This post continues from False Myth #6
False Myth #7 The Basque Region is the “Spanish Ulster”
This is one of the oldest lies and more widespread assumed false myths. The worse thing is that it is assumed by many international journalists. I am going to list just a few reasons why this doesn’t stand two seconds:
1- The Irish nationalists want to reunify a separated community; the Basques nationalists want to separate a community that has always been part of Spain
2- The Irish nationalists try to merge a territory, the Ulster, with a pre-existent state, the Republic of Ireland. The Basques nationalists try to separate a territory, the Basque region, of a state with many centuries of existence, to form another state that has never existed before.
3- In the XII century the English military conquered Ireland. In the XII century, the Basques, next to the rest of northern Christians, had been military conquering Spain during centuries
4- The English imposed in Ireland the authority of a foreign country. The Basques, together with other habitants of the north, above all the Cantabrians, originated the Kingdom of Castille
5- The Irish were 'colonized' by the English. The Basques have been privileged colonists of half of the world, like any other Castilian habitant.
6- Ireland was repopulated mainly with English Protestants. As the Reconquista advanced, the Basques, together with other inhabitants of the north of the peninsula, repopulated Castille and the rest of Spain, a good proof of this being the names you encounter all around the country.
7- In Ireland there are two religious communities confronted. The Irish had suffered prosecution due to their religion. The whole of Spain and France have always been Catholic. No conflict whatsoever here.
8- The Irish have been economically, socially, legally and politically left out during centuries, just for the fact of being Irish. The Basques have enjoyed important privileges, and have been part of the Spanish leaders family, for the fact of being Basque.
9- The Irish have been basic front-line quick-die soldiers in the British Armies. The Basques were during centuries a privileged tier in the Spanish army, until the creation in the XIX century of the obligatory military service
10- How many Irish have governed the United Kingdom? None. How many Basques have governed Spain? Countless….
11- The Irish had enlarged the ranks of the proletarians in a country dominated by the English economy 'exploitation'. In the Basque region not only there is not a foreign 'exploitation' of the local proletarians, but we could talk about certain periods where rather the opposite situation happened.
12- How many Irish died of hunger and illness in the XIX century? Many hundreds of thousands…And how many Basques suffered the same? None
13- How many Irish have had to emigrate along the history to avoid starving in their homeland? Millions. How many Basques had to do the same? None. Quite on the contrary, the Basque region has traditionally been a receptor of immigration due to its prosperity
14- Ireland has been maintained during centuries as a poor and underdeveloped land in the British Empire. The Basque Provinces have always enjoyed a notable richness and welfare. Even during the Franco years they led the GDP-per-capita rankings. Anyone my age will tell you about this being on the text books of EGB…..
15- The Irish were not very well considered in Great Britain, and in the Middle Age thousands of them were turned into slaves. On top of that in the modern age hundreds of them were deported to the English colonies in the Caribbean. How many Basques had become slaves or deported? None
16- The Irish conflict is a phenomenon of popular origin that was born many centuries ago, as much as last the British occupation. The Basque 'conflict' was born one century ago, in the imagination of Sabino Arana, the father of the Basque separatism.
17- There are not different religions in the Basque region and the rest of Spain
There you go, the plain truth, like it or not.
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The false myths behind the idea of a Basque Nation 7/10
basque country, basque politics, Batasuna, Spain, spanish politics | November 26, 2007
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2 Comments:
Mixing half-truths with plain sounding but outright confusing historical "facts" to derive self edifying pontifications about spain's own nationhood and pride at the price of lambasting the credibility of the Basques' homeland, linguistics, and or culture may trick and sway some feeble minds, my friend, and if that is your intent, you may well partially succeed.
However, if for a moment you can try to open your self described "far reaching liberal mind" to the few lines placed previously by an impartial chinese heritaged man of obvious superior intelligence to either yours or mine, and or by pondering the following:
Many of those who do consider themselves to be basque do not need to have royal blood lines nor compound basque sounding surnames to aid them with their clear connection to other basques and in fact, most realize that they are part of a greater homogenized world, and yet still see themselves as basque when asked about their origins. For proof see demographic responses for USA of such. Even though many of these respondents have been clearly separated from their basque roots for generations they still see themselves as basques, in fact, their emigrations to the new world being made much prior to Sabino Arana's own birth, which you seem to indicate as the birth of such "nationhood".
Fascinatingly, they participate in politics not only in Spain but in various other parts of the world as well, including: California, Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, Philippines, Chile, Argentina etc, sigh... with no apparent contradition to their own heritage much like Jews, or even Catholics might. A couple of them are even part of Spain's royal monarchy family even today as you may well know.
The point you make about Sabino Arana, and whether a cloth of three colors for a flag is not what basque spiritual connection to their ancestors is about, as you may think or need for your own spirited spanish nationalism. Its just basic symbolism, like many other countries, counties, provinces, soccer clubs have today, it is just not as relevant nor as important to us basques as you may think.
I am a basque who holds no ill will towards either Spaniards, Italians, Germans, nor French, for current nor past perceived aggressions (see Guernica), and see them both as merely neighbors with whom we need to treat with respect and endearment. As a liberal democrat myself, and perhaps even as open minded as you describe yourself to be, I see no conflict in letting democracy rule by allowing all peoples living in those seven tiny little provinces in question whether of basque heritage or not, decide their vinculation to this or that crown, something that apparently seems to scare the living shit out of you.
Chill! dear friend, go on and love your wife, and your three little children, and even your basque neighbors and use your precious time in your life to construct a more diversified world rather than to try to destroy the few remaining stone age languages left in this hemisphere, and the people who speak them.
Hi. you seem to be trapped in the same circle of melancholy very well described by many writers. When you mention half truths, just explain why you think they are not facts and let us discuss them.
I try always to be objective and debate around facts. Fellings belong to the individual, manipulable minds of people. Facts are harder to object. By the way, I am not precisely a monarchist.
The point I make about Sabino Arana is not about the anecdote of the flag, but rather about his fascist and racist teachings, about his views of the world based on the purity of the blood. Now, tell me about these facts.
Tell me as well about the fear of driving through San Sebastian and being threatened to death because your license plate shows you are from Madrid. Tell me about this fact, and do not tell me about Basques from Idaho that have heard nice little tales from their grandparents.
Speaking is free, objecting facts one by one is hard, that is why you do not do it
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