Basque Independence
The Basque region is an area divided into three administrative units, the Basque Autonomous Community and Navarre in Spain, the arrondissement of Bayonne and the département of Pyrénées Atlantiques in France. The Basque area is unique in that as a mainly indigenous community the Basque people maintained autonomy much later than most of the other provinces and as such have kept a unique identity and culture that is distinct from the other regions of Spain, therefore there is a strong sense of independence which has led to the rise of strong nationalstic movement within these provinces and a call for independence.
Throughout this essay I will argue due to the evolution of the concept of Basque area and the nature of Spain
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The most fundamental of this separation is the Basque language of Euskera, which existed long before the Indo- Europeans languages used throughout Europe , the existence of a indigenous language that has little to no parallels with the rest of Spain exemplifies the difference between the people of Basque and rest of Spain, however Spain itself acknowledges at least 9 other languages indictating that the Basque while unique in the individuality of its indigenous language is not unique in the existence of it. Furthermore in the conception of the Basque independence movement the Basque was the only language of the region and Castilian the official language of Spain was relatively unknown, however over time and with modernisation and the attempted abolishment of the language under Franco the cultural distinction of these languages has blurred. Ethnic assimilation and greater exposure to the greater Spanish area have led to the development of a bilingual region has emerged and with it has broken down the Basque cultural …show more content…
While their continued existence as a separate entity from the rest of the Spanish country is a valid reason for the Basque people to seek independence the hundreds of years they spent with autonomy under Spanish rule mirrors the current situation within the Basque area, and illustrates that the argument for Basque independence is unjustified. While Basque resistance against Spanish nationalism was justifiable during the early 1900s as it began to restrict the autonomy of the region currently they are awarded a great amount of freedom in their decision to run the country. And due to the post Carlist war period the people felt that “the liberty of Euzkadi has been destroyed by France and, mainly, by Spain, who subjugated by force the different Basque territories” . The rise of nationalism was an attempt to protect the Basque identity from mass migration and maintain tradition laws and institutions, with the only method being seen as independence and cutting ties from France and
Berdichevsky, Norman. “Spain’s Language Diversity.” Contemporary Review. 278: May 2001. 276 –82. Web. 15 April 2015.
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