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EDITORIAL
from issue no. 04 - 2008

An interesting conference


The progress made has been in no way trivial, but it is necessary to intensify efforts so as to convince young people in particular that the recipe for a very positive future for the Old Continent and – consequently – for the whole world lies in that direction


Giulio Andreotti


Robert Schuman, as French Foreign Minister, speaking at the signing ceremony of the Treaty for the European Community of Defense (ECD), Paris, 27 May 1952

Robert Schuman, as French Foreign Minister, speaking at the signing ceremony of the Treaty for the European Community of Defense (ECD), Paris, 27 May 1952

I took part in Rome, at the former Military College, in an interesting conference, organized by the European Association of International Studies, on the topic: “The European Union, for the promotion of peace and global solidarity”.
University teachers and directors of Community institutions lucidly set out the individual aspects of the fascinating goal that the founding fathers had glimpsed from the beginning. The progress made has been in no way trivial, but it is necessary to intensify efforts so as to convince young people in particular that the recipe for a very positive future for the Old Continent and – consequently – for the whole world lies in that direction.
The founding fathers wisely set the goal – and consequently the programs – in a perspective of associated military defense. It was a novelty that ran counter to a very resistant tradition in individual countries (in particular France, that in fact caused the first project to fail).
A clear formulation aimed at constructing a model designed to prevent the differences between France and Germany provoking a world war for a third time was the nub from which the new historical prospect set out.
In the last days of his life De Gasperi was a good deal hurt at the news of French hostility to ratification of the Treaty of the European Community of Defense. He died nine days before that Treaty was in effect rejected by the National Assembly.
The memory of the impassionate meetings that had taken place on the matter between De Gasperi, Schuman and Adenauer is unforgettable to me. Since they spoke together in German, we weren’t able to follow the arguments, but the enthusiasm for this authentic political revolution in Europe was itself communicative.
At what point are we sixty years on?
Much distance has been covered, in various stages, creating at the same time the conviction that this is the right direction in which to be advancing.
My generation grew up with an altogether different outlook, whereby it was not agreement but “many enemies” that conferred honor. During the Fascist period it was one of the mottos written up on the walls of cities. The total isolation put into effect by Mussolini characterized Italian foreign policy for a period that was unfortunately not brief.
During the conference mentioned, I had occasion to repeat an old idea of mine, critical of the design of school history books, which nearly all hinge on the sequence of wars: large or small as they may be categorized. Luckily many teachers orally correct this thematic monopoly.
I remarked the fact as a student, finding that only a few lines were devoted to the invention of printing and other important dates: everything centered on the conflicts great and small (the Hundred Years War, the War of Independence, and so on).
On the issue of school curricula, I don’t want to miss the chance of reiterating my disapproval for the practically insignificant space reserved to the History of Art. The curricula of some foreign countries devote greater attention than do Italian ones. It has reached an absurd point. A single hour a week devoted to the teaching of this vital subject. It borders on absurdity.


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