Separatism in Brittany

Durham E-Theses Separatism in Brittany O'Callaghan, Michael John Christopher How to cite: O'Callaghan, Michael John Christopher (1982) Separatism in Brittany, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/7513/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 1 ABSTRACT Michael John Christopher O'Callaghan SEPARATISM IN BRITTANY The introduction to the thesis attempts to place the separatist movement in Brittany into perspective as one of the various separatist movements with• in France. It contains speculation on some possible reasons for the growth of separatist feeling, and defines terms that are frequently used in the thesis. Chapter One gives an account of Breton history, tracing Brittany's evolution as an independent state, its absorption by France, the disappearartee of its remaining traces of independence, and the last spasms of action to regain this independence after having become merely part of a centralised state. Chapter Two examines the beginnings and develop• ment of a renewed effort to regain some measure of independence, and covers in some detail the period from the early nineteenth century to the end of the Second World War, known in Brittany as that of the first and second emsavs, To clarify a complicated period of development, a lexicon, a list of parties, groupings and devices of the Breton movement, and two flow charts summarising the movement's development from 1914 to 1939 are given at the beginning of this chapter. Chapter Three deals with the period from 1945 to the present day, known in Brittany as that of the third emsav, and examines in some detail the present state of the Breton movement. Chapter Four examines the work of various Breton writers who have played some part in expressing or shaping the Bretons' awareness of their separate identity, and shows to what extent their writings reflect the historical and political development of Brittany, Chapter Five contains the writer's conclusions and one detailed examination of Breton attitudes to the Breton movement, which helps to put it into its overall Breton perspective. The most important of the appendices to the thesis is the latest available detailed breakdown of the movement. 2 SEPARATISM IN BRITTANY Michael John Christopher O'Callaghan A thesis submitted for the degree of Master of Arts at the University of Durham, Department of French, in 1982. The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. 3 CONTENTS Page Abstract 1 Title Page 2 Table of Contents 3 List of Tables and Map 4 Declaration 5 Introduction 7 Chapter One The History of Brittany 14 Chapter Two The First and Second Emsavs 45 Chapter Three The Breton Movement from the End of the Second World War to the Present Day 101 Chapter Four The Literature of Brittany 142 Chapter Five Conclusions 182 Appendix A: Organisations, Parties and Journals included in Gallo's Panorama du Mouvement Breton 192 Appendix B: One Detailed Proposal for Reform in Brittany 204 Appendix C: Articles from Newspapers and Magazines of the Breton Movement 221 Bibliography - 234 4 LIST OF TABLES AND MAP Page Linguistic Map of France 6 Lexicon 45 Devices, Groupings and Parties of the Emsav 47 Chart of Principal Breton Organisations 1918-39 49 Chart of Development (1918-39) of Organisations Known by- Umbrella Term Breiz Atao 50 5 DECLARATION None of the material under my name in this thesis has previously been submitted for a degree at this or any other university. COPYRIGHT The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my thanks to my supervisor, Mr. Louis Allen, for his active and enthusiastic support and encouragement throughout the period of preparation of this thesis, to M. Yann Fouere" for the information and advice he so readily supplied, and finally to my wife, Barbara, without whose unselfish and constant support it might never have been completed. / 6 Calais FLAMAND (dialecte neerlandais) Francique Leonard PARIS Nancy \^/$trast)ourg ALSACIEN hBRETON (dialecte Colrnar liennnB allemand) V Vannetais Alemanique -^y ^ MuXhouxt'.tt Cornouaillaistf** /Vanfes Clermont- Limoges Ferra nd ' Limousin • / / y uver. Nord Ocajan Valence CORSE cy/;vy//////yA Provencal < ; ••-.•::;//.•//, sOccitapjjasconZ^/ / Occitan moyen BASQUE CATALAN Source of map: Le Monde de 1'Education, no.20, September 1976, p.5. 7 INTRODUCTION In this thesis the writer has made use of material from books, articles, newspapers, magazines and reviews, as well as from correspondence with M. Yann Fouere, one of the leading figures in the Breton movement during the Second World War, and still actively involved in it. The term separatism given in the title of the thesis is intended as an umbrella to cover the various political and cultural manifestations of the separate identity of a particular region. Those involved on the political side may call themselves regional- ists, federalists or nationalists, terms which will be defined later in this introduction, while they may all be labelled separatists by other people. Those who take an interest in current affairs and developments in France will be aware of the existence of various separatist move• ments within that country. The activities of some members of the movement in Brittany have made the headlines on occasions over the past few years and will be examined later in the thesis. The activi• ties of members of the linguistic and autonomist movement in Corsica, which has proved rather effective, have drawn even greater attention from the media. In Occitanie there is a thriving cultural, lingui• stic and political movement. In Alsace and the German speaking parts of Lorraine the movement is political, and linguistic in so far as it is calling for more effective bilingual education. In the Basque area of France the movement is primarily linguistic, there being some political activity but nothing comparable with that in the Basque area of .Spain. Perhaps less well-known is the movement among the Catalans of Roussillon, which is mainly cultural and linguistic, 8 although a growing political movement began in the late 1960s, while the movement among the Flemings of Westhoek, which has never recovered from its association with the Germans during the Second World War, is limited to linguistic demands, fighting, so far unsuccessfully, to achieve some degree of recognition for the Dutch language which might help save it from imminent extinction.* The purpose of this thesis is to examine separatism in Brittany. That is not to say that it will be limited to dealing only with the activities and motivation of those who seek political separation from France, but will examine each manifestation of the separate identity of Brittany. The thesis begins with a short account of Breton history which traces the evolution of Brittany as an independent state, its absorp• tion by France, the disappearance of its remaining traces of indepen• dence, and the last spasms of action to regain this independence after it had become just one part of a centralised state. This account is given in the belief that we cannot begin to understand the beginning and development of a renewed effort to regain some measure of inde• pendence until we have some knowledge of what has gone before. Chapter two examines the beginnings and development of this renewed effort up to the end of the Second World War, covering in some detail the periods of what are known within the Breton movement as the first and second emsavs. Chapter three deals with the third emsav, the development of the movement from the Second World War to the present day, examining in some detail both the development and scope of the movement at 1. For a clear illustration of the areas concerned see the map on page 9 present. The most recently available breakdown of the present scope and content of the movement is given in the form of an appendix to the thesis. In Chapter Four the literature of Brittany is considered, with an examination of the work of various figures who have played some part in expressing or shaping the Bretons' awareness of their separate identity. Chapter Five examines Breton attitudes to the movement, considers the recent proposals for regional reform and Breton reactions to them, and gives the writer's conclusions. Further documents, which expand some of the information given in the main part of the thesis but which would have detracted from a clear pre• sentation in each chapter, are given in the form of appendices. However, before we begin to consider the Breton movement, it might be interesting to speculate for a moment on the question of why the desire for separatism exists at all, whatever the way in which it reveals itself, ranging from a desire simply to preserve a minority language to a desire for complete political separation from the controlling state.

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