- The spirit of the Basque Republic is not the new purpose of the Abertzales, invented this morning. It is a claim of a long historical tradition. 130 years before the birth of Sabin Arana in the 18th century, Father Larramendi wrote: “Why can’t the Basque Country see all its speakers together, united in one nation, free and outside the subordination of other languages and nations? Why should the three territories of Spain (Gipuzkoa, Álava and Bizkaia) be under the rule of Castile (and what should I not say about the kingdom of Navarre?) and three others (from Lapurdi, Zuberoa and Nafarroa Beherea) under French rule?” And in another passage he pointed out his proindependence proposition: “We will be the United Provinces of the Pyrenees…. And we will create a Republic of vascongates.”
After Larramendi, and before the birth of Arana, Labortano Dominique Garat and Sulatino Agosti Xaho submitted similar proposals. All of them had the Basque Republic outside France and Spain.
Later, in the 20th century, there was an interesting historical episode, something unknown to most Abertzales and independentists: In April 1931, a few days after the establishment of the Spanish Republic, several municipalities of Hego Euskal Herria, alluding to the right of self-determination, proclaimed a Basque Republic by a motion. There were not many municipalities in Gipuzkoa and Bizkaia that approved this motion, which after its approval sent a telegram to the president of the Spanish Republic requesting a Basque Republic.
The date of April 14, 1931 is linked to the establishment of the Spanish Republic in the memory of many Basques. We are accustomed to bring this date to Euskal Herria and to represent the claim of the City of Eibar, where all the years meet those of the Spanish left to celebrate that anniversary. Few people know, however, that a few days later other municipalities of the Basque Country appealed to the Basque Republic, demanding a republic of its own for our nation. In Azpeitia, Zumaia, Bermeo, Mundaka, Rentería, Bergara, Markina, Lazkao, Oñati, Orio or Hernani, among others, the municipalities unanimously approved the proclamation of the Basque Republic. It is time to know this passage of our recent history and to realize its strength.
Because the desire for a natural republic is not our ambition, but the imperative necessity. The Basques need a Basque Republic to have our own house, and in our house we govern, not the Spaniards or the French. We need a Basque Republic to achieve a fairer and more democratic society. And we need a Basque Republic to maintain our language, our culture and our collective identity, and to survive as a People in the face of French and Spanish insatiable assimilationist pretensions. According to Txillardegi, “with a state, perhaps, the Basque is not saved; without it, I am sure not”. If the Basque Republic is not achieved, Euskal Herria is condemned to disappear.
That is why, on 7 May, we will be celebrating Basque Republic Day in Azpeitia. On the one hand, to recover our historical memory and remember that episode of 1931 of our recent history, but also to socialize the need of the Basque Republic, and to make visible the news of the message that the City of Azpeitia and many other municipalities of Euskal Herria claimed 91 years ago. The chain has not been interrupted. We are because they were, because we are.
Long live the Basque Republic! On 7 May, all Basque independentists to Azpeitia!
(*By the National Group)