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"My dear friends, many illustrious figures who certainly know more about what is best for our countries than this humble servant [sic] have already spoken: politicians, diplomats, economists... And now you have me, a simple writer and teacher who knows nothing about alliances, affairs of state or realpolitik, beyond what I've read in books almost as old as myself. However, I have had the opportunity to visit Brittany, Ireland and the Basque Country extensively, both for pleasure and obligation (either due to my work as a folklorist and anthropologist, either to escape the horrors of war), and it has always amazed me that, despite our differences, we are so similar: our traditional ruralism, so far removed from the hustle and obsessions of urban civilization; our living and rich folklore, refuge of the wisdom and creativity of our ancestors; our Christian piety, a true pillar of our history and identity; our afflictions over the centuries, dominated by bad local lords and worse masters from strange lands; our resistance against these invaders, who wanted us to make us forget our tongues, our cultures, our faith, our freedoms; finally, our relationship with the Atlantic, the mighty Oceanus that as soon as it calmly bathes our shores, it throws its fury at us. The sea that has been both sustenance and tomb for many of our compatriots, that tempers our humor and our feelings, and which should not be a barrier, but a bridge between us. My friends, we are like sailors who, although hailing from different lands, see how similar their vicissitudes and experiences are, and they join forces to deal with the storms. In this way, we must come together and help each other, and not isolate ourselves on our borders like hermits or become the appendages of old or new overlords. Thus, dear companions, we must, for the sake of our homelands, create this new Atlantic Forum, yes, a Forum of the Atlantic Nations, in which, united, we will face these adversities and storms, in order to finally reach a safe harbor. Thank you very much."

Speech by Abelardo Rodríguez Fontes at the I Atlantist Conference, November 3, 1951

"One of those amusing little chances history gifts us with from time to time is the origin of the name of the Atlantic Forum. During the 1951 Atlantist Conference the Galician writer Abelardo Rodríguez, in a lapsus linguae, mistranslated the poetic expression The Atlantic Four that the Irish Benedict O'Connell had used to refer to the Atlantic Nations as The Atlantic Forum. Still, the name pleased the attendees of the Conference, and was used by its defenders for the hypothetical association between Galicia, the Basque Country, Brittany and Ireland, being the name chosen for this organization when the idea became reality with the Treaty of Brest in 1956.

The Atlantist ideals were born somewhat earlier, among the conservative Galician, Basque and Breton nationalists who, instead of seeking refuge in the emigrant communities in the Americas to escape their persecution by France and Spain or the World War, turned to the newly liberated Ireland, which had managed to free itself from the British yoke during the collapse of the Imperial Federation in 1935 and whose nationalist struggle had been admired and imitated by them. The contact between those ideologues and the defenders of conservative Irish nationalism led them to appreciate the similarities between their ideals: the defense of their homeland’s traditional society, composed of sailors and peasants and the values they represented, the importance of Catholicism as one of the core characteristics of their peoples, the detrimental effects that England, France and Spain had had, trying to assimilate them, their respective histories of splendor and resistance against their oppressors, etc. The pan-Celtic ideals, strong between the Irish and the Bretons, and to some extent the Galicians, also helped to strengthen ties between them.

When the Pyrenean Alliance was defeated in 1947 and the United States and Germany divided their territories along cultural and ethnic lines during the so-called "Little Spring of Nations", these nationalists returned to their now free homelands, defending the brotherhood of the "Atlantic-spirited" nations. Soon these exhortations took a practical view, arguing that through mutual support they could develop and recover both from the conflicts that had shaken them and from the neglect that most had suffered by central governments in the preceding years, decades and centuries, while maintaining their independence and traditional values. Of course, they faced opposition, not only on the part of those who wanted reunification or at least the rapprochement with their former countries (the bloody Ulster Conflict being the greatest exponent), but also from other nationalists who defended autarky or approaching other countries (such as the Germanophiles in Brittany or the Lusistas in Galicia). However, Atlantism became popular among conservative and ruralist parties, and to some extent among liberals, and with the victories of Aontas Gaelach in Ireland, the Conservative Galicianist Party in Galicia, the Basque Nationalist Party in the Basque Country and the coalition of the Christian Democratic Union and the Breton National League in Brittany cooperation between them became part of their national programs, culminating in the aforementioned Treaty of Brest.

Although the dream of a league of traditionalist Atlantic Nations free from foreign influence soon fell into wet paper (due to the integration of the Forum into the Transatlantic System and the liberalization of their societies), their objective of cooperation and mutual aid was more than met: the Atlantic Free Trade Area in 1960, the Atlantic Industrial Fund in 1963, the Atlantic Passport Union in 1964 , the Common Cultural Fund in 1966, the Atlantic Common Market in 1975, the Centre for Economic Coordination in 1977... From fishing in the Sole Bank to promoting indigenous arts, the Forum has been instrumental in allowing the Atlantic Nations to stand firm in front of their larger and more developed neighbors (such as during the Sole War between Galicia, the Basque Country and Brittany against France), internal threats (such as during the Ulster Peace Process) or various calamities (such as the Economic Crash of '69). Today some see in it a redundant organization, since the quarrels of the past with the British Commonwealth, France and Spain that originally motivated its creation have been forgiven and forgotten, and many of its functions are now covered by the European Confederation, but we must not forget the important role it played and still plays in the lives of the inhabitants of these nations bathed by the Oceanus of old"

Helena Ibarretxe Duvalier, Stories from History, Ed. Alexandria

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Description

"My dear friends, many illustrious figures who certainly know more about what is best for our countries than this humble servant [sic] have already spoken: politicians, diplomats, economists... And now you have me, a simple writer and teacher who knows nothing about alliances, affairs of state or realpolitik, beyond what I've read in books almost as old as myself. However, I have had the opportunity to visit Brittany, Ireland and the Basque Country extensively, both for pleasure and obligation (either due to my work as a folklorist and anthropologist, either to escape the horrors of war), and it has always amazed me that, despite our differences, we are so similar: our traditional ruralism, so far removed from the hustle and obsessions of urban civilization; our living and rich folklore, refuge of the wisdom and creativity of our ancestors; our Christian piety, a true pillar of our history and identity; our afflictions over the centuries, dominated by bad local lords and worse masters from strange lands; our resistance against these invaders, who wanted us to make us forget our tongues, our cultures, our faith, our freedoms; finally, our relationship with the Atlantic, the mighty Oceanus that as soon as it calmly bathes our shores, it throws its fury at us. The sea that has been both sustenance and tomb for many of our compatriots, that tempers our humor and our feelings, and which should not be a barrier, but a bridge between us. My friends, we are like sailors who, although hailing from different lands, see how similar their vicissitudes and experiences are, and they join forces to deal with the storms. In this way, we must come together and help each other, and not isolate ourselves on our borders like hermits or become the appendages of old or new overlords. Thus, dear companions, we must, for the sake of our homelands, create this new Atlantic Forum, yes, a Forum of the Atlantic Nations, in which, united, we will face these adversities and storms, in order to finally reach a safe harbor. Thank you very much."

Speech by Abelardo Rodríguez Fontes at the I Atlantist Conference, November 3, 1951

"One of those amusing little chances history gifts us with from time to time is the origin of the name of the Atlantic Forum. During the 1951 Atlantist Conference the Galician writer Abelardo Rodríguez, in a lapsus linguae, mistranslated the poetic expression The Atlantic Four that the Irish Benedict O'Connell had used to refer to the Atlantic Nations as The Atlantic Forum. Still, the name pleased the attendees of the Conference, and was used by its defenders for the hypothetical association between Galicia, the Basque Country, Brittany and Ireland, being the name chosen for this organization when the idea became reality with the Treaty of Brest in 1956.

The Atlantist ideals were born somewhat earlier, among the conservative Galician, Basque and Breton nationalists who, instead of seeking refuge in the emigrant communities in the Americas to escape their persecution by France and Spain or the World War, turned to the newly liberated Ireland, which had managed to free itself from the British yoke during the collapse of the Imperial Federation in 1935 and whose nationalist struggle had been admired and imitated by them. The contact between those ideologues and the defenders of conservative Irish nationalism led them to appreciate the similarities between their ideals: the defense of their homeland’s traditional society, composed of sailors and peasants and the values they represented, the importance of Catholicism as one of the core characteristics of their peoples, the detrimental effects that England, France and Spain had had, trying to assimilate them, their respective histories of splendor and resistance against their oppressors, etc. The pan-Celtic ideals, strong between the Irish and the Bretons, and to some extent the Galicians, also helped to strengthen ties between them.

When the Pyrenean Alliance was defeated in 1947 and the United States and Germany divided their territories along cultural and ethnic lines during the so-called "Little Spring of Nations", these nationalists returned to their now free homelands, defending the brotherhood of the "Atlantic-spirited" nations. Soon these exhortations took a practical view, arguing that through mutual support they could develop and recover both from the conflicts that had shaken them and from the neglect that most had suffered by central governments in the preceding years, decades and centuries, while maintaining their independence and traditional values. Of course, they faced opposition, not only on the part of those who wanted reunification or at least the rapprochement with their former countries (the bloody Ulster Conflict being the greatest exponent), but also from other nationalists who defended autarky or approaching other countries (such as the Germanophiles in Brittany or the Lusistas in Galicia). However, Atlantism became popular among conservative and ruralist parties, and to some extent among liberals, and with the victories of Aontas Gaelach in Ireland, the Conservative Galicianist Party in Galicia, the Basque Nationalist Party in the Basque Country and the coalition of the Christian Democratic Union and the Breton National League in Brittany cooperation between them became part of their national programs, culminating in the aforementioned Treaty of Brest.

Although the dream of a league of traditionalist Atlantic Nations free from foreign influence soon fell into wet paper (due to the integration of the Forum into the Transatlantic System and the liberalization of their societies), their objective of cooperation and mutual aid was more than met: the Atlantic Free Trade Area in 1960, the Atlantic Industrial Fund in 1963, the Atlantic Passport Union in 1964 , the Common Cultural Fund in 1966, the Atlantic Common Market in 1975, the Centre for Economic Coordination in 1977... From fishing in the Sole Bank to promoting indigenous arts, the Forum has been instrumental in allowing the Atlantic Nations to stand firm in front of their larger and more developed neighbors (such as during the Sole War between Galicia, the Basque Country and Brittany against France), internal threats (such as during the Ulster Peace Process) or various calamities (such as the Economic Crash of '69). Today some see in it a redundant organization, since the quarrels of the past with the British Commonwealth, France and Spain that originally motivated its creation have been forgiven and forgotten, and many of its functions are now covered by the European Confederation, but we must not forget the important role it played and still plays in the lives of the inhabitants of these nations bathed by the Oceanus of old"

Helena Ibarretxe Duvalier, Stories from History, Ed. Alexandria

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