The Breton Autonomist Party (french: Parti Autonomiste Breton or PAB, br, Strollad Emrenerien Vreiz) was a political party which existed in

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

from 1927 to 1931.

Origin

The party was created at the first congress of the nationalist journal '' Breiz Atao'' in

Rosporden Rosporden (; ) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France.Unvaniez Yaouankiz Vreiz (UYV: Union of Breton Youth). The steering committee comprised

Olier Mordrel Olier Mordrel (29 April 1901 – 25 October 1985) is the Breton language version of Olivier Mordrelle, a Breton nationalist and wartime collaborator with the Third Reich who founded the separatist Breton National Party. Before the war, he worked a ...

Morvan Marchal Morvan Marchal (31 July 1900, Vitré, Ille-et-Vilaine – 13 August 1963, Paris), is the Breton name of Maurice Marchal, an architect and a militant Breton nationalist. He is best known for having designed the national flag of Brittany. Biog ...

and

Maurice Duhamel Maurice Duhamel (23 February 1884 – 5 February 1940) was the pen-name of Maurice Bourgeaux, a Breton musician, writer and activist who was a leading figure in Breton nationalism and federalist politics in the years before World War II. Early life ...

. At Quimper, following the congress, representatives of Brittany, Alsace-Lorraine and

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

signed the founding charter of Central Committee of the National Minorities of France. The guests were the Alsatian separatists, Paul Schall and Hermann Bickler, the Corsican separatist Petru Rocca, the Flemish Franz Wielders, and, more discreetly, Hans-Otto Wagner, the German representative who established links between the Breton movement and the

Abwehr The ''Abwehr'' (German for ''resistance'' or ''defence'', but the word usually means ''counterintelligence'' in a military context; ) was the German military-intelligence service for the ''Reichswehr'' and the ''Wehrmacht'' from 1920 to 1944. A ...

Federalism

Maurice Duhamel became editor of '' Breiz Atao'' and attempted to steer the party to establish links to wider French politics, particularly with the French left. Having more political experience than the other leaders, he guided the PAB to a broadly leftist and federalist position with the intention to forge an alliance with the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (french: Parti communiste français, ''PCF'' ; ) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its MEPs sit in the European Unit ...

, which, under the leadership of

Marcel Cachin Marcel Cachin (20 September 1869 – 12 February 1958) was a French Communist politician and editor of the daily newspaper ''L'Humanite''. In 1891, Cachin joined Jules Guesde's French Workers' Party (POF). In 1905, he joined the new French ...

, supported the struggles of national minorities in France up until 1932. In August 1928, at the second party congress, in

Châteaulin Châteaulin (; br, Kastellin) is a commune in the Finistère department and administrative region of Brittany in north-western France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. Geography Châteaulin is located in a valley towards the center of ...

, a statement was drafted which proclaimed that Brittany has all "the characteristics of a nationality to meet the modern definitions", and that the Breton people should have "the right to self-determination". In 1929 Duhamel wrote the PAB's manifesto, ''The Question of Brittany in its European Framework''.

Electoral failures

At elections in 1930, Goulven Mazéas was put forward by the PAB as a candidate in the

Guingamp Guingamp (; ) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France. With a population of 6,895 as of 2017, Guingamp is one of the smallest towns in Europe to have a top-tier professional football team: En Avant Guinga ...

constituency, but he only secured 376 votes. Their candidate in

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...

received 81 votes out of 16084. The PAB's complete failure to gain electoral success in addition the cost of the campaigns had ruined its finances. Moreover, it was unable to compete with the Catholic regionalist party Adsao. François Debeauvais proposed the creation of a weekly newspaper entitled ''Le Peuple Breton'' to improve the party's public profile, but it could not be published for lack of funding.

Dissolution of the party

The two election failures, and the financial crisis crystallized the party's internal quarrels. A final attempt at conciliation took place at the annual party Congress April 11, 1931. It was a failure, and the party broke up under the differences. It split between the federalists on the one hand and nationalists on the other. At the same congress, it was decided to relinquish the newspaper Breiz Atao. The federalists (

, Yann-Morvan Gefflot, Goulven Mazéas,

René-Yves Creston René-Yves Creston (25 October 1898 – 30 May 1964), born René Pierre Joseph Creston, was a Breton artist, designer and ethnographer who founded the Breton nationalist art movement Seiz Breur. During World War II he was active in the French Resi ...

, Le Men,

Abeozen François Eliès, born Fañch Eliès Garzanti p. 1 and better known by the pseudonym Abeozen, (1896 Saint-Sauveur, Finistère – 1963 La Baule) was a Breton nationalist, novelist and dramatist who wrote in the Breton language. Abeozen was also ...

) went on to create the

Breton Federalist League The Breton Federalist League (french: Ligue fédéraliste de Bretagne) was a short-lived Breton political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common f ...

whose new journal was '' Federal Brittany''. Breiz Atao was briefly replaced by the journal ''War Zao'', run by the nationalist faction in

Trégor Trégor (; br, Treger, ), officially the Land of Trégor (french: pays du Trégor, link=no; br, Bro-Dreger, link=no, ) is one of the nine traditional provinces of Brittany, in its northwestern area. It comprises the western part of the Côte ...

, Goëlo and Haute-

Cornouaille Cornouaille (; br, Kernev, Kerne) is a historical region on the west coast of Brittany in West France. The name is cognate with Cornwall in neighbouring Great Britain. This can be explained by the settlement of Cornouaille by migrant princ ...

, which called for a return to nationalism without excluding separatism. The nationalists went on to create the

Breton National Party The Breton National Party (French ''Parti National Breton'', Breton ''Strollad Broadel Breizh'') was a nationalist party in Brittany that existed from 1931 to 1944. The party was disbanded after the liberation of France in World War II, because of ...

at the Congress of

in August 1931, reviving ''Breiz Atao'' as their party's paper.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Breton Autonomist Party Breton nationalist parties National liberation movements Political parties in Brittany