Sabino Arana is accredited with the beginning of Basquenationalism, a troubled child whose family grew up in exile, he became deeply interested in the study of the Basque language. He had one central idea: that the Basques were a nation and should have a country. He renamed the country Euskaldi from the work Euskal meaning “basque speaker” and di which indicates “together”. The word previously used, Euskal Herria “land of Euskera speakers” would come to be known as a place, however, Euskaldi would be the name of the nation. His work Bixkaya por su Independiencia (For Vizcayan Independence) is accredited as being the first modern basque nationalism text.
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The first public demonstration declaring Basque nationalism was held
on June 3, 1893 led by Arana. On July 31, 1895 the Basque Nationalist
Party,
an underground independence movement , grew at an alarming rate even
though it appealed mostly to just young men.
It was Arana who created the Basque flag and national anthem. The flag
was set to Basque colors, red, green and white. It was symbolic of
the old Basque whitewashed home with red trim situated on a green mountain,
with the red symbolizing the people, the green x for the Fueros and
the
white cross for the purity of Christ.
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Arana believed that the Fueros represented the idealistic form of democracy,
although in reality it was more of a theocracy. He also proved to
be fiercely racist; claiming that to be a Basque one must be able
to trace
Basque lineage
four generations back in attempt to ensure one does not posse Moorish
or Jewish blood.
It was the Spanish-American war that truly lead the Basques to fight
for their independence, Sabio wrote a letter to president Roosevelt
commending him for the liberation of Cuba and asking for support
for the Basque
cause.
The telegram was never delivered and instead given to Spanish authorities,
who promptly arrested him Sabino. Already in failing health, he
was released from jail and died in his home on November 25, 1903.
In
his short life,
Sabino saw the change from a Basque culture to the birth of an
emerging nation.