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| Capital | Donostia | ||||||
| Largest city | Vitoria-Gasteiz, Biarritz (tied) | ||||||
| Other cities | Bayonne, Santurtzi, Irun | ||||||
| Language official |
Euskara, French, Spanish | ||||||
| others | Aragonese, Asturian | ||||||
| Religion | Catholicism, athiesm | ||||||
| Government | Parliamentary republic | ||||||
| Lehendakari | Laura Mintegi | ||||||
| Area | 21,440 km km² | ||||||
| Population | 720,000 | ||||||
| Established | 1983 | ||||||
| Currency | Basque Peseta | ||||||
The Euskaldunon Herri Askea (French:Pays-Libres des Basques Spanish: País-Libre Vasco), commonly referred to as Euskadi, is an independent Basque state in the western Pyrenees that spans the border between France and Spain on the Atlantic coast. It comprises much of the former Spanish Autonomous Communities of the Basque Country and Navarre, along with the Northern Basque Country region of former France. Over the centuries, elements from both Spanish and French culture (including the respective languages) have been a major influence in the respective parts of the region's culture. The region is the homeland of the Basque people (Basque: Euskaldunak), their language (Basque: Euskara), culture, and traditions. It gained its independence shortly after Doomsday.
History[]
The Basque Country is home to one of the oldest continuous cultures in Europe, being indigenous to the Pyrenees since before the Ice Age. In successive centuries, it would battle the Celts, Romans, Visigoths, and later the Carolingians and Andalusians for control of their homeland. 19th century writer and activist Sabin Arana would be considered the "father of Basque nationalism" and the first to coin the Basque term "Euskadi" to refer to a future independent state that would control the Basque homeland. After decades of cultural repression under the Franco regime, the Spanish Basque Country had finally begun to recover, saving its millennia-old language by securing its place in the classroom. However, Euskadi would face its greatest challenge for its right to survive in the days after Doomsday.
Doomsday[]
As Spain had only recently joined NATO, the breadth of strikes which impacted it was less compared to other Western European nations. Nevertheless, a single nuclear missile fell on Bilbao, devastating the province of Biscay and much of the areas around Cantabria, Alava and Guipuzcoa. The French half would be thrown into chaos with the destruction of Bordeaux, forcing the smaller departamental authorities in former Aquitaine to coordinate relief efforts on their own accord. However, the Basque Country enjoyed a small respite from the fallout storms that wracked the rest of the Northern Hemispshere. Because of the mountainous topography of the territory, and there only being two strikes themselves in Northern Iberia, the effects of the Doomsday were slightly attenuated. Because the autonomous Basque government had its headquarters in Vitoria-Gasteiz was saved from the explosion, they too were able to keep functioning despite the destruction of Bilbao and Madrid. But because of the fallout blowing north from the strikes on Madrid as well as that of Bilbao, most of the northern coast of the Basque Country was rendered uninhabitable, which forced the Basque Government to evacuate most of its citizens to Navarre and La Rioja.
Meanwhile, in Pamplona and Logroño, local emergency councils were formed, as the local governments were faced with an influx of Basque separatists. With the help of the emigrants the ETA took power by force and proclaimed the union of Navarre (now Nafarroa) and La Rioja (now Herri-Otxa) to Euskadi and drove the "Loyalists" to Tudela and Calahorra, where they reorganized new governments in exile. Pamplona, renamed Iruñea became for a few months new Capital of the Basque Government.
Independentzi Gerra[]
Seeking to take advantage of the power vacuum that followed Doomsday, the Euskadi Ta Askatasuna or ETA took over various functions of governance in the countryside alongside Carlos Garaikoetxea, the Lehendakari at the time. What the Basques call the Independentzi Gerra (Independence War) was a confusing series of wars fought on many fronts and against multiple opponents. These include the three merciless wars against the Iberian Confederation, known as "Vasconadas", fought in Navarre and La Rioja, the "Wars of France", fought for the French Basque region, which was by contrast fairly bloodless and episodic, securing the major Basque city of Biarritz for Euskadi. Weakened remnants of the French State and military attempted to coordinate from Le Mans, although spotty communications and aggressive hit-and-run attacks by ETA saw the remaining French forces in the southwest retreat to as high as Poitou. The final Independence War was fought first against the Junta Suprema de Coordinación and then against the government Fascist-Phalangist of Burgos, also called "Guerra Larga".
The Iberian counteroffensive in 1985 forced a further move of the government, this time to Biarritz on the former French side of the Basque Country. In 1986 Basque militia regained Pamplona and Tafalla, the Basque government judged that the situation was too unstable to return to Pamplona and decided to stay in Biarritz.
From 1991 to 1997 the third war against the Iberian Confederacy, called commonly "Guerra del Chupinazo" in that Euskadi lost again Tafalla and the territories south of the river Ebro.
A New Generation[]
At the dawn of the new millennium, the first generation of Basques to be born after Doomsday came into adulthood. Between the destruction of the predominantly Spanish-speaking Bilbao and western fringes and the loss of the Spanish-portions of Navarro and the departure of the French military from the French Basque Country, this was the first generation in centuries to have a slight majority fully raised in the Basque language. Surviving regional branches of the Euskaltzaindia worked with the governing coalition to develop school curriculums (a task at which it was only in its first few years prior to Doomsday), public service announcements, and other media; the re-inforcement of the Basque language had also helped in maintaining operation security against the predominantly Spanish and Catalan-speaking forces of its enemies in the Iberian Confederation, especially when additional codes were developed. Another curious development apparent by the 21st century was the shift of the center of social gravity away from the west of the formerly Spanish Basque Country and east into Donostia (formerly San Sebastian), Biarritz and towns further east in the French Basque lands.
A cliffside hermitage off the coast of Bermeo.
Treaty of Biarritz[]
During the War of the Alboran Sea, the Basques agreed to host and mediate peace talks, extracting at the same time formal recognitions of Basque independence from both of the rival Spanish governments. Delegates met early in 2005 in Biarritz, on the former French side of the border. Meanwhile the coalition partners continued to amass naval and ground forces in the Atlantic islands to keep pressure up.
The Biarritz talks made little progress, with neither side willing to budge on the issue of controlling the Balearics. In April, hostilities resumed. Rif launched an overland campaign to control the African side of the strait, an area where the Sicilians and Spanish nationalists had occupied some points in an area where neither of the rival Moroccan governments had secure control. The Atlantic coalition simultaneously sent a naval operation to establish a beachhead south of Tangier that could resupply the Riffians. This operation drew some of the enemy ships into the open sea, whereupon more coalition ships engaged them. Sicilian losses mounted until they were no longer able to block the Strait. An Atlantic fleet sailed in to reinforce Rif and Melilla.
Major combat again took a pause as talks resumed in Biarritz, and the warring sides reached the same impasse over control of the Balearic Islands. When the Atlantic coalition began a new campaign in 2006, it clearly had the superior navy. The Atlantic coalition lacked the strength to pursue the war further either on the Spanish mainland or in Italy, so in 2007 the cease-fire became a permanent peace, signed in Biarritz by all belligerent nations and the long-suffering Basque mediators. Sicily's authority over both Sardinia and Tripolitania was recognized, while all sides recognized the Balearic Islands as a permanent part of País de Oro.
Present Day[]
In 2021, The Basque Free Country would move its capital to the eastern suburbs of the coastal city of Donostia, at the site of the former airport, around which a brand new capital municipality was constructed. This is done in an attempt to "centralize" the two halves of the Basque Country as well as further insulate its political leaders from the risks posed by armed Iberian outfits to the south.
Laura Mintegi, known for chairing the committee behind post-independence Basque school curriculums. Lehendakari Euskara (Head of State) since 2020.
Politics[]
Ajuria Enea palace, residence of the Lehendakari (Basque prime minister). Vitoria-Gasteiz.
The Basque territory is administered by the Basque Parliament and the seven Diputaciones Forales or Foru Aldundiak (Deputation or Provincial councils). It is a federal republic under the Basque Government or Eusko Jaurlaritza.
Provinces[]
Euskadi is comprised of 8 provinces, each retaining their own local government, or diputación- Gipuzkoa, Araba, Bizkaia, Nafarroa, Lapurdi, Baxenafarre, Zuberoa, and Bizkaia/Vizcaya.
Bizkaia was under a "Temporary Special Regime" until 2013, as most of the province was forcibly evacuated of people for the devastation caused by the bomb exploded in Bilbao (as well as later impressments to fight against the Iberian Confederation); Alava and Guipuzcoa were also subject to Temporary Special Regimes for the rest of the later 20th century. Navarre retains its own laws based on customs and the Spanish civil code, the three French provinces have laws based on French civil code. La Rioja (Herri Otxa), during its occupation by the Basques did not form a diputación but rather remained a protectorate territory.
The primitive Basque parliament or Eusko Legebiltzarra consisted in 75 members, 25 from each of the three provinces, acted after 1983 in roles as emergency Assembly. With the addition of Navarre, several members from that province was incorporated. In 1990 internal differences within the government of National Unity (formed by PNV, HB and other parties) forced the calling of elections, who won the Euskadiko Alderdi Sozialista or Basque Socialist Party. With the fading recentcy of Basque national realization, more general ideological parties have emerged. As of 2024, the Basque Socialist Party governs in a coalition with several smaller leftist and center parties.
The former site of the Eusko Legebiltzarra in Vitoria-Gasteiz.
Culture[]
With the destruction of Cannes, the Donostia Zinemaldia (San Sebastián International Film Festival to foreign audiences) has emerged as the pre-eminent film festival in Western Europe. Other festivals, such as the yearly Monaco ArtExpo and Corsican Fête de Film have also emerged, attracting related circles. Basque film culture has become renown in the post-Doomsday cultural landscape, with films in Euaskara, Spanish and French being one of its most popular (and profitable) exports. In European film culture, it is rivalled only by those of Nice-Monaco.
Euskadi remains a "country of youth", with the median Basque being several years younger than their counterparts in neighboring French or Iberian states. The walls of many coastal cities are adorned with impromptu murals and graffiti from the now-aged "vagabond generation" of those who were teenagers in the 90s and early 2000s, born after the shuttering of prior schools and before the opportunities opened by recovering trades.
Donostia houses a Museum of Film, showcasing the rich history of Basque filmmaking both before and after the war
Education[]
With the destruction of Bilbao, the basic education has been based on the ikastolas. Those schools, which are located on all Basque towns, are important to avoid a huge illiteracy, with classes on Basque and Spanish/French, for refugees. Along those schools, there´s the Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (EHU, the University of the Basque Country), that haves 3 Campus: Gipuzkoa Campus (in San Sebastián and Eibar), and Álava Campus in Vitoria-Gasteiz, and the Universidad de Navarra.
Military[]
The foundational core of the Basque Military, called Eusko Gudarostea was the previously Spanish Brigada de Infantería Ligera «San Marcial» V, mostly from the Regimiento de Cazadores de Montaña of the Tercio Viejo de Sicilia, some troops on the Acuartelamiento Loyola (in San Sebastián), the Regimiento de Infantería "América" n.º 66 (located on Aizoáin, Navarre), the Batallón de Infantería Ligera «Flandes» IV/45 (and with some tanks and vehicles) from the Base Militar de Araca in Vitoria, and former members of ETA which after September 1983 banded together with other volunteers of the Ertzainza (regional police) and the Guardia Civil to help refugees during the chaos after Doomsday,
On the former French Basque Country, the Iparretarrak (meaning "the Northerners" in Basque), commonly known as IK, a Basque nationalist paramilitary organization, joined the Eusko Gudarostea after the unification of the seven Basque provinces. Members of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques gendarmerie that didn't flee to Andorra, the Poitevine Republic or other former French territories joined the military, or found work as mercenaries in the region.
International Relations[]
The Basque Country, initially wary of a world order which retained elements of the offending powers of Doomsday, is now a full and a participating member of the League of Nations. Although it is not a member of the Atlantic Defense Community. In 2004 the government of Spains predecessor, Pais del Oro, officially recognized Galicia, Asturias and the Basque Country, after diplomatic pressure from Portugal, the SAC and the Celtic Alliance, but maintained their claims on the rest of the peninsula. The Basque State and the Republic of Spain maintain a full diplomatic relations today, with embassies in Palma de Mallorca and Biarritz.
Land Dispute With the Poitevine Republic[]
Euskadi claims much of what in antiquity was known as Aquitania, with many Basque nationals having crops or herds of animals in pockets of the vast abandoned expanse of the southwest of France. However, this claim is disputed by La République Poitevine, who controls the territory north of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department. The République rules the territory both de facto and de jure, and claims of the Basques are viewed by other French survivor states as baseless.
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