Late 19th century History of the Basques

memorial erected in pamplona traditional laws of navarre (1903): we, basques of today, in memory of our eternal ancestors, have gathered here show our determination keep our laws



antoine d abbadie s castle in hendaye

the loss of charters in 1876 spawned political dissent , unrest, 2 traditionalist movements arising counter spanish centralist , comparatively liberal stance, carlists , basque nationalists. former emphasized staunchly catholic , absolutist values, while latter stressed catholicism , charters mingled basque national awareness (jaungoikoa eta lege zarra). besides showing @ beginning different positions, basque nationalists took hold in industrialised biscay , lesser extent gipuzkoa, while carlist entrenched in rural navarre , lesser extent in Álava.

with regards economic activity, high quality iron ore western biscay, processed 19th century in small traditional ironworks around western basque country, exported britain industrial processing (see section above). between 1878 , 1900 58 million tons of ore exported basque country great britain. profits gained in exportation in turn reinvested local entrepreneurs in iron , steel industry, move spurring industrial revolution spread bilbao , basque country across spain, despite economic incompetence shown spanish central government.

following economic developments started in mid-19th century , given momentum of spanish internal market after end of fueros, biscay developed own modern blast furnaces , heavier mining, while industrialization took off in gipuzkoa. large numbers of workers both required drawn basque countryside , peasantry of nearby castile , rioja, increasingly immigration began flow remoter impoverished regions of galicia , andalusia. basque country, hitherto source of emigrants france, spain , america, faced first time in recent history prospect of massive influx of foreigners possessing different languages , cultures side-effect of industrialisation. of these immigrants spoke spanish; practically poor.

the french railway arrived @ hendaye (hendaia) in 1864, connecting madrid , paris. railway provision basque coast entailed not more fluent freight shipping, quicker expansion of seaside spa model of biarritz donostia, providing steady flow of tourists, elitist first , middle class later—especially madrid. not that, regular immigration of administration , customs officials french , spanish heartlands ensued, ignorant of local culture , reluctant, hostile basque language. however, meanwhile, prominent figures concerned decay of basque culture started promote initiatives aimed @ enhancing status , development, e.g. renowned antoine d abbadie, major driving force behind lore jokoak literary , cultural festivals, liberal donostia becoming vibrant hotspot basque culture, featuring figures such serafin baroja, poet-troubadour bilintx, or play-writer ramon maria labaien.

in period, biscay reached 1 of highest mortality rates in europe. while new proletariat s wretched working , living conditions providing natural breeding ground new socialist , anarchist ideologies , political movements characteristic of late 19th century, end of 19th century saw birth of above basque nationalism. spanish government s failure comply provisions established @ end of third carlist war (1876) , before (the 1841 compromise act in navarre) raised public outcry, crystallizing in gamazada popular uprising in navarre (1893-1894) provided springboard incipient basque nationalism—basque nationalist party founded in 1895.

the pnv, pursuing goal of independence or self-government basque state (euzkadi), represented ideology combined christian-democratic ideas abhorrence towards spanish immigrants whom perceived threat ethnic, cultural , linguistic integrity of basque race while serving channel importation of new-fangled, leftist (and un-basque ) ideas.