The Reunification of Brittany or Breton Reunification is a political movement to reunite the Loire-Atlantique department with the administrative region of Brittany, to form the entire cultural and historical region of Brittany. This "reunification" is considered a prerequisite for further Breton autonomy.
Brittany was an independent kingdom from the ninth century, then became a duchy until the dissolution of the French monarchy. [1]
In 1941, the Vichy government separated the region of Loire-Atlantique from historic Brittany which today remains a part of Pays de la Loire administrative region. [2] Loire-Atlantique including Brittany's ancient Duchy capital of Nantes, was separated from the rest of Brittany partly in retaliation for a large number of Bretons supporting the Free French National Council of Charles de Gaulle and also as an attack on Bretons who supported the independence of Brittany. [3]
The division of Brittany has been disputed by Breton militants, who say it was imposed via non-democratic government without consulting the people of Brittany. They argue that the administrative regions of Loire-Atlantique and Brittany are culturally, historically and geographically united and that Breton unity would bring about economic benefit. [4]
On 30 June 2001, 60 years after the division of historic Brittany, a mass demonstration occurred in Nantes calling to reunite Brittany. After this, the Loire-Atlantique council voted unanimously for reunification but in October the Rennes municipal council opposed this. [5]
On 8 October 2004, the Regional Council of Brittany unanimously voted for a resolution "in favour of the administrative reunification of Brittany". They proposed cooperation with the General Council of Loire-Atlantique in matters of mandatory and optional competencies and for the organisation of a unity referendum. [6]
Former Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault and mayor of Nantes said it was "in the interest of the people" to merge the Loire-Atlantique with Brittany. His successor as mayor of Nantes, Johanna Rolland, added, "For the future of our territories and the people living in them, let’s fight for a merger of Pays de la Loire and Bretagne”. Marc Le Fur, a member of parliament for the UMP party, said that President Hollande was "upholding Vichy [the wartime French state]". "He hasn't listened to his Breton ministers, or the Breton members of parliament, or to local businesses, or to cultural leaders. He is deaf. He won't listen to anyone." The organisation 44=BZH accused the French government of listening only to Loire-Atlantique's political leaders, who they claim are desperate to keep their jobs and are ignoring the views of the people of Brittany. [7]
In 2014, between 13,000 and 30,000 people paraded in support of reunification. In 2016 there was also a parade of between 2,500 and 10,000 people. [8]
In October 2018, 1,500 to 3,000 people paraded in Nantes for the reunification of Brittany, calling for a referendum to reunite Loire-Atlantique with Brittany. [9]
In November 2018, over 100,000 citizens of Loire-Atlantique had signed a petition proposed by Bretagne réunie (Brittany reunited) to reunite Loire-Atlantique with Brittany. [9] [10]
In December 2018, the Departmental Council of Loire-Atlantique voted against modifying the regional boundaries directly, but in favour of a referendum on including Loire-Atlantique in the Brittany region. [11]
In 2021, Nantes town council voted in favour of requesting that the French government organise a referendum on Nantes leaving the Pays-de-la-Loire region to become part of Brittany. [12]
In June 2022, Loire-Atlantique council supported a resolution for a referendum. [13]
In October 2021, the Regional Council of Brittany supported a resolution requesting that the French government “begins, with a view to 2024, the legislative process for consulting the electors of Loire-Atlantique on whether or not they wish to join Brittany”. [13]
In 2022, Aziliz Gouez, leader of the Breizh a-Gleiz group of Breton autonomists, supported the reunification of Brittany, which is seen as a prerequisite for a process of autonomy for Brittany. Her call for Breton autonomy was voted for by all the regional councillors (except for far-right Rassemblement National). [14]
In September 2022, the Regional Council of Brittany voted in favour of an impact assessment on reunification, to be jointly financially supported Loire-Atlantique. The results of the impact assessment are due to be published by March 2023 with hope of a consultation. [13]
In May 2023, a "transpartisan" body was formed in Nantes to "create the conditions for dialogue between communities and the State about the organisation of this citizen consultation", with the hope that a referendum can be held quickly. [15] Twenty-five deputies of the five departments of historical Brittany signed a bill for a consultation with the inhabitants of Loire Atlantique on reunification. [16]
In September 2023, in response to an offer by Emmanuel Macron to work towards greater autonomy for Corsica, Loïg Chesnais-Girard, president of the Brittany regional council, noted the disparity between the proposal and the "system of inefficient centralism from another age". [17]
In 2014, a motion was signed in the UK House of Commons by 10 MPs supporting the reunification of the historic region of Brittany during the French government's reorganisation of France's super regions. [18] [ relevant? ]
In the same year, a written statement of opinion from politicians of Plaid Cymru in the Senedd also called on the French government to restore the historic boundaries of Brittany. [19]
In 2015, the European Free Alliance reaffirmed its support for the administrative reunification of Brittany with a single assembly. [20]
Those opposed to Breton reunification argue that it could lead to a dispute between the capitals of Rennes and Nantes and that a united Brittany would not be big enough to deal with international economic competition and so propose a larger zone of the "Great West". [4]
Brittany is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period of Roman occupation. It became an independent kingdom and then a duchy before being united with the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province governed as a separate nation under the crown.
Brittany is the westernmost region of Metropolitan France. It covers about four fifths of the territory of the historic province of Brittany. It is one of two regions in Metropolitan France that do not contain any landlocked departments, the other being Corsica.
Nantes is a city in Loire-Atlantique of France on the Loire, 50 km (31 mi) from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 320,732 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabitants (2020). With Saint-Nazaire, a seaport on the Loire estuary, Nantes forms one of the main north-western French metropolitan agglomerations.
Loire-Atlantique is a department in Pays de la Loire on the west coast of France, named after the river Loire and the Atlantic Ocean. It had a population of 1,429,272 in 2019.
Pays de la Loire is one of the eighteen regions of France, located on the country's Atlantic coast. It was created in the 1950s to serve as a zone of influence for its capital and most populated city, Nantes, one of a handful of French "balancing metropolises". In 2020, Pays de la Loire had a population of 3,832,120.
The history of Brittany may refer to the entire history of the Armorican peninsula or only to the creation and development of a specifically Brythonic culture and state in the Early Middle Ages and the subsequent history of that state.
The flag of Brittany, a region in the northwest of France, is called the Gwenn-ha-du, which means white and black, in Breton. The flag was designed in 1923 by Morvan Marchal. It is also unofficially used in the department of Loire-Atlantique, although this now belongs to the Pays de la Loire and not to the region of Brittany, as the territory of Loire-Atlantique is historically part of the province of Brittany. Nantes, its prefecture, was once one of the two capital cities of Brittany.
Bernard Le Nail was a French writer and Breton militant. After studying commerce in Paris, he headed the promotional office of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Nantes. In 1979 he became Secretary General of the Comité d'Etude et de Liaison des Intérêts Bretons (CELIB) at Lanester. Between 1983 and 2000 he was director of the Cultural Institute of Brittany and had an important role in the conception and publication of the collection Les Bretons au-delà des mers : Explorateurs et grands voyageurs. He was also involved in the conception and publication of the following works: 500 Bretons à connaître, revising the Guide Bleu Bretagne, Guides Gallimard Bretagne, Les noms qui ont fait l’histoire de Bretagne, Dictionnaire des femmes en Bretagne, La Bretagne entre Armor et Argoat.
The culture of Brittany is the patterns of human activity and symbolism associated with the historical region of Brittany in northwestern France and the Breton people. Breton culture has been influenced by various local and nearby traditions over the centuries, including the Celtic culture of the Britons and Gauls and French culture to a lesser extent, particularly in Upper Brittany.
Yves Lainé is a Breton lawyer, politician and companies executive manager, now a writer, arguing for the return of Loire-Atlantique departement in the administrative région of Brittany the reunification and devolution of the historical Brittany.
Couëron is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France. It is part of the historic French Brittany.
Breton Democratic Union is a Breton nationalist, autonomist, and regionalist political party in Brittany and Loire-Atlantique. The UDB advocates devolution for Brittany as well as the promotion of its regional languages and its associated culture.
La Chapelle-Launay is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department, western France.
Haute-Goulaine is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France. The commune is located near Nantes. Historically, the commune was part of Brittany.
The Breton Party is a social-democratic and social-liberal nationalist party which aspires to the creation of an independent republic of Brittany, within the European Union.
Jacques Auxiette was a French politician, and was the Regional Council President for the Pays de la Loire region in France. Auxiette was president between 2004 and 2015, and was re-elected to the office in the March 2010 council elections. He was a member of the Socialist Party.
The politics of Brittany, France takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democracy, whereby the President of Regional Council is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Legislative power is vested in the regional council.
The Derby de la Bretagne, also known as the Derby Breton, is a football match in France. The match can potentially designate any match two clubs based in the historic province of Brittany; however, most of the time, it is employed by each club's supporters to mention the rivalry between major clubs Stade Rennais and FC Nantes, even if this particular fixture is often referred to as the West Derby.
The Pays de la Mée is a historical region of Brittany which was part of the Duchy of Brittany before the French Revolution. It was then split between Loire-Atlantique and Ille-et-Vilaine department. Its capital is Châteaubriant. The dialect traditionally spoken in the Pays de la Mée is Gallo, which is a Romance language, as opposed to the Celtic language of Breton.
Corsican autonomy is the principle and a movement for autonomy or self government for the island of Corsica, with political powers devolved from the French government.
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