The Breton Nationalist Party (''Parti nationaliste breton'', or PNB) was a French political party that advocated independence for

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 ...

. It existed from 1911 to 1914.

Origins

It was founded in October 1911 under the patronage of a committee of seven members, including

Camille Le Mercier d'Erm Camille Le Mercier d'Erm (1888 in Rennes - 1978 in Dinard) was a French poet, historian and Breton nationalist. He later adopted the neo-Bardic name Kammermor. He is also known as Kamil Ar Merser 'Erm, the Breton language form of his name. His wor ...

, Louis Napoleon Le Roux, Georges Le Rumeur, Edouard Guéguen and

Emile Masson Emil or Emile may refer to: Literature *''Emile, or On Education'' (1762), a treatise on education by Jean-Jacques Rousseau * ''Émile'' (novel) (1827), an autobiographical novel based on Émile de Girardin's early life *''Emil and the Detective ...

. The immediate cause of the party's foundation was the proposal to erect a monument to celebrate the unity of Brittany with France, a process which had been finalised by the 1532 treaty of union. The goal of the party was to "always and repeatedly protest against French oppression, and prepare for the resurrection of Brittany in condemnation of this movement regarding the French people depriving this country of the national independence which is its right." It advocated severing all ties between Brittany and France. The PNB sought to unite the burgeoning Breton political movement, even though other groups already existed, most notably

Bleun Brug Bleun-Brug (Flower of the heather) is a Roman Catholic Church, Catholic association oriented towards Breton nationalism. Origins The group was created in 1905 by abbé Jean-Marie Perrot, with a name devised at the 1905 conference of the Union Rég ...

(Heather Flower) created in 1905 by the Abbe

Jean-Marie Perrot The abbé Jean-Marie Perrot, in Breton Yann Vari Perrot (3 September 1877 in Plouarzel, Finistère – 12 December 1943 in Scrignac), was a Breton priest, Breton independentist assassinated by the Communist resistance. He was the founder of ...

with its journal ''

Feiz ha Breiz Feiz ha Breiz (Faith and Brittany) is the principal weekly journal in the Breton language. It originally appeared from 1865 to 1884, then was revived from 1899 to 1944, and then again from 1945 onwards. Original journal Léopold de Léseleuc, bis ...

'' (Faith and Brittany). In contrast to the purely Catholic Bleun Brug, the PNB included political radicals, libertarians and leftists, along with conservatives. At its inception, it published a manifesto and proposed a Breton national holiday on September 29, the anniversary of the coronation of

Nominoë Nominoe or Nomenoe (french: Nominoë; br, Nevenoe; c. 800, 7 March 851) was the first Duke of Brittany from 846 to his death. He is the Breton ''pater patriae'' and to Breton nationalists he is known as ' ("father of the country"). ...

, first

Duke of Brittany This is a list of rulers of the Duchy of Brittany. In different epochs the sovereigns of Brittany were kings, princes, and dukes. The Breton ruler was sometimes elected, sometimes attained the position by conquest or intrigue, or by hereditary r ...

, and of the victory won in 1364 at the

Battle of Auray The Battle of Auray took place on 29 September 1364 at the Breton-French town of Auray. This battle was the decisive confrontation of the Breton War of Succession, a part of the Hundred Years' War. In the battle, which began as a siege, a Bre ...

John V, Duke of Brittany John V, sometimes numbered as VI, (24 December 1389 – 29 August 1442) bynamed John the Wise ( br, Yann ar Fur; french: Jean le Sage), was Duke of Brittany and Count of Montfort from 1399 to his death. His rule coincided with the height of t ...

against the French army of

Charles de Blois Charles of Blois-Châtillon (131929 September 1364), nicknamed "the Saint", was the legalist Duke of Brittany from 1341 until his death, via his marriage to Joan, Duchess of Brittany and Countess of Penthièvre, holding the title against the cl ...

Manifesto

*Article 4. We have had stolen in succession our national independence, then our local freedoms and provincial franchises, in constant violation of the Treaty of 1532 which provided these freedoms and these franchises for our country, including the privilege of a parliament and the right to bear arms: all this in lieu of lost sovereignty — the ermine bonnet encircled in gold (derisory compensation it is true, for this glory that we lost). Since the French Revolution, the situation has worsened. Today, the insidious persecution from our masters, all the more dangerous as it is hidden and burrows under our hallowed soil, sought to wrest from us our language and our customs, our civil and religious traditions: whatever remains of the former national heritage, everything that makes our pride and our joy. We oppose with all our strength, and we reclaim the legacy of our ancestors. *Article 5. One believes us crushed, annihilated, assimilated, Frenchified? Not so! There still exists in the soul of Brittany, something that resists and that survives, something that will not be suppressed, destroyed, and which remains alive and robust today as in the time of our independence and that, conscious or unconscious, is the National sentiment.

Activities

The party's first public action took place on October 29, 1911. This was a protest at the official unveiling of the monument to Breton-French unity the ''Place de l'Hotel de Ville'' in Rennes. The monument, created by the artist Jean Boucher, depicted Duchess

Anne of Brittany Anne of Brittany (; 25/26 January 1477 – 9 January 1514) was reigning Duchess of Brittany from 1488 until her death, and Queen of France from 1491 to 1498 and from 1499 to her death. She is the only woman to have been queen consort of France ...

rising from a kneeling position before the King of France. During this event Camille Le Mercier d'Erm and André Guillemot were arrested and taken into custody by the local municipal police. ''Breiz Dishual'' ("Free Brittany") was the party's monthly journal, founded in July 1912. The party ceased to exist in 1914 on the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Its journal ceased publication at the same time.Theodore Zeldin, ''A History of French Passions 1848-1945'', Oxford University Press, 1993, p. 62 A new nationalist party was founded in 1931 under the slightly different name

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 o ...

(''Parti national breton''). Party activists destroyed Boucher's monument with a bomb in 1932. In 1941, on the thirtieth anniversary of the foundation of the original PNB, the leaders of the new party organised a celebration of it and a tribute to Camille Le Mercier d'Erm.

References

{{Authority control Breton nationalist parties National liberation movements Political parties established in 1911 Defunct political parties in France