José Antonio Aguirre (politician)

Life

José Antonio Aguirre was born in Bilbao, Spain, in the province of Biscay. He studied in the Basque Country's first Ikastola, a school where all lessons were given in the Basque language. He later studied law at the University of Deusto.

After his father's death in 1920, Aguirre moved with his family to Algorta, close to Bilbao. At 16 years of age, he had to become a father figure to his 10 younger brothers and sisters.

After finishing his law studies, he began working in the family business, Chocolates Aguirre. He later took responsibility for the business and introduced many reforms, including free health care and paid holidays, which significantly improved conditions for the workers in the factory. He also donated part of the business's revenue to the poor and advocated for social housing. Until 1937, Chocolates Bilbaínos S.A. was the second biggest business in its sector in Spain.

Aguirre was a football player for Athletic Bilbao. During the Spanish Civil War, he was one of the main promoters of the Basque Country national football team, which played in Europe and the Americas to raise funds for Basque refugee children whose parents had been forced into exile.

In 1926, after completing his military service, he began work as an attorney at Esteban Bilbao's office. Soon after, he founded his own law firm, which focused on political issues and the working conditions of the lower class.

At this time, Spain was ruled by the dictator Miguel Primo de Rivera. Aguirre, a Basque nationalist, joined the Basque Nationalist Party, or Partido Nacionalista Vasco (PNV). The party later divided into two political streams. Aguirre opposed the division, believing that the Basque Country was above any differences. He worked to unify the two parts and succeeded in 1930.

Aguirre increased his involvement in politics and published articles in the newspapers Euzko Gaztedia and Euzkadi. As an example of his integrationist views and new ideals, in 1932, he proposed that the party should accept people who were not born in the Basque Country.

Basque devolution and the outbreak of civil war

After the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera ended in 1930, a new political era began in Spain. In 1931 and 1932, Aguirre intervened decisively in failed attempts at Basque devolution, which called for self-government, including in Navarre.

On 5 November 1933, two weeks before a general election, a referendum was held in Álava, Gipuzkoa, and Biscay on new wording for the Statute of Devolution, which abandoned the inclusion of Navarre. The wording was approved by an overwhelming majority (459,000 votes in favour, 14,000 against), although in Álava, the votes in favour did not reach 50%.

As a result of the dissolution of the legislature for the general election, the hesitation of radical government, and the Carlist party's opposition to the incorporation of Álava in the statutory process, the Devolution was blocked until 1 October 1936, when the Spanish Civil War was unleashed.

Basque government

On 7 October, the councillors from Biscay, along with some from Gipuzkoa and Álava, participated in passing a ballot. A major uprising had occurred in Álava and Navarre, and most of Gipuzkoa was in the hands of the rebels. These rebels, as well as the political machinations of the councillors, set the stage for major political change. Aguirre was elected lehendakari, or president. After a religious ceremony at the Basilica of Begoña, in which he swore allegiance to Catholicism, his country, and his party, he visited Guernica and took his oath of office in the Basque language:

Jainkoaren aurrean apalik,
Eusko Lur gainean zutunik,
asaben gomutaz,
Gernikako Zuhaizpean,
herri ordezkarion aintzinean
nere agindua ondo betetxea zin dagit.

English translation:

"Humble in front of God,
Standing in our Basque lands,
Remembering our heritage,
under Gernika's venerable tree,
as president of my country,
I swear to serve my term faithfully."

Oath of Office, 17 September 1936

A government of conciliation was formed with Nationalists, Socialists, Communists, and other Republicans, though not without tensions between them. The government was in power in Biscay for several months until the fall of Bilbao.

The first Basque government was made up of four members of the Partido Nacionalista Vasco (Aguirre as president and head of defense, Jesús María Leizaola as head of justice and culture, Eliodoro de la Torre as head of finance, and Telesforo Monzón as head of interior); three of the PSOE (Santiago Aznar as head of industry, Juan Gracia Colás as head of welfare, and Juan de los Toyos as head of labor); one of Acción Nacionalista Vasca (Gonzalo Nárdiz as head of agriculture); one of the Republican Left (Ramón María Aldasoro Galarza as head of trade); one of the Republican Union (Alfredo Espinosa as head of health); and one of the Spanish Communist Party (Juan Astigarrabía as head of public works).

The Basque Army (Basque: Eusko Gudarostea), with 100,000 soldiers, was made up of battalions of different ideologies. It was well armed but poorly trained, and one of its most acute deficiencies was the absence of heavy artillery and an air force. Aguirre begged Indalecio Prieto and Manuel Azaña to send some aircraft. Historians agree that this was not a viable option because of the difficulties in breaking the siege of Biscay. Notwithstanding, 40 to 50 airplanes were sent in different shipments, the majority flying over enemy territory. Others were sent across France and, after being disarmed, were retained or returned to Barcelona or Valencia in accordance with a "no intervention" policy. Another factor that contributed decisively to the Basque Army's defeat was its lack of a qualified general staff.

In June 1937, the Nationalists broke through the Iron Ring of Bilbao and entered the city as a result of the treachery of Alejandro Goicoechea, the engineer who had designed the fortifications. Aguirre moved his government to Trucíos before heading to Santander and finally to Catalonia, where he prepared to continue fighting with his men. Beforehand, in May, Aguirre had entered into talks with the Italians, through intermediaries, about a possible surrender. These talks continued, with the leader of the Basque Nationalist Party, Juan de Ajuriaguerra, discussing terms—the Santoña Agreement—to allow a withdrawal from Bilbao if Nationalist troops did not attack the city. However, they did attack, and Aguirre refused to sign the surrender agreement and fought on.

Exile

Aguirre fled the country after the war and was pursued for years by agents of Francisco Franco. His exile took him to Paris, Berlin, and New York. In June 1940, the Breton Yann Fouéré gave him documents that allowed him to escape France, which had been invaded by the Nazis, allies of Franco.

Aguirre fled first to France, where he organized camps and services for Basque refugees and the government-in-exile. Caught behind enemy lines, he was in Belgium when Hitler occupied that country. He then fled to Berlin, where he lived underground until a false identity was arranged.

Under the protection of a Panamanian ambassador (Germán Guardia, who provided him with a Panamanian passport), Aguirre reached Sweden. Dodging SS German intelligence, he arrived in Rio de Janeiro on the ship Vasaholm on 27 August 1941. The Brazilian customs authorities registered a Panamanian, Dr. José Álvarez Lastra, and a Venezuelan, María de Arrigorriaga, accompanied by their children, José and Gloria. These were actually Aguirre, his wife María Zabala, and their sons Aintzane and Joseba. But in spite of intense efforts made by Manuel de Ynchausti in the United States, after a month Aguirre's true identity was in danger of being discovered.

He wrote then to Ramón María de Aldasoro, former trade and business secretary of the Basque government, who led the Euzkadi Delegation in Buenos Aires, Argentina. But Aldasoro's efforts on Aguirre's behalf were unsuccessful because the Argentine authorities sympathized with the European "New Order."

In light of this, Aguirre went to Uruguay and asked a small group of Basque patriots for what Argentina had denied him. The Uruguayan president general Alfredo Baldomir not only was willing but also received Aguirre with honours in accordance with his status. Once the arrangements were complete, the public announcement of his arrival was made on 8 October in the newspapers of Montevideo. Aguirre's identity was reinstated, and he was given a visa to travel to New York, where he was put under the protection of resident Basques leading movements in Mexico and New York.

In New York, Aguirre took up a post as a lecturer at Columbia University. When the United States decided to back Franco in 1952, he went to France, where the Basque government-in-exile was established. There, he found that France's pro-Nazi Vichy government had sequestrated the Basque government building, and that President Charles de Gaulle was maintaining it on behalf of the Franco regime. The building is now the Instituto Cervantes.

The president of the government-in-exile was always a PNV member, and even the Spanish sole representative in the United Nations was a Basque appointee, Jesús de Galíndez, until his murder in an obscure episode at the time of Spain's entry to the United Nations. Aguirre also decided to place the large Basque exiles' network at the service of the Allies of World War II, and collaborated with the United States Secretary of State and the Central Intelligence Agency to defeat their common enemies.

Aguirre died in Paris on 22 March 1960 from a heart attack, aged 56. His body was shipped from Paris to Saint-Jean-de-Luz in the French Basque Country, where it spent a night in the Monzón house. He was buried on 28 March after a funeral mass at the Saint-Jean parish church.

Influence

Aguirre's life was the subject of a Soule folk play, Aguirre presidenta ("President Aguirre"). He wrote a book about his experiences, Escape Via Berlin: Eluding Franco in Hitler's Europe (New York, 1942).