Breton Revolutionary Army

Breton Revolutionary Army The Breton Revolutionary Army (French: Armée Ré- approximately 200 terrorist acts on foreign soil, both in- volutionnaire Bretonne, ARB), is an illegal armed orga- side and outside Brittany.[2] nization that is part of the Breton nationalism movement The ARB, unlike its Corsican (FLNC) and Basque (ETA) in the Brittany region of France. counterparts, does not seek to achieve human casualties. This is a view shared across the entire Breton political spectrum and especially by the Breton people who, until 1 Origins of the conflict the attack on a McDonald’s in 2000, during which an employee was killed, have tolerated the actions of the sep- aratist movement. Until the 2000 attack, only two ca- Until the end of the 15th century, Brittany had managed sualties (two ARB members were killed when trying to to remain independent vis-à-vis its French and English defuse their own bombs that they thought would injure neighbours.[1] In December 1491, however, after two someone) had resulted from their attacks. Nevertheless, consecutive civil wars opposing the French Crown to an considerable property damage has been inflicted as a re- alliance of French Princes (among them Brittany) and sult of these attacks.[2] foreign powers, the latter were defeated and the young Breton duchess, Anne, was married to the young King The frequency of attacks increased between 1993 and Charles VIII, thereby tying Brittany to France.[1] 1996. A two-year truce followed. Attacks resumed on October 30, 1998 with the partial destruction of the In 1532, the then French monarch, Francis I of France, Belfort city hall, home town of the then Interior Minister officially tied Brittany to France despite originally allow- Jean-Pierre Chevènement. Other subsequent targets in- ing it to preserve its fiscal and legal privileges. This partial cluded symbols of the French government such as admin- autonomy, in turn, allowed Brittany to remain unaffected istrative offices, police precincts and utility installations, by most of the foreign and domestic conflicts that afflicted as well as the home towns of then-Prime Minister Lionel the French Kingdom throughout the sixteenth and seven- Jospin.[2][3] The latter attack, which occurred on June 18, teenth centuries.[1] 1999, was a result of the refusal, two days before, by the During the French Revolution, however, Brittany’s rel- then French President Jacques Chirac to ratify the Euro- ative autonomy was revoked. Its parliament abolished, pean Charter on Regional and Minority Languages.[3] its Breton language banned, and its territory divided into five departments. This new transformed Brittany provoked bipolar reactions throughout the five new depart- 3 Emgann (“Fight”) ments, as some overwhelmingly endorsed such fusion while others systematically rebelled against the fragile new Republic.[1] Emgann is believed to provide political support to the ARB. Its affiliation with the latter has been repeatedly denied over the years by Emgrann, which considers itself a pacifist group, although it openly support the ARB’s 2 L’ Armée Revolutionnaire Bre- violent methods and goals. It nonetheless publishes the tonne (ARB) ARB’s messages and articles and substantial evidence has been produced by French authorities that confirms the suspected intimate and complicit relationship between The Breton Revolutionary Army was created in 1971 as the two groups. Hence, several Emgann members were the armed wing of the Front de Liberation Breton (FLB), apprehended in connection with several attacks attributed in English known as the Breton Liberation Front. The to the ARB.[3] Created in 1982, Emgann defines itself FLB had been established in 1963 with the intention to as part of the independent Breton leftist wing. Pro- secure the liberation of Brittany from France. The ARB independence and anti-capitalist, Emgann advocates for seeks recognition by the French government of the ex- no compromise or contact with the French government istence of the Breton people, the integrity of its terri- and political parties. Its activism came in the wake of tory, and the Breton language. Christian Georgeault is the election of François Mitterrand to the French Presi- the group’s current leader and a former Emgann general [2] dency. In 1981, the newly elected state leader had par- Secretary. doned members of the FLB who had just been convicted The 1974 bombing in Roc Tredudon marks the first of and imprisoned by the State Security Court, in France. 1 2 6 RECRUITMENT Their release provoked the dismantlement of the FLB as mite stolen in 1999 from Plévin, suggesting that the ARB many of its newly released members gave up their for- may have been responsible for this bombing. Further evi- mer violent activism and instead chose to retire or join dence confirmed this relationship, as at the same moment the Breton Democratic Union (UDB), an autonomist Bre- the Quévert bombing was taking place, another bomb ton political movement opposed to violence. Emgrann, near a post office in Rennes was defused by police.[4][6] therefore, picked up the FLB’s mantle and sought to pur- [3] Forensic analysis determined that Titane 30 had been sue the fight. used during both attacks. A piece of spring found in the remains found at the Quévert site was found to originate from the same type of kitchen timer used to offset the de- 4 The 1999 Plévin heist and the fused explosive in Rennes. The use of kitchen timers also ETA-ARB connection confirmed the ARB’s involvement given their systematic use in previous bombings.[4][6] The theft of eight and a half tons of Titane 30, from While the perpetrators of the bombing were never found, one of the warehouses of the company Titanite SA, in four individuals were subsequently arrested as a result Plévin on September 28, 1999 by an ETA and ARB com- of the investigation. Stéphane Phillipe, Pascal Laizé, mando is one of the most spectacular achievements of the and Christian Gorgeault (the presumed ARB ringleader) [8] ARB to date (the security alarm system had been care- were arrested for suspected complicity; Gael Roblin, fully dismantled).[3][4] This incident served to confirm the main spokesman of Emgann, was also arrested for [2] suspicions about the nature of the relationship between his theoretical justification of previous ARB bombings. the ETA and the Breton separatists. As the subsequent The four men were ultimately acquitted of charges in the investigation revealed, ARB members had been hosting Quévert bombing, but they were sentenced the same day Basque separatists in Brittany prior to the heist. Spanish to serve prison terms (six, eight, eleven, and three years [8] authorities even suspect that some ETA members may at respectively) for their involvement in prior attacks. times come to Brittany temporarily in search of a safe While the ARB claimed to be unrelated to the Quévert haven.[3] The investigation also confirmed the close rela- bombing, in November 2000 police confirmed that the tionship between Emgann and the ARB as one of the for- group had returned a hundred kilograms of the explosives mer’s members, Arnaud Vannier was arrested in connec- stolen in the Plévin heist in 1999 to police authorities. tion with the Plévin heist when twenty-five sticks of dyna- This action came following a statement by the ARB that it mite and two detonators and two timers were found in the sought to appease the current political climate in Brittany trunk of his car, all originating from the Plévin heist.[3] as well as an end to the repression of the ARB.[9][10] Emgrann replied to the accusations saying that it was not responsible for the activities of individual members.[3] Half a dozen individuals were subsequently arrested in connection with the heist.[3] Three days after the heist, three ETA members were arrested near Pau, France, with 6 Recruitment a van containing two and a half tons of explosives, all originating from Plévin. Two other individuals, Denis Riou The characteristics of Emgrann and the ARB’s recruit- and Richard Lefaucheux, were arrested for their complic- ment pool serve to explain the rather lack of prepared- ity in the heist (renting cars to pick up the Basque sepa- ness of its attacks over the years. While in the 70s many ratists and providing them with shelter in Lorient).[3] recruits came from universities and parts of the Breton elite, today most if not all are mainly drawn from ei- ther urban and unemployed youth, those living on wel- 5 McDonald’s bombing fare and those on limited and short term employment.[3] This non-specialized recruitment illustrates, according On Wednesday April 19, 2000, around 10 a.m., a one and to French authorities, the amateur nature of the often a half kilogram bomb placed near the drive-through of botched bombings of the ARB. On November 25, 1999, a McDonald’s restaurant in Quévert, Brittany, exploded. police managed to retrieve two and a half kilograms of At the time of the explosion, the building was relatively dynamite in Saint-Herblain because the timer had mal- empty with the exception of three teenagers and two other functioned and was out of order. On November 29, customers. While none of them sustained any injuries as a the same year, in Rennes, police defused a bomb with result of the explosion, a 27-year-old employee, Laurence a nearby sign indicating the presence of an ARB explo- Turbec, was killed on impact as she made her way through sive device.[3] However, the more successful attacks of a service entrance.[5][6][7] the ARB, such as the 1998 bombing of Belfort City Hall and the Plévin attack seem to counter that claim.

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