The organization that would become known as Euskadi Ta
Askatasuna, or ETA, was formed in 1952[1].
In 1959, they coalesced and officially became the terrorist group ETA[2].
It was created as a reaction to Francisco Franco’s hostile behavior towards the
Basque region, especially during the Spanish Civil War. The most famous of
these attacks was the bombing of Guernica, which inspired the Pablo Picasso
painting of the same name[3].
These violent actions against the Basque region made the people there believe
that Franco was trying to annihilate their culture. This lead to a violent
reaction against the Spanish government, and ETA and other supports still
continue this today.

            Euskadi Ta Askatasuna means Basque Homeland and Freedom in the Basque language. This is
now commonly shortened to ETA[4].
The group’s original name was ATA, but that was changed when it was found that ata means duck in a certain Basque
dialect[5].
On the other hand, the word eta is
Basque for “and”, which means that any document written in that language will
be full of the name of ETA. In a wider sense, ETA is part of a collection of
organizations, which are called “Basque National Liberation Movement”, or the
“Patriotic Left.”[6] Other than
the early name change in the founding days of the organization, the name of ETA
has remained unchanged.

            There are a few key points in the history of ETA that stand out as very important in
understanding them. One important change that took place was the Basque region
gaining much more political freedom, when Spain moved to a democratic form of
government in 1975[7]. Even with
this development that would seem positive for their cause, many ETA supporters
saw these changes as not significant enough. Following this event, ETA had to
take on an even more radical ideology in pursuit of their cause. They went from
rebelling against a dictatorship, to acting against a democratic government.
ETA had many clashes with the Spanish government that resulted in deaths on
both sides. During the mid 1980’s, the government authorized paramilitary death
squads that hunted down members of ETA[8].
This level of violence just made the feelings between ETA and the government
more hateful. The most common theme we see, throughout the history of ETA, is a
constant violent struggle between them and government forces that seek to
eradicate them. This has been context that ETA has operated in: a full out
fight for survival, and what they see as a fight for their way of life.

We can also see that their tactics
changed over time. As the years went on, they became more precise in their
target selection, as well as in the general execution of their attacks.[9]
Their attacks started to focus on more important figures, and their skills at
using their weapons of choice improved. ETA has changed constantly through its
history, becoming more deadly and ruthless as time has gone on.

            The ideology of ETA focuses on excluding those who don’t fully believe in total
autonomy for the Basque region. They take a radical, leftist stance on the
freedom of the Basque homeland[10].
Many members of ETA already had strong feelings in favor of Basque independence
before they joined the terrorist organization. ETA gave them the ability to
come together, reinforce their ideas and beliefs, and put them into action. The
ideology of ETA centers around the Basque people, which are an ethno-linguistic
unit based in Northern Spain. Their identity as a separate group means that ETA
members see any outsiders as against their cause, and therefore enemies. This
ideology leads them to believe that a violent uprising for the freedom of their
people is the only option they have.

            ETA has not found much international support in their history. Because their cause
is isolated to a very specific region of the world, few other countries would
find it in their interest to support them. ETA has had some connections with
other terror groups, such as the IRA. After the September 11^th
attacks, the IRA denounced the attack. ETA followed suit, which increased the
evidence that these two groups had at least loose ties to each other[11].
There was also suspicion that ETA was involved in the 2004 attack on Madrid,
and somehow had a connection to Al Qaeda, but these were never proven to be
true. Overall, the main enemy of ETA is the government of Spain. This means
that they are not in way sponsored or sanctioned by a state.

            The long-term goal of ETA has remained consistent since its founding. They seek the
full independence of the region of Spain they claim is the Basque homeland. ETA
has pursued this goal for over 50 years now, using various different methods.
Even though ETA has pledged a ceasefire, there is nothing to say they couldn’t
continue conducting attacks in the future. The movement for an independent
Basque region is still strong today. It is not just strong among extremists
either; many normal people living in the area support this idea, for many
different reasons. This means that the long-term goals of ETA are still being
pursued, and at any point this terrorist group could stage a comeback.

1. Maps of the area and historical attacks
2. Media presence
3. The evolving research on ETA