Women in the Basque Nationalist Party in Francoist Spain
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Women in the Basque Nationalist Party in Francoist Spain were involved in leadership positions from an early period. The Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) was founded prior to the Second Spanish Republic in Bilbao, as a conservative Roman Catholic organization. They initially tried to be neutral during the Civil War, but later more openly opposed Nationalist forces. This led to repression and investigation after the war of women PNV members, and wives and daughters of male PNV members. Emakume Abertzale Batza, PNV's women political section, was operated in exile in this early period.
Spain's crippled economy of the 1940s made it difficult for men and women to be involved in PNV's nationalist struggles. Women at home while husbands engaged in clandestine operations were often on the brink of poverty. The 1950s would usher in an era where Basque nationalist support was split between PNV and ETA. Nationalist support would wax and wane in this period, responding to actions of the regime. Women supporting PNV often had to seek work outside the home, in opposition to the traditionalist view that they should remain in the home. Family connections would play a critical role in spreading PNV's nationalist agenda.
Following the death of Franco in 1975, PNV could operate in the open. Women, disavowing extremists like ETA, supported centrists parties like PNV at the ballot box, helping them to win 11 of 21 seats in the first regional elections in the post-Franco era.