ETA e Terra Lliure: o nacionalismo radical e a violência política durante os anos 1978-1992

Abstract

This essay focuses on the comparative analysis of how the radical nationalism and the scant popular support influenced the political violence promoted by Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA) and Terra Lliure (TLL) during the years 1978-1992. In that regard, the research problem is to identify radical nationalism and political violence as similar and distinguished in the performance of the above-mentioned groups, which have been analyzed in the proposed time frame. We try testing the initial hypothesis through the concepts of political violence, radical nationalism, autonomy and radicalization, aligned with the scheme of development of national movements and the approach of the multilevel analysis system. It was due to the low popular support for ETA and TLL that both chose to fight the new political system (democracy) from the margins. They have also been driven by their respective radical nationalist currents and they used political violence as the main strategy of pressure on the central power to achieve their goals. The research makes use of the hypothetical deductive method to trace and analyze the paths of ETA and TLL during the transition to democracy in Spain, combining qualitative and quantitative perspectives. Lastly, this research draws attention to the consequences and impressions that remained in Spanish society, as well as in Basque and Catalan societies, and the interesting fact that Basque nationalism has waned and Catalan nationalism has been strengthened in the past two decades.