Diogo Noivo: Autoritarismo, identidade e terror: as causas da violência etarra

Abstract

Francoist authoritarianism is often presented as the root cause of Basque terrorism. The inexistence of mechanisms of political participation along with the regime’s purported intention to obliterate Basque culture and dilute local ethnicity through specific and targeted repression mechanisms are usually pinpointed as the key incentives to the emergence of the organization Euskadi ta Askatasuna (ETA). This article challenges that assumption through the political and historiographical examination of ETA’s inception, to then identify the precipitants, preconditions and permissive factor that did influence the use of political violence by the organization.