Editing Bilbao (section)

=== Contemporary Bilbao ===

==== Napoleonic invasion and Carlist wars ====
[[File:Ataque al Puente de Luchana.jpg|thumb|left|The Battle of Luchana]]
The [[First French Empire|French]] invasion of Spain saw the occupation of several Basque cities, but Bilbao was not among them. The first open uprising against [[Kingdom of Spain under Joseph Bonaparte|Napoleonic rule]] took place on 6 August 1808, a month after the [[Battle of Bailén]]. French troops sieged and sacked the city, alongside the neighbouring towns of Deusto and Begoña on 16 August. Beginning in February 1810, the city was under the command of [[Pierre Thouvenot]], general of the French army and [[Nobility of the First French Empire|Baron of the Empire]], who had become the head of the Military Government of ''Vizcaya'', which included the three Basque provinces. Thouvenot intended to move forward with the plan of total annexation of the Basque provinces into France,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bilbao.net/castella/residentes/vivebilbao/publicaciones/periodicobilbao/200701/pag36.pdf |title=Los hospitales militares y civiles de Bilbao durante la Guerra de la Independencia |last=Gondra |first=Juan |date=January 2007 |website=Bilbao City Hall |access-date=15 October 2008 |archive-date=24 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090124082807/http://www.bilbao.net/castella/residentes/vivebilbao/publicaciones/periodicobilbao/200701/pag36.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> but the [[Peninsular War]] and ultimately the [[Battle of Vitoria]] made those plans impossible.
[[File:Bilboko irudi historikoa.jpg|thumb|right|Engraving depicting the city in the 18th century]]
The [[Basque Country (greater region)|Basque Country]] was one of the main sites of battles during the [[First Carlist War]], a civil war between supporters of the Spanish regent [[Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies|Maria Christina]], known as liberals, and those of the late king's brother [[Infante Carlos, Count of Molina|Carlos of Borbón]], known as Carlists. The [[Carlism|Carlists]] were particularly focused on capturing Bilbao, a liberal and economic bastion in northern Spain.<ref>Quiroga 2001: 68</ref> The Carlist general [[Tomás de Zumalacárregui]] tried to take the city during the siege of Bilbao of 1835, but he was wounded during a battle near [[Begoña]] and died some time after in the town of [[Zegama]]. The next year, the city resisted a second siege during which the liberal general [[Baldomero Espartero, Prince of Vergara|Baldomero Espartero]] defeated the Carlists in the [[Battle of Luchana]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Sánchez-Beaskoetxea|2006|p=42}}</ref> The city was untouched by the [[Second Carlist War]], which took place mostly in [[Catalonia]], but was again an important scenario during the [[Third Carlist War]]; in April 1874 the city suffered a third siege which lasted two months.<ref name=autogenerated3>{{Harvnb|Sánchez-Beaskoetxea|2006|p=44}}</ref>

Despite the warfare, Bilbao prospered during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, when it rose as the economic centre of the Basque Country. It was during this time that the railway first arrived to the city and the Bank of Bilbao (which later would go on to become the [[BBVA]]) was founded, as well as the Bilbao Stock Exchange. Steelmaking industries flourished with the creation of many new factories, including the Santa Ana de Bolueta and the [[Altos Hornos de Vizcaya]] in 1902. The city was modernised with new avenues and walkways, as well as with new modern buildings such as the [[Bilbao City Hall|City Hall building]], the Basurto Hospital and the [[Teatro Arriaga|Arriaga Theatre]].<ref name=autogenerated3 /> The population increased dramatically, from 11,000 in 1880 to 80,000 in 1900. Social movements also arose, notably [[Basque nationalism]] under [[Sabino Arana]], which in the subsequent decades would grow to become the [[Basque Nationalist Party]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Montero, Manuel |title=Crónica de siete siglos |work=Bilbao 700 |page=48 |url=http://www.periodistasvascos.com/imagenes/cap_2.pdf |access-date=15 October 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724095226/http://www.periodistasvascos.com/imagenes/cap_2.pdf |archive-date=24 July 2008  }}</ref>

==== Civil war and Francoist dictatorship ====
[[File:Bilboko portuaren bonbardaketa.jpg|thumb|left|Bombing of Bilbao during the Civil War, 5 June 1937]]
The [[Spanish Civil War]] in Bilbao started with a number of small uprisings suppressed by the [[Republican faction (Spanish Civil War)|Republican]] forces. On 31 August 1936, the city suffered its first bombing, with a series of air bombs dropped by [[Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War)|Nationalist]] airplanes. In September, the Nationalists distributed pamphlets threatening further bombing if the city did not give up, which finally took place on 25 September when German planes, in coordination with Francoist forces, dropped at least a hundred bombs on the city.<ref>Quiroga 2001: 84</ref> In May 1937, the Nationalist army besieged the town. The battle lasted until 19 June of that year, when Lieutenant Colonel Putz was ordered to destroy all bridges over the estuary, and the troops of the 5th Brigade took the borough from the mountains Malmasin, Pagasarri, and Arnotegi.<ref>Sánchez-Beaskoetxea 2006: 48</ref>

With the war over, Bilbao returned to its industrial development, accompanied by steady population growth. In the 1940s, the city was rebuilt, starting with the bridges and by 1948, the first commercial flight took off from the local [[Bilbao Airport|airport]].<ref>Tussel 2004: 187</ref> Over the next decade, there was a revival of the iron industry, which became a strategic industrial sector in Spain, as a consequence of the economic model promoted by [[Francoism]]. The city received migrants from other Spanish regions looking to work in the iron industry. The demand for housing outstripped supply, and workers built slums on the hillsides.<ref name="franquism">Quiroga 2001: 96</ref> It was in this context that the first social movements arose and the strike of the ''Euskalduna'' shipyard in 1947 was the first one to take place during the Francoist dictatorship. In this environment of social repression, on 31 July 1959 the separatist organisation [[ETA (separatist group)|ETA]] was created from Basque nationalist movements.<ref name="franquism"/> During the 1960s the city was the scenario of several urban projects, with the creation of new neighbourhoods like Otxarkoaga and the motorway to the French border. In June 1968 the University of Bilbao, the first public university, was established. It would later be integrated into the [[University of the Basque Country]].

==== Democracy and urban renewal ====
[[File:Abandoibarra3.jpg|thumb|right|[[Abandoibarra]] and the [[Guggenheim Museum Bilbao|Guggenheim Museum]] from the [[Iberdrola Tower]]]]
After the end of [[Spanish State|Francoist Spain]] and the establishment of a [[constitutional monarchy]], in a process known in Spain as [[Spanish transition to democracy|the transition]], Bilbao was able to hold democratic elections again. This time [[Basque nationalism|Basque nationalists]] rose to power.<ref>[[#tus04|Tussel 2004]]: 194</ref> With the approval of the [[Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country]] in 1979, [[Vitoria-Gasteiz]] was elected the seat of the government and therefore the ''de facto'' capital of the [[Basque Country (autonomous community)|Basque Autonomous Community]], although Bilbao was larger and more powerful economically. In the 1980s, several factors such as labour demands and the arrival of cheap labour from abroad led to a devastating industrial crisis.<ref name="franquism"/>

On 26 August 1983 during the celebration of the local festivities known as ''[[Aste Nagusia]]'', the estuary overflowed up to five metres in some areas due to the continuous raining, killing two people and causing important destructions in the city's infrastructure, with a total economic cost that reached 60,000 million [[Spanish peseta|pesetas]] (around €360 million)<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/BURGOS/CANTABRIA/PAiS_VASCO/34/muertos/Euskadi/Cantabria/Burgos/balance/provisional/elpepiesp/19830901elpepinac_13/Tes/ |title=34 muertos en Euskadi, 4 en Cantabria y 1 en Burgos, balance provisional |last=Ridruejo |first=Carmelo |date=1 September 1983 |work=El País |access-date=8 December 2009 |archive-date=11 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111111202501/http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/BURGOS/CANTABRIA/PAIS_VASCO/34/muertos/Euskadi/Cantabria/Burgos/balance/provisional/elpepiesp/19830901elpepinac_13/Tes |url-status=live }}</ref>

Since the mid-1990s, Bilbao has been in a process of deindustrialization and transition to a service economy, supported by investment in infrastructure and [[urban renewal]], starting with the opening of the [[Bilbao Guggenheim Museum]] (the so-called ''Guggenheim effect''),<ref name="guggen"/> and continuing with the [[Euskalduna Conference Centre and Concert Hall]], [[Santiago Calatrava]]'s [[Zubizuri]], the [[Metro Bilbao|metro network]] by [[Norman Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank|Norman Foster]], the [[Bilbao tram|tram]], the [[Iberdrola Tower]] and the [[Zorrozaurre]] development plan, among others. Many officially supported associations such as Bilbao Metrópoli-30 and Bilbao Ría 2000 were created to monitor these projects.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.bm30.es/homeage_es.html | title = Agentes del proceso de revitalización | publisher = BM30 | access-date = 16 October 2008 | archive-date = 20 July 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110720135704/http://www.bm30.es/homeage_es.html | url-status = dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.bilbaoria2000.org/ria2000/cas/bilbaoRia/bilbaoRia.aspx?primeraVez=0 | title = BILBAO Ría 2000 ¿Qué es? | publisher = Bilbao Ría 2000 | access-date = 15 October 2008 | archive-date = 25 July 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110725073505/http://www.bilbaoria2000.org/ria2000/cas/bilbaoRia/bilbaoRia.aspx?primeraVez=0 | url-status = dead }}</ref>
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