Resumen de Madariaga and the Search for a Free Europe

José Ramón Rodríguez Lago, Luis Domínguez Castro

• Salvador de Madariaga was 86 years old in the spring of 1973, when he received the Charlemagne Prize. After having been given the Europe Prize in Bern in 1963, having earned an honoris causa doctorate from the University of Oxford in 1966 and having received the Goethe Prize in Hamburg in 1967, the ceremony held in Aachen represented the zenith of his European unity aspirations. This chapter is aimed at providing a brief overview of Madariaga’s idea of Europe, its reach, and its evolution during the long period of time which started a few years before World War I (pre-war Europe) and went until the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe held in Helsinki (emerging Europe).