Basque Terrorism in Spain

1. Basque Terrorism in Spain

2. The Logic of Ethnic Terrorism • Ethnic terrorism differs from terrorism carried out in the name of ideology, religion or economic gain • Ethnic terrorists are usually more nationalistic than their religious counterparts

3. The Logic of Ethnic Terrorism • Ethnic terrorists and national identity • Ethnic terrorist try to forge national identity • Their primary purpose is to mobilize a community • Terrorist activity is used to make a statement about the group’s identity • Terrorism polarizes other ethnic groups and forces them to either ally with the terrorists or oppose them

4. The Logic of Ethnic Terrorism • Ethnic terrorism and violence • Violence keeps the idea alive • Violence sustains the conflict, even when political objectives are far out of reach • Violence also serves to undermine moderates who seek peaceful solutions

5. The Logic of Ethnic Terrorism • Fear as a tool of ethnic terrorism • Violent ethnic terrorists use fear to polarize various constituencies • Fear polarizes cultural differences, forcing greater identification with one’s own group • Fear keeps a group from developing alternative identities

6. The Logic of Ethnic Terrorism • The limited response of the government • Governments can enter the game and try to promote rival identities • Governments can engage in group punishment • Governments can try to gain the cooperation of moderates • Governments can open the doors to political participation

7. The Logic of Ethnic Terrorism • Lifeline of ethnic terrorism • Ethnic terrorist organizations tend to be long-lasting because they can build logical structures and they can hide in a ready-made population

8. The Logic of Ethnic Terrorism • Three methods for government policy • Empowering the community • Winning over moderates to the political system • Encouraging self-policing

9. The Basque Nation and Liberty

10. The Basque Nation and Liberty • Euskadi ta Askatasuna (ETA or Basque Nation and Liberty) • The ETA has waged a campaign of violence since 1959 that has killed more than eight hundred people • The ETA’a goal is to establish an autonomous homeland in northern Spain and southern France

11. The Basque Nation and Liberty • The Basque separatist movement and its relation to terrorism • Basque separatists believe they should be allowed to develop a homeland in Spain, and since the 1950s, Basque separatism has been an important issue in Spanish politics • Current problems are a result of gradual loss of national identity that began in the nineteenth century when Madrid assumed greater control of the region, and accelerated in the early twentieth century because of industrialization

12. The Basque Nation and Liberty • The ETA and the nationalist movement • The ETA formed as an offshoot of a nationalist political party in 1959 • In 1966, the ETA voted to engage in armed revolution • In 1968, the group started a terrorist campaign

13. What drives ethnic/cultural independence groups to violent activities rather than democratic activities, such as referendums for independence?