Breton Liberation Front

Breton Liberation Front
*Talbenn Diebiñ Breizh*
*Front de Libération de la Bretagne*
Breton Liberation Front; Talbenn Diebiñ Breizh; Front de Libération de la Bretagne
	The organization logo
Dates of operation	1963 – 1990s
Motives	Breton independence from France
Active regions	Brittany, France
Ideology	Breton separatism ; Celtic nationalism; Revolutionary socialism; Marxism-Leninism; Factions:; European federalism
Allies	Euskadi Ta Askatasuna; Irish Republican Army; Free Wales Army
Opponents	Government of France
	Preceded by; Gwenn ha Du Succeeded by; Breton Revolutionary Army

The Breton Liberation Front (Breton: Talbenn Dieubiñ Breizh, French: Front de Libération de la Bretagne or FLB) was a paramilitary organisation founded in 1963 whose aims were to seek greater autonomy for the region of Brittany (Breton language Breizh) separate from the rest of France. Brittany is a province in northwest France, and formed an independent Duchy of Brittany until the treaty of union in 1532. The group allegedly had strong allies with ETA (separatist group) as their struggles were almost the same.

^ ^a ^b O'Callaghan, Michael John Christopher (1982). Separatism in Brittany (PDF). Durham Theses (Thesis). Durham University. p. 120. During the very early years of its activity the FLB seems to have had no clear doctrine to explain its acts. It appears to have been seeking the rights of the province in accordance with the treat of 1532, providing a united front of different classes in favour of independence and being inspired by a vague mixture of celticism and europeanism.
^ O'Callaghan, Michael John Christopher (1982). Separatism in Brittany (PDF). Durham Theses (Thesis). Durham University. p. 122. The FLB sought for Brittany a socialism that would be neither bureaucratic nor authoritarian, would be inspired by Brittany's Celtic heritage, would maintain the liberties that Brittany most cherished and would give Bretons of all classes the opportunity to lead a full life.
^ O'Callaghan, Michael John Christopher (1982). Separatism in Brittany (PDF). Durham Theses (Thesis). Durham University. p. 122. On 29 May 1972, however, a text was published which seemed to contradict the 1968 manifesto. Published by the Agence Presse-Liberation, the text placed the FLB's actions firmly within a Marxist framework. It was this document that gave the ARB's title as the Armee Revolutionnaire Bretonne, rather than Arme Republicaine Bretonne.
^ McCreanor, Kyle Thomas (28 April 2017). Constructing the 'Third Europe'? The International Connections of Radical Nationalist Organizations in Western Europe, 1960-1980 (PDF) (Bachelor of Arts in History thesis). University of Victoria. p. 16. In conclusion to this chapter, the FLB not only had international ambitions, but actually took steps towards realizing a cooperative strategy with the Irish and Basques. Their internationalist outlook was inherited from a longer history of Europeanism among Breton nationalists.
^ McCreanor, Kyle Thomas (28 April 2017). Constructing the 'Third Europe'? The International Connections of Radical Nationalist Organizations in Western Europe, 1960-1980 (PDF) (Bachelor of Arts in History thesis). University of Victoria. p. 14. In regard to the contact between ETA and the FLB, the Basques were somewhat more willing than their comrades in the PIRA to work with the Bretons. ETA and the FLB established contact in 1969, and it was through the Breton connection that ETA and the PIRA became acquainted around this same time. Initially there was probably some sharing of intelligence and diplomatic exchanges. After the 1972 meeting in Northern Ireland, a small selection of young Breton militants may have received training from ETA in clandestine camps in the Pyrenees.
^ McCreanor, Kyle Thomas (28 April 2017). Constructing the 'Third Europe'? The International Connections of Radical Nationalist Organizations in Western Europe, 1960-1980 (PDF) (Bachelor of Arts in History thesis). University of Victoria. p. 11. The FLB therefore recruited Yann Fouéré in the late 60s as their de facto ideological director. Fouéré served on the état-major General Staff, the pseudo-military head of the FLB, which also included René Vaillant. He frequently travelled to Dublin to represent the FLB in the CNBL, and also had contacts in the Free Wales Army and the IRA. Much in the tradition of using Ireland as a safe haven, recruitment for the FLB took place there, free from the reach of the French authorities. Throughout the 1970s, countless young Bretons made a pilgrimage to the heavily-mythologized Éire in order to join the FLB, or visit during Easter celebrations.
^ McCreanor, Kyle Thomas (28 April 2017). Constructing the 'Third Europe'? The International Connections of Radical Nationalist Organizations in Western Europe, 1960-1980 (PDF) (Bachelor of Arts in History thesis). University of Victoria. p. 11. The FLB therefore recruited Yann Fouéré in the late 60s as their de facto ideological director. Fouéré served on the état-major General Staff, the pseudo-military head of the FLB, which also included René Vaillant. He frequently travelled to Dublin to represent the FLB in the CNBL, and also had contacts in the Free Wales Army and the IRA.

[durham_quote-1] O'Callaghan, Michael John Christopher (1982). Separatism in Brittany (PDF). Durham Theses (Thesis). Durham University. p. 120. During the very early years of its activity the FLB seems to have had no clear doctrine to explain its acts. It appears to have been seeking the rights of the province in accordance with the treat of 1532, providing a united front of different classes in favour of independence and being inspired by a vague mixture of celticism and europeanism.

[2] O'Callaghan, Michael John Christopher (1982). Separatism in Brittany (PDF). Durham Theses (Thesis). Durham University. p. 122. The FLB sought for Brittany a socialism that would be neither bureaucratic nor authoritarian, would be inspired by Brittany's Celtic heritage, would maintain the liberties that Brittany most cherished and would give Bretons of all classes the opportunity to lead a full life.

[3] O'Callaghan, Michael John Christopher (1982). Separatism in Brittany (PDF). Durham Theses (Thesis). Durham University. p. 122. On 29 May 1972, however, a text was published which seemed to contradict the 1968 manifesto. Published by the Agence Presse-Liberation, the text placed the FLB's actions firmly within a Marxist framework. It was this document that gave the ARB's title as the Armee Revolutionnaire Bretonne, rather than Arme Republicaine Bretonne.

[4] McCreanor, Kyle Thomas (28 April 2017). Constructing the 'Third Europe'? The International Connections of Radical Nationalist Organizations in Western Europe, 1960-1980 (PDF) (Bachelor of Arts in History thesis). University of Victoria. p. 16. In conclusion to this chapter, the FLB not only had international ambitions, but actually took steps towards realizing a cooperative strategy with the Irish and Basques. Their internationalist outlook was inherited from a longer history of Europeanism among Breton nationalists.

[5] McCreanor, Kyle Thomas (28 April 2017). Constructing the 'Third Europe'? The International Connections of Radical Nationalist Organizations in Western Europe, 1960-1980 (PDF) (Bachelor of Arts in History thesis). University of Victoria. p. 14. In regard to the contact between ETA and the FLB, the Basques were somewhat more willing than their comrades in the PIRA to work with the Bretons. ETA and the FLB established contact in 1969, and it was through the Breton connection that ETA and the PIRA became acquainted around this same time. Initially there was probably some sharing of intelligence and diplomatic exchanges. After the 1972 meeting in Northern Ireland, a small selection of young Breton militants may have received training from ETA in clandestine camps in the Pyrenees.

[6] McCreanor, Kyle Thomas (28 April 2017). Constructing the 'Third Europe'? The International Connections of Radical Nationalist Organizations in Western Europe, 1960-1980 (PDF) (Bachelor of Arts in History thesis). University of Victoria. p. 11. The FLB therefore recruited Yann Fouéré in the late 60s as their de facto ideological director. Fouéré served on the état-major General Staff, the pseudo-military head of the FLB, which also included René Vaillant. He frequently travelled to Dublin to represent the FLB in the CNBL, and also had contacts in the Free Wales Army and the IRA. Much in the tradition of using Ireland as a safe haven, recruitment for the FLB took place there, free from the reach of the French authorities. Throughout the 1970s, countless young Bretons made a pilgrimage to the heavily-mythologized Éire in order to join the FLB, or visit during Easter celebrations.

[7] McCreanor, Kyle Thomas (28 April 2017). Constructing the 'Third Europe'? The International Connections of Radical Nationalist Organizations in Western Europe, 1960-1980 (PDF) (Bachelor of Arts in History thesis). University of Victoria. p. 11. The FLB therefore recruited Yann Fouéré in the late 60s as their de facto ideological director. Fouéré served on the état-major General Staff, the pseudo-military head of the FLB, which also included René Vaillant. He frequently travelled to Dublin to represent the FLB in the CNBL, and also had contacts in the Free Wales Army and the IRA.

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