Following the
Algerian War of Independence, Thiriart decided to look to a more
Europe-wide vision and founded Jeune Europe as a result, calling for a united Europe that would be "neither
Moscow nor
Washington" but rather a third
superpower in order that the individual states could stop being squeezed in the
Cold War. Jeune Europe quickly grew in influence, with major branches opening in
France,
Italy and
Spain, as well as minor groups in nine other countries. They also participated in 1962 Conference at
Venice, where they agreed to participate in the
National Party of Europe, along with
Oswald Mosley's
Union Movement,
Otto Strasser and others. Jeune Europe as a movement, and Thiriart in particular, also foresaw a future rapprochement with the Soviet Union and sought a rapprochement with
Maoist China in order to oust the Americans from Europe. Although Thiriart publicly disavowed
fascism and branded
Nazism obsolete, the movement was still accused of having a fascist basis, be it through adopting the
Celtic cross, a symbol widely used in
neo-fascism, as its emblem or advertising the activities of
neo-Nazi leader
Hans-Ulrich Rudel in its eponymous weekly magazine. The group also maintained links with the network of former
SS officers that organised through the magazine
Nation Europa. However, Thiriart's flirtation with China and the Soviet Union alienated some rank and file members for whom links with fascism were not to be eschewed and when he began to follow a more
national communist path and seek contact with
Nicolae Ceauşescu membership fell. Other members went in the other direction: Notably,
Renato Curcio, an early member of
Giovane Europa (as the group was called in Italy), who eventually switched allegiance to the
communist Red Brigades. One member of Jeune Europe,
Roger Coudroy, enlisted in
Fatah. It was dissolved in 1969. == See also ==