‘Beneath the eagles of the great emperor’: Napoleonic collaboration experiences in the Basque provinces of Spain

ABSTRACT

This work is an analysis of the actions and thinking of certain Napoleonic collaborators during the French occupation of the Basque provinces of Spain (1807–13). First, the author singles out the enlightened elites that collaborated with the new regime. Second, he analyses some of the letters intercepted by guerrilla forces to grasp some collaborators’ opinions on the occupation. Lastly, he uses judicial documentation to analyse not only elite collaborators, but a wider social spectrum. Throughout, he draws links between a local historical analysis and wider historiographical currents to disseminate the Basque case and inspire other studies. The resulting information facilitates a better understanding of the social profile of the Napoleonic collaborators and of their attitudes during a particularly turbulent period in history.

KEYWORDS:

• Napoleonic collaboration
• afrancesados
• Basque history
• Peninsular war
• social history
• local history

Acknowledgements

This work was carried out within the Proyecto de Investigación del Ministerio de Asuntos Económicos y Transformación Digital del Gobierno de España PID2020-114496RB-I00 Disrupciones y continuidades en el proceso de la modernidad, siglos XVI-XIX. Un análisis pluridisciplinar (Historia, Arte, Literatura), with the Grupo de investigación del Sistema Universitario Vasco IT896-16, Sociedad, poder y cultura (siglos XIV a XVIII) and Grupo de Investigación del Gobierno Vasco Sociedades, Procesos, Culturas (siglos VIII a XVIII), IT1465-22.

Notes

1. Some reference studies include: Woolf, Napoleon’s Integration; Broers, Europe under Napoleon; Grab, Napoleon and the Transformation; Dwyer and Forrest, Napoleon and his Empire; Broers et al., The Napoleonic Empire; and Odderns et al., The Political Culture.

2. There is ample and well-known literature identifying different supporters or collaborators within and beyond France. Among others, see Bergeron et al., Les “masses de granit”; Woloch, Napoleon and his Collaborators. See also the contributions of Gavin Daily, John Dunne or John Davies in Dwyer and Forrest (eds), Napoleon and his Empire.

3. Barahona’s work, “The Napoleonic Occupation,” is one of the few scientific publications in English focused on this region and period. Many definitions may apply for the Basque Country or lands. During the Old Regime, the Basque lands of Spain did not form a single administrative entity, as each province and the nearby Kingdom of Navarre had their own institutions. However, they shared a common legal status and a historical imaginary that shall be discussed later, and that was also shared with the Basque lands of the French side, as seen in Ilacqua, “Territory and the Politics.”

4. From de Diego, “La Guerra,” 241; and Rújula López, “A vueltas,” 482.

5. Mikaberidze, The Napoleonic Wars, 179–82, 252–3.

6. García Fernández, Colaboración y resistencia, 437–40, 447–8.

7. Regarding the complex dynamics at play in 1794, see: Portillo Valdés, “El País Vasco,” 266–82, and, more recently, a piece by Aragón Ruano entitled “Motivaciones políticas,” as well as that by Artola Renedo and Aragón Ruano, “Competizione imperiale.” Ricardo García Cárcel chose to focus on the Basque and Catalan Frenchified owing to the geographical proximity of these regions to France and the annexation attempts that took place during the War of the Convention and the Peninsular War. García Cárcel, El sueño, 196–219, 358.

8. Unfortunately, the only monograph about the Peninsular War in the Basque Country (Sánchez Arreseigor, Vascos contra Napoleón) approaches Napoleonic collaboration in an overly partisan manner. The works by José María Ortíz de Orruño, Román Basurto, Ángel María Ormaechea, Teresa Benito, Lartaun de Egibar, Gregorio Monreal, Gildas Lepetit and Pedro Pablo García cited in the bibliography, among others, have enabled a better understanding of the Basque provinces of the time. Regarding the lack of a regional perspective, see Luis, “El afrancesamiento.”

9. Dufour, “Las relaciones.”

10. Rowe, “Resistance, Collaboration or Third”; Vilar, “Ocupantes y ocupados.” For a study on guerrilla activities in nearby Navarre, see Tone, The Fatal Knot.

11. A good example of a balanced local history of the period is Daly, Inside Napoleonic France.

12. Esdaile, The Peninsular War.

13. Artola Gallego, Los afrancesados. One of the last major inquiries on the topic is López Tabar, Los famosos traidores.

14. Broers, Europe under Napoleon, 81.

15. Astigarraga Goenaga, “Economic Societies,” 66–78.

16. Imízcoz Beunza and Chaparro Sainz, “Los orígenes sociales”; Imízcoz Beunza and Bermejo Mangas, “Los ilustrados vascos.”

17. Mariano Luis Urquijo and José Mazarredo, both born in Bilbao, were secretary of state and minister of the Navy. The French-born Basque Francisco Cabarrús was minister of finance. The Vizcayan Juan Francisco de los Heros, count of Montarco, was the most renowned royal commissioner in Andalucía.

18. Artola Renedo, “El control del espacio.”

19. Three members’ attitudes remain unknown, whereas five of them can be tagged as opponents to the regime. The data are developed in Esteban Ochoa de Eribe and Bermejo Mangas, “¿de ilustrados.”

20. Esteban Ochoa de Eribe and Bermejo Mangas, “¿de ilustrados.”

21. Quotes from cited works have been translated into English by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Ramón to his uncle José Domingo de Mazarredo, August 5, 1809. Archivo Histórico Nacional (hereafter the AHN), ESTADO, 3112, Exp. 17, 52–62.

22. Grab, Napoleon and the Transformation, 81; Broers, Europe under Napoleon, 100; and Woolf, Napoleon’s Integration.

23. This form of decentralized and network-dependent government was relatively common in composite and jurisdictional monarchies in the Europe of the Old Regime, as shown by Elliot, “A Europe of Composite”; and Yun Casalilla, Iberian World Empires. For the Basque political discourse and exercise of power, see Achón Insausti, “Liberties and Equality.”

24. Madariaga Orbea, Anthology of Apologists, 149–54. On the Basque deputies at the Bayonne Assembly of 1808: Monreal Zia, “Los Fueros Vascos,” 255–76.

25. Mikaberidze, The Napoleonic Wars, 459–68.

26. Casenave, “D.-J. Garat,” 104–13, 122–3, 125–6, 131–2.

27. Garat’s project can be considered in the context of a series of alternatives proposed by the French following their first occupation of the Basque lands. For a summary of these, see: Artola Renedo and Aragón Ruano, “Competizione imperiale.”

28. 1810 has been highlighted as an especially centralizing year in the emperor’s strategy for ruling the ‘outer empire’: Broers, Europe under Napoleon, 201–30. To understand the logic of establishing the governors, see also pp. 67–70. For a comparative view, check Broers, The Napoleonic Empire, 101–15 or Broers, “Imperial Law on the Marches.” Regarding the Basque provinces, see De Egibar Urrutia, “El sistema napoleónico”; and “Bizkaia en el torbellino,” 463–80 as well as Basurto Larrañaga, “El País Vasco,” 160–8.

29. What G. Lepetit defines as a region within the sphere of influence of the French Empire, awaiting eventual annexation. Annexation became effective in Catalonia in 1812. Lepetit, Saisir l’insaisissable, 31–2, 97–9.

30. De Egibar, “El sistema napoleónico,” 42.

31. Gazeta de Oficio del gobierno de Vizcaya, No. 17, May 7, 1810. For the term ‘ralliement mondain’ see: Nicolas, “Le ralliement des notables,” 122–3.

32. The sources are kept in the AHN. See Álvarez-Coca, “Invasión francesa.”

33. Many are private letters, while many express fear of interception by ‘the bandits’ (thought to be particularly numerous at that time). The definition of privacy here is therefore open to interpretation.

34. Hilaria to José Ignacio de Altuna April 30, 1810 and June 1, 1810. AHN ESTADO, 3091, Exp. 1, 203–05, 282. About the role of women in the Napoleonic system: Broers, “Les Enfants,” 359–62.

35. Manuel Mª de Aurrecoechea to Mariano Luis de Urquijo, May 31, 1810. AHN ESTADO, 3091, Exp. 1, 248–74.

36. Santiago de Bernaola to the Minister of Justice, May 30, 1810. AHN ESTADO, 3091, Exp. 2, 41–56.

37. Mercader, José Bonaparte, 230–4.

38. Valentín María de Echavarri, José de Luzuriaga and Manuel José de Murga to the Secretary of State, May 30, 1810. AHN ESTADO, 3091, Exp. 5, 7–9.

39. ‘A friend’ to Urquijo, February 22, 18[10?]. AHN ESTADO, 3119, Exp. 4, 19.

40. [Antonio Balzola]? To Juan Nepomuceno Balzola, May 31, 1810. AHN ESTADO, 3091, Exp. 2, 110–19.

41. Carlos Mori to Mariano Luis de Urquijo, February 23, 1810. AHN ESTADO, 3113, Exp. 26, 10–2.

42. Estados de situación de las tropas en la plaza de Vitoria, April 23, 1810. AHN ESTADO, 3067, Exp. 30.

43. Mª Victoria Sarachaga to Mª Uría Sarachaga, June 2, 18[10?]. AHN ESTADO, 3119, Exp. 4, 72–5.

44. Juan Manuel Echeverría to Xavier Berrueta, January 15, 1810. AHN ESTADO, 3113, Exp. 26, 1–3.

45. As in other parts of the empire, as shown by Broers, Napoleon’s Other War, 85–104. For the Basque case: Ortíz de Orruño, “Entre la colaboración y la resistencia,” 75 and, although I had limited access to it: García Fernández, Colaboración y resistencia. For an explanation of different causes for the loss of power of the French Army in the North of Spain, see: Lepetit, Saisir l’insaisissable, 191–227.

46. The historiography has focused on the exile rather than domestic repression: Barbastro Gil, Los afrancesados; López Tabar, Los famosos traidores, 103–79.

47. I had used key words such as ‘political behaviour’ to address collaboration in this court of second instance. Some of the trials have already been analysed in Rilova Jericó and Tapia Lizarraga, “‘Afranzesatua? Errepresaliatua? Saritua?’” For an in-depth analysis of the case of Guipúzcoa, see Esteban Ochoa de Eribe, “Adictos.” For an idea of the trials undertaken in the corregimiento court of Vizcaya, see: Ormaechea Hernáiz, “Los afrancesados,” 54–6.

48. Esdaile, The Peninsular War, 467–71.

49. Castells Arteche, “The Storming,” 155–72.

50. Aragón Ruano, “Motivaciones políticas,” 149–54, 159.

51. The episodes of political collaboration and shared economic interests between the French and the citizens of San Sebastián are ripe for analysis in future works. Given the care that must be taken when studying the often rare and fragmented sources available, and the context of the tumultuous time of their creation, different historians have called for prudence in their interpretation. An in-depth analysis of the various elites from the city and their motives for the collaboration of 1808 would be intriguing, particularly since some perspectives on the bicentenary of the sacking of the city have moved away from serene historiographical postures, as shown in: Castells Arteche, “The Storming,” 139–43; and Aragón Ruano, “Napoleondar Gerra,” 222–7.

52. Archivo General de Gipuzkoa-Gipuzkoako Arxtibo Orokorra (from now on AGG-GAO) CO CRI 517, 2; De Ceballos-Escalera and De Arteaga, La Orden Real de España, 159; Begué, “L’invasion napoléonienne,” 309. Fichoz database No. 00031873.

53. Archivo General de Palacio, 7, Reinado de Fernando VII, Papeles Reservados, Tomo 7, fols. 134–35 and Tomo 13, fol. 4154–416v.

54. AGG-GAO CO MCI 5312; CO CRI 515, 9; CO CRI 516, 11; CO CRI 517, 1 and 2; CO CRI 520,11; CO CRI 524, 7.

55. AGG-GAO CO CRI 516, 3, 5, 6 and 11; CO CRI 517, 2; CO CRI 520, 10.

56. AGG-GAO CO CRI 516, 5.

57. José and Joaquín Luis Bermingham, an Irish-descended Basque family of traders, are highlighted in AGG-GAO CO CRI 520, 13.

58. AGG-GAO CO CRI 516, 3.

59. AGG-GAO CO MCI 5312.

60. AGG-GAO CO CRI 516, 1.

61. AGG-GAO CO CRI 517, 2.

62. AGG-GAO CO CRI 517,1; CO CRI 516.

63. AGG-GAO CO MCI 5494.

64. Thoral, “The Limits of Napoleonic Centralization.”

65. The quotations from: AGG-GAO CO CRI 517, 2; CO CRI 515, 9. On the public sphere or space’s debate: Jiménez Torres and Villamediana González, The Configuration of the Spanish; and Guerra, “Forms of Communication.”

66. Benito Aguado, “Pensamiento liberal”; and Ortíz de Orruño Legarda, “Entre la colaboración y la resistencia,” 106–9.

67. Esteban, Discursos civilizadores, 401–3.

68. García Fernández, “Ramón Barrutia.”

69. As explained by Reinoso, Examen, 320, 409, which lists 75 detainees with these characteristics in a location in Andalusia in 1812. For details on previous inquisitorial persecutions, see: Reguera Acedo, “Ilustración y censura,” 170.

70. For a European context: Brophy, Popular Culture; Fureix and Jarrigue, La modernité désenchantée or Dupuy, La politique du peuple. For the Basque case: Esteban, Discursos civilizadores.

71. Testimony of the priests Joseph Antonio de Yrazusta and Bernardo Antonio de Zubeldia, April 17, 1816. Archivo Histórico Diocesano de San Sebastián – Donostiako Elizbarrutiko Artxibo Historikoa AMICG D 3 d-e.

72. Quotations are extracted form: AGG-GAO CO CRI 520,10; CO CRI 517, 1.

73. Calvo Maturana, “De traidores, leales y veletas”; and Ortíz de Orruño Legarda, “Entre la colaboración y la resistencia,” 124–7.

74. The Carrese family is a good example of continuity. Trader Juan Pablo Carrese was accused of giving a warm welcome to French republican troops in 1794. Juan Pablo and his son Juan Antonio are soon accused by the Inquisition, among other things, of supporting the French cause. In fact, Juan Antonio would end up being accused of collaboration during the Napoleonic occupation and judged in the corregimiento court. Aragón, “Motivaciones políticas,” 150, 153, 159–60.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Javier Esteban-Ochoa-de-Eribe

Javier Esteban-Ochoa-de-Eribe teaches Early Modern History at the University of the Basque Country. His PhD dissertation focused on a social analysis of printed documents in the Basque Language from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. During his postdoctoral training he researched Napoleonic collaborators in the Basque lands during the French occupation of 1807–13. He has published 20 articles, papers or contributions to collective books. For a selection of these, see: https://ehu.academia.edu/JavierEstebanOchoadeEribe