| A few notes on the
History of the Basque Country: The Basque Country, Euskal Herria, Vasconia, Navarre, etc. are some of the
many names given to the Basque nation throughout its history. A nation, which, like many
others has an extensive curriculum in its struggle to survive the constant attacks from
its neighbouring countries, Spain and France. A nation that has managed to survive to the
present day maintaining its own unique identity.
Some of the most significant
characteristics of the Basque people have made them become known as "The mystery
people of Europe". The uncertainty of the origins of their race and language,
Euskara, and their classification by acknowledged researchers such as J.M. Barandiaran or
T. Aranzadi, as an ethnic group with paleolithic roots doted with specific and unique
characteristics, makes the Basques one of the oldest races in Europe. To the eyes of
visitors in the past, they were a race with a spirit and lust for independence that has
remained with them and characterised them to this day. |
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| On the arrival of the Romans in
Iberia or "rabbit peninsula" in the year 218 B.C, the Basques were classified as
a poor nation of sheep farmers divided into four defined tribes: Autrigones, Caristii,
Varduli and Vascones. With the Romans however, an important process of cultural
development began, especially on the mediterranean watershed. A network of roads was
built, farming techniques and tools were imported, agricultural vocabulary was introduced
into the language etc. After the fall of the Roman Empire, there was a period of autarky,
self-sufficiency, followed by a series of wars between the different Basque tribes and the
Franco-Carolingian Empire on the one hand and Muslim Dynasties on the other. At the end of
the VII century, the Kingdom of Pamplona was formed as a means to guarantee their survival
against powerful military agressors. The Kingdom constituted what was understood to be the
first Basque National Institution. However, it would not be until the reign of King Sancho
III - 1004/1034, when, with the composition of the Kingdom of Navarre, that the Basque
nation would be fully united. |
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The constant military offensives
from the Kingdom of Castille, France and England gradually diminished the sovereignty of
the Basque Kingdom. In 1199, Araba and Gipuzkoa were subjected to the yoke of the Kingdom
of Castille. In 1379, Bizkaia followed suit and in 1512, the rest of the Kingdom of
Navarre, (except the area known as Basse Navarre, which remained sovereign until it, was
"incorporated" into the French crown under King Henry III). Previously, during
the XIII century, the lands of Labourd and La Soule had been subjected to the Kingdom of
England.
According to the historian from Navarre, J. Jimeno Jurio, despite this subjection to the
most powerful empires of the time, the Basques were not taken over completely. Proof of
this are the Juntas Generales or Régimen Foral (autonomous governments
granted by charter), which existed in Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa, Araba and Navarre. From a
political point of view, such institutions enjoyed a certain level of legislative,
economic and, to a certain degree, military autonomy. |
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When King Philip V came to the
throne, the political subjection of the last Basque Institutions increased and, during the
XIX century, after two Carlist wars (1833-1876), the southernmost Basque Provinces lost
their state of autonomy. In 1841, Navarre was obliged to sign the "ley
foral", and in 1876, the remaining three Provinces, Araba, Gipuzkoa and Bizkaia
lost their fueros (charters). By that time, the French Revelution of 1789 and its
motto Ëgalité, Fraternité, Légalité, had put an end to the Basque
Institutions of the northernmost Provinces, Labourd, Basse-Navarre and Soule, integating
them into the "Département Basse-Pyrénées".
At the end of the XIX century, the Industrial Revolution and the ever increasingly popular
ideas of Romanticism, gave way to a new, modern concept of Basque conscienceness. The
ideas of Arturo Campión in Navarre and Sabino Arana in Bizkaia were the seeds of a new
awareness, which rapidly acquired a political body in the name of the Basque Nationalist
Party (PNV). Subsequently, after several divisions, other different nationalist political
parties began to emerge (ANV, HB, EA,) etc. |
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The victory of General Francisco
Franco in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) plunged the Basque Country into even more
turmoil. Any demonstration whatsoever of Basque culture, language, symbols, songs, ideas
or behaviour, was brutally punished by beatings, torture, imprisonment and even the firing
squad.
After the death of Franco, Spain iniciated its long process towards Democracy. The
southernmost Provinces of the Basque Country, still under a latent but strong military
control, were divided: Araba, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa on the one side and Navarre on the
other. All of them were doted with a degree of local autonomy that was a far cry from the
sovereignty they had enjoyed under the reign of King Sancho III.
Today, the suppression of the Basque Country by France and Spain has still not stopped.
There are many examples of how the Basque Nation is denied, day after day, its legitimate
right to express its cultural, social and political identity. After centuries of
aggression, the Basque Country continues to survive and dream of recovering their own
political entity that will guarantee their future survival: Basque National Sovereignty. Galdakao, The Basque
Country, 2002. |
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