The Breton National Party (

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

''Parti National Breton'',

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally ** Breton people ** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Ga ...

''Strollad Broadel Breizh'') was a

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

party 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 ...

that existed from 1931 to 1944. The party was disbanded after the liberation of France in World War II, because of ties to the Third Reich.

History

The PNB was formed in the aftermath of split between

federalist The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters called themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of de ...

s and nationalists within the

Breton Autonomist Party The Breton Autonomist Party (french: Parti Autonomiste Breton or PAB, br, Strollad Emrenerien Vreiz) was a political party which existed in Brittany from 1927 to 1931. Origin The party was created at the first congress of the nationalist journal ' ...

(PAB), following the Congress of Guingamp in August 1931. Following the collapse of the PAB, the federalists led by

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 ...

formed the

Breton Federalist League The Breton Federalist League (french: Ligue fédéraliste de Bretagne) was a short-lived Breton political party in the 1930s. A new organization with the same name was created in the 21st century. Origin At its congress on April 11, 1931, the Bret ...

; the nationalist faction, led by

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 ...

, decided to found a new party with a clearly nationalist agenda, namely seeking Breton independence from France. This revived the programme of the previous

Breton Nationalist Party The Breton Nationalist Party (''Parti nationaliste breton'', or PNB) was a French political party that advocated independence for Brittany. It existed from 1911 to 1914. Origins It was founded in October 1911 under the patronage of a committee of ...

, which had existed from 1911-1914. A congress was held in

Landerneau Landerneau (; br, Landerne, ) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. It lies at the mouth of the Elorn River which divides the Breton provinces of Cornouaille and Léon, east of Brest. The name is from ...

on December 27, 1931. The following year, activists led by

Célestin Lainé Célestin Lainé (1908–1983) was a Breton nationalist and collaborator during the Second World War who led the SS affiliated Bezen Perrot militia. His Breton language name is Neven Hénaff. He was a chemical engineer by training. After th ...

bombed a sculpture 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 ...

representing Breton unity with France. The creation of this sculpture had spurred the foundation of the earlier party in 1911. The party was influenced by international

Celticist Celtic studies or Celtology is the academic discipline occupied with the study of any sort of cultural output relating to the Celtic-speaking peoples (i.e. speakers of Celtic languages). This ranges from linguistics, literature and art histor ...

ideas, and modelled its aspirations on Irish independence movements. It was also closely associated with

fascist Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...

ideology. Because of its connections with

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

the party was banned in France on the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in 1939, but after the defeat of France it was revived, becoming closely associated with Breton collaborationism. During the occupation France the PNB established a paramilitary, Bagadoù stourm, influenced by the SA that adopted a flag similar to that of the Reichskriegsflagge. An explicitly Nazi faction broke away in 1941 under the name

Breton Social-National Workers' Movement The Breton Social-National Workers' Movement (french: Mouvement Ouvrier Social-National Breton) was a nationalist, separatist, and Fascist movement founded in 1941 by Théophile Jeusset. It emerged in Brittany from a deviationist faction of the ...

. During its existence, the PNB published a newspaper, '' L'Heure Bretonne''.

Literature

* Daniel Leach "'A sense of Nordism’: The impact of Germanic assistance upon the militant interwar Breton nationalist movement", in: '' European Review of History'', Vol. 17 (2010), No. 4, pp. 629–646.

References

External link

* {{Authority control Breton collaborators with Nazi Germany Breton nationalist parties National liberation movements Political parties in Brittany 1931 establishments in France 1944 disestablishments in France Fascist parties in France Fascist parties

History

Literature

See also

References

External link