The D.C. and the ‘European Question’ in the transformations of the Cold War

The article deals with some crucial topics as Europeanism, the ‘European question’, and the process of European integration interpreted and elaborated by the Italian Christian Democracy during the Eighties. The main issues are: (1) The crisis of Europeanism as a consequence of a strong return of nationalism and the weakening of its idealism (with a responsibility of the Christian Democratic parties); (2) The revamping of Europeanism considered both as a Christian democrat historical mission and ‘national politics’ strongly connected to the idea of European homeland in a dynamic international framework; and (3) Europeanism as a qualified feature of the Christian Democratic identity, considered in its idealistic and strategic dimension, with reference to the evolution of the international context up to the end of the Cold War and the overall rethinking of the Democrazia cristiana at the Italian and European level.