Basque Separtists

The Basque Country, or Euskal Herria in the country's native language, is a region of Spain located in the northern area of the Iberian Peninsula separating Spain from France. Isolated from civilization by the Pyrenees Mountains, the Basques developed a culture unlike any other, equipped with a language so unique it is only spoken in their tiny region, and its roots are untraceable. The post World War II era inspired intense nationalistic feelings among the Basques, as they took desperate measures to oppose the suppression they were experiencing and push for the independence from Spain they felt they justly deserved.

Basque nationalism originated in the late 19th century in opposition to a wave of immigration of Spanish workers. These immigrants were migrating to Bilbao, the industrial capital of Spain, looking for employment opportunities and were detested by the Basques. These immigrants were seen as a threat that could possibly taint the pure, Basque race. Thus, the Basque Nationalist Party was formed and began demanding independence from Spain. Along with Basque Country, the neighboring region Catolonia also desired independence and in 1931 was granted self-government, though the Basques were not. Hoping to gain freedom from Spain, the Basques entered the Spanish Civil War in 1932 to fight for their cause.

The Basques were unsuccessful in the Civil War, and surrendered halfway through in 1937 in SantoÐ"±a, a city of Cantabria. They surrendered under the promise that Basques booming industry and economy would remain untouched by Francisco Franco, the vicious dictator of Spain. This was a period of great suffering for the Basques. One of their major losses was the Basque city of Guernica. Guernica was a fairly important city, being home to the Gernikako Arbola, where the government traditionally met, as well as the Casa de Juntas, where many Basque historical records were kept. On April 26th, 1937, Guernica was attacked in a series of air raids by the German and Italian militaries, both allies of Francisco Franco. Nearly the entire city was destroyed, and along with it the majority of Basque history. Casualties were estimated to be near 10,000, leaving 1,650 citizens dead, mostly consisting of the elderly, women, and children.

This fueled outrage among citizens all over Spain as shown in Pablo Picasso's masterpiece, Guernica, which depicts the terror and horror experienced on that day. The bombing of Guernica brought along a new, stronger wave of nationalism, now turning dangerous. In the six months after the destruction of Guernica, 16,000 nationalist rebels were arrested and 1,000 were executed. Franco had enforced laws making it punishable by death for assisting a Basque Nationalist in any way, even supplying one with food. The Euskara language was even outlawed. In protest to these outrageous circumstances, an underground movement called ETA, (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna) meaning Euskadi and Liberty, was formed in 1952.

ETA's main goal was to preserve the Euskara language, as they believed it was the core of Basque Country. They believed your blood or your heritage didn't determine if you were a true Euskaldunak, your fluency in Euskara did. Though ETA started out small, consisting of only 250 members at first, they made every effort to gain attention. ETA's first terrorist attack was the bombing of an elevator at the Guardia Civil Headquarters in 1961. Closely following this was the derailing of a train at the hands of ETA in San SebastiÐ"ÐŽn. Though they made an effort to avoid casualties, they were certain to get their message across: the Spanish were not welcome in Basque Country. This triggered anger from the rest of Spain, as Basques all around were arrested and tortured. Franco began populating Basque Country with people from other