ETA (terrorist group)
ETA, or Euskadi ta Askatasuna, is a separatist organization founded in 1959 in the Basque region of Spain and France, striving for an independent Basque homeland. It is designated as a terrorist group by various international entities due to its history of violent actions, which have included over 1,600 attacks resulting in the deaths of 843 individuals by 2016. The Basque people, a distinct Catholic ethnic group with a unique language, Euskara, have faced cultural oppression throughout history, particularly under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco from 1939 to 1975. In response to this oppression and the suppression of their cultural identity, ETA emerged as a militant group, initially targeting government officials and military personnel.
As political dynamics in Spain shifted after Franco's death in 1975, ETA expanded its campaign to include civilian targets, leading to significant loss of life and increasing public disapproval. By the late 2000s, the group faced declining support and heightened pressure from authorities, culminating in a formal cease-fire announced in 2011. Despite the cease-fire, ETA has expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of progress in negotiations for Basque independence, indicating ongoing tensions between the group and the Spanish and French governments.
ETA (terrorist group)
ETA, or Euskadi ta Askatasuna, is a separatist group in the Basque region of Spain and France that has been classified by various international agencies as a terrorist organization. ETA, which is pronounced "etta," has often used violent means in its goal of creating an independent Basque homeland. The formal Basque-language name of the group, Euskadi ta Askatasuna, translates to "Basque fatherland and liberty" in English. Since its founding in 1959, ETA has been responsible for more than 1,600 attacks that have resulted in the deaths of 843 people as of 2010. The group agreed to a permanent ceasefire in 2011 and formally disbanded in 2018.
Background
The Basques are a primarily Catholic ethnic group numbering between two and three million people who live in a region spread across the border of northern Spain and southwestern France. Basques share a common cultural identity that is distinct from either the Spanish or the French. The Basque language—which the Basque people called Euskara—is a language isolate, meaning that it is unrelated to any other language in Europe. It is believed that the Basques are the indigenous people of the Basque region and perhaps the oldest resident inhabitants of Western Europe. As a minority group, the Basques have often been the victims of cultural oppression.
This oppression was particularly acute during the dictatorial administration of Francisco Franco, who was the leader of Spain from 1939 to 1975. During his rule, Franco emphasized a single Spanish national identity to the detriment of minority groups such as the Basques. As a result, the Basque language and culture were actively suppressed during his rule. In addition, in exchange for an autonomous state, the Basques had supported Franco's opposition on the Republican side of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). This led to the executions of many Basque civil, political, and religious leaders, and the creation of policies that exacerbated the existing economic and social difficulties faced by the Basque people.
The primary political party representing Basque interests since the late nineteenth century has been the Partido Nacionalista Vasco, or PNV (meaning "Basque Nationalist Party"). In the 1950s, various Basque student groups began to form in opposition to both Franco and the moderate PNV. On July 31, 1959, one such group became ETA. In July 1961, ETA attempted to derail a train containing Franco supporters, but it took great care to make sure no one was harmed. While the bombs failed to do much damage, Franco brutally cracked down on the fledgling group. More than one hundred people were jailed, and the group's leadership was tortured and sentenced to long prison sentences.
ETA regrouped and formed a new strategy. Recognizing both Franco's unpopularity among the Basques and his tendency to use heavy-handed tactics in response to guerrilla activity, ETA embarked on a campaign of terrorism, knowing that Franco's strong responses would draw increased support for their actions from the Basque people. ETA acquired large caches of weapons and bomb-making materials in pursuit of its goal of establishing an independent Basque nation. To fund these purchases, the group began robbing banks, taking hostages, and forcing businesses to pay them taxes.
During one such robbery in June 1968, an escaping ETA member killed a soldier—the first fatality in ETA's terror campaign. The later murder of a pro-Franco police commissioner in 1968 led Franco to suspend the Spanish Constitution in the Basque province of Gipuzkoa. This gave his forces greater freedoms to track ETA, further provoking the Basque people. Franco brought both greater international attention to his oppressive tactics and heightened sympathy for the Basques during a public show trial of suspected ETA members in 1970 that led to death sentences for several members.
ETA's successful assassination of Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco—Franco's probable successor—on December 20, 1973, likely ended Franco's desired dynastic transfer of power. Upon Franco's death in 1975, Spain began a peaceful transition to a constitutional monarchy under the Spanish royal family. Despite the change in national leadership and a lifting of the restrictions against Basque culture, ETA nonetheless expanded its terror campaign.
Impact
Under Franco, ETA had restricted its targets to politicians and government agents such as the military; however, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, civilians increasingly were considered viable targets. In 1980, ninety-four people were killed by ETA. The group's increased activities were meant to emphasize its role during this period of Spanish political reorganization. To some extent, it was successful. In 1979, the Basque Autonomous Community (Basque Country) was formed, and the Basque language was recognized alongside Spanish as an official language of the region.
While many ETA members disbanded after these gains, a small core group remained committed to a fully independent homeland. In response, the Spanish established the Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación (GAL), which conducted a campaign to eliminate remaining ETA strongholds in the Basque territory. The resulting period was called the "Dirty War" and led to losses on both sides before the GAL was ruled to be illegal.
In 1987, an ETA-placed car bomb destroyed a supermarket in Barcelona, killing twenty-one people; this helped to delegitimize the group in many Basques' eyes. The murder of a young politician named Miguel Ángel Blanco further alienated the group from its Basque base.
After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, Spain was able to get ETA declared a terrorist group by other members of the European Union for the first time. By this point, ETA had learned from past public relations mistakes and typically telephoned the police with warnings about future bombings. While this largely prevented more bloodshed, it did little to advance the group's goals.
An attempted peace agreement negotiated in June 2007 ultimately failed, and ETA quickly resumed its terror campaign. However, in November 2008, ETA's military leader, Miguel Garikoitz Aspiazu Rubina, was arrested in France. This event marked the end of ETA's terrorist activities and a move toward more diplomatic avenues of resolution. After more than forty years of pursuing an ideology that hinged on violent insurrection, ETA became a casualty of increasingly unfavorable perceptions among the Basques due to its indiscriminately violent tactics. Rather than furthering the cause for an independent Basque homeland, many Basque people had come to believe the group was hindering nationalist goals. ETA announced a cease-fire in October 2011, although the group still exists. In September 2016, ETA expressed a renewed frustration with the subsequent lack of response since the cease-fire by the French and Spanish governments in negotiating a peace agreement with Basque independence groups.
In 2011, international leaders called for the group to lay down its weapons. Among them was Gerry Adams, the leader of Sinn Fein, the political branch of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). The ETA declared a permanent ceasefire. By 2018, it had formally disbanded. During this year, members of the group asked for forgiveness for killing people who had not been directly involved in the conflict. From 1970 to 2010, the ETA killed 852 people, which included 343 civilians.
Bibliography
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