In the beginning of the 19 century gathered in Vienne (1814-15), the political and diplomatic powers of Europe made the first balance of the north-American and French revolutions. After Napoleon’s defeat, it was needed to find a just equilibrium and new paths for peace between European nations. Connecting the present with intellectual inheritances of the previous centuries several proposals arose, but soon a new reality was perceived that obliged to take account for nationalities and their respective public opinion.
From Count of Saint-Simon’s “pen”, at the occasion of the Congress was published an European federation project, based on the constitutional and representative English model and on the U.S. federal principles. Starting from free nations, a free and representative Europe would emerge, provided with two parliament houses and an army for peace. This document, which represented a great effort of synthesis and ability to contextualize, could be used as a platform, be it vis a vis the above mentioned, intellectual heritage or in relation to the ongoing debate at the time.
This was a period of rich debate which, for the first time, presented to the Europeans the idea of a Europe with its own identity and common cultural and political heritage, safeguarding freedom and individual rights, as well as the national contexts in which it was placed.
