ABSTRACT
A look at the history of Spanish state and nation building is therefore necessary to understand why nationalism, as the key actor in Basque contentious politics, emerged in Spain and not in France. The “Basque conflict” became a synonym for “Basque violence” and when somebody engaged in a discussion about how to resolve the “Basque problem”, what really was at stake was the question of how to put an end to political violence. The Basques’ place in history changed again. Franco died in 1975 and a brief period of negotiated transition gave birth to a new Spanish democracy. The Basque contention was to emerge in the late 19th century, when a ethnic particularism was harnessed and transformed into a political claim-making platform by a nationalist movement which from its very beginnings evolved as a party-movement hybrid. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
