Basque terrorist organizations are separatist ideas. ETA - WiKi Territorial Organization of Modern Spain

Among all the European separatists, the Basques are undoubtedly the most famous. The ETA organization, one of the most brutal, along with the IRA, terrorist organizations in Europe, sets as its goal the independence of the Basque people. The Basque separatists are distinguished by a good organization, an extensive network of terrorist groups - from small in number to quite large ones. Despite their cruel methods(since 1968, about a thousand people have died at the hands of terrorists), ETA and similar movements enjoy almost complete support of the population - unlike other rebellious regions and organizations in Europe, for example, Corsica. All this creates a dangerous phenomenon both for the Spanish authorities and for the stability of Europe as a whole.

The ancestors of today's Basques, the Vascones, came to what is now the Basque Country in the 6th century AD. From the 7th to the 9th centuries, these tribes were under the rule of the Frankish state and the Duchy of Aquitaine, until the invasion of the Moors, who captured most of the Iberian Peninsula. The mountainous part of the duchy - Vasconia - remained independent, and successfully resisted the invasions of the invaders - Moors and Franks: in 778, for example, the famous battle took place in the Ronceval Gorge, where the detachment of the Breton Margrave Roland was defeated by the Basques. In 811, in the territories conquered from the Arabs, the Frankish king Louis the Pious creates a Spanish brand, but in 819 the Basques raise an uprising, and in 824 again defeat the Franks in the same Ronceval Gorge, which allows the Basque kingdom of Pamplona to achieve independence.

From the 9th to the 13th century, the kings of Pamplona, ​​and then Navarre, as the state began to be called in the 11th century, actively participate in the Reconquista. Taking advantage of a convenient geostrategic position, the Navarrese take part in all major military operations of the Reconquista, while themselves remaining impregnable in their mountain castles. During the reign of Sancho the Great (first third of the 11th century), Navarre occupied the entire north of the Iberian Peninsula, including Leon and Galicia. But the tradition of equitable division of the inheritance between the sons played a role, and the kingdom was divided among the four princes. The Navarrese troops also took part in the decisive battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212, where the united Christian troops of the Iberian states, led by the kings of Castile Alphonse VIII and Sancho VII the Strong of Navarre, defeated the army of the Almohads, after which the expulsion of Muslims from the Iberian Peninsula became a question time.

In the second half of the 13th century, Navarre, thanks to the marriage of Queen Juana to the King of France, Philip the Handsome, comes under the centenary control of the French royal house. AT early XVI in. the southern territories of Navarre - what are now known as the Basque Country - join the Spanish kingdom, and in 1589 King Henry III of Navarre becomes King Henry IV of France, and the rest of the kingdom becomes part of France. Spanish Basques until the middle of the XVIII century. enjoyed significant liberties - "fueros", granted to them by the king of Spain in the 16th century.

In the middle of the 19th century, the Basques were one of the driving forces Carlist movement - supporters of the contender for the crown of Don Carlos. Following the promises of Carlos to grant autonomy to the Basque Country, and the support of the Catholic clergy, the Basques rose up against the rule of the regent Maria Christina. The Carlist wars actually became a conflict between conservative (mostly Catholic) and liberal ideas, and the Basques became fanatical zealots of tradition and the church. The defeat of the Carlists led to the abolition of all the liberties of the Basques, and the beginning of a policy of rigid centralization of Spain.

The history of Basque nationalism in modern times begins in late XIX century, when the province became the center of the influx of cheap labor from other parts of Spain - Galicia and Andalusia. The rapid development of metallurgical production caused an influx of immigrants, who were treated extremely negatively by the conservative Basque society: all these immigrants spoke only Spanish, and were very poor. In 1895, the Basque National Party was founded by the Basque Sabino Arana, which pursued the goal of independence or self-government for the Basque state (Euskadi). Their ideology was based on a combination of Christian Democratic ideas with a distaste for immigrants, whom they perceived as a threat to the ethnic, cultural and linguistic integrity of the Basques, as well as a channel for importing "newfangled" leftist thoughts.

The first open conflict between the Basques and the official Spanish authorities in the 20th century was the Spanish Civil War. In 1931, immediately after the formation of the Spanish Republic, the Catalans were granted self-government, which prompted the Basques to actively demand the same from the republican government. The Basques were also opposed to secularization, which in the period 1931-1936 took on a huge scale. A duality arose: Bilbao and the surrounding workers' outskirts were controlled by the socialists, while the rest of the Basque Country supported its nationalists. But the central government suddenly contributed to the unity of the people: the Basque autonomy project met with a negative reaction from the right side of the parliament, which pushed the Basque nationalists to establish contacts with the Republicans.

After the rebellion of the Francoists and the outbreak of the civil war, the Basques were actually divided into two groups. A minority were the Rekete, the Carlist militias, who sided with the Nationalists. But most of the Basques took the side of the Republic, in exchange for recognition of independence. In October 1936, the Republic of Euskadi was proclaimed, with Bilbao as its capital. For the defense of a strategically important area - and the Basque Country had the largest metallurgical plant in Spain and metal mining areas - an insufficient number of Republican troops were allocated, and especially little aviation, which made it possible for Nationalist pilots to carry out regular bombing. The apogee of the air war over the Basque Country was the bombing of Guernica on April 26, 1937, captured on the famous painting by Picasso. Ancient city was practically wiped off the face of the earth, the death toll was, according to various sources, from 200 to 2000 people. In the summer of 1937, the army of General Mola, after a long siege, captured Bilbao, and the Basque state was abolished. Many Basques emigrated after the end of the civil war, such as the Euskadi football team, which during years performed on tour around the world, including in the USSR.

During the Franco dictatorship, despite the contribution of the Basque Carlists to the victory of the Spanish nationalists, the Basque language and symbols were officially banned. Under the pretext of industrialization, the regions of Bilbao and Gipuzkoa were resettled a large number of immigrants from the poorest Spanish regions. All this caused quite an unambiguous reaction among the broad strata of the Basque people. The result was the creation in 1959 of an organization of young nationalists from a discussion group of students, called ETA (ETA, Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, "Basque Country and Freedom"). The creators of the ETA considered the policy of the Basque National Party too moderate, sluggish, condemned the refusal of the BNP from violent methods of influence. The first members of ETA compared themselves to the Algerian rebels who at the same time were waging a war of independence against the French.

In 1965, ETA at its sixth assembly adopted the platform of Marxism-Leninism. Other positions were also formed: non-confessionalism, the definition of belonging to the Basque people by language, and not by blood. ETA is increasingly moving away from the BNP, which continues to be a Catholic conservative party.

Initially, ETA was engaged in vandalism and the distribution of graffiti in the banned Basque language, but soon moved into action. The first confirmed assassination occurred on June 7, 1968, when Civil Guardsman José Pardines was shot dead. ETA gunman Xavi Etchebarreta, who killed Pardines, was also killed in the shootout. The first major political assassination was a hasty assassination attempt on the head of the secret police of San Sebastian, Meliton Manzanas. In 1970, several members of the ETA were sentenced to capital punishment ("Burgos case"), but thanks to the international condemnation of the death penalty, they got off with life imprisonment. The right wing of ETA organized the abduction of the Consul of the FRG, Eugen Beyl, in order to exchange him for Burgos prisoners. But the terrorists' biggest success was the assassination of Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco, Franco's political successor. On December 20, 1973, the admiral's car was destroyed by a high power bomb.

After the death of Franco and the democratic thaw, ETA split into two wings - military organization and military-political. Such a division did not at all mean the appeasement of morals, and the next three years - 1978, 79 and 80 - became the bloodiest in the history of Basque separatism, taking a total of about three hundred lives. This seems all the more strange because in 1977 the Basque Country received partial autonomy. Compromising, the new Spanish government turned to the military-political wing of ETA with an offer of an amnesty on the condition of renouncing violent methods. The idea caused an additional split in the movement, as a result, part of the military-political wing of ETA became the moderate party of Euskadiko Ezkerra, and the rest entered the re-formed ETA.

The so-called “dirty war” between ETA and the anti-terrorist movement, GAL, also dates back to the 1980s. The activity of the latter was identical to the craft of the former, which only led to additional victims, and to an even greater anger of the people. In the 1990s, Spain was shaken by the scandal over the financing of the GAL units by the Spanish government, which gave the opposition a reason to talk about "state terrorism". It blamed former high-ranking Spanish officials, including Minister José Baryonuevo. Fearing further revelations, the government withdrew its support for the GAL and the organization gradually disappeared.

In the late eighties, ETA applied a new tactic - car bombing. In three years, from 1985 to 1988, 33 people were killed, including a US citizen, and more than two hundred were injured. The most terrible was the terrorist attack in the shopping center of Barcelona on July 19, 1987, when entire families were among the dead. After such terrible attacks, ETA and the government sat down at the negotiating table, signing a ceasefire agreement in 1988, but it was not possible to reach a compromise: after three weeks of a truce, the Basque activists resumed the attacks. New attempts at negotiations were made in 1992 (after the arrest of three party leaders) and 1995. The conditions of the Basques were unchanged - freedom to all political prisoners (in which they include their associates convicted of terrorism) and freedom of self-determination of the Basque Country. Ultimately, the Spanish government dismissed the terrorists' demands as contrary to the 1978 Constitution. In response, the Basques attempted to commit a terrorist attack against King Juan Carlos I of Spain. high-profile case there was also the kidnapping of Miguel Angel Blanco, a member of the Popular Party, who was found shot to death after the expiration of the ultimatum - the terrorists demanded the release of all arrested members of ETA in three days. Terrorists do not loosen their grip in the new millennium - high-profile terrorist attacks in 2001 and 2004 with a large number of victims are also on the conscience of the Basque separatists. They also tried to attribute the sensational terrorist attacks in Madrid in 2004, but ETA in every way denied its involvement in them, in the end, Moroccan terrorists took responsibility.

All, or almost all, the terrorist attacks committed by ETA, one way or another, are directed against the central government. This has been repeatedly emphasized both by the terrorists themselves and by their targets - representatives of the local and central authorities. 65% of all murders were committed in the Basque Country, another 15% - in Madrid, the rest - in Catalonia and Mediterranean tourism centers. The targets of the attacks are police officers (civil guards) and their families, judges and prosecutors, journalists and university intellectuals, who openly speak out against the methods of ETA. Also targeted are large entrepreneurs who refuse to pay revolutionary tax”, or any famous Basques (for example, the French footballer of Basque origin, Bicente Lizarazu). A separate line are politicians whose activities are directly aimed at countering Basque separatism.

ETA's methods of action do not differ in variety - these are land mine explosions, mortar shelling of barracks, abductions, or murders in public places. The political struggle has been openly despised by terrorists since the beginning of the 2000s, when it was banned as a terrorist party, Batasuna, which regularly won seats in the parliaments of Spain and Navarre during 1979-2003. Moderate political movements such as the BNP or Euskadiko Ezkerra do not enjoy widespread support among the Basque people, unlike ETA.

Despite its brutal methods - terrorist attacks, blackmail, etc., ETA is supported by large sections of the population of the Basque Country, mostly young people. The youth wing of ETA (the so-called “Y groups”, or kale borroka) covers, according to various estimates, from 25 to 70% of Basque youth. In addition to the traditional slogans of freedom and independence of the Basque people, young people are also attracted by revolutionary romance - ETA terrorists call on young people to fight against a system that regularly violates human rights. The violations are cruel treatment with terrorists in police institutions, extortion of evidence, torture.

To date, the idea of ​​the independence of the Basque Country has firmly established itself in the minds of the population of this region. Basque separatists are numerous, they are supported by a significant part of the population, mostly young people. The failure of the latest negotiations between the Spanish authorities and ETA leads to a new round of escalation of the conflict. At the same time, it is quite possible for the separatists to switch to new methods of warfare, since the former ones have not yet had the desired effect. Considering the disdain of ETA activists for political methods, it is safe to say that these will be methods of force.

Victor Troshin

Terrorist organizations are born on various ideological platforms and different reasons. There are organizations that were spurred on by some ideological consideration (for example, the Red Brigades in Italy or Action directe in France). There are terrorist groups based on certain religious postulates (for example, the famous Al-Qaeda is the most a prime example Islamic fundamentalism). And there are organizations that feed on nationalist and separatist motives - and these are the Basque terrorist organizations.

Basques are a proud people

The features of the Basque people are such that it would be surprising if separatist ideas were not popular among them. The fact is that the Basques are a unique people, living in Western Europe, they can be called "Europeans" only geographically, since they do not belong to the Indo-European peoples. Scientists note the uniqueness of the Basque language and still cannot trace its family ties with any language in the world. So this is one of the oldest isolated ethnic groups that have always paid special attention to their independence. In the Late Middle Ages, the Basque territories, located mainly in the Pyrenees and their foothills, became part of the Spanish kingdom.

However, this step was almost nominal, because for centuries there was a system of "fueros", which included almost complete independence of the Basques from the central government, with the exception of the recognition of this authority. The situation for the Basques began to change in the 19th century. Then Spain experienced a series of Carlist wars, which ended in 1876. The Basques, to their regret, supported Don Carlos in those wars, so that after his defeat, some of the benefits and privileges of an administrative and economic nature were taken away from them. In addition, the central government began a gradual offensive against the autonomous cultural character of the Basque territories - elements of Spanish culture began to be actively introduced, Spanish and so on.

Origins of Basque separatism

Therefore, at the end of the 19th century, through the efforts of Sabino de Arana, who later received the status national hero, and the ideology of Basque separatism appeared. Its essence was the idea that without Spain, the Basques lived very well, did not need anything, did not experience any problems with their neighbors. In addition, the Basques themselves are a unique people who have ancient traditions and must preserve their cultural and national identity. This can only be done within independent state, which will unite the territories historically inhabited by the Basques. However, these territories are primarily part of Spain and, to some extent, France, in its mountainous Pyrenean regions. Therefore, it is necessary to unite the Basque territories and create sovereign state, Basque country.

De Arana's ideas found a wide response in Basque society and served as the beginning of the movement for independence and the creation of their own state. With his participation, the Basque Nationalist Party was created, which still exists. But then the severity of the issue subsided somewhat: after Spain became a republic, the Basques were granted broad autonomy, in many ways reminiscent of the Fuero system, so the separatist movement subsided. But the Civil War of 1936-1939 began, after which the victorious Francisco Franco decided that the autonomy of the Basques was too wide, could serve as a tempting example for other outskirts (for example, for Catalonia), besides, it was nutrient medium for political opposition. Therefore, during the years of the Francoist regime, the autonomy of the Basques was abolished and an active campaign was launched to Spanishize the Basque Country - the official use of the Basque language was prohibited, everything Spanish was planted. From that moment on, Basque separatism revived with new force and became much more radical.

Terrorists and politicians

It was then that the Basque terrorist organizations appeared. Rather, one terrorist organization appeared - ETA ("Basque Country and Freedom"), founded in 1959 and from the mid-1960s began an armed struggle for independence. Another organization, often referred to as Basque terrorists, is actually a political party and is called Batasuna (Erri Batasuna, Unity of the People). The identification of Batasuna as a terrorist organization is nothing more than a preventive measure by the Spanish state, which allowed in 2003 to ban the activity of this party in court.

The fact is that "Batasuna" is a kind of political voice of ETA, that is, in the conditions of a legal political life voices the ideas, principles and demands that ETA is trying to defend with the help of terrorist attacks. The links between Batasuna and ETA are undeniably and repeatedly proven, and from a formal point of view, Batasuna, as a party collaborating with a terrorist organization, can also be considered terrorist. However, in practice, only ETA is engaged in “combat operations”, on whose conscience, since the 1960s, hundreds of actions, explosions of cars, police stations, railway lines, army barracks, kidnappings and murders of representatives of the Spanish authorities and departments. About 900 people became victims of the "liberation war" of ETA. True, by 2012 this “war” is considered to be over: ETA has lost a significant part of its influence, most of the organization’s leadership was arrested, and in 2011 it was repeatedly announced that the struggle with armed methods had ceased.

On July 15, 2012, the British police, an alleged member of ETA, who managed to hide from justice for ten years.

The Basque terrorist organization ETA (ETA - Euzkadi Ta Azkatasuna, in Basque means "Homeland and Freedom") was founded on July 31, 1959. The initiators of its formation were activists of the banned Basque Nationalist Party (Euzko Alderdi Jeltzalea), who were not satisfied with the refusal of their associates from the armed struggle against the regime of dictator Francisco Franco, who in 1937 abolished the autonomy of the Basque Country, a region located in northern Spain and southwestern France , and continued the policy of oppression of the Basque minority.

The organization finally took shape in 1962 at a congress of left-wing nationalists who sought to combine legal activity with underground. The creation of political, military, labor and cultural fronts was proclaimed, the formation of an independent Basque state was declared the main goal of the activity.

In the early years of its existence, the organization enjoyed wide support from ordinary Spaniards.

According to some reports, the first victim of the Basque terrorists was the 22-month-old girl Begoña Urros Ibarrola, who was burned alive as a result of a terrorist attack committed by ETA supporters on June 27, 1960 at the Amara railway station in San Sebastian. ETA leaders did not take responsibility for the train bombing.

Also in 1961, an unfortunate hitchhiking was undertaken by a Basque extremist militant group to derail a train carrying political figures who were Franco's supporters.

On June 7, 1968, the ETA militants carried out the first high-profile terrorist attack, as a result of which policeman José Pardines was killed. Since then, terror has become one of the organization's main means of political and national struggle.

Most bloody terrorist attack, which killed 21 people, ETA committed in 1987, blowing up a car in the parking lot of a Hipercor supermarket in Barcelona.

In response, the Spanish government adopted new law against terrorism, 1963 militants were arrested.

In December 1973, Prime Minister Luis Carrero Blanco became a victim of ETA militants, who was blown up in his car in Madrid.

In 1976, the government of Adolfo Suarez González made an attempt at reconciliation with the ETA leaders. Some political prisoners were released, autonomy was introduced in the Basque Country. However, negotiations with the leadership of the party were unsuccessful, the ETA activists continued to insist on maximalist demands.
1976 - 1980 in the history of ETA became the time of the most active terrorist activities. The main target of assassination attempts were military and civil officials of high rank, judges. The number of members of the group itself reached 500, of which almost half were militants. The organization was divided into detachments of 20-30 people, operating, as a rule, in the Basque Country, there were separate "mobile groups" - in Madrid, Valencia, Barcelona and others major cities Spain.

In the early 1980s, ETA experienced a series of ideological splits: a fascist wing emerged, and moderate members of the party broke away and went legal.

In 1995, ETA launched an unsuccessful assassination attempt on King Juan Carlos. Information about this made many Spaniards, who sincerely loved the monarch, condemn the activities of the nationalist group.

From the first years, the most important source of funds for the ETA cash desk was kidnapping for ransom. Only one of the nearly 80 hostages taken by the extremists managed to escape. José Antonio Ortega Lara was kidnapped in January 1996 and held for 532 days. He was released by the police on July 1, 1997.

In July 1997, after the murder of a young municipal councilor, Miguel Angel Blanco, taken hostage by separatists, over 6 million people took to the streets of Spanish cities under the slogan of condemning ETA. Following this, the Spanish police arrested and convicted almost the entire leadership of the party.

ETA has 858 victims in its history.

ETA has repeatedly announced a truce and an end to the struggle, but each time it violated these truces, committing new bloody terrorist attacks.

The longest truce was the ceasefire announced in March 2006, which formally lasted 437 days and was canceled by terrorists in June 2007, although it was actually violated on December 30, 2006. On that day, two people were killed in a car bomb that was parked at Madrid's Barajas airport.

The latest terrorist attack fatal Basque radicals ETA committed July 30, 2009 in Mallorca, laying explosives near the gendarmerie building in the city of Palma Nova. As a result, two police officers were killed.

On January 10, 2011, the ETA organization, putting forward as the main demand the recognition of the independence of the Basque Country political processes, including independence. "In response to this, the government demanded the complete dissolution of the banned party.

Since the announcement by ETA of an indefinite truce, Spanish and French law enforcement detained a total of more than 70 alleged ETA members, including several possible gang leaders, seized almost two tons of explosives, a significant amount of documents, weapons, drugs, discovered several hiding places and an explosives laboratory in Portugal. The creation of two more terrorist bases in Portugal and Spanish Catalonia was prevented.

On May 28, 2012, the leader of the Basque separatist group ETA, Oroitz Gurruchaga Gogorza, was arrested in the French city of Kona.

Together with him, French law enforcement agencies arrested five more ETA members.

However, on September 16, 1998, ETA announced a complete and indefinite cessation of terrorist activities.
Over time, terrorist acts organized by this group began to resume. Such phenomena in the history of the functioning of ETA occurred regularly, and in 2003 the activities of the Erri Batasuna party, the political wing of ETA, were banned. Spain in particular, the European Union as a whole, as well as the United States, classify ETA's activities as terrorist.
On September 5, 2010, the Basque separatist group ETA issued a statement about another refusal to armed struggle within the framework of the struggle for independence and added that henceforth the organization would adhere to peaceful means to achieve its goals. However, representatives of the main Spanish political parties called the ceasefire announcement "insufficient". On October 20, 2011, ETA finally and again abandoned the armed struggle.

ETA traditionally shoots its objections and proposals on video, thereby trying to achieve the dissemination of its opinion.

The photo shows a festive volley of members of the ETA organization.

ETA supporters rally in Madrid.

In 1973, ETA undertook one of its most famous actions - the assassination of Franco's successor as Prime Minister of Spain, Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco. This happened by blowing up his car right at the time traffic down a street in the center of Madrid. As a result of the explosion, Blanco's car was thrown so far that it was not immediately found, and a deep crater formed at the site of the explosion.

A man draws the flag of the Basque Country, a historical region and autonomous community in northern Spain, on the pavement. The region is part of the historical region of the same name, the territory of which also extends to southern part France.

Graffiti in support of ETA in Northern Ireland.
700 political prisoners, a ban on the creation of political parties, torture, abuse of the rights of citizens. Not Spain and not France! Self-determination of the Basque country.

The wall depicts the symbolism of ETA - a snake wrapped around an ax

Actions of opponents of ETA

Procession in memory of the victims of terror by the separatists from the Basque organization ETA.

The boy carries a poster "Peace" in his hands.

"We say NO to Basque separatist organizations."

Researchers have not yet come to consensus from where the Basques appeared in Europe. The lands inhabited by them, located in the north of Spain and in the south-west of France, from the 1st century BC. to the 5th century AD were subordinated to the Roman Empire, and in the XI-XV centuries were under the rule of Navarre and Castile. However, no one managed to conquer the freedom-loving people to the end. In 1425, the Basque Country first gained independence, but at the end of the century it lost it again and became part of the unified Spanish state. At the same time, the provinces that made up the Basque Country - Alava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa - had fueros, that is, charters of feudal liberties.

At the end of the 19th century, a civil war broke out in Spain between the supporters of the brother of the late King Ferdinand VII, Don Carlos the Elder, and the regent Maria Christina, the mother of Isabella, the daughter of Ferdinand VII, recognized as heir to the throne. The Spanish national minorities in this war supported the Carlists, hoping in this way to defend their independence, but they did not succeed: the Christinos, having won, punished the Basques, taking away all privileges from the Basque Country and Navarre.

In 1936, another civil war began, and the Basques proclaimed the independent Republic of Euskadi. The nation-state did not last long. On April 26, 1937, the Francoists bombed the ancient capital of Guernica, and two months later they captured Bilbao, and the autonomy of the Basque Country was over. General Francisco Franco, who came to power, banned the Basque flag, laubura and the use of the language. All Basque culture went underground, national newspapers, schools and theaters were closed, many Basque intellectuals ended up behind bars.

As early as the end of the 19th century, when the fueros were replaced by economic agreements, and the authorities pursued a policy of Spanishization of the Basques, nationalist views began to grow among the population of the Basque Country. The ideologist of Basque nationalism was Sabino Arana, who invented the flag, coat of arms and anthem for his people, and in 1894 created the Basque Nationalist Party (BNP).

During Franco's dictatorship, the BNP could not take any decisive action and the Basques continued to suffer from discrimination. After 20 years of oppression, several young members of the BNP, frustrated by the party's rejection of armed resistance, left and founded the terrorist organization ETA (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna - Basque Country and Freedom).

During the first few years of the organization's existence, it internal formation, its ideology finally took shape only by 1962. Then, at the congress of the left nationalists, the main goals and tasks of the group were outlined. Following their hero Sabino Arana, the terrorists set out to create an independent socialist state by uniting four Spanish and three French provinces, originally inhabited by the Basques. Having come to the conclusion that negotiations with the authorities were ineffective, the ETA members decided to achieve their goal by violent means.

Since the group was created as a resistance movement against the dictatorship of Franco, many Spaniards at first treated her with sympathy. Until 1964, ETA did not have the opportunity to act due to repression, and then the activity of its activities suffered somewhat due to the splits experienced by the organization. In the mid-1960s, the terrorists realized that nationalism was inextricably linked to the class struggle and took an anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist stance.

The first murder committed by an ETA member occurred nine years after the organization's inception and was unintentional. On June 7, 1968, Txabi Etxebarieta, a Basque man, shot and killed policeman José Pardines when he tried to stop him during a routine road check. Etxebarieta tried to escape, but his colleagues tracked him down and shot him too.

The aftermath of the explosion on Claudio Caello Street, December 20, 1973. Photo: Europa press / AFP / East News

After that, the terrorists began active operations. In the same year, they broke into the home of the head of the secret police in San Sebastian, Meliton Manzanas, and fired seven bullets at him. The first planned victim ETA was famous for the cruel torture to which he subjected prisoners objectionable to the Franco regime. After the raid, 16 extremists were arrested and put on trial. The prosecution asked for a total of six death sentences and 700 years in prison for them. On the last day of the "Bourgogne trial" the terrorists jumped up from the dock and tried to attack the members of the military tribunal. As a result, three of the six ETA members who received capital punishment received two death sentences by firing squad each. The remaining ten people received from 6 to 70 years in prison.

The verdict sparked widespread protests and demonstrations both in Spain and abroad, and under international pressure, Franco commuted the death penalty to prison for the activists. In early December 1970, the ETA kidnapped the German consul Eugen Baich in order to exchange him for prisoners, but they managed to free him by Christmas.

The revolutionary terror of ETA was directed mainly against the police, military and officials. Adherents of Marxism-Leninism carried out the most high-profile terrorist attack in their entire existence on December 20, 1973. At that time, the head of the government of Spain was Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco, to whom Franco entrusted his post after he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. ETA members, under the guise of sculpture students, rented a basement in a house in the center of Madrid on Claudio Coelho Street, along which Carrero Blanco used to go to Mass.

The preparation of Operation Beast (Operación Ogro, literally - "giant") took almost six months. The terrorists did not know how to build tunnels, one of the activists suffered from claustrophobia, and they were almost filled up with earth, which, moreover, was saturated with sewage and harmful gases. When the tunnel was completed, the terrorists planted 50 kg of dynamite in it. On December 20, the prime minister, who had celebrated mass in the church of St. Francisco Borgia, got into the car and planned to go home, but an explosion occurred. It was so strong that the admiral's car was thrown into the air and thrown over a five-story building, after which he fell onto the roof of the church extension. In addition to Carrero Blanco, the driver, José Mogena, and police inspector José Fernandez, who was in the car, were killed.

In 1974, terrorists bombed the Rolando cafe, located next to the General Directorate of Security. The explosion killed 12 people and injured 70.

During a protest against ETA in Madrid. Photo: Ian Waldie / Getty Images / Fotobank.ru

During the first seven years of revolutionary terror, ETA members killed 40 people. In 1975, the dictator Franco died, in July of the following year, Adolfo Suarez was appointed prime minister, who embarked on a project to transition Spain from authoritarianism to democracy. The Suarez government released political prisoners and tried to negotiate with ETA. The Basque Country received broad autonomy, at first temporary, and since 1980 - permanent. The Basques had their own government, parliament and police, as well as the right to collect taxes.

The ETA leadership was not satisfied with these concessions and continued the terror. Created to fight the dictatorship of General Franco, the organization flourished even more after the fall of the regime, and the number of its victims began to number in the hundreds. When the militant Marxists first killed a socialist, they finally ceased to be seen as freedom fighters, but only as terrorists and separatists.