spectator USA. 2019-04-12. Archived from the original on 2020-07-26. Retrieved 2020-12-05.

Further reading