The Basques are not unique in claiming a national identity, albeit one that has been referred to as ‘mythical’. Nationalist movements, by their very nature, need justification in order to lay claim this national identity and nationhood. Smith lists the fundamental features of national identity thus:

1 an historic territory, or homeland

2 common myths and historical memories

3 a common, mass public culture

4 common legal rights and duties for all members

5 a common economy with territorial mobility for members.

Basque nationalists can, and do, lay claim to many of these features. Besides having their own distinct language Euskera, they consider themselves as being a unique ethnic group having its own culture and history. However their most important claim is upon the territory which they consider historically as their homeland, Euskadi. Points 3 and 4 in the above list are what nationalist movements strive for.

This short essay is an attempt to trace the history of the development of Basque nationalism including its militant aspect which is, inevitably, what grabs the attention and headlines. This shall be done principally by examining the Basque nationalist’s claim to nationhood and independence followed by the rise of ETA. However it has to be said here that Basque nationalist claims should also be viewed in the light of what can be termed as ‘nationalistic constructs’, or what Gellner calls the "striving to make culture and polity congruent, to endow a culture with its own political roof". Moreover, not all nationalisms achieve statehood and "nations are not inscribed into the nature of things" That this essay raises more questions than it answers is, perhaps, inherent in the subject matter itself.

A popular version of history says that the Basques began to establish themselves as a political unit with the Duchy of Vasconia, which covered the area from the River Ebro, upward from Saragossa to the shores of the Garrone and which was established at the beginning of the seventh Century. However until the 1890s

the social distinctiveness of the four Basque provinces had produced no nationalist consciousness.

The most distinctive feature of Basque society, it is claimed, is the language Euskera which is not Indo-European and is unique. This has helped to emphasise the distinctiveness of the Basques and justify their right to be independent of Spain and France. The social structure of the Basque country had been different from other Spanish regions such as Andalusia, where large landowners ruled over peasants and landless labourers. The Basque custom of primogeniture prevented the extreme fragmentation of land holding which dissipated family wealth in other areas. This encouraged younger sons to leave the land and serve the crown as soldiers, sailors or bureaucrats. It also encouraged good educational standards which helped several Basques to occupy high positions in both the court and within the church (such as Ignatius Loyola and Francis Xavier)

The existence of ancient statutes, the Fueros, was the main evidence produced by Basque nationalists that the Basques were once a sovereign people, although the Fueros of each province were distinct and the Spanish Crown had never treated the Basque country as a single political unit. The Fueros were abolished after the second Carlist War of 1873-74, a move that was unpopular with the Basques. But the real impetus for nationalism came with the development of the Vizcayan iron mines which brought an influx of immigrants from elsewhere in Spain and produced xenophobic currents in the native populations.

Sabino Arana, who is claimed to be the founder of the nationalist movement, formed the Partido Nacionalista Vasco (PNV) in 1895, and although a political party it was considered by its adherents as more of a cultural movement. When the Spanish Republic, established on 14 April 1931, granted autonomy to Catalonia, the Basque nationalists inspired by Sabino Arana and led by Jose Antonia de Aguirre, began a large scale, well planned campaign for Basque autonomy. Three out of four the Basque provinces’ assemblies of local councillors voted for autonomy. Vizcaya, Guipuzcoa and Alava voted in favour of forming an autonomous Basque region within the Spanish state, while the delegates from Navarre voted narrowly against. In 1932 a plebiscite in the 3 provinces produces a result of 82% in favour of autonomy. However the military uprisings that followed divided the Basques in two and when the Government of the Republic granted autonomy it was only applied to Guipuzcoa and Vizcaya. On 8 October 1936, Aguirre was sworn in as the first president (Lehendkari) whose government’s first actions were to pronounce the Basque flag (Ikurrina) as official and to create the Basque army and University.

The Spanish Civil War created a lot of hate which would influence mentalities and shared memories later on. The German Luftwaffe in April 1938 tested out for the first time their "burnt earth" tactics on Guernica leaving 1644 dead and 889 wounded, after which Bilbao was occupied in June. The Basque troops surrendered, numerous executions by firing squad were carried out and concentration camps set up. Aguirre escaped to France and a Basque government was established in Paris. A mass Diaspora of Basques occurred during the years of the Civil War. A calculated number of around 275,000 people had moved, an enormous figure when one considers that the population of the four Basques provinces in 1936 was only 1,300,000. The entire Spanish Basque country was subjected to repression. Thousands of nationalists were killed or imprisoned while the use of Euskera was prohibited.

It had been hoped that the defeat of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy would prove to be the downfall of Franco. However the Allied powers made no serious attempt to remove him and with the intensification of the Cold War Franco came to be seen as a Valuable US ally. In 1953 Spain signed a pact with the US which granted American bases in return for economic aid, signifying an end to Spain’s economic and diplomatic isolation.

The Basque country, as one of the most industrialised parts of Spain, underwent massive economic expansion and an increase in the demand for labour which could not be met locally resulting in more non-Basque immigration. These developments presented problems for Basque nationalism. The chances for a nationalist revival were seen as too remote under the iron rule of Franco and while the Basque government was still in exile.

A split from the PNV due to incompatibility between groups of activists led to the creation of ETA (Basque Homeland and Liberty). The latter was seen by the PNV as a movement of impatient youth. Its earliest ideology consisted of the formation of a national front of all patriotic elements including the representation of young people and emphasising that the world had changed.

ETA’s commitment to armed struggle was first made clear with the attempt to derail a train of Civil War veterans to a rally celebrating the 25th anniversary of Franco’s rising. However this brought ETA to public attention and state repression. Scores of people were arrested disrupting the organisation’s structure. The consequences suffered by ETA showed the inadequacy of having such a loose organisation. Until the first assembly not only did ETA have no clear structure but the activities of its members were hardly distinguishable from those of other Basque nationalists.

The First Assembly produced a two page Statement of Principles. Demanding independence and unification of the French and Spanish Basque country in a democratic state which would guarantee freedom for all religions. The statement also supported a Federal Europe and declared that immigrants would neither be expelled nor segregated, as long as they did not act against the Basque national interest. Euskara would be the sole official language although French and Spanish would be recognised. Perhaps most importantly in view of the Spanish opposition to Basque independence is the principle that states that basic industries would be nationalised.

Following various Assemblies an increasing emphasis on Marxist concepts could be observed. The Navarrese group Tratxe joined forces with ETA and in 1966 the Aberri-Eguna (Day of the Homeland) was held on the bridges of Hendaye in order to emphasise a break from the folklorist tradition of the Basque Nationalist Party.

The first death at the hands of ETA took place near Tolosa. Txabi Echebarrieta opened fire on the Guardia Civil during a road block, killing the agent Pardines and dying himself on 7 June 1968. On 2 August of the same year ETA killed the police inspector Meliton Mansans in Irun.

The trial involving 16 leading members of ETA in 1970 known as the Court Martial of Burgos made headline news world-wide. It drew attention to the Franco regime and its totalitarian fascism and was perhaps the most crucial event in ETA’s history. The trial and the following campaign to save the lives of those 6 who had been condemned to death aroused the awareness of the whole population of the Basque country and of the world. The enormous public response to the trials included strikes, demonstrations and occupations of churches. All this attracted sympathy to the ETA cause from a large number of people who had previously been indifferent. It also showed that Franco could not risk having people put to death by means of a military court and the death sentences which were passed were revoked the next day.

When Franco died on 20 November 1975 there were 500 members and supporters of just one branch of ETA alone (ETA-VI, the other one was ETA-V) in prison. The first contacts between the political and military wing of ETA (ETA-PM) with the government were established during 1976 together with an amnesty and a truce which lasted until the 24 May 1977, the beginning of the electoral campaign for the first democratic general elections on 15 June 1977. In the meantime the Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ/PNV) held its first meeting in San Sebastian and on 19 January 1978 the Ikurrina was again legalised. A second amnesty resulted in more key ETA prisoners being released but the organisation held out for the release of all its members. A total amnesty was granted on 20 may.

A new Basque political map was drawn up with the creation of the first Basque General Council which however did not include Navarre. The Statute of Guernica was approved in San Sebastian and following the March 1979 General Elections and April Local Elections a new Assembly of the Basque Country was formed with Carlos Garaikoetxea as President.

Now that Franco was gone and a Socialist Government was in place, ETA hoped that their demands would be met. But the state government made it clear that it would not cede any further devolution. A failed coup attempt in 1981 by the rebel Civil Guards strengthened the hand of the Spanish government. After the election of Felipe Gonzales as Prime Minister in December 1982, Defence Minister Narcis Serra quickly pushed through reforms that tightened civilian control of the Armed Forces. Talks also were initiated with ETA, but when these collapsed tough anti-terrorist measures were instituted.

The action to suppress separatist violence was undercut by the refusal of France’ s then Socialist government to root out ETA units attacking Spain from bases in the Basque Southwest. Paris feared reprisals and some French Socialists viewed ETA as "freedom fighters".

These circumstances led to what has been called a "dirty war". A clandestine Anti-terrorist Liberation Group (GAL) was formed and started operating in Spain’s and France’s Basque regions, kidnapping and killing suspected ETA members. But nine of its 27 victims in Southern France in the mid-80s were found to have nothing to do with terrorism. The GAL stopped operation after the French authorities began to co-operate seriously with Spanish officials.

However in 1995, a Spanish judge found evidence that at least two ETA suspects who died in police custody had been tortured. He also discovered links between the police and the GAL. A former director-general for security and an ex-chief of police in Bilbao admitted helping the GAL’s operations, and insisted that other higher officials were involved. Both men incriminated Jose Barrionuevo, who was Gonzales’ interior Minister from 1982 until 1988.

Political analysts have claimed that this Socialist government connection with GAL had cost Gonzales dearly at the polls. It also helped ETA to once again, through central state repression, get sympathy from the people especially the young who it attempts to recruit to its ranks. Elections to the Spanish Parliament held on 3 March 1996 gave a victory to the right wing Partido Popular (the first right wing government since 1982). The PP is however committed to a strong centralised Spanish state and has fought an election campaign with the promise to eliminate the Basque problem.

Herri Batasuna (HB), which is considered as the ETA’s political voice (much like Sinn Fein but less close) fought the elections with candidates drawn from relatives of prisoners and victims of state death squads and torture. HB retained their 2 seats with around 180,000 votes, slightly down but very much consistent with previous results. During the election campaign the leaders of HB were imprisoned and accused of aiding terrorism because the HB electoral video included images from a video made by ETA to explain the steps needed to bring a resolution to the war in the Basque country. In the run up to the election ETA assassinated a leading member of the Spanish Court; an action which caused the reaction of a massive peace demonstration in Madrid and a call for the end of violence. The assassination of the judge helped ETA to lose some of the sympathy it had captured due to the GAL affair.

The people of Spain in general are now obviously fed up. ETA are increasingly being looked at as terrorists by the Spanish and support from moderate Basques is decreasing. However there has been a noted increase in militancy from younger Basques (ETA’s primary support base). In what is being described as a "miniature Intifada" clashes with police are common and many more young people than before are agitating within student politics for Basque independence. Another focus of the Basque struggle has been the plight of some 350 Basque political prisoners who are dispersed in jails throughout the Spanish state and its islands in the Atlantic. In early March 1996, the Council of Europe charged the Spanish government with torturing ETA suspects and this has further fuelled the campaign. It is clear that the problem of ETA and Basque militant nationalism will not just go away, despite the calling for and maintaining of temporary cease-fires.

This tracing of the history of the development of Basque nationalism raises more questions than it answers. Firstly, is the Basque nationalists’ quest for an independent state a lost cause? For all intents and purposes the chances of an independent state seem extremely remote. As Llobera says none of the constituent parts of Spain are recognised with national status endowned with the right to self determination, although the compromise 1978 Constitution does accept the existence of ‘nationalities’. The strong attempts at Spanish nation-building that took place over four centuries will not be easily reversed. But, to quote Llobera once again:

For thirty-five years, the Francoist dictatorship engaged in the most active and aggressive policies of nation-building ever seen within the Spanish state. Its objective was to create a homogenous national space of Spanishness; to that end, it was essential to erase the national identities of Catalonia and the Basque Country. If Franco failed to achieve his stated goal, it was not for lack of trying; he used all the means.....at (his) reach......He only underestimated one thing: the will of the people of Catalonia and the Basque Country to resist the policies of cultural extermination.

That, in a nutshell, also explains why Basque nationalism continues to fester away at ‘Spanish’ unity and why it simply won’t go away. Although mitigated slightly by the development of democracy and a level of autonomy, Basque nationalistic aspirations will probably continue to exist as long as there are Basques who feel, rightly or wrongly, that they are being dominated by an ‘alien’ or Castilian hegemony at the detriment of their own.

Secondly, can rational knowledge, that is, the recognition of certain nationalistic discourse as myth, lessen the impact of nationalistic claims? Eric Hobsbawm has described the rise of Ethno-Linguistic Nationalisms, of which the Basque is just one of many. According to Hobsbawm, the ideological shift of Basque autonomism from the restoration of ancient feudal privileges to a liguistic-racial argument was sudden and directly attributable to Arana who invented the name Euskadi. Although this ‘construct’ has been recognised as such for some time, even by the Basques themselves, it has not meant the end of nationalistic aspirations, as melancholic as they may be.

Thirdly, as for theories which attempt to identify the cause of the rise of nationalism such as peripheral versus centre, economic depravity and the desire for industrialisation, these do not apply themselves well to the Basque case. Basqueland (like Catalonia) is, if anything, one of the richest and most industrialised part of Spain. Perhaps the answer to the questions that are hereby raised might lie in the wish for a fuller appropriation of wealth generated in and by the region. That is, an unwillingness to finance less prosperous regions. A parallel development to this is the formation of the Lega Nord in Italy. In both cases the undertones (and sometimes more explicit than just undertones) are racism, xenophobia and rampant avarice. An analysis of this would of course require more study than this short essay allows.

Calvocoressi, Peter. 1996, World Politics Since 1945, 7th Edition, Longman, London.

Gellner, Ernest. 1983, Nations and Nationalism, Basil Blackwell Publisher Ltd., Oxford.

Hobsbawm, Eric. 1990, Nations and Nationalism since 1780, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Lane, Jan-Erik and Ersson Svante O. 1994, Politics and Society in Western Europe, 3rd Edition, Sage Publications, London.

Llobera Josep R., 1997, The Future of Etnonations in a United Europe, in Rethinking Nationalism and Ethnicity: The Struggle for Meaning and Order in Europe, Berg, Oxford.

Smith, Anthony D. National Identity, Penguin Books Ltd., Middlesex

Sullivan, John. 1988, ETA and Basque Nationalism: The Fight for Euskadi 1890-1986, Routledge London.

Campbell, Brian. 1996, Basque Struggle Remains Vibrant, Transcript of Phloblacht/Republican News, 28-11-1996, previously on the Internet.

Toda, Teresa. 1996, ETA Cease-fire Challenges Spanish Government, Transcript of Phoblacht/Republican News, 11-07-1996, previously on the Internet.

Valls-Russell, Janice. 1995, Terror and Politics in Spain, in the New Leader, Vol. 78, 9-11-1995.