Essay

The Basque region is in the northern part of Spain and Southern France. The Basque language is completely different from any other language. Neither the language nor physical characteristics of the people are comparable to any other culture, and not similar to French or Spanish. The Basque people are mostly in Northern Spain and therefore are perceived for the most part, as a part of Spain. In 1492 when the Catholic monarchies led the conquest of Spain, they found that the Basque had a completely separate culture from the Spanish. Because of this they allowed them political autonomy and rights to protect their culture. In 1876 the Spanish government abolished these. This was the start of the Basque Nationalist Party, whose goal was to preserve the rights of the Basque people. Because the Spanish took their rights away, it created negativity between them starting in the 1800’s. Then in 1939 Francisco Franco came to power in Spain. Under Franco, the Basque people suffered great losses of their rights. They were banned from the use of their language and other cultural practices. While Franco was in power the new Basque nationalist group was formed. University students founded the ETA (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna) in 1959. ETA stands for Basque fatherland and liberty. These students did not believe that the Basque Nationalist party was doing enough. They saw their people suffering under Franco and wanted more to be done. They started by using small amounts of violence to get the

A section on the north east of Spain known as Catalonia has been wanting to become independent and have their own country. Catalonia has its own government and is a wealthy region that pays more taxes to Spain than it gets back from the Government.

As mentioned earlier, during Franco’s dictatorship, Catalan was banned with very strict penalties if used for both public and private use. However, once democracy was established again in the country, Catalan went back to be the co-official language along with Spanish. Nowadays, there is approximately 9.5 million Catalan speakers, and about 4.2 million are native speakers, which makes Catalan be the second most commonly spoken native language in Spain, after Spanish.

It may have begun in the late 1800s to early 1900s and become strong in Picasso’s time, but it still runs deep for the locals. But, a major difference from Picasso’s Barcelona is that Catalan nationalism is not necessarily used for resistance as much; there are no “lines drawn between Catalan nationalist[s]” (Kaplan 8) and the others. It seems, to me, to be more like Catalan pride because I have seen the Catalan flag dangling from balconies all over the city. Similar to Picasso’s Barcelona, the Catalan language plays an important role in Barcelona’s culture. Today, I encounter people speaking Spanish; however, most things are written in three languages: Catalan, Spanish, and English (in that order). The nationalism may not be as severe as it was during Picasso’s Barcelona, but it still

From 1469-1516, the King of Aragon, and the Queen of Castile were married. They ruled their kingdoms in union, yet each kingdom kept its own parliament, and constitutions. 100 years later, when King Philip IV ruled the Franco-Spanish war had begun, this put a huge strain on Spain resources. The king’s union of arms caused a major uproar in Catalonia because they were being forced to house Castilian troops. This was evidently the cause of multiple Catalan revolts, and a still ongoing conflict. In 1975, Catalonia adopted the Spanish Constitution, in order for them to gain back their autonomy. Due to the fact that Catalonia decided to adopt the Spanish Constitution, they are not allowed to secede from Spain. In light of this, Catalans are still

In the modern European Union, lies an ancient culture and language unrelated to the dominant cultures around it. These are the Basques who have struggled to retain their customs through invasions and cultural repression. The territory which they call home is a small but powerful force within Spain. Spanish ideologies exerted upon them in recent memory have put a damper on Basque cultural practices and language, but out of this came Basque nationalism. The means used by Basque nationalists to gain independence are sometimes questionable and violent, and have had an impact on the economic health of the region. The Basque Country gained autonomy in the Spanish Constitution of 1978, but many feel that autonomy doesn’t go far enough.

The humiliating defeat of Spain to America during the Spanish-American War of 1898 dealt a catastrophic blow to the Spanish nation. In the subsequent Treaty of Paris signed on December 10th 1898, Spain relinquished its remaining colonial territories in the Caribbean and the Pacific. The disaster evoked heavy criticism of the Restoration government and its inherent corruption amongst many groups within Spanish society and served as a catalyst for the emergence of new political forces seeking to contest against the ruling oligarchy, most notably Catalan and Basque nationalism. This essay will argue that the disaster of 1898 was largely accountable

Catalonia was an independent region of the Iberian Peninsula – modern day Spain and Portugal – with its own language, laws and customs.

In order to understand why Catalans want to leave Spain, and become their own country, it is important to know their history. To learn that Catalonia already was an independent nation in the past; a nation that was forced to surrender to a bigger enemy, a nation that was prohibited to talk their own language and denied their own traditions, a nation that just wants their independence back.

The Spanish government is claiming that the secession vote is actually unconstitutional and thus, they have the authority to do such drastic measures. They “confiscated” over ten million unfilled ballot papers and arrested 13 officials, including the secretary general of economic affairs for Catalonia (Rolfe and McAuley). Because of this Catalonia retaliated by putting the ballot online for voters to print out and take to the polls themselves. They have also used “stopgap measures” such as supervising payments in Catalonia to make sure that no government money is used for the vote. They also delayed the vote on the 2018 Spanish budget potentially in order to free up more money to give to Catalonia to make them give up the referendum. In order to halt proceedings, the Spanish Interior Ministry even sent four ships with 4,000 police to three different ports in Catalonia to prevent the vote. Moreover, as actions by both governments and citizens have escalated tensions between both sides have flared resulting in open protests. Critics of Catalonia question whether the vote is just because it does not have the approval of the Spanish government, unlike how the Scottish referendum in 2014 had the British government’s full approval. Also, they accuse the Catalonia government of misleading its people and creating the standoff with the Spanish government. On the other

Catalonia, the Northeastern region of Spain, is engaged in a true and realistic conflict over gaining sovereignty and independence from Spain. This conflict, which is rooted in Catalonian nationalism, has been ongoing for years and has evolved significantly over time (Alexander, 2014). Since the conquering of Catalonia many centuries ago, the Catalonian people have worked resiliently to resist the loss of their language and culture by struggling against assimilating to the common cultures, laws, and language of its conqueror (Alexander, 2014). Throughout Spanish history, Catalonia has employed different methods in achieving their goal of independence from Spain. The manifestation of this conflict has taken the form of protests, laws, political parties, and certain acts of violence which indicates the severity of it, the passion of its participants, and provides concrete evidence that this conflict not only exists but is highly prevalent in Spanish history.

For starters, the cost/benefit ratio was not applied to the situation in Catalonia by the Spanish government. Critically, it is the use of force between states that Zacher seems to be referring to in his argument. The use of force and suppression, despite being denounced by other European leaders, shows that to maintain control of the state of Spain, the central government was willing to use violence. Under the first pillar, economic conditions and the high cost of conflict would deter the state. Despite these predictions made by Zacher, force was still resorted to and conflict exists. This seems unordinary due to the economic powerhouse that Catalonia is. Catalonia accounts for 1/5th of Spain’s economy and leads all regions in producing 25% of the country’s exports. Furthermore, the fourth pillar was challenged because Zacher states, with an increasing amount of information flow there will be an increase in economic interdependence, and cultural distinctiveness. Thus, the Westphalian state should be at a decline. However, as seen in the situation with Catalonia, with the spread of culture and economic prosperity, the demands for a state have been on the rise. In 2014 there was a turnout of under 50% and 80% voted for independence, and in 2017 there was a turnout greater than 50% and 90% voted for independence. Lastly, his final pillar, the decay of cultural, political and economic heterogeneity that makes the

Catalonia is one of Spain’s richest regions and has very different cultural value and languages than the other regions in Spain. Since 2010, the Catalonia region has been gaining momentum to split apart

9), with most of its constitutional meetings held there. This gives a basic concept of how vibrant and high profile the Catalan nation was. The Catalans are so passionate about their identity that in 1640 they rebelled against increasing centralisation from Castile but was sadly defeated and resulted on the loss of one-fifth of their population. This was probably the first indication of them operating within the realms of secessionism, and just was mentioned before the outcome ended in war. Even though Catalans continued to thrive higher and remain true to who they are unfortunate events continued to arise. The biggest upheaval was when forty-five years of the 20th century was governed under military dictatorship. More severely under Francine Franco’s infamous dictatorship which attempted to eliminate and supress Catalan identity and culture by giving rise to western cultures. From a devolution sate to what should have been a democracy under Franco, Catalonian ethnicity was going through rapid erosion. This is the period in which eurocentrism was being spread through the rapid influence of industrialisation and modernisation. As previously mentioned, Catalonia has always upheld its rich culture and has been an independent state for a long time operating under its own government. In the light of this it is important to understand that the

Conversely, territoriality is an elaborated action and it is rational. A territory is a defined space, something that can be measured. As a rational action, it does not have to be defined by geographical features, the human can divide a territory by other means like by satellite coordinates, fences, walls, etc. In Spain, the different territories that shape the state have not geographical features to define them. In essence, they are divided based on political principles. The founding fathers of the modern Spain in 1975 had an intention when divided the nation in seventeen autonomous territories. Whether they did a good or bad job is a question that is hard to answer and there is always a personal or biased component when analyzing it. Nevertheless, the fact that they divided the nation in seventeen autonomous Communities or states is a fact. Consequently, the main objective of this essay is to discuss the territorial tendencies that enhance the Catalan nationalist project and its imagined community; and eventually a new nation. To explain the Spanish territoriality division the book of David Sack “human territoriality” is key.