As widely reported for many weeks the proposals upon regional reorganisation being undertaken in France and its impact upon the ancient nation of Brittany will soon be revealed. There has been a lot of speculation about the outcome. The clear will of the Breton people has been that Brittany should return to its historic boundaries. That is the reunification of Nantes and the Loire Atlantique with the rest of Brittany from which it was ruthlessly torn by the Vichy regime in 1941. Vichy France was the collaborationist administration under the leadership of Marshal Philippe Pétain that was set up after the German invasion of France in 1940.
There has been a tremendous campaign across Brittany for reunification since the plan to reorganise the French regions was announced. The opportunity to correct an historic wrong now exists. Clearly there has also been campaigning against reunification from those outside of Brittany in the French establishment who would rather Brittany, its culture and language did not even exist. These vicious and aggressive French centralists have always existed. It has been known for many years that they would be even more actively repressive against the Breton people if the eyes of the rest of the world were not on them. They are also aided by many in the Parti socialiste (PS) who cynically would like to keep Brittany separated to keep political control in their artificially created power bases. Many ordinary Breton supporters of the PS have been dismayed by these manoeuvres. They will look very carefully before supporting the PS again in the future.
The voice of the Breton people now has to be heard and that is to live in a united Brittany. Any other decision would be seen for what it is – an attempt to destroy Brittany and deny it any chance of existence. The arguments for a united Brittany are overwhelmingly strong. As well as maintaining cultural identity, they offer a chance of economic progress and prosperity to all of those who have decided to make their home in Brittany. There is only one decision that can have any kind of integrity. That would be the right decision – Brittany reunified.