Kalergi Plan
Far-right anti-semitic conspiracy theory
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Kalergi Plan, sometimes called the Coudenhove-Kalergi Conspiracy,[1] is a far-right, antisemitic conspiracy theory. 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.[2] The conspiracy theory is most often associated with European groups and parties, but it has also spread to North American politics.[3]
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Memes promoting the conspiracy theory often incorporate misrepresentations of Kalergi's writings, such as the false claim he stated that Jews shall rule over Europe.[4][5] The conspiracy theory stems from a section of Kalergi's 1925 book Praktischer Idealismus ("Practical Idealism") in which he predicted the rise of a mixed race of the future with "Eurasian-Negroid" features, similar in its appearance to the Ancient Egyptians.[1]
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[a] 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
According to Hope not Hate, an anti-racism advocacy group, it is a version of the racist white genocide conspiracy theory.[8]
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.[9] 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.[10] The theory 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.[11]
Memes promoting the conspiracy theory often incorporate misreadings of Kalergi's writing, such as the false claim that Jews shall rule over Europe.[4][5]
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.[2][12]
See also
Footnotes
- Kalergi uses the German word Kasten, which means "castes" and not "social classes".