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environment that encompassed the S
PANISH
C
IVIL
W
AR
and the first phase of the Franco
regime might seem remarkable in that he
was consistently an enemy of the estab-
lished powers, particularly the church, the
military, and the privileged classes. Baroja
was, however, accepted as a kind of univer-
sal critic, who attacked and rejected every-
one and everything. Although he claimed
to be motivated by his desire to point out
the evils of society and to inspire reform, he
gives the impression of having no sympathy
with anyone. Unlike other members of the
“G
ENERATION
OF
'98,” who called for the
renewal of Spanish life, Baroja perceived
Spain as irredeemable and detested virtu-
ally everything about his country and its
people. His many admirers among foreign
readers regarded him as the quintessential
Spanish writer of his time and thought of
him as a voice of opposition to dictatorship.
Many Spaniards, on the other hand, seem
to have regarded him as a kind of ultimate
manifestation of their national traits of ill
temper and perennial suspicion. This colos-
sal crankiness and his fondness for pictur-
esque, adventurous situations gained and
held a vast readership.
Perhaps the most acclaimed of Baroja's
trilogies is
La lucha por la vida
(The struggle
for life, 1904). Among his individual nov-
els,
El arbol de la ciencia
(The tree of science,
1911), which contains significant autobio-
graphical elements, has remained consis-
tently the most widely read.
submerged nationalities in Europe who
resorted to armed violence to assert their
claims during the 1960s and '70s have faded
from view. But whether denounced as ter-
rorists or praised as freedom fighters,
Basque militants have remained at the cen-
ter of Spain's politics into the 21st century.
Many theories have been advanced as
to the origin of the Basque, their distinc-
tive culture, and their mysterious lan-
guage. They made their first appearance in
history some 2,000 years ago in the north-
western Pyrenean corner of what is now
Spain; remained unconquered by Romans,
Visigoths, and Muslim invaders; and estab-
lished a presence on the other side of the
Pyrenees in southwestern France (Gascony
takes its name from them) during the early
Middle Ages. Although their heartland
south of the Pyrenees eventually acknowl-
edged the overlordship of the kings of C
AS
-
TILE
, the Basque retained considerable
autonomy, the last of which was not for-
mally abolished until the 1870s. They
never ceased to think of themselves as a
nation apart.
When they were in a cooperative mood,
the Basque rendered good service to Spain
as seamen and soldiers, sheepherders, and
farmers. Their principal city, B
ILBAO
, became
a center of manufacturing, shipbuilding,
and maritime trade. Their kinsmen north of
the mountains proved equally valuable
subjects to France. Their contrary, indepen-
dent temperament led them to fight for the
losing side in the Carlist wars and to sup-
port the doomed Second Republic during
the S
PANISH
C
IVIL
W
AR
. Their adherence to
the republic was all the more incongruous
because of their ardent Catholicism, as con-
trasted with the anticlericalism of most Loy-
alists. They were promised self-government
Basque nationalism
The world has long since moved beyond
the French writer Voltaire's dismissive defi-
nition that the Basque are “a small people
who sing and dance in the Pyrenees.” Other
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