Regionalism and Secession
Nantes residents in France’s west rallied 20 April 2014 for their city’s reunification with Brittany where it historically belonged, and the greater autonomy of the area. Those who gathered at the Saturday event demanded that Brittany’s rights be expanded and its historical boundaries restored. Among the main slogans that were shouted by the crowd, were: “Get Nantes back into Brittany”, “Reunite Brittany”, and “Live, work and decide in the reunited Brittany.” The estimates of those present at the march range from 5,500 people, according to police, to up to 15,000 people, as the organizers claim. The majority of the participants were representatives of the “Red Hats” movement who were known for speaking out against Francois Hollande’s economic policies.
The protests were triggered by the statement from the new French premier, who had promised to reduce the quantity of regions in France to curb administrative spending. The regions were officially created in France by a law on decentralization in 1982. In France, the regions get all tax revenues from the center. However, they don’t have any legislative independence. “It’s needed to review this debate absolutely, or we’ll demonstrate once again that France isn’t capable of reform. Our main ally in this is the government,” the senator of the European Greens party, Ronan Dantec, said.
Bretagne Réunie, or Reunited Brittany, stated April 9th, 2014: "France parted into 10 regions is the choice between: Reunification of Brittany with the Loire-Atlantique; Disappearance of Brittany in a large technocratic West. Bretagne Réunie calls even stronger now the citizens to come and demonstrate on Saturday, April 19th 2014 in Nantes, at 3 pm, place de Bretagne. This popular and festive event will: Demonstrate again the opposition of the Bretons to a large technocratic West region; Remind, in this now crucial period, the persistent demand of 40 years long throughout the whole Breton Society to build a Brittany with its 5 departments and an assertive and powerful identity... We say Yes to the reunification of Brittany with the Loire-Atlantique that will respect the popular will and the historical, geographic and cultural consistency of territories, necessary elements for economic and social development of these territories."
In 1941 the Loire Atlantique department was merged with the French Pays de la Loire region by the Fascist Vichy Government, which it has remained a part of ever since. The Loire Atlantique department, which forms part of the historic nation of Brittany, includes the historic Breton capital city of Naoned/Nantes. Currently the Pays de la Loire region has approximately 3.5 million residents, with 1.3 million of these people inhabiting the Loire Atlantique Department. On April 8th, in front the national representation, the French Prime Minister proposed to modernize France by halving the number of administrative regions. This announcement confirms what the president of the French Republic said during his press conference on January 14th 2014 about reducing the number of regions.
Brittany is the seventh most populous region of France with 2.9 millioninhabitants. Rennes, the capital of Brittany, has a population of 212,000 inhabitants,making it the 10th largest city in France. Including the metropolitan region, the population is 362,000. Rennes comes in at or near the top of all quality of life polls in France,due to its combination of an attractive city center, parts of which dateback to Medieval times, a vibrant population that includes 60,000 students, a strong overall economy and the natural beauty of the Brittany region that surrounds the city.
The Brittany region has a strong Celtic heritage that is experiencing resurgence today in the form of Breton cultural development, periodically intermingled with political separatism. The Breton language is already taught in a series of special schools, the Diwan bilingual. Celtic music is pervasive in the region, and the Celtic Festival in Lorient, on the southern coast of Brittany, grows in stature and popularity each year. TVBreizh, a regional cable and satellite channel, dedicated to the promotionof Celtic Breton heritage, came into being in September 2000.
Brittany accounts for 4% of the French national GDP and 3.1% of French exports. Key industrial sectors in Rennes and in Brittany more largely are telecommunication research, with 40% of French telecomm researchcentered in Rennes, Brest and Lannion. The Rennes Atalante Science Park, created in 1984, is the center of new technology development in Rennes. The area is well served by regional highway networks and the TGV high-speed train. Agriculture, fishing and food industry, are the other major economic sectors. Brittany is the first region in France for agricultural production and for fishing, and accounts for 8% of France’s added agricultural valueand 46% of national fishing production.
Rennes is proud of its cultural life. In addition to an active season of classical concerts and plays, the city holds numerous annual festivalsgeared to the younger student population, including Transmusicales, Les Tombées de la Nuit, Jazz à l’Ouest and Travelling, a film festival. The Franco-American Institute in Rennes, a binational cultural center opened in 1961 by the US Embassy in Paris and Rennes city hall, offers a broad range of cultural activities, such as art exhibitions, concerts, conferences, a student exchange program, American English courses, translation services and an American library.
One of the most important points of emigration from France to the U.S. was a small village in Brittany called Gourin. Between the 1860s and the 1950s, thousands of people from this one town and the surrounding areae migrated to America. Every resident of Gourin can now count at least one American relative. The city of Rennes was liberated on August 4, 1944, by the troops of General Patton. The citizens of Rennes turned out in force on City HallPlaza to join the arriving American soldiers and celebrate their liberty. The same site was chosen by the city of Rennes for the official memorial service on September 14, conducted jointly with APP Rennes, in commemoration of the tragic events of September 11. The city of Rennes has been Sister City with Rochester, New York, since 1947. Moreover, the cities of Brest and Vitre are respectively Sister Cities with Denver and Greece, New York.
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