Telesforo Monzón, del nacionalismo aranista a Herri Batasuna: las claves de una evolución

Abstract

Telesforo Monzón (1904-1981) was a prominent leader of the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) and member of the Basque Government during the Second Republic, the Civil War and the post-war period. From the 1960s on, he supported the radical nationalism of ETA and eventually became one of the main leaders of Herri Batasuna. This article analyses Monzón’s political and ideological evolution, looking for clues to explain its complex and apparently contradictory development. The article argues that is was a union between nationalism and religion, on the one hand, and a populist conception of politics, on the other hand, which provided the continuity that allowed Monzón to evolve from being an adherent of Sabino Arana’s nationalism to supporting ETA’s radical version.