Women in ETA

Part of a series on the
History of the Basques
Prehistory and Roman Empire Origin of the Basques Vasconic substratum theory Proto-Basque language Basque mythology Vascones
Early Middle Ages Duchy of Vasconia County of Vasconia Citerior Battle of Roncevaux Pass Kingdom of Pamplona
Late Middle Ages Kingdom of Navarre Lordship of Biscay Fueros Kingdom of Pamplona War of the Bands
Modern Age Spanish conquest of Iberian Navarre Basque witch trials Basque whaling Guipuzcoan Company of Caracas
19th century Carlism Carlist Wars End of Basque home rule in Spain End of Basque home rule in France Basque Economic Agreement Basque nationalism Basque Nationalist Party Sabino Arana Goiri
20th and 21st centuries Basque Workers' Solidarity Indalecio Prieto 1936 Statute of Autonomy Bombings of Guernica and Durango Battle of Bilbao Euskadi Ta Askatasuna Basque conflict 1979 Statute of Autonomy
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Women in ETA in Francoist Spain were few in numbers. Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA) grew out of a Basque nationalist movement with roots that pre-dated the Second Spanish Republic. When Franco seized power, the new regime cracked down on Basque nationalism, imprisoned and killed many activists and made traditional women's activism difficult to continue. Basque nationalists began to stockpile weaponry following the end of World War II. ETA was created in 1952 by students in Bilbao, creating a fissure in the Basque nationalist community by the mid-1950s.  Their attitude towards women was patriarchal and informed by their conservative Roman Catholicism.  There would be few women in the movement in this period.

Women's involvement increased in the mid-1960s, usually as a result of male relatives like fathers, husbands or boyfriends.  The media began portraying these women as being one-half of a terrorist couple. ETA affiliated women began to be arrested and sent to prison. By the 1970s, female ETA members were involved in violent acts of murder against representatives of the Spanish state.  Women were also now being targeted if they were viewed as part of the state or having betrayed ETA. The death of Franco saw little change in the status of women in ETA or state actions to crack down on the terrorist organization. María Dolores Katarain had become a part of ETA leadership by the early 1980s, but was killed as a consequence of leaving. An attempt to start a peace process was underway by the mid-1980s. The creation of the 1999 ceasefire would see more women become leaders in ETA. Their presence came at the time of generational shift in organizational membership, with middle-aged male members who were willing to consider a détente with the Spanish state becoming less visible as younger members, including women, more willing to engage in violence took over.  Women were involved with bombing police officer. ETA declared a permanent end to violence in 2011.