Costea, Simion. (2005 book). Ideea europeană și interesele statelor / The European Idea and the Interests of States. Cluj-Napoca: Napoca Star Publishing House. ISBN 973-647-254-X.
Authors: COSTEA, Simion
Type: Book
Published: 2005

<p class="isSelectedEnd">Costea, Simion. 2005. <em>Ideea europeană și interesele statelor / The European Idea and the Interests of States [A Comparative Study of the European Idea, State Interests, Diplomacy and the Origins of European Integration (1929–1937)].</em> Cluj-Napoca: Napoca Star Publishing House. ISBN 973-647-254-X. <a href="https://www.ceeol.com/search/book-detail?id=1323386">CEEOL - Book Detail</a></p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd">Originally published in 2005, this monograph represents a significant contribution to the history of the European idea, European integration, diplomatic history, and international relations. Expanding beyond the author's earlier research on Romania and the Briand Plan, the book offers a broader comparative interpretation of the political, diplomatic, and intellectual origins of European integration during the interwar period.</p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd">The central research question concerns the relationship between the ideal of European unity and the national interests of sovereign states. Rather than interpreting early European integration as a linear or inevitable historical process, the study demonstrates that the first governmental projects for a European Union emerged through continuous negotiation between supranational aspirations and the political, economic, strategic, and diplomatic priorities of individual states.</p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd">The first part of the volume examines the historical evolution of the concept of Europe, analysing its geographical, political, cultural, religious, and civilisational dimensions. It also investigates how the European idea was presented in Romanian interwar historical education, demonstrating that debates concerning European identity and political cooperation formed part of wider European intellectual developments rather than remaining exclusively diplomatic initiatives. This educational perspective provides an original contribution to the intellectual history of European integration by connecting political thought with the transmission of historical knowledge.</p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd">The core of the book analyses Aristide Briand's proposal for a European Union and the subsequent debates within the League of Nations between 1929 and 1937. Drawing upon extensive archival documentation, diplomatic correspondence, official governmental responses, League of Nations records, and international historiography, the research reconstructs the positions adopted by Germany, Great Britain, Italy, the Soviet Union, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Romania, and other European states. The study demonstrates that support for European cooperation was conditioned not only by ideological preferences but also by national security, economic interests, geopolitical calculations, diplomatic traditions, and competing concepts of sovereignty.</p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd">Particular attention is devoted to the Commission of Enquiry for European Union and to the diplomatic negotiations surrounding the Briand initiative. Instead of presenting the project simply as an unsuccessful political proposal, the book interprets it as the first comprehensive governmental attempt to establish institutional mechanisms for European political and economic cooperation. Many concepts commonly associated with post-1945 European integration—including structured political dialogue, economic cooperation, common institutions, and multilateral coordination—are shown to have been formulated and debated during this earlier period.</p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd">One of the principal scientific contributions of the monograph lies in its comparative methodology. By analysing the reactions of both the Great Powers and the states of Central Europe within a single interpretative framework, the research moves beyond national historiographies and offers a genuinely European perspective on the origins of integration. Romania is examined as one participant within this wider diplomatic process, allowing its contribution to be assessed objectively alongside those of other European states rather than in isolation.</p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd">The book also contributes to the historiography of European integration by integrating diplomatic history, international relations, political history, intellectual history, and the history of European political ideas. It argues that the origins of European integration cannot be understood solely through the post-Second World War experience but require a reassessment of interwar initiatives that anticipated many institutional and conceptual features of the later European Communities and the European Union.</p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd"><strong>This is a work of European history and the history of international relations</strong>. The Briand Plan is presented as the principal case study, not as the sole subject, and Romania appears as one participant in a broader European process rather than the organising focus of the book. That positioning is fully consistent with the structure of the book itself and distinguishes it clearly from Costea's earlier monograph dedicated specifically to Romania and the Briand Plan.</p>
<p>Based on extensive archival research and comparative historical analysis, this book offers a comprehensive reinterpretation of one of the most important early projects of European integration and demonstrates how the interaction between European ideals and state interests shaped the long-term evolution of European cooperation during the twentieth century.</p>
<p> </p>
<h1 class="PDq2pG_selectionAnchorContainer">Scientific Contribution</h1>
<ul>
<li>One of the earliest Romanian monographs devoted to the <strong>history of the European idea</strong> and the <strong>origins of European integration</strong> as a field of European history.</li>
<li>Develops a <strong>comparative European perspective</strong>, analysing both Great Powers and Central European states within a single diplomatic framework.</li>
<li>Integrates <strong>diplomatic history</strong>, <strong>international relations</strong>, <strong>political history</strong>, <strong>intellectual history</strong>, and <strong>European integration studies</strong>.</li>
<li>Demonstrates that the Briand initiative should be understood as a major stage in the long-term evolution of European integration rather than as an isolated diplomatic episode.</li>
<li>Provides original analysis of the interaction between <strong>European ideals</strong> and <strong>national interests</strong>, identifying sovereignty, security, economics, and diplomacy as decisive explanatory variables.</li>
<li>Makes extensive use of archival documentation and official diplomatic sources relating to the League of Nations and interwar European diplomacy.</li>
<li>Places Romania within the broader European diplomatic context without reducing the study to national history.</li>
</ul>
<h1>Keywords</h1>
<p>European Idea; History of European Integration; Origins of European Integration; European History; World History; Diplomatic History; International Relations; Briand Plan; Aristide Briand; League of Nations; Interwar Europe; Political History; Intellectual History; European Cooperation; State Interests; Sovereignty; Great Powers; Central Europe; Comparative History; Archival Research</p>