La represión franquista de guerra y posguerra en el País Vasco a debate: entre el exterminio y el oasis

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the debates generated about postwar Francoist repression in the Basque Country. First, the article notes that the undeniable advance of academic historiography in relation to Spanish civil war and postwar has not prevented a strong social implementation of some kind of thesis, characterized by being divorced from academy, based on clear ideological view and also on easy assimilation cliches, on events that took place during that time. So while from academia is indicated that repression in Basque Country did not reach virulence level deployed in the most of the rest of provinces, militant narratives presents Francoist repression as a secular Spanish genocidal project aimed at annihilating “basque nation”. The last part delves into the matter showing the numbers and factors that conditioned postwar repression in the Basque Country. The article concludes discarding definitely “extermination” theories but also questioning “oasis” thesis advocated by some academic authors.