German politics The work of
Henri Fréville and
Kristian Hamon have opened up this field for research. Three different periods can be considered. Before 1939, Germany was trying to stop France and the United Kingdom from entering the war. During the
phony war, Germany planned to favor regionalist movements (particularly those of
Flanders and Brittany) in order to undermine France. This was in revenge for the
Treaty of Versailles, and to ensure that Germany remained the only Continental power, with no threats on its western border. Some weapons were delivered but never used. By the end of June and early July, some Breton nationalists could take it for granted the independence of Brittany was well on the way when the Germans appointed a military governor in Brittany ruling over the five départements of ancient Brittany. However, after the
defeat of France a settlement was quickly made with the occupying power. The projects to undermine France were abandoned and the support for the nationalists disappeared (in particular it was formally forbidden to proclaim a Breton state or to harm public order). Moreover, the formal annexation of
Alsace-Lorraine was never proclaimed. After the Conference of Montoire nationalist movements were simply tolerated (transport permits were given as well as authorizations for purchases of gasoline that soon meant little in practice), and German support went no further than preventing the Vichy regime from suppressing the nationalist movements.
Ideology Bretons were not considered
untermenschen (subhuman) by the Nazis, unlike the
Jews and
Romani for example. Mordrel, Lainé and some other Celticists argued that the Bretons were a 'pure' strain of the Celtic race, who had retained their "
Nordic" qualities, a view consistent with Nazi Aryan
master race ideology. Other Nationalists, such as Perrot, adopted a more conservative-Catholic stance consistent with longstanding Breton anti-radical ideologies that had emerged among the Royalist-Catholic "
Whites" during the French Revolution.
Strategic rationale A main intention of the German occupiers was to break French national unity. Its support for Breton nationalism needs to be seen in this wider context which included other aspects, for example the division of France into the occupied zone and the Vichy zone. However Breton nationalists very soon realized that Germany was in practice trying to keep its friends in the Vichy government content and therefore refusing to give any priority at all to the Breton nationalist demands. Nazi scholar Rudolf Schlichting toured the region and sent the following comment to his superiors: "from a racial point of view there would be no objection to a
Germanization of the Breton population. It is evident that we have no interest in promoting the Breton national consciousness, once the separation [with France] is accomplished. Not a penny should be spent on the promotion of the Breton language. The French language will however be replaced by German. In one generation Brittany will be a predominately (
sic) German country. This goal is definitely attainable through the schools, the authorities, the army and the press."
Breton National Party Important members of the Breton National Party including
Morvan Lebesque and
Alan Heusaff began collaborating with the Germans to one degree or another. The example of Ireland, or even the ideal of an independent Brittany - continued to be their reference points. Recent studies have shown the close links that Breton separatist leaders such as
Célestin Lainé and
Alan Louarn had with German military intelligence (the
Abwehr), going back well before the war, to the
Weimar Republic of the 1920s. After the defeat of 1940, the Germans used these separatist agents in military operations or in repression against the French Resistance. A short-lived breakaway faction of the Breton National Party, created in 1941, was the
Mouvement Ouvrier Social-National Breton (Breton National-Socialist Workers Movement) led by
Théophile Jeusset.
Brezona At the end of 1940,
Job Loyant — along with
Kalondan,
André Lajat, and
Yves Favreul-Ronarc'h, a former leader of the Breton National Party in
Loire-Atlantique — developed the doctrine of the
Brezona movement: supremacy of the Breton race, formation of a national community, and government by the elite. This movement was to have but a brief existence. To prevent a possible takeover of the BNP by this splinter group,
Yann Goulet appeared at
Nantes to pronounce the excommunication of the Brezona as "deviationists." With his revolver in plain sight on the hip of the black uniform he wore as chief of the Youth Organizations, he left no doubt as to his intentions. The Nantes PNB meeting, at which the Brezona movement had hoped to take control, took place without incident.
Bezen Perrot A number of Breton nationalists choose to join the Bezen Perrot organization, a German militia led by
Célestin Lainé and
Alan Heusaff. As many as 70 to 80 people joined its ranks at one point or another, with typically 30 to 66 at any one time depending on recruiting and defection. During the war a handful of Breton militants decided to ask for German support in the face of the assassination of several leading figures of the Breton cultural movement, such as l'Abbé
Jean-Marie Perrot. Having originally been named
Bezen Kadoudal, the 1943 assassination of the priest prompted Lainé to give his name to the organization in December of that year. It had already been envisaged by German strategists that in the event of Allied invasion the Breton nationalists would form a rearguard, and that further nationalist troops could be parachuted into Brittany. In late 1943 sabotage dumps had been hidden for use by the militia.
Strolladoù Stourm The
Strolladoù Stourm (also known as Bagadoù stourm), led by Yann Goulet and
Alan Louarn, was the armed wing of the Breton National Party. A handful of their members took part in a confrontation with the population of
Landivisiau, on August 7, 1943. Yann Goulet, their leader, forbade participation in
Bezen Perrot.
Landerneau Kommando By April 1943, the Gestapo had created specific units to combat the
French Resistance. Formed at the end of April 1944 in
Landerneau, the Landerneau
Kommando took part in these units. It was composed of 18 German soldiers and ten French agents (some of whom were Breton separatists as well as former Resistance members). They fought against the
maquis (rural French Resistance units) of
Trégarantec,
Rosnoën, and
Ploumordien. Several Resistance members were tortured, and the Kommando also summarily executed some prisoners. ==Actions by the Resistance==