Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... The history of Breton nationalism goes back at least to 1914. ... Image File history File links Unbalanced_scales. ...

Situation before World War II

Before the occupation, Breton nationalists were split between regionalism, federalism, and separatism. Essentially these factions, though divided, remained insensitive and frankly hostile to democratic ideals. Among these groups, only the openly separatist Breton National Party remained organized; dissolved in 1939, it was rapidly reconstituted in the autumn of 1940 and became the most active political party in Brittany under the Occupation. Having broken in 1931 from regonalism, its founders (Olier Mordrel and François Debeauvais) were inspired by the Irish Revolution and played the nationalist card. When war broke out, the Breton National Party chose a position of strict neutrality. This party's ideas were anti-democratic and complacent towards xenophobia and antisemitism, influenced by German Celticism and close to all the varieties of European fascism. During the war the activism of the Breton National Party completely dominated the other branches of the Breton movement, who found themselves discredited. 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full year calendar). ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1931 calendar). ... Olier Mordrel (Breton language version of Olivier Mordrelle; 1901—1985, was born and died in Paris, France) was a Breton nationalist and fascist politician, also known as an architect, essayist, short story writer, and translator. ...

Collaboration with the Vichy regime

On 15 December 1940 a "petition" signed by 46 Bretons requesting "administrative autonomy" in the confines of a united France was sent to Philippe Pétain. On 22 January 1941, the Vichy government named Hervé Budes de Guébriant President of the National Commission for Agricultural Cooperation. The daily journal La Bretagne was created by Yann Fouéré on 21 March 1941. It took a regionalist point of view, opposed to the separatism of the Breton National Party. An appreciable number of Breton nationalists were also to be found in the Consultative Committee of Brittany, created on 11 October 1942 by Jean Quénette, prefect of the region of Brittany. "An organization of study and work," according to Yvonnig Gicquel, it did not wield any executive or decisive powers (against the wishes of the provincial parliament which conceived the adoption of the Breton regionalist doctrine). The will of its members (including members of the Breton National Party Yann Fouéré, Joseph Martray, etc.) was to transform this consultative committee into a true legislative assembly to tackle regional problems. Many of its members were to resurface when CELIB was created. Yann Fouéré, a member of the Consultative Committee incarnated the politics of collaboration, pressing on the Nazis to obtain an exceptional status for Brittany from the Vichy government. It should however be noted that identical approaches were made to de Gaulle's London-based organisation. Yann Fouéré was driven mainly by opportunism rather than belief in the values of the occupant. Philippe Petain Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Joseph Pétain (24 April 1856 – 23 July 1951), generally known as Philippe Pétain or Marshal Pétain, was a French general, later Head of State of Vichy France, from 1940 to 1944. ... Vichy France (French: now called Régime de Vichy or Vichy; called itself at the time État Français, or French State) was the French state of 1940-1944 which was a puppet government under Nazi influence, as opposed to the Free French Forces, based first in London and later... Collaboration is a process defined by the recursive interaction of knowledge[1] and mutual learning between two or more people working together[2] toward a common goal typically creative in nature. ... Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (  listen?) (November 22, 1890 – November 9, 1970), in France commonly referred to as le général de Gaulle, was a French military leader and statesman. ...

Collaboration with Germany

German politics

The work of Henri Fréville and Kristian Hamon have opened up this field for research. Three different periods can be considered.

Before 1939, Germany was trying to stop France and the United Kingdom from entering the war.

During the phony war, Germany planned to favor regionalist movements (particularly those of Flanders and Brittany) in order to undermine France. This was in revenge for the Treaty of Versailles) and to ensure that Germany remained the only Continental power, with no threats on its western border. As in Ireland in 1916 some weapons were delivered but never used. British Ministry of Home Security Poster of a type that was common during the Phony War The Phony War, or in Winston Churchills words the Twilight War, was a phase in early World War II marked by few military operations in Continental Europe, in the months following the German... Flanders (Dutch: ) has several main meanings: the social, cultural and linguistical, scientific and educational, economical and political community of the Flemings; generally called the Flemish community (others refer to this as the Flemish nation) which is, with over 6 million inhabitants, the majority of all Belgians; the constituent governing institution... The Treaty of Versailles (1919) was the peace treaty which officially ended World War I between the Allied and Associated Powers and Germany. ... 1916 (MCMXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar). ...

After the defeat of France a settlement was quickly made with the occupying power. The projects to undermine France were abandoned and the support for the nationalists disappeared (in particular it was formally forbidden to proclaim a Breton state or to harm public order). Moreover, the formal annexation of Alsace-Lorraine was never proclaimed. After the Conference of Montoire nationalist movements were simply tolerated (transport permits were given as well as authorizations for purchases of gasoline that soon meant little in practice), and German support went no further than preventing the Vichy regime from suppressing the nationalist movements.

Ideology

Bretons were not considered untermenschen (subhuman) by the Nazi racial theorists, as opposed to the Slavs, for example. Untermensch (German: subhuman) is a term from Nazi racial ideology. ... The Slavic peoples are the most numerous ethnic and linguistic body of peoples in Europe. ...

Strategic rationale

A main intention of the German occupiers was to break French national unity. Its support for Breton nationalism needs to be seen in this wider context which included other aspects, for example the division of France into the occupied zone and the Vichy zone. But Breton nationalists very soon realized that Germany was in practice trying to keep its friends in the Vichy government content and therefore refusing to give any priority at all to the Breton nationalist demands.

Breton National Party

Important members of the Breton National Party including Morvan Lebesque and Alan Heusaff began collaborating with the Germans to one degree or another. The example of Ireland, or even the ideal of an independent Brittany - continued to be their reference points. Recent studies have shown the close links that Breton separatist leaders such Célestin Lainé and Alan Louarn had with German military intelligence (the Abwehr), going back well before the war, to the 1920s. After the defeat of 1940 the Germans used these separatist agents in military operations or in repression against the Resistance. A short-lived breakaway faction of the Breton National Party, created in 1941, was the Mouvement Ouvrier Social-National Breton (Breton National-Socialist Workers Movement) led by Théophile Jeusset. Alan Heusaff (1921-1999), nationalist and Breton linguist. ... Célestin Lainé (1908-1983), was a Breton nationalist involved in the Nazi reich, for the creation of an independent Breton state. ... The Abwehr was a German intelligence organization from 1921 to 1944. ... Founded in 1941 by Théophile Jeusset, the Mouvement Ouvrier Social-National Breton (French, Social-National Breton Workers Movement) emerged in Brittany from a deviationist faction of the Breton National Party; it disappeared the same year. ...

Brezona

At the end of 1940, Job Loyant — along with Kalondan, André Lajat, and Yves Favreul-Ronarc'h, a former leader of the Breton National Party in Loire-Atlantique — developed the doctrine of the Brezona movement: supremacy of the Breton race, formation of a national community, and government by the elite. This movement was to have but a brief existence. To prevent a possible takeover of the BNP by this splinter group, Yann Goulet appeared at Nantes to pronounce the excommunication of the Brezona "deviationists." With his revolver in plain sight on the hip of the black uniform he wore as chief of the Youth Organizations, he left no doubt as to his intentions. The Nantes PNB meeting, at which the Brezona movement had hoped to take control, took place without incident. This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Loire-Atlantique (formerly Loire-Inférieure) is a department on the west coast of France named after the Loire River and the Atlantic Ocean. ... Yann Goulet, or Yann Renard-Goulet(August 20, 1914 in Saint-Nazaire -1999 in Bray, near Dublin, Ireland) was a Breton nationalist and Irish sculptor. ... Traditional city flag City coat of arms Motto: (Latin: Shall Neptune favour the traveller) Coordinates : , Time Zone : CET (GMT +1) Administration Département Loire-Atlantique (44) Région Pays-de-la-Loire Mayor Jean-Marc Ayrault (PS) (since 1989) Intercommunality Urban Community of Nantes City (commune) Characteristics Land Area 65. ...

Bezen Perrot

Main article: Bezen Perrot

A number of Breton nationalists made a dramatic choice, choosing to join a German militia: the Bezen Perrot organization, led by Célestin Lainé and Alan Heusaff. As many as 70 to 80 people joined its ranks at one point or another, with typically 30 to 66 at any one time depending on recruiting and defection. At the end of the war a handful of Breton militants decided to ask for German support in the face of the assassination of several leading figures of the Breton cultural movment, such as Abbot Perrot. Having originally been named Bezen Kadoudal, the 1944 assassination of the priest prompted Lainé to give his name to the organization in March 1944. Célestin Lainé (1908-1983), was a Breton nationalist involved in the Nazi reich, for the creation of an independent Breton state. ... Alan Heusaff (1921-1999), nationalist and Breton linguist. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ...

Strolladoù Stourm

The Strolladoù Stourm or bagadou stourm, led by Yann Goulet and Alan Louarn, was the armed wing of the Breton National Party. A handful of their members took part in a confrontation with the population of Landivisiau, on August 7, 1943. Yann Goulet, their leader, forbade participation in Bezen Perrot. August 7 is the 219th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (220th in leap years), with 146 days remaining. ... 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1943 calendar). ...

Landerneau Kommando

By April 1943, the Gestapo had created specific units to combat the French Resistance. Formed at the end of April 1944 in Landerneau, the Landerneau Kommando took part in these units. It was composed of 18 German soldiers and ten French agents (some of whom were Breton separatists as well as former Resistance members). They fought against the maquis (rural French Resistance units) of Trégarantec, Rosnoen, and Ploumordien. Several Resistance members were tortured, and the Kommando also summarily executed some prisoners. 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1943 calendar). ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... Kommando is a generic German language word meaning unit or command. ... Maquis is a type of high ground in southeastern France]] covered with scrub growth. ...

Standpoint of the Breton nationalists

The Breton separatists (Adsav) argued against taking a simplistic black-and-white view. Nor did they want to minimise the repressive nature of the Vichy regime and the attacks by the communists. The cultural activists (who were rarely political activists) thus paid a heavy cost for their love of Breton language and culture.

After the war, several communist Resistance members regretted these reprisals and spoke out publicly against them. When American troops arrived in 1944, communist maquis members began their repressive actions. Madame Du Guerny, the Breton historian who worked under the name Danio, was beaten to death along with her brother-in-law, Commander Le Minthier, the Tastevint brothers were emasculated, and the Maubré sisters and their brother were savagely murdered in Morbihan. This cultural "cleansing" was firmly condemned by the British parliament after some Welsh members questioned this deliberate identification of defence of Breton culture with collaboration with the Nazis. 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... Morbihan is a département in the northwest of France named after the Morbihan (small sea in Breton), the enclosed sea that is the principal feature of the coastline. ...

The BNP, dissolved along with the French Communist Party in 1939, no longer legally existed. Its activists were hunted down and not distinguished from the Breton militants who wore the symbol of the dukes of Brittany ("ermine-trimmed berets"). Many were deported to concentration camps; notably at the Camp Marguerite in Rennes where 300 women and children from Alsace were starved to death for "national socialist" sympathies. The Breton nationalists sought to defend the fact that their widespread image as an overtly fascist, even Nazi, movement had nothing to do with the actual political backgrounds of their activists, as varied as the Action française (royalist), the SFIO (socialist), the PAB (Breton Separatist Party), or the French Communist Party. Moreover, Yann Goulet received financial and public backing from several communist militants at the time of the Liberation. Other militants accused of collaboration demonstrated to the courts that they had protected Jewish families during the occupation (Alan Eon-Yann Goulet). This does not cite its references or sources. ... The Action Française is a French Monarchist movement and periodical founded by Maurice Pujo and Henri Vaugeois and whose principal ideologist was Charles Maurras. ... Sfio, or Safe/Fast I/O, is an I/O library developed by AT&T Research, with several improvements over the ANSI C stdio library. ... The Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters, commonly referred to as PAB, represents radio and television broadcasters across the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. ... Yann Goulet, or Yann Renard-Goulet(August 20, 1914 in Saint-Nazaire -1999 in Bray, near Dublin, Ireland) was a Breton nationalist and Irish sculptor. ...

Actions by the Resistance

Several Breton nationalists were assassinated by the Resistance in 1943. The best known was Abbot Perrot, killed on 12 December 1943 by Jean Thépaut, a member of the Communist Resistance. Earlier, on the 3 September, Yann Bricler had been shot in his office by three FTP members, and similarly Yves Kerhoas was killed by the Resistance when leaving a fete in the village of Plouvenez.

The view of historians

After France was liberated, both officialdom and the people of Brittany fell into a "panic-memory", overestimating the danger that the Breton National Party would attempt to start an insurrection. In spite of this, it was as collaborators that the PNB members were punished, and even then it was by no means all those members that were affected. About 15 to 16 per cent of PNB members appeared in court, and few non-member sympathisers were prosecuted. There was no mass suppression as claimed in post-war separatist propaganda. However, after the war, many Breton nationalist activists were forbidden to live in Brittany, and therefore turned up in the Paris suburbs, or went into exile.

Involvement in the Resistance

Several leading Breton activists - regionalists, federalists and separatists - joined the Resistance against the occupation. They had various motivations:

Sao Breiz

As early as 1940 some joined Sao Breiz, the Breton wing of the France Libre (Free French). This included several members of the Union Régionaliste Bretonne (Breton Regionalist Union) and the association Ar brezoneg er skol, founded before the war by Yann Fouéré. M.de Cadenet, a member of the latter group, and some of his associates wrote a draft statute, presented to General de Gaulle which would have given Brittany a number of political freedoms after the return of peace. According to Yann Fouéré, this plan was close in spirit to the one that the Breton Consultative Committee wanted to submit in 1943 to Marshal Petain. Neither of these two plans resulted in anything. Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (  listen?) (November 22, 1890 – November 9, 1970), in France commonly referred to as le général de Gaulle, was a French military leader and statesman. ...

Joining underground organisations

Activists like Francis Gourvil, Youenn Souffes-Després and Jean Le Maho had before the war been members of minority separatist or federalist movements such as the Parti Autonomiste Breton (PAB) or the Ligue fédéraliste de Bretagne. These organisations were always clearly anti-fascist and critical of the extreme right. This led their members direclty into the underground Resistance. Others joined the Resistance as individuals and after the war restarted their involvement in Breton nationalism. The action of a few members of Bezen Perrot has often concealed a very different reality, for example the members of Bagadou Stourm who founded the Forces Bretonnes de l'Intérieur (Breton Forces of the Interior, a Breton wing of de Gaulle's French Forces of the Interior), and were deported to Buchenwald. Slave laborers in the Buchenwald concentration camp (Elie Wiesel is second row, seventh from left). ...

Liberty Group

For other groups, such as the Liberty Group of Saint-Nazaire (composed of young former members of Bagadoù stourm), pro-British feeling was the determining factor in pushing them to ally themselves with the Resistance. The Liberty Group, under the name of Bataillon de la Poche ("Pocket Batallion"), helped to liberate Saint-Nazaire from a pocket of German holdouts in May 1945. Saint-Nazaire is also a commune of the Gard département of France. ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday. ...

Breton nationalists linked to the London-based leadership of the Resistance

• The painter René-Yves Creston, despite his affiliation with l'Heure Bretonne (a Breton nationalist newspaper), was affiliated with the Resistance network of the Musée de l'Homme. It seems that in October 1940, he received via Yann Fouéré a memo destined for London concerning Breton autonomy (to be continued by the Comité Consultatif de Bretagne), with a short preface specifying the origins of the "Breton question."

• In 1940, the pro-Nazi Olier Mordrel covertly sent Henri Le Helloco on a mission to England (via the channels of the Resistance) in order to convince the leadership of the Resistance of the "Allied leanings" of the Breton movement. This effort went no further because of the death of Helloco, and the reaction of the Nazi-allied PNB.

The Musée de lHomme (French for Museum of Man) was created in 1937 by Paul Rivet, for the event of the Worlds Fair. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Yann Fouéré (born on 26 July 1910 in Aignan (Gers), Brittany was a Breton nationalist. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Olier Mordrel (Breton language version of Olivier Mordrelle; 1901—1985, was born and died in Paris, France) was a Breton nationalist and fascist politician, also known as an architect, essayist, short story writer, and translator. ...

See also

• Breton nationalism