The Bayonne Pact: Basque Opposition to Franco’s Regime
The Bayonne Pact
Type: Primary Source
Form: Manifesto, Historical Text
Content: Political Text
Author: Collective
(Basque political and trade union organizations in exile: PCE, PNV, UGT, PSOE, ELA)
Addressee:
To all citizens of the Basque Country, but indirectly to Franco’s regime – a public text.
Objective:
Reaffirm their allegiance to the Republic, give support to the Basque Government, opposing the dictatorship and preventing the restoration of the monarchy.
Location and Date:
Published in Bayonne (France) on March 31, 1945, during the first part of Francoism, during the stage of the Basque Government in exile. Hope of the Basque Government and political organizations to re-impose the Republic in Spain if the Allies won WWII.
Introduction
Central theme: To make public the agreements reached by the Basque Government in exile.
Main ideas: Refer to trust in them, respect for the will of the people, the future of the pact when democracy is re-established, and finally, the need to continue being united with the rest of the anti-Franco parties.
Begins by introducing the protagonists of the pact (political and trade union organizations of the Basque Country that fought against Franco in French exile).
Most important ideas: Determined in the next 5 points:
- Union of forces against Franco and that formed the first Government of Euskadi in accordance with the Basque Statute is ratified. Also indicates that Aguirre was the first Lehendakari (elected by mayors who could vote).
- The Basque Government in exile is admitted as the legitimate representative of the Basque people, who are given confidence and support (provided that they collect their political and social aspirations).
- They promise to respect and defend the wishes of the Basque people once democratic normality is restored. The pact was signed in 1945 (the triumph of the Allies was evident) and the Basque Government was convinced that the next step was to end Franco’s regime.
- For this reason, they are being set up as a consultative body of the Basque Government. This would never come to be because of the Cold War.
- Conspire to continue the fight against Franco’s government and institutions, citing the Falange as the most significant. Also against any attempt at a monarchical restoration that might arise.
Content
Pre-1936:
During the Civil War (a very difficult time when the Basque government was formed), the Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country was approved. When Francoist troops entered Bilbao, nationalist and republican troops fled to Santander and nationalist battalions (PNV) signed the Santoña Pact with the Italians (allowing Gudaris to escape), which was not respected by Franco.
Franco’s regime started with “the black years”: executions, repression, exile, forced expropriation, labor camps. Apart from that, Spain entered a period known as autarchy (a system of self-production that the Basque Country would have to get used to). The Basque Country would also lose its autonomous system, the Statute of Autonomy would be suppressed, and the Economic Agreement suppressed for Gipuzkoa and Bizkaia (declared traitor provinces), but not for Álava (loyal to Franco).
Present:
Opposition to Franco’s regime: Hope and frustration.
In the internal opposition, the first years were very complicated. The regime was set out to pursue any type of opposition to it (law of political responsibilities of 1939).
From the 1940s on, internal opposition began to organize, with strikes in the workplace, or by calling for abstention in the approval of the general referendum law.
Political forces in exile were disunited, limiting their influence in the Basque Country.
Once disagreements were resolved, Aguirre took on the responsibility of maintaining unity between Basque parties (to obtain their support for the Basque Government in exile) and republican and left-wing parties (to obtain loyalty to the Republic). When Franco’s regime was over, the Republic would be reinstated in Spain (this would give rise to the signing of the Bayonne Pact).
World War II came to an end, and hopes grew among the opposition and among the Basque Government in exile, since it was hoped that the peace established in Europe would end Franco’s regime for its support of the Axis.
Previously, the Basque Government had moved to New York from Paris in 1941 (because Paris fell into the hands of Germany). In the USA, Aguirre intensified relations with Americans hoping that they would collaborate with the Basque Government. In Europe, contacts with the opposition against Franco also intensified.
Juan de Borbón also signed an agreement in Lausanne to establish a constitutional monarchy in Spain, restoring the democratic system.
The result of all these movements was the Bayonne Pact (where loyalty to the Republic and to the Basque Government in exile, as well as reintroducing the democratic system in the Basque Country, were stated).
Consequences:
With the recognition of Franco’s regime in the international context (1950s), the whole process ended in frustration and discouragement of the opposition movement in exile. The Allies won the war, but with the emergence of the “new Europe” after WWII (bloc politics, the Cold War, Franco’s opposition to the Communist bloc), Franco’s regime became accepted internationally. In the Cold War, Franco’s anti-communism and the strategic location of Spain made it a valuable ally of the USA. So, attempts opened in exile by the Basque Government failed.
The greatest frustration came between 1953-1955, when the Concordat with the Vatican was signed, along with treaties with the USA and the entry of Spain into the UN. In the Basque Country, new opposition movements emerged, and little by little, they abandoned the activity of the official opposition in exile (the labor movement made new attempts and from nationalism, radical groups emerged because of disagreement with the PNV, leading to EKIN and then ETA).
Context
The Bayonne Pact meant an endorsement of the Basque Government as the representative of the Basque people. It was agreed to respect and defend, once democratic normality was restored, the wishes of the Basque people. Perhaps the key to that agreement was that the recovery of democratic freedoms was prioritized over any other issue.
The pact was signed by many different groups. The repercussions of the pact were not very important because it was broken due to strong discrepancies among the signatories.
It also meant an attempt to gather opposition to the regime abroad, which was frustrated when in the 1950s Franco’s regime was recognized internationally. That meant the appearance of new opposition in the Basque Country (workers’ movement and nationalism: EKIN, ETA).