III.

History

The Basques first appeared in written history late in the 1st century bc, when they successfully withstood the Roman invaders of Spain, maintaining their independence throughout the period of Roman rule of the Iberian Peninsula. The Basques adopted Christianity between the 3rd and 5th centuries. In the 6th century they fought fiercely and successfully against the Visigoths. Late in the 6th century groups of Spanish Basques migrated northward across the Pyrenees to Aquitania, which thereafter was known as Gascony. Those who remained in Spain withstood the Moors, who dominated most of the peninsula from the 8th to the 11th century. The Spanish Basques preserved their tradition of autonomy throughout the Middle Ages. Biscay (Vizcaya), one of the provinces, was independent from 1093 until 1350. Not until 1370 was it a definite part of the kingdom of Castile, to which Guipúzcoa had been united in 1200 and Álava in 1332. When a Spanish kingdom was established in the late 15th century, the Basque provinces preserved their customs, laws, and diplomatic relations with other countries with slight variation until 1876, when the provinces were absorbed by Spain.

The modern Basque nationalist movement started in 1900 and emerged to confront Madrid’s policies in the Basque country. During the Spanish Civil War of 1936 to 1939, an autonomous Basque state was established by the Republican government, but the victory of the Nationalists under General Francisco Franco ended this regime. Agitation for re-establishment of Basque autonomy arose during the next three decades. The separatist movement grew dramatically in the 1970s, and many violent incidents occurred. Between 1979 and 1983 the Spanish government granted limited autonomy, including an elected parliament, to the Basque Country and 16 other regions. Since then, relations between the Basques and the central government have improved, though occasional terrorist acts were carried out by the military wing of the Basque separatist organization, ETA (Euzkadi ta Azkatasuna: “Basque Fatherland and Liberty”), which was formed in the 1950s. On March 22, 2006, ETA announced a permanent ceasefire, pledging to use the political process rather than violence to achieve its goals. However, in June 2007 it reversed the statement.