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• Ethnic/religious groups of Habsburg Empire
• Historical breakup of Yugoslavia ('91-'09)
• Muslim populations in European countries
• History of Christianization of Europe
• Soviet Union, Communist influence
• Map of European ethnic groups
• Map of Fascism in Europe (1922-75)
• History of Islamic conquest in Europe
• Religions & ethnic groups in Russia
• Detailed map of French colonization
• Detailed map of British colonization
• Napoleon's conquests & legacy
• Ethnic & religious map of pre-Nazi Poland

--MORE & NON-ENGLISH--

• Pecs, Hungary: collision point between
Muslim and Christian empires
• Auschwitz and Birkenau
• Poland's resistance to Nazis in pictures
• Muhammad cartoon crisis in pictures
• Stalin's private summer home
• Ravenna: capital of Gothic empire
• Czar Nicholas II's Ukrainian palace
• European traditional cultural costumes
• Inside the Vatican, house of all wealth
• Banknotes/currencies of Europe
• Croatia's Dubrovnik, untarnished gem

--MORE & NON-ENGLISH--

• Islamic Mujahidin vs. Christian Spain
• Poland-Lithuania vs. Teutonic Order
• Nevskiy's Russia vs. German Crusaders
• Prussia vs. France (Nazi Propaganda)
• Libya: Europe will soon be Islamic
• Ivan the Terrible vs. Muslim Tatars
• Soviet Propaganda: Defeat of Germany  

--MORE & NON-ENGLISH--

• An analysis of Mussolini's 1938 racialist legislation
• The disastrous effects of Soviet collectivization on Kazakhstan
• Changing meaning of Italian identity under Fascist rule
• Yugoslavia's independent break from East and West
• The Galicians: the Celts of Spain
• The modern Macedonian Slavs and Alexander the Great
• An argument for the Romanians' links to ancient Dacians
• Mussolini's Italian death camp for Jews, Slovenes, and Marxists
• The disappeared Jews of Hungary and the Arrow Cross regime
• The Gypsies in history and today, Europe's public enemy
• History of Jihad in Chechnya vs. Russians
• History of the Muslim Tatars in Eastern Europe
• Post-WWII expulsion of 10 million ethnic German civilians
• Ethnic & religious history of Serbs, Croats, & Bosnians
• Breakaway states and independence movements in Europe
• The ancient Germanic Runic alphabet and Runestones
• Teutonic Order and their 800-year legacy in Eastern Europe
• 460-year struggle for Albanian homeland, and 540 for Kosovo
• 2,800-year-old white mummies of China, bringers of Buddhism?
• Alexander the Great's Greek descendents in Pakistan?
• Visual History of Yugoslavia and its breakup (1918-2008)

--MORE & NON-ENGLISH--

Breakaway cultures and independence movements in Europe
by James Mayfield (Chairman, European Heritage Library)

Print this Article    •    About the Author    •    Bibliography/Sources

This article tracks the history and struggles of many unrecognized peoples of Europe who seek independence. It does not include different cultural groups that seek distinct autonomy from their host countries, like the Catalans and Galicians of Spain or the Welsh of the UK, but only populations that have struggled for independence through political or violent means to this day for independence. All of these movements are CURRENT and on-going. Read our Minority Languages and Identities in Europe to see the many native minority groups seeking autonomy.

QUICK VIEW:
Basques • Flemish & Walloons • Kosovo and Greater Albania • Serbian republic in Bosnia • Northern Ireland • Turkish Muslim Cyprus • Transnistria • South Ossetia • Chechnya/Muslims of Russia

Although individual European nations are among the most homogeneous in the world, there are a number of native (non-immigrant) minority groups in Europe that claim a distinct cultural, linguistic, regional, national, or religious heritage. Some seek political autonomy, whilst others seek full-scale independence through violent means. Some are incited into revolt through the oppression of hegemonic governments (like the Irish), whilst others employ violence in part out of their own provocation (like the Basques). Other nations like Belgium are so bitterly divided between the two major ethnic groups (the Dutch Flemings and the French Walloons) that it has even caused many to presage total national division.

The Basques of Spain:

The Basques are one of Europe's most unique communities. They are a tight-knit and ancient people with a completely isolated and independent European language (Euskara) and a highly distinct culture straddling northern Spain and western France, a land that the Basques insist must be an independent nation called "Euskadi." They are often called Europe's only indigeneous population, although nearly all European peoples are equally indigenous with a settled history just as long. Many Basques (like the Galicians of Spain) emphasize a theoretical descent from the ancient Celtiberians, Celtic tribes that settled in Spain and France preceding the Roman era. Many debate the Basque claims at ethnic independence by claiming that Basque history, language, and culture were merely invented with the aim of distancing the Basques from outside Castilian, French, Roman, Muslim, and German hegemons who frequently intruded into the Basque Country throughout their long history. Their language shares a great deal of Spanish and even Celtic influences, and the reason for the distinctness of Euskara and the Celtic heritage is debated broadly. The Basques have a long experience of stubborn refusal to be conquered, annexed, or assimilated. “Taming” the Basques was an aspiration of many old kings and the empires. The Basques ruled the ancient kingdom of Navarre after the 13th century before being annexed and split between France and what was evolving to incorporate all of Spain. The Basque culture, along with the Catalans, were victims of intense discrimination under the Fascist regime of Francisco Franco y Bahamonde, who ruled Nationalist Spain from 1939 until the 1970's and made both languages illegal. In response to a perceived oppression by the Castilians, the Basques engaged in a brutal campaign of terrorism, assassination, bombings, and murders that has raged on for more than three decades, often targeting civilians and tourists in cafes. The ETA (Euskadi ta Askatasuna [Homeland and Freedom), the largest Basque terrorist group, has recently made overtures of an armistice, although the Madrid government remains uncertain of the legitimacy of this sworn disarmament. Today, the Basque Country is tremendously autonomous, and Basque is an official language with guaranteed rights alongside Castilian, Galician, and Catalan.

The Basque flag

ETA terrorists fighting for a free Euskadi, or "Basque Country"

An ethnically-divided “nation” – Belgium's Walloons and Flemings:

Belgium is one of Europe's most unique nations: it is one of the wealthiest societies on earth, but also one of Europe's most politically unstable. Belgium is bitterly split between two contumacious ethnic groups with a completely different genetic and cultural heritage. The Germanic Dutch Flemings -- the majority -- occupy the northern half of Belgium, Flanders. The ethnically French minority, the Walloons, occupy the south. The cultural heritage of the region of Belgium was closely linked with the Germans and the Dutch for the last 1,000 years. In the early 19th century, however, the French invasion of Napoleon, combined with geopolitical disputes and a refusal of the Catholic French and Dutch living in the region to be incorporated into the Protestant Netherlands, caused the nation of Belgium to be declared. The French minority have enjoyed an inordinately disproportionate political, linguistic, and historical influence despite their lesser historical role in the region and their smaller population. This is a source of tremendous conflict among these two cultures that can easily identify each other due to their very different nationalism and ethnic physiognomy. Flanders and Wallonia operate almost entirely independent of any central authority, cooperating only for mutual economic auspices. The Dutch in Flanders wave the Flemish flag (the lion), whilst the French wave the Wallonnian flag (the rooster). Both groups are firmly attached to their independent ethnic and cultural identities. In Flanders for example, other than on official government signs or major highways, the French language is almost never seen despite it being the primary language of the state. The political disputes between these two groups are so intense that Belgium -- centered in the separate state of Brussels -- has been almost unable to form a stable government without collapsing. Flanders is even often dominated by far-right parties that use ethnic Dutch nationalism to rally for even greater autonomy or even independence. Although no violence has been used between the two groups due to the tremendous economic success of Belgium, few ethnic autonomy or independence movements are so tenuous as in Belgium.

The emblem of Flanders/Vlanderen, the Germanic half of Belgium (the majority)

The emblem of French Wallonia, "le Coq"

Kosovo: Europe's breakaway Muslim state:

Kosovo has a very complicated history with many perspectives. What is now Muslim Albanian-majority Kosovo was historically an integral part of the Serbian Orthodox Christian nation for 1,000 years, and is considered by the Serbs as an indivisible part of Serbian heritage where the Serbs indefatiguably fought to "save Europe" from the Ottoman Muslim scourge. During 400 years of Ottoman rule, Kosovo became a demographically Albanian region. Albanians today insist that Kosovo, due to its Albanian majority and a romanticized connection to the ancient Roman-era kingdom of Illyria from which the Albanians claim descent, must be an independent state ruled by Albanians. Read our article of the Serbian perspective of this conflict in our History of Kosovo: Serb or Albanian?, and the Albanian perspective in my essay on the 500-year struggle for an Albanian homeland.

The Albanians of Kosovo and the surrounding area sought to gain independence from the Serb Yugoslavs at the same time as the Croats, Bosnians, and Slovenes were during the Yugoslav Wars. Interpreting it as treason, the ultra-nationalist Serbs under Milosevic responded with intense strangulation. The Albanians reacted with terrorism, bombings, massacres, and assassinations (often against churches and civilians) primarily during the Yugoslav Wars but also before the Serbian crackdown. Many Kosovars attached their Muslim religion to their struggle and considered it an Islamic jihad. Serbs responded with brutal reprisals against mosques and civilians as well. In 1999, in support of Albanian terrorists in their war against Serbian terrorists, the United States led a NATO air bombing against Yugoslavia (which ruled Kosovo). Since 1999 and still today, UN and NATO troops control Kosovo. In 2008, Kosovo declared independence with American and EU support without any consultation of the Serbian nation of which it was a part for 1,000 years. For the Albanian majority however, it was a long overdue and just event. Serbs, Greeks, Macedonians, and other Slavs bitterly hate Albanians and Albanian immigrants, especially since Albanians claim much of the whole region as part of "Greater Albania" (see our map below). Macedonia was brought to the brink of collapse in the 2001 civil war because of Albanian irredentist claims. The majority of world nations refuse to recognize Kosovo as being a nation.

The many flags of the independence-seeking Kosovo.

The EHL map of the often-sought "Greater Kosovo" and "Greater Albania". This is the maximum extent of Albanian Muslim claims to sovereignty, though they have only acquired a small portion thereof (see below). Albanians also claim parts of Macedonia.

The EHL map boundaries of the new nation of Kosovo as it is recognized by the United States and European Union.

Republika Srpska/Serbian Republic – Bosnia's ethnic clash:

Yugoslavia (meaning land of the South Slavs) was forged after World War I as a pan-Slavic, pan-ethnic state after Bosnia, Croatia, and Slovenia won their independence from the Germans (Austria) after their defeat in that war. Although its constituent cultures are largely indistinguishable in genetics and language, their political aspirations and religions are quite different. Serbs, about half of the Bosnians, and Macedonians are Orthodox, whilst Croats and Slovenes are Catholic. Bosnia and Kosovo have large Muslim populations. For more information on the historic demographic changes and conflicts between the South Slavs, read our History of the Croats, Bosnians, and Serbs. Serbia and Belgrade enjoyed control of the central government and its policies since 1918, and as Serbs became more and more accused of being rife with kleptocracy and corrupt exploitation of non-Serbs of Yugoslavia, Croatia, Slovenia, and Bosnia broke off after prolonged wars that included some of the worst atrocities of the 20th century. See our Visual History of Yugoslavia.

Bosnia saw the very worst of the Yugoslav Wars. Yugoslavia's republic of Bosnia was porously divided between Catholic Croats, Bosnian Christians, Bosniak Muslims, and Orthodox Serbs. As Bosnia declared independence in 1992, this caused brutal truculence between civilian militias and killing squads from both ethnic groups. Serbs slaughtered Muslim "traitors" in civilian villages, leaving by some estimates 8,000 dead in Srebrenica alone, whilst Bosniaks responded with a bloody jihad supported by foreign Arab and Albanian Mujahidin against Serbian Christian civilians and soldiers. Brutal genocides occurred on both sides until 1995, when the Dayton Accords sponsored by the United States and United Nations declared Bosnia an independent state, having expelled or subdued most of the Serbian militias.

Bosnia today is ethnically divided to the point that the Sarajevo government has virtually no control over its huge Serbian population. The Serbs of the east live in the de facto independent province of Republika Srpska (see the map below) that even prints its own money. The Croats enjoy autonomy in the southwest, although Croats and Bosnians are far more copasetic and cooperative than they are with the ethnic Serbs. The center of the nation is controlled by Bosnians, both Christian and Muslim. Bosnia is one of the poorest, most obsolescent, and unstable states of Europe due in large measure to this heritage of inter-ethnic conflict and fratricide between the almost identical Yugoslav peoples (South-Slavs).

A cultural and religious map of Bosnia. Bosnia is tensely divided between Christian Serbs, Catholic Croats, Bosniak Muslims, and Bosnian Christians. (click to enlarge)

Bosnia's internal breakaway province of Serbs prints its own money. Notice the Serbian eagle.

Northern Ireland – a half-century of struggle:

Northern Ireland has a very bloody and difficult history. For the Irish, it is a history of exploitative British imperialism, oppression, domination. From the British perspective, Northern Ireland, with its majority-English and Protestant population, is rightfully incumbent of the British crown. The struggle for Irish independence has lasted for centuries, spanning from the revolt of the Irish in the 16th century against Oliver Cromwell until the Irish civil wars following World War I and II. Although the British had altogether lost all control of Ireland by 1940, the British refused to abandon their ceremonial claims to the island. Bloodshed was a daily occurrence, and freedom-fighting organizations like the Sinn Fein and Irish Republican Army did not discriminate between British soldiers and British civilians in their struggle for Irish liberty. The Irish War of Independence in 1919 forced the WWI-battered British empire to concede, and the Two-State Solution was devised in which the Republic of Ireland was given increased autonomy and the north remained a part of the UK. The north was given the “free” option to merge with Ireland if it chose, but it chose to remain in the Crown because of its Protestant, non-Irish population. The disputes over this treaty led to the Irish Civil War: some thought the treaty was another half-attempt at liberty, and others thought it was the best that could be attained at the time. By 1948, Ireland formally broke from the Commonwealth, cementing its independence. Today, the Irish are independent in all regards, but Northern Ireland remains firmly a part of the British empire. Violence has been consistent for the last century, leaving civilians, police, and soldiers slain. Many rebel groups like the Irish Republican Army all have used violence in the struggle for union with Northern Ireland. Frequent street brawls continue to this day with fist fights, hurled objects and weapons, and even bombings. Thousands have died in Ireland since 1900, leaving Ireland's civil conflict as one of the bloodiest. Although most Irish have settled down in their antipathy for the British due to the incredible economic growth that Ireland has enjoyed as one of the wealthiest nations today (to large measure thanks to British trade), many factions continue to rally for the unification of the entire island, and many using the rhetoric of violent assault. Recently, the IRA has promised to forfeit its weapons and end the war, although many fear that these propitiations are illegitimate.

The flag of Northern Ireland is unique in its hand symbol. Although the halting palm has been used long before Ireland was ever independent, it today represents the struggle the Irish face to repel imperial domination.

Turkish Republic of Cyprus – a Muslim state in a Greek land:

Cyprus is one of the more unique island nations due to its complicated political and ethnic situation. The island is strictly divided into two mutually-opposed ethnic and religious groups that bitterly hate each other. Previously a British colony, as Cypriots rallied for independence, the population overwhelmingly voted to merge with the nation of Greece. The ethnic nationalist right-wing government of Greece sought to ensure this merger and counter potential factions that sought to merge with Turkey or become an independent state. In 1960, Cyprus was formally given independence, although the British remained to occupy the forts of Akrotiri and Dhekelia. Under the leadership of Archbishop Makarios, Cyprus became firmly divided between Greek nationalists seeking merger with Greece, Greek nationalists seeking to protect the independence of Cyprus, and Muslims seeking union with the republic of Turkey. In 1974, after the Greeks attempted to overthrow the government to force the merger, but immediately thereafter the Turkish armies invaded Cyprus, ostensibly to protect the large Turkish Muslim population in the north that settled during Ottoman rule. A so-called Turkish Cypriot Republic was declared in the north officially in 1983, only recognized by Turkey. Thousands of Greeks fled to Greece and the Balkans, and thousands of Turks fled to Turkey and the Muslim world. The United Nations intervened consistently during the conflict, and ultimately the island of Cyprus was divided between the unrecognized Turkish segment in the northern half, the Greek official nation of Cyprus in the south, the two British “protective” bases in Dhekelia and Akrotiri, and the UN buffer zone in between the two halves. The official Cyprus is recognized as the Greek one, and this Greek half has joined the European Union, whilst the other half is not remains unrecognized. Bitter inter-ethnic conflict between Greeks and Turks remains strong in Turkey, Greece, and Cyprus, making any progress towards inter-cultural cooperation comical. The Greeks are accused of being negligent of the Turkish minority, and the Turks are seen as an occupying force. Although there is very little violence between the two halves, a few bombings and inter-ethnic attacks have occurred. Terrorist attacks have occurred in Nicosia (the capital), in Greek cities, and on the wall dividing the two halves, in the minds of some using the framework of jihad against an occupying Christian force.

Northern Cyprus considers itself independent and ruled by Muslim Turks. The south, which is Greek, is considered the official government of the "single" nation of Cyprus by the nations of the world. (CLICK TO ENLARGE)

The Muslims of the north have their own flag and national allegiance, but consider themselves part of Turkey in the greater sense, since Turkey is a nation with incredibly strong ethnic nationalism today

Transnistria – the Cold War continues in Moldova

Moldova was an ancient principality that, together with Wallachia, constitutes the Romanian people. Moldova and Romania were merged from Romania's foundation in 1878 until after World War II, when Stalin incorporated it by force into the Soviet Union. The Russians (and later the Soviets) consistently claimed the eastern half of Moldova, called Bessarabia after the ancient Moldovan dynasty of Bessarab. Russia annexed the region when it defeated Napoleon, and lost it to Ottoman-ruled Moldova when it lost the Crimean War against the Turks and their European sponsors. During World War II, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of non-aggression between Stalin and Hitler evidenced the Russians' continuous claim to eastern Moldova. In 1991, when the Soviet Union was abolished, Moldova and Russia both became separate and independent due to the divergent political history that the Soviets had imposed during more than 50 years of direct Soviet rule.

The large ethnic Russian population that settled in eastern Moldova (Bessarabia/Transnistria) refused to accept a divorce from the Soviet Union and a merger with the foreign cultural, ethnic, genetic, and linguistic identity of the new Moldovan state. The Russians, who as Russian-speaking, Cyrillic-writing Slavs are a different race than the Moldovan Vlachs, declared the independent state of Transnistria, referring to a state across both sides of the Dniester river (Trans-Dnistria). The result was a bitter continuation of the Cold War that brought the already-bankrupt state of Moldova to virtual civil war. Although the Transnistrian independence movement ultimately failed, the Russians of eastern Moldova remain almost entirely outside the political control of the central government of Chisinau. They even have printed their own banknotes using the Cyrillic alphabet (see below). No nation recognizes Transnistria, although Russian governments have casually shown unofficial support. The conflict endures today.

The eastern march of Moldova east of the Dniester river (Trans-Dnister-ia) is occupied by the Russian military and owes its allegiance to Russia and not Chisinau (capital of Moldova)

Transnistria has printed its own money with intense Russian-style nationalism, the Cyrillic alphabet, and expressions of their independence

South Ossetia – the Cold War on the Georgian-Russian border:

Upon the fall of the Soviet Union, many regions under the Soviet orbit of a non-Russian ethnic, cultural, linguistic, and religious heritage took the opportunity to declare independence. Like Chechnya, many of these movements even employed the murder of Russian civilians to obviate their aspirations, ultimately failing. One of these Cold War-era entities is Ossetia on the border with the Orthodox Caucasian state of independent Georgia. Unlike the Georgians, who were anxious to declare independence upon the Soviet collapse, the Osset minority refused to swear obeisance to the new Georgian state. The Ossets/Alans, an ancient Christian people related to the Iranians and Tajiks, sought to remain part of the Soviet Union and its successor, the Russian Federation. The region of Abkhazia, which also sought to remain with the Russians, also continues to fight a similar war of independence against Georgia with Russian support. The Ossets straddle the the border of Russia and Georgia, with North Ossetia remaining in Russia and South Ossetia within the geographic territory of Georgia. To learn more about Russia's ethnic republic system and the different ethnic groups of Russia, see our Ethnic Republics of Russia Map. Georgia has spent the last 20 years of its independence in near-constant war against South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Russian military support for the two breakaway states has caused the Georgian government in Tbilisi to be completely prostrate. Georgia has no control of the two provinces, which remain occupied by Russian troops. Abkhazia and South Ossetia are only recognized as independent by the Russian Federation today. In 2008, Georgia and Russia were unofficially embroiled in a war over these two breakaway territories, leading to intense criticism from Georgia's Western allies in the European Union and Washington over Russia's denial of Georgian sovereignty. From their perspective of course, it is Georgia that is denying the sovereignty of these very distinct peoples under their geographic authority.

The flag of North Ossetia, part of Russia today

The emblem used in South Ossetia, clearly not in the least bit Georgian, and in the Cyrillic script (from crwflags.com)

Soviet-style artwork is used in both Ossetias in reminiscence to a time of "liberty" from Georgian domination, and somehow ignoring the unparalleled Russian oppression

Chechnya, Adygea, Dagestan, & Ingushetiya – the Jihad for independence:

Read our history of the Chechen conflict here. See our ethnic map of minority republics and regions of Russia here. During the 19th century, Russia's massive intercontinental empire stretched southward towards the Caucasus, ostensibly to liberate the Christian Georgians and Armenians from persecution in the Muslim Ottoman Empire. Other motives included the aspiration for Russian ports on the Black Sea, and to cripple the dying Ottoman and Iranian Safavid empires. The northern Caucasus was populated by a number of Circassians, Caucasians, and Turks of a very non-Russian racial, cultural, linguistic, and religious heritage. Most adhered to a very strict form of Sunni Islam in these rugged mountains. When the Russians approached the region, they met bitter resistance of the Caucasian and Avar tribes that united in a massive and violent Islamic jihad of retaliation that slaughtered Russian civilians and soldiers, leveling churches to the ground. The Russians responded with scorched earth tactics that created man-made famine and have been compared today with genocide. The Mujahidin of the region included what are today Dagestan, Ingushetiya, Chechnya, and Adygea. The capital of this Islamist emirate was Sochi. The leading Mujahid was a fundamentalist cleric called Imam Shamil, a lionized hero in the Muslim world for his jihad against foreign occupation.

The Russians ruled Chechnya and the entire region of the Caucasus almost without interruption until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Chechnya declared independence along with Dagestan, merging with neighboring Ingushetiya, but the Russian army under Yeltsin returned to crush the revolt. The hard-line Muslims of the region, perceiving a Christian assault, responded with Islamic jihad and terrorism that eventually struck against infirm and elderly in hospitals and civilians in Moscow theatres (eschewed verbatim in the Qur'an). The first war in Chechnya was a triumph for the Mujahidin, but in the second war, Vladimir Putin obliterated the entire region and fully incorporated it into Russia again. Shamil Basayev, killed in 2006, was a leading Mujahid who compared himself with Imam Shamil. Many foreign Mujahidin traveled to Chechnya and Ingushetiya from the Middle East to wage jihad, including (with some debate) al-Qa'ida fighters like Ayman al-Zawahiri in Dagestan. Today, the conflict remains very uncertain, and has contributed to a near-universal inter-racial and inter-religious hatred between Russian Slavs and "Muslim immigrants" from this region in Russia today, which as a result has one of the most powerful and largest populations of far-right racists and ultra-nationalists in Europe.

Chechnya is an Islamic state and a haven for Mujahidin. Usama bin Laden is said to have visited Chechnya.

Imam Shamil, the Mujahid who rallied the Muslims of the Caucasus in a Jihad against the Slavs

Southern Russia is home to nearly a dozen Islamic breakaway states that are largely unmonitored by the Moscow government, and are thus a haven for Mujahidin from all over the Muslim world. (CLICK TO ENLARGE)

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

James Mayfield is a historian and the Chairman of the European Heritage Library. I have a Cum Laude BA in History with a Minor in Germanic Studies (language and history), am presently working for my Masters in History, and plan to immediately progress to my PhD Doctorate. I have a special academic interest in Europe's diverse ethnic identities, languages, and cultures, and the political struggles of native European and immigrant minority identities. See my staff entry for more information.

BIBLIOGRAPHY/SOURCES USED:

No additional citations are necessary.