The Basque Country (pdf, 4,3Mb) - Kultura Saila - Euskadi.net

2.4. The twentieth century
At the turn of the century Spain was involved with the continuing
development of the Bourbon Restoration. In France the Third Republic
was proclaimed, and with it the clashes between republican and
conservative factions, which also divided Iparralde ideologically.
The Spanish Restoration came to an end with a coup dʼétat which
brough the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera (1923-1930), but in
1931 the Second Republic was established, forcing King Alphonse
XIII into exile.
2.4.1. Second Republic and Civil War
With the Second Republic came a flurry of political activity,
followed by the military uprising led by Franco and a long civil war
(1936-1939). Euskadi had been demanding the reestablishment
of its self-government, but it was not until October 1936, in the
middle of the Civil War, that the Republican Cortes passed the
Basque Statute of Autonomy.
The first Basque government was created under the leadership
of Lehendakari (president) José Antonio Aguirre. The cabinet of
ministers consisted of five Basque nationalists, three socialists,
a communist and a member of each of the republican parties.
Because of the particular situation in the country at the time,
the government enjoyed a significant amount of power, but only
had control over the territories of Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa, since
Araba and Navarre had been in the hands of the military since the
beginning of the struggle.
The entire Basque Country fell to Francoʼs troops in July of 1937,
forcing the Basque government to relocate to Catalunya first and,
in April 1939, to go into exile.
2.4.2. Second wave of industrialisation and the later
Franco years
The Franco dictatorship (1939 to 1975) was a dark chapter in
Euskadiʼs history. Gipuzkoa and Bizkaia were declared ʻtraitorous
provincesʼ. The Basque language (Euskara) and culture in general
were persecuted, political and trade union activities were outlawed,
and there was an enormous amount of repression (imprisonment,
exile, executions), particularly in the early stage.
All hope that international governments might help overthrow
the Franco regime vanished in the early 1950s, when the United
States and the Vatican reached agreements with Franco.
In the late 1950s and sixties a second wave of industrialisation
led to major social and economic changes in the four territories
of peninsular Euskal Herria, and with it a new influx of immigrant
workers coming from different regions in Spain.
Resistance to the dictatorship from the left and nationalist parties
was very active, particularly beginning in the late sixties. There
was renewed interest in Euskara and Basque culture, and the
workerʼs movement grew in strength.
1959 saw the creation of ETA (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, in English,
Euskadi and Freedom) an organisation based on left-wing,
nationalist ideology, and which adopted a strategy of armed
struggle in the 1960s.
In the 1970s the Franco regime was in crisis. Political and workrelated
strikes escalated, ETA stepped up its armed struggle, and
the Basque church was beginning to criticize the system. All of this
brought about severe repression, including court martials, states
of emergency, thousands of people detained and imprisoned,
executions (Puig Antich, Txiki, Otaegi, among others), people
shot during demonstrations (Donostia, Vitoria-Gasteiz 1976,
Iruñea 1978 …) and while being held at police headquarters. All
of these factors led to eroded support for the regime. In 1973
Prime Minister Luis Carrero Blanco, whom Franco had named as
his successor, was killed in a car bomb.
2.4.3. Democracy and the Statute
After Francoʼs death in 1975, the transition to democracy was
initiated without actually breaking off with the dictatorship. Those
responsible for the crimes perpetrated under the Franco regime were
never punished. A series of reforms were submitted to a national
referendum, the first legislative elections were held in 1977, and
the Spanish Constitution was approved in December 1978. The
constitution did not include the right of the Basques to decide their
future (the right to self-determination); in Euskadi it was approved
by only one-third of the popular vote, and in Navarre by half.
The Statute of Autonomy was passed by referendum in 1979.
Araba, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa joined together to form the
Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, also called the
Autonomous Community of Euskadi, with 53.96% of the votes.
In 1982 the “Ley Orgánica de Reintegración y Amejoramiento
del Régimen Foral de Navarra” (Law on the reintegration and
improvement of the autonomous regime in Navarre) was passed
without referendum approval.
In contrast, Iparralde has no level of autonomy.
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View of Gernika, Bizkaia, 1937, after
planes from the German Condor
Legion dropped bombs on the city.
March 1976 demonstration
protesting the murder of five
workers in Vitoria-Gasteiz.
José Mª Leiozaola (right), lehendakari of
the Basque Government in exile, after
the death of José Antonio Aguirre (1960).