Declaration of the European Resistance Movements
Several members of the national Resistance movements in Denmark, France, Italy, Norway, The Netherlands, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, together with representatives of a group of anti-Nazi Resistance fighters in Germany, met in Geneva on March 31st, April 29th, May 20th and July 7th, 1944, to draw up a draft declaration, here reproduced in part, which was subsequently debated by and submitted for the approval of all the European Resistance movements.
I
“Resistance of Nazi oppression, uniting all the peoples of Europe in a common struggle, has created among them a solidarity and community of purpose and of interests whose full scope and significance became apparent when delegates of the European Resistance movements met to draw up this declaration, in which they set out their hopes and intentions for the future of civilisation and peace.
The free men who today make up the Resistance movement know that the battle tirelessly fought at national level, notwithstanding the regime of terror, against the enemy’s machine of war represents a positive contribution, important to the battle fought by the United Nations, that justifies the right of the respective countries to participate in the building of peace and the reconstruction of Europe on equal terms with the countries that emerged victorious from the conflict.
By subscribing to the essential declarations of the Atlantic Charter, they affirm that the life of the peoples they represent must be founded on respect for the individual, security, social justice, the exploitation of economic resources exclusively to the good of the collective whole, and the independent development of national life.
II
These objectives can be achieved only if the world’s countries accept the need to supersede the doctrine of the absolute sovereignty of states, joining together in a single federal organisation.
The persistent lack of unity and cohesion in different parts of the world renders impossible the immediate creation of an organisation that unites all civilisations under a single federal government.
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III
Peace in Europe is the keystone of world peace. Indeed, in the space of a single generation, Europe has been the epicentre of two world conflicts that have stemmed, above all, from the existence, in this continent, of 30 sovereign states. The priority must be to put an end to this anarchy through the creation of a federal union of European peoples.
Only a federal union can provide an answer to the boundary problems that afflict areas inhabited by members of different peoples, which, no longer the focus of insane acts of nationalistic cupidity, will instead become simple purely administrative matters of territorial division.
Only a federal union can safeguard the democratic institutions and so prevent politically immature countries from jeopardising the general order.
Only in a federal union will it be possible to rebuild the continent’s economy and suppress national monopolies and anarchy.
Only a federal union can provide a logical and natural solution to the problems of maritime access for the continent’s internal areas, the rational use of rivers that flow through different states, and the control of straits and, more generally, to most of the problems that have made international relations difficult in recent decades.
IV
It is too early to sketch out the geographical boundaries of a federal union able to guarantee peace in Europe. But it is worth pointing out that it will have to be, from the outset, very strong and large enough not to run the risk of becoming the zone of influence of some foreign state or an instrument of the political hegemony of one of the member states. Furthermore, the union must, from the outset, be open to any country located entirely or partially in Europe, that can and wants to become a member of it.
The federal union must be founded on a declaration of civil, political and economic rights, which will guarantee the free development of the human personality and the normal functioning of the democratic institutions; furthermore, it must endorse a declaration of the right of minority groups to autonomous existence, providing this autonomy is compatible with the integrity of the nation-states of which they are part.
The federal union must not seek to undermine the right of each member state to resolve its own specific difficulties in a manner that conforms with its peculiar ethnic and cultural traits. But, in view of the experiences and failures of the Society of Nations, the states must irrevocably transfer to the federation their sovereign powers relating to the defence of its territory, their relations with foreign powers, and international trade and communications.
The federal union must possess essentially:
1) A government answerable not to the governments of the various member states, but to their people, over which this government must, within the scope of its powers, exercise direct jurisdiction.
2) An army commanded by this government, which precludes the existence of any national army.
3) A supreme court that will settle questions relating to interpretation of the federal constitution as well as possible disputes between member states, and between the states and the federation.
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VI
The undersigned Resistance movements acknowledge the need for the United Nations to play an active role in solving the European problem, but ask that all measures introduced between the ending of hostilities and the establishment of peace reflect the requirements of a federal organisation.
They call upon all the world’s spiritual and political forces, and in particular those of the United Nations, to assist them in their efforts to achieve the objectives set out in this declaration.
They undertake to view their national problems as specific aspects of the whole European problem and undertake to set up, as from now, a permanent office which will be responsible for coordinating efforts to liberate their countries, to organise the federal union of European peoples, and to establish peace and justice in the world.”