Secessionist nationalist movements in Europe: The cases of IRA and ETA

In this thesis Northern Ireland and Basque separatist movements are analyzed under three titles which analyze the historical processes of these two cases. Analysis of separatist movements is made from the perspective of commonalities and differences of these cases which are obtained from the studies.In the first part of the thesis social and historical roots of Basque and Irish nationalism are reviewed in the light of political history readings on Basque and Irish history. Such as The Great Famine and Carlist Wars. In the second part IRA and ETA are examined on their foundations, aims and actions. Responds from the governments against IRA and ETA are also scrutinized in this part of the thesis. In the third part, ideologies and political influences of separatist parties such as Sinn Fein, SDLP, PNV and Abertzale left are the main themes.In the conclusion part, the common points of these two cases in the processes of conflicts and peace are scrutinized with the ways of solutions that works for the end of conflicts in Northern Ireland and Spain. The commonalities and differences in the conflict processes and peace building are presented in order to reach new insights into the cases and the causes of secessionism in Europe.