Liberation Front of Brittany

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The Liberation Front of Brittany (French: Front de Libération de la Bretagne or FLB) is a militant group founded in 1963 to promote the "liberation of Brittany from France". Brittany is a province in northwest France, and was an independent Celtic duchy until it was claimed by the French in the sixteenth century.

The first known FLB attack occurred in June 1966 when a municipal tax office in St Brieux was bombed, and a note signed by the FLB claimed that they would continue to carry out a campaign of violence against these "occupying symbols of Brittany." (Jack E. Reece, "The Bretons Against France: Ethnic Minority Nationalism in Twentieth Century Brittany," (Chapel Hill USA: The University of North Carolina Press, 1977), 201).

In the years following, the FLB carried out attacks against administrative structures, such as electrical installations, police barracks and statues - mainly by bombing them. The amount of attacks peaked in 1968. However, the FLB ensured that no physical injuries or deaths would result from their attacks, which they wished to remain purely symbolic. They thus gained a reputation in the international community as the "smiling terrorists." There are even reports that the only two known FLB victims during this period were two FLB militants themselves, who were killed while trying to defuse a bomb they were afraid may hurt civilians (Breton Revolutionary Army Profile, MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base, <http://www.tkb.org/Group.jsp?groupID=3548>).

Although created by young Bretons in the early 1960s, the FLB enjoyed popular support, evident in the 1969 arrest of numerous FLB suspects which revealed that members came from very diverse backgrounds: businessmen, housewives, students, farmers, and even clergy (Jack E. Reece, The Bretons Against France, 206-209). Some of these suspects were put on trial, which only bolstered the Breton "liberation" movement as it was perceived to be further suppressive action by the government. This period was also marked with a rise in the number of students enrolling in Breton language courses, as being able to speak Breton was seen as legitimizing one's position as a Breton militant.

Factions in the FLB emerged in the early 1970s which led to the creation of the militant Breton Revolutionary Army (Armée Révolutionnaire Bretonne, or ARB). This group acted separately from the FLB and proved to be the durable faction that is still existent today. It is important to note that there were several Breton liberation groups, and so the original FLB should not be confused with the others. This includes the Democratic Breton Union (still an existing political party that does not wish to be linked at all with the FLB and ARB - listed terrorist organisations) and the ARB, although this group did stem out from the FLB (Maryon McDonald, "‘We are not French!’ Language, culture and identity in Brittany," (London: Routledge, 1989), 79).