Basque Country is region situated at the foothills of the Pyrenees Mountains between Spain and France and on the cost of the Bay of Biscay. The term Basque Country originated from the territories inhabited by the Basque people or Euskal Herria. The Basques are an ancient people who occupied the land of this region for thousands of years. Basque country is divided into two territories, north and south. The Northern territory is located in the Pyrenees-Atlantiques Department of France, commonly referred to as Pays Basque. The territory covered the Arrondissement of Bayonne, the cantons of Mauleon-Licharre, Tardets-Sorcholus and the disputed village of Esquille. The Southern territory is located in Spain and measured approximately 8,000 square
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Spanish Basque Country is divided into three provinces, Araba, Bizkaia, and Gipuzkoa, with its own autonomous government. They have had a very active independence movement, which until recently was the only leading separatist movement in Europe. This movement was led by Euskadi Ta Askatasuna or Basque Separatist Organization, ETA (Basque Homeland and Liberty), which used guerilla tactics, among other things in their struggle to gain independence from Spain. ETA was founded in 1959 by younger members of the Basque Nationalist Party who favored armed struggle against the Francisco Franco regime. ETA members engaged in terrorist activities, sabotage, and assassination of high-ranking Spanish military Officers, government officials and judges. The Franco regime attempted to crush the group’s activities and subjected senior members to torture, beating and military trials. The group continued to engage in violent activities against the Spanish government until recently, when they announced a permanent cessation of its armed activities. The ETA pledged to seek more peaceful methods to gain statehood from Spain.
The Basques are physically and culturally different than the other Indo-European people. They believed to be oldest people of the European continent and a direct descendant of Cro-Magnon hunter-gatherers that first …show more content…
In more recent history, the location of the French and Madrid probably do not have direct impact on the decisions of the Basques wanting total political and economic control of their land. The Basques have survived many conquests and re-conquest dating back to the Romans during which they have maintained their identity and their attachment to the environment as well as trying to control their own destiny. The cultural differences the Basques have with the French and Spanish made them feel like aliens living in a strange land. They want to break away from Spain in order to preserve their cultural identity, establish the laws to govern their affairs and to speak and educate their children in the language in which they could promote their culture, traditions and customs. The Basque have had a long history of self-rule in the past until Basques’ provinces came under the control of the Castilian monarchy toward the end of the fourteenth century. Regaining control of the land of their ancestors would prevent Basque government from having to answer to the Spanish government in Madrid; have the authority to build a defense force (military); and have judicial jurisdiction over the
Spanish Basque Country is divided into three provinces, Araba, Bizkaia, and Gipuzkoa, with its own autonomous government. They have had a very active independence movement, which until recently was the only leading separatist movement in Europe. This movement was led by Euskadi Ta Askatasuna or Basque Separatist Organization, ETA (Basque Homeland and Liberty), which used guerilla tactics, among other things in their struggle to gain independence from Spain. ETA was founded in 1959 by younger members of the Basque Nationalist Party who favored armed struggle against the Francisco Franco regime. ETA members engaged in terrorist activities, sabotage, and assassination of high-ranking Spanish military Officers, government officials and judges. The Franco regime attempted to crush the group’s activities and subjected senior members to torture, beating and military trials. The group continued to engage in violent activities against the Spanish government until recently, when they announced a permanent cessation of its armed activities. The ETA pledged to seek more peaceful methods to gain statehood from Spain.
The Basques are physically and culturally different than the other Indo-European people. They believed to be oldest people of the European continent and a direct descendant of Cro-Magnon hunter-gatherers that first …show more content…
In more recent history, the location of the French and Madrid probably do not have direct impact on the decisions of the Basques wanting total political and economic control of their land. The Basques have survived many conquests and re-conquest dating back to the Romans during which they have maintained their identity and their attachment to the environment as well as trying to control their own destiny. The cultural differences the Basques have with the French and Spanish made them feel like aliens living in a strange land. They want to break away from Spain in order to preserve their cultural identity, establish the laws to govern their affairs and to speak and educate their children in the language in which they could promote their culture, traditions and customs. The Basque have had a long history of self-rule in the past until Basques’ provinces came under the control of the Castilian monarchy toward the end of the fourteenth century. Regaining control of the land of their ancestors would prevent Basque government from having to answer to the Spanish government in Madrid; have the authority to build a defense force (military); and have judicial jurisdiction over the