Building Bridges? The Welsh and Basque Nationalist Parties during the Spanish Civil War

Abstract

This article analyses the relationship between the Welsh and the Basque Nationalist Parties during the Spanish Civil War. It pays attention to the ways in which the Welsh nationalist leaders interpreted this war and the role of their Basque fellows from 1936 onwards, and to the first attempts to create a formal relationship between them. The research focuses on three aspects. Firstly, the article explains the limited attention paid by the Welsh nationalist leaders to their Basque fellows. Secondly, it explores the political heterogeneity of Welsh nationalism in the 1930s and its internal problems as they are made evident through the study of the intense debates within the Welsh Nationalist Party over the Spanish Civil War. Finally, it will consider the international relationships of nationalist parties and the objectives which guided them in periods of tension and conflict.