Editing Brittany (section)

==History==
{{main|History of Brittany}}

===Prehistoric origins===
[[File:4735.1099 Menhire,bis zu 4 Meter hoch,von OstnachWest in 1167 Meter Langen Alignements(Granit-Steinreihen) in einem Halbkreis endend Le Ménec,Carnac ,Departement Morbihan,Bretagne Steffen Heilfort.JPG|thumb|The [[Carnac stones]]]]
Brittany has been inhabited by humans since the [[Lower Palaeolithic]]. This population was scarce and very similar to the other [[Neanderthal]]s found in the whole of Western Europe. Their only original feature was a distinct culture, called "Colombanian".<ref>{{Cite book|title=Le " Colombanien ": un faciès régional du Paléolithique inférieur sur le littoral armoricano-atlantique|author=Nathalie Molines and Jean-Laurent Monnier|publisher=Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française|year=1993|page=284|volume=90|issue=4}}</ref> One of the oldest [[hearth]]s in the world has been found in [[Plouhinec, Finistère]].

[[Homo sapiens]] settled in Brittany around 35,000 years ago. They replaced or absorbed the Neanderthals and developed local [[archaeological industry|industries]], similar to the [[Châtelperronian]] or to the [[Magdalenian]]. After the [[last glacial period]], the warmer climate allowed the area to become heavily wooded. At that time, Brittany was populated by relatively large communities who started to change their lifestyles from a life of hunting and gathering, to become settled farmers. Agriculture was introduced during the [[5th millennium BC]] by migrants from the south and east. However, the [[Neolithic Revolution]] in Brittany did not happen due to a radical change of population, but by slow immigration and exchange of skills.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Thomas|first=Julian|date=1 December 2004|title=Current debates on the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in Britain and Ireland|journal=Documenta Praehistorica|volume=31|pages=<!-- 113–130 -->|at=p. 117|doi=10.4312/dp.31.8|issn=1854-2492|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Neolithic Brittany is characterised by important [[megalithic architectural elements|megalithic production]] and sites such as [[Quelfénnec]], it is sometimes designated as the "core area" of megalithic culture.<ref>Mark Patton, ''Statements in Stone: Monuments and Society in Neolithic Brittany'', Routledge, 1993, p.1</ref> The oldest monuments, [[cairn]]s, were followed by princely tombs and [[stone row]]s. The [[Morbihan]] ''[[département]]'', on the southern coast, comprises a large share of these structures, including the [[Carnac stones]] and the Broken Menhir of Er Grah in the [[Locmariaquer megaliths]], the largest single stone erected by Neolithic people.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}

===Gallic era===
[[File:Celtic_Tribes_in_Brittany.svg|thumb|right|The five Gallic tribes of Brittany]]
During the [[Protohistory|protohistorical period]], Brittany was inhabited by five Celtic tribes:<ref name="VenceslasKruta">{{Cite book|author=Venceslas Kruta|title=Les Celtes, Histoire et Dictionnaire|page=427|publisher=Robert Laffont|year=2000|isbn=2-7028-6261-6}}</ref>
* The [[Curiosolitae]], who lived around the present town of [[Corseul]]. Their territory encompassed parts of [[Côtes-d'Armor]], Ille-et-Vilaine and [[Morbihan]] ''[[département]]s''.
* The [[Namnetes]], who lived in the current [[Loire-Atlantique]] ''[[département]]'' (in today's administrative ''région'' of [[Pays de la Loire]]), north of the [[Loire]]. They gave their name to the city of [[Nantes]]. The south bank of the river was occupied by an allied tribe, the Ambilatres,<ref>{{Cite book|author=Giot (P. R), Briard (J.) and Pape (L.)|title=Protohistoire de la Bretagne|publisher=Ouest-France Université|year=1995|page=370}}</ref> whose existence and territory remain unsure.<ref name="VenceslasKruta" />
* The [[Osismii]], who lived in the western part of Brittany. Their territory comprised the [[Finistère]] ''[[département]]'' and the western extremity of [[Côtes-d'Armor]] and [[Morbihan]].
* The [[Redones]] (or ''Rhedones''), who lived in the eastern part of the [[Ille-et-Vilaine]] ''[[département]]''. They gave their name to the city of [[Rennes]] (''Roazhon'' in Breton language, in the center of the département) and to the town of [[Redon]] (in the south of the ''département'', bordering the ''département'' of [[Loire-Atlantique]] in the administrative ''région'' of [[Pays de la Loire]], where its suburb town of [[Saint-Nicolas-de-Redon]] is located; however the city of Redon was founded around AD 832 under the initial name of ''Riedones'', long after the ''Redones'' people were assimilated to Bretons; the cultural link between ''Riedones'' and the former ''Redones'' people is highly probable but difficult to recover and the name of ''Riedones'' may have been written from a local usage preserving the name of the former people in the vernacular oral language from a reading of an ancient Greek orthography).
* The [[Veneti (Gaul)|Veneti]], who lived in the present [[Morbihan]] ''[[département]]'' and gave their name to the city of [[Vannes]]. Despite confusion by the classical scholar [[Strabo]], they were unrelated to the [[Adriatic Veneti]].

Those people had strong economic ties to the [[Insular Celts]], especially for the [[tin]] trade {{Citation needed|date=October 2020}}. Several tribes also belonged to an "Armorican [[confederation]]" which, according to [[Julius Caesar]], gathered the [[Curiosolitae]], the [[Redones]], the [[Osismii]], the [[Unelli]], the [[Caletes]], the [[Lemovices]] and the Ambibarii.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Commentarii de Bello Gallico|author=Julius Caesar|page=75|section=VII}}</ref> The Unelli, Caletes, and Lemovices were respectively located in [[Cotentin]] (Lower-Normandy), [[pays de Caux]] (Upper-Normandy), and [[Limousin]] (Aquitaine); the location of the Ambibarii is unknown. The Caletes are sometimes also considered Belgians, and ''Lemovices'' is probably a mistake for ''[[Lexovii]]'' (Lower-Normandy).{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}

===Gallo-Roman era===
{{main|Armorica}}

[[File:Corseul - Temple de Mars 03.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|The temple of Mars in [[Corseul]]]]
During the [[Gallic Wars]], the [[Veneti (Gaul)|Veneti]] were defeated in the [[Battle of Morbihan]] off the coast of Brittany. At the conclusion of the Gallic Wars, the region became part of the [[Roman Republic]] in 51 BC. It was included in the province of [[Gallia Lugdunensis]] in 13 BC. Gallic towns and villages were redeveloped according to Roman standards, and several cities were created. These cities are Condate ([[Rennes]]), Vorgium ([[Carhaix]]), Darioritum ([[Vannes]]) and Condevincum or Condevicnum ([[Nantes]]). Together with Fanum Martis ([[Corseul]]), they were the capitals of the local [[civitates]]. They all had a [[grid plan]] and a [[forum (Roman)|forum]], and sometimes a temple, a [[basilica]], [[thermae]] or an [[Aqueduct (water supply)|aqueduct]], like [[Carhaix]].

The Romans also built three major roads through the region. However, most of the population remained rural. The free peasants lived in small huts, whereas the landowners and their employees lived in proper [[villae rusticae]]. The Gallic deities continued to be worshiped, and were often assimilated to the Roman gods. Only a small number of statues depicting Roman gods were found in Brittany, and most of the time they combine Celtic elements.<ref name="roman">{{cite web|url=http://www2.ac-rennes.fr/cst/doc/dossiers/archeo/archeo/classique.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040531074132/http://www2.ac-rennes.fr/cst/doc/Dossiers/archeo/archeo/classique.htm|archive-date=31 May 2004|title=Archéologie classique|editor=Université de Rennes II|access-date=26 February 2013}}</ref>

During the 3rd century AD, the region was attacked several times by [[Franks]], [[Alamanni]] and pirates. At the same time, the local economy collapsed and many farming estates were abandoned. To face the invasions, many towns and cities were fortified, like [[Nantes]], [[Rennes]] and [[Vannes]].<ref name="roman"/>

This area was also affected by the [[Bagaudae]] (also spelled bacaudae) during this period, which were groups of peasant insurgents. The Bagaudae achieved some temporary and scattered successes under the leadership of peasants as well as former members of local ruling elites.

[[File:France Pays bretons map.svg|left|upright=1.35|thumb|A [[French language|French]] map of the traditional regions of Brittany in [[Kingdom of France|Ancien Régime France]]. The earlier state of [[Domnonia]] or [[Domnonée]] that united Brittany comprised the counties along the north coast]]

===Immigration of the Britons===
Toward the end of the 4th century, the [[Britons (historical)|Britons]] of [[Domnonée]] (modern [[Devon]] and [[Cornwall]]) on the [[South West Peninsula|South-Western peninsula of Great Britain]] began to emigrate to [[Armorica]],<ref>Leon Fleuriot's primarily linguistic researches in Les Origines de la Bretagne, emphasizes instead the broader influx of Britons into Roman Gaul that preceded the fifth-century collapse of Roman power.</ref><ref>Procopius, in History of the Wars, viii, 20, 6–14.</ref> which is why the Breton language is more closely related to recorded Cornish.

====The Romano-Britons====
The history behind such an establishment is unclear, but medieval Breton, Angevin and Welsh sources connect it to a figure known as [[Conan Meriadoc]]. Welsh literary sources assert that Conan came to Armorica on the orders of the Roman usurper [[Magnus Maximus]],{{efn| Magnus Maximus was a native of [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]] in [[Spain]], being born on the estate of [[Count Theodosius]].}} who sent some of his British troops to Gaul to enforce his claims and settled them in Armorica. This account was supported by the Counts of Anjou, who claimed descent from a Roman soldier{{efn|Presumably this soldier was in the employ of [[Gratian]].}} expelled from Lower Brittany by Conan on Magnus's orders.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}

====Battle of the Catalaunian Plains====
The army recruited for [[Flavius Aetius]] to combat [[Attila the Hun]] at the [[Battle of the Catalaunian Plains]] included Romans, Visigoths, Franks, Alans and Armoricans, amongst others.  The Alans were placed front and centre, opposite the Huns. The Armoricans supplied archers who attacked the Huns' front lines during the main battle and thwarted Attila's night assault on the Roman camp with a hail of arrows "like rain".  After the battle was won, Aetius sent the Alans to Armorica and Galicia.

====Riothamus====
The late 5th century Brittonic leader [[Riothamus]] received correspondence from the eminent Roman jurist [[Sidonius Apollinaris]] and was called "King of the Britons" by [[Jordanes]].  Some suggest that he was a Breton, though others believe that he was from Britain, pointing to the passage that he arrived in the land of the Biturges "by way of Ocean", which would hardly have been efficient or required for a Breton.  Both historians describe Riothamus's losing battle against King [[Euric]] of the Visigoths at [[Déols]] around the year 470.

In response to a plea from the Roman Emperor [[Anthemius]], Riothamus had led twelve thousand men to establish a military presence in [[Bourges]] in central Gaul, but was betrayed by [[Arvandus]], the Praetorian Prefect of Gaul, and subsequently ambushed by Euric's army.{{efn|The Visigoths' version of events was that they had saved the Roman empire from a British invasion.}} After a long battle, the Armorican survivors escaped to [[Avallon]] in [[Burgundy]], after which they are lost to history.  According to Breton king-lists, Riotham survived and reigned as Prince of [[Domnonia]] until his death sometime between 500 and 520, though this may have been a different person.

====Additional waves of Britons====
Brythonic (British Celtic) settlement increased during the [[Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain]] in the 5th and 6th centuries to seek refuge from the Anglo-Saxon invaders. It is from this event that Brittany derives its name.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=The Encyclopaedia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Brittany-region-France/History |title=Brittany}}{{blockquote|After the Romans withdrew, Celts from Britain moved into the area to seek refuge from the Anglo-Saxon invaders of the 5th and 6th centuries. It is from this event that Brittany derives its name.}}</ref> [[File:Britonia6hcentury.png|thumb|left|The [[Brythonic languages|Brythonic]] community around the 6th century. The sea was a communication medium rather than a barrier.]]

Scholars such as [[Léon Fleuriot]] have suggested a two-wave model of migration from Britain which saw the emergence of an independent Breton people and established the dominance of the [[Brittonic languages|Brythonic]] [[Breton language]] in Armorica.<ref>[[Léon Fleuriot]], ''Les origines de la Bretagne: l'émigration'', Paris, Payot, 1980.</ref> Their [[petty kingdom]]s are now known by the names of the counties that succeeded them—[[Domnonée]] ([[Devon]]), [[Cornouaille]] ([[Cornwall]]), [[Viscounty of Léon|Léon]] ([[Caerleon]]); but these names in Breton and [[Latin]] are in most cases identical to their British homelands. (In Breton and French, however, [[Gwened (kingdom)|Gwened]] or [[Pays Vannetais|Vannetais]] continued the name of the indigenous [[Veneti (Gauls)|Veneti]].) Although the details remain confused, these colonies consisted of related and intermarried dynasties which repeatedly unified (as by the 7th-century [[Saint Judicaël]]) before splintering again according to Celtic inheritance practices.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}

===Middle Ages===
====The Kingdom of Brittany====
{{Main|Kingdom of Brittany}}
[[File:Nominoe triumphant.jpg|thumb|upright|A 1922 nationalist engraving of [[Nominoe]], first king of Brittany]]
[[File:Battle of La Roche-Derrien.jpg|thumb|[[Battle of La Roche-Derrien|Battle of Ar Roc'h-Derrien]] during the [[War of the Breton Succession]]]]
At the beginning of the medieval era, Brittany was divided among three kingdoms, [[Domnonée|Domnonea]], [[Cornouaille]] and [[Broërec]]. These realms eventually merged into a single state during the 9th century.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Christian Y. M. Kerboul|title=Les Royaumes brittoniques au très haut Moyen Âge|year=1997|pages=80–143|publisher=Éditions du Pontig/Coop Breizh|isbn=2-9510310-3-3}}</ref><ref name="autogenerated1">{{Cite book|author=Joël Cornette|title=Histoire de la Bretagne et des Bretons|publisher=Seuil|year=2005|isbn=2-02-054890-9}}</ref> The unification of Brittany was carried out by [[Nominoe]], king between 845 and 851 and considered as the Breton ''[[Pater Patriae]]''.<ref>Smith, Julia M. H. ''Province and Empire: Brittany and the Carolingians'', Cambridge University Press, 1992, pp. 80–83.</ref> Among the immigrant Britons, there were some clergymen who helped the [[evangelisation]] of the region, which was still pagan, particularly in rural areas.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}

His son [[Erispoe]] secured the independence of the new kingdom of Brittany and won the [[Battle of Jengland]] against [[Charles the Bald]]. The Bretons won another war in 867, and the kingdom reached then its maximum extent: It received parts of [[Normandy]], [[Maine (province of France)|Maine]] and [[County of Anjou|Anjou]] and the [[Channel Islands]].

====Viking occupation====
Brittany was heavily attacked by the [[Vikings]] at the beginning of the 10th century. The kingdom lost its eastern territories, including [[Normandy]] and [[County of Anjou|Anjou]], and the county of [[Nantes]] was given to [[Fulk I of Anjou]] in 909. Nantes was seized by the Vikings in 914. At this time Brittany was also called Lydwiccum.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lewis |first=Stephen M. |date=January 2014 |title=Óttar's Story – A Dublin Viking in Brittany, England and Ireland, A.D. 902–918 |url=https://www.academia.edu/9155941 |access-date=2025-05-18 |website=/www.academia.edu}}</ref>

====Duchy of Brittany====
{{Main|Duchy of Brittany}}
Nantes was eventually liberated by [[Alan II of Brittany]] in 937 with the support of his godbrother King [[Æthelstan]] of England.

Alan II totally expelled the Vikings from Brittany and recreated a strong Breton state. For aiding in removing the problem, Alan paid homage to [[Louis IV of France]] (who was Æthelstan's nephew and had returned from England in the same year as Alan II) and thus Brittany ceased to be a kingdom and became a duchy.

====Norman allies====
Several Breton lords helped [[William the Conqueror]] to invade England and the Bretons formed over a third of the landing force in 1066. They received large estates there (e.g. William's double-second cousin [[Alan Rufus]] and the latter's brother [[Brian of Brittany]]). The Bretons helped to liberate the Cornish, replacing Anglo-Saxon land owners. Some of these lords were powerful rivals.

====Internal disputes====
Medieval Brittany was far from being a united nation. The French king maintained envoys in Brittany, alliances contracted by local lords often overlapped and there was no specific Breton unity. For example, Brittany replaced [[Latin]] with French as its official language in the 13th century, 300 years before France did so, and the [[Breton language]] did not have formal status.

The [[foreign policy]] of the Duchy changed many times; the Dukes were usually independent, but they often contracted alliances with England or France depending on who was threatening them at that point. Their support for each nation became very important during the 14th century because the English kings had started to claim the French throne.

The [[Breton War of Succession]], a local episode of the [[Hundred Years' War]], saw the House of [[Blois]], backed by the French, fighting with the House of [[Montfort of Brittany|Montfort]], backed by the English. The Montforts won in 1364 and enjoyed a period of total independence until the end of the Hundred Years' War, because France was weakened and stopped sending royal envoys to the Court of Brittany.

English diplomatic failures led to the Breton cavalry commanders Arthur, Comte de Richemont (later to become [[Arthur III, Duke of Brittany]]) and his nephew [[Peter II, Duke of Brittany]] playing key roles on the French side during the deciding stages of the war (including the battles of [[Battle of Patay|Patay]], [[Battle of Formigny|Formigny]] and [[Battle of Castillon|Castillon]] and the [[Treaty of Arras (1435)|Treaty of Arras]]).

Brittany importantly lost the [[Mad War]] against France in 1488, mostly because of its internal divisions that were exacerbated by the corruption at the court of [[Francis II, Duke of Brittany]]. Indeed, some rebel Breton lords were fighting on the French side.

===Union with the French Crown and modern period===
{{main|Union of Brittany and France}}

[[File:Anne de bretagne.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Anne of Brittany]] is regarded in Brittany as a conscientious ruler who defended the duchy against France.]]

As a result of the [[Mad War]], the Duke [[Francis II of Brittany|Francis II]] could not have his daughter [[Anne of Brittany|Anne]] married without the king of France's consent. Nonetheless, she married the [[Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor|Holy Roman Emperor]] in 1490, leading to a crisis with France. [[Charles VIII of France]] besieged [[Rennes]] and had the marriage cancelled. He eventually married [[Anne of Brittany|Anne]]. After he died childless, Anne had to marry his heir and cousin [[Louis XII]]. Anne unsuccessfully tried to preserve Breton independence, but she died in 1514, and the union between the two crowns was formally carried out by [[Francis I of France|Francis I]] in 1532. He granted several privileges to Brittany, such as exemption from the [[gabelle]], a tax on salt that was very unpopular in France.<ref>Constance De La Warr, ''A Twice Crowned Queen: Anne of Brittany'', Peter Owen, 2005</ref> Under the [[Ancien Régime]], Brittany and France were governed as separate countries but under the same crown, so Breton aristocrats in the French [[royal court]] were classed as {{lang|fr|[[Princes étrangers]]}} (foreign princes).

From the 15th to the 18th century, Brittany reached an economic golden age.{{efn|Brittany was proverbially wealthy throughout much of its history: it prospered from trade before and during Roman rule, mid-ninth century legal documents reveal peasant landowners suing lords for trespass. The [[House of Penthièvre]] was wealthy, Breton dowries raised impoverished nobles such as [[Jean II de Brosse]] to riches, and Duchess Anne's fortune contributed to the [[French Renaissance]], to palaces such as [[Palace of Fontainebleau|Fontainebleau]] and to the [[Châteaux of the Loire Valley]]}} The region was located on the seaways near Spain, England and the [[Dutch Republic]] and it greatly benefited from the creation of the [[French colonial empire]]. Local seaports like [[Brest, France|Brest]] and [[Saint-Brieuc]] quickly expanded, and [[Lorient]], first spelt "L'Orient", was founded in the 17th century. [[Saint-Malo]] was then known for its [[French corsairs|corsairs]], Brest was a major base for the French Navy and [[Nantes]] flourished with the [[Atlantic slave trade]]. On its side, the inland provided [[hemp]] ropes and canvas and [[linen]] sheets. However, [[Colbertism]], which encouraged the creation of many factories, did not favour the Breton industry because most of the royal factories were opened in other provinces. Moreover, several conflicts between France and Britain during the 18th century resulted in British blockades which weakened the Breton economy, leading it to go into recession.

====The centralisation problem====
Two significant revolts occurred in the 17th and 18th centuries: the [[Revolt of the papier timbré]] (1675) and the [[Pontcallec conspiracy]] (1719). Both arose from attempts to resist centralisation and assert Breton constitutional exceptions to tax.<ref>Joël Cornette, Le marquis et le Régent. Une conspiration bretonne à l'aube des Lumières, Paris, Tallandier, 2008.</ref>

====Breton exodus====
Many Bretons crossed the Atlantic to support the [[American War of Independence]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Breton American History|url=http://www.breizh-amerika.com/breton-american-history.html|access-date=26 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150226113452/http://www.breizh-amerika.com/breton-american-history.html|archive-date=26 February 2015}}</ref> These included naval officers such as [[Armand de Kersaint]] and soldiers such as [[Charles Armand Tuffin, marquis de la Rouërie]].

===The French Revolution of 1789 – Division of Brittany into five departments===
[[File:Bretagne - Brittany.jpg|left|thumb|350x350px|Province of Brittany (1789) – showing internal borders of five new departments: Côtes-du-Nord (now [[Côtes-d'Armor]]), [[Finistère]], [[Ille-et-Vilaine]], Loire-Inférieure (now [[Loire-Atlantique]]) and [[Morbihan]].]]
The Duchy was legally abolished with the [[French Revolution]] that began in 1789 – and in 1790 the province of Brittany was divided into five [[Departments of France|departments]]: Côtes-du-Nord (later [[Côtes-d'Armor]]), [[Finistère]], [[Ille-et-Vilaine]], Loire-Inférieure (later [[Loire-Atlantique]]) and [[Morbihan]]. Brittany essentially lost all its special privileges that existed under the Duchy. Three years later, the area became a centre of [[royalist]] and Catholic resistance to the Revolution during the [[Chouannerie]].

During the 19th century, Brittany remained in economic recession, and many Bretons emigrated to other French regions, particularly to Paris. This trend remained strong until the beginning of the 20th century. Nonetheless, the region was also modernising, with new roads and railways being built, and some places being industrialised. [[Nantes]] specialised in [[shipbuilding]] and food processing (sugar, exotic fruits and vegetables, fish, etc.), [[Fougères]] in glass and shoe production, and [[metallurgy]] was practised in small towns such as [[Châteaubriant]] and [[Inzinzac-Lochrist|Lochrist]], known for its [[labour movement]]s.[[File:Révolte Fouesnant.jpg|thumb|The mutineers of [[Fouesnant]] arrested by the National Guard of [[Quimper]] in 1792]]

The region remained deeply Catholic, and during the [[Second French Empire|Second Empire]], the conservative values were strongly reasserted. When the Republic was re-established in 1871, there were rumours that Breton troops were mistrusted and mistreated at [[Camp Conlie]] during the [[Franco-Prussian War]] because of fears that they were a threat to the Republic.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rennes.fr/fileadmin/user_upload/Telechargements/rennais/rn382/histoire.pdf |title=Rennes, guide histoire|access-date=3 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718175622/http://www.rennes.fr/fileadmin/user_upload/Telechargements/rennais/rn382/histoire.pdf |archive-date=18 July 2011 }}</ref>

[[File:RAF attack Saint Malo 31 Jul 1942.jpg|thumb|A [[Royal Air Force]] attack on [[Saint-Malo]] in 1942]]

During the 19th century, the [[Breton language]] started to decline precipitously, mainly because of the [[Francization]] policy conducted under the [[Third French Republic|Third Republic]]. On one hand, children [[Vergonha|were not allowed to speak Breton at school, and were punished by teachers if they did.]] Famously, signs in schools read: "It is forbidden to speak Breton and to spit on the floor" ("Il est interdit de parler Breton et de cracher par terre").<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h99nAAAAMAAJ |title=Annales de Bretagne et des pays de l'ouest, (Anjou, Maine, Poitou, Touraine) |publisher=Université d'Angers |year=1976 |trans-title=Annals of Brittany and the Western Regions (Anjou, Maine, Poitou, Touraine)}}</ref>

[[File:Amoco Cadiz 1 edit1.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Amoco Cadiz oil spill]] in 1978 significantly affected the Breton coast]]

At the same time, the [[Celtic Revival]] led to the foundation of the [[Breton Regionalist Union]] (URB) and later to independence movements linked to Irish, Welsh, and Scottish and Cornish independence parties in the UK, and to [[pan-Celticism]]. However, the audience of these movements remained very low and their ideas did not reach a large public until the 20th century. The [[Seiz Breur]] movement, created in 1923, permitted a Breton artistic revival<ref>J. R. Rotté, ''[[Ar Seiz Breur]]. Recherches et réalisations pour un art Breton moderne, 1923–1947'', 1987.</ref> but its ties with [[Nazism]] and the [[collaborationism]] of the [[Breton National Party]] during World War II weakened Breton nationalism in the post-war period.

Brittany lost 240,000 men during the [[First World War]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Une histoire de la Bretagne|author=Jean Markale and Patrice Pellerin|publisher=Éditions Ouest France|year=1994|isbn=2-7373-1516-6|page=46}}</ref> The [[Second World War]] was also catastrophic for the region. It was invaded by [[Nazi Germany]] in 1940 and freed after [[Operation Cobra]] in August 1944. However, the areas around [[Saint-Nazaire]] and [[Lorient]] only surrendered on 10 and 11 May 1945, several days after the German capitulation. The two port towns had been virtually destroyed by Allied air raids, like [[Brest, France|Brest]] and [[Saint-Malo]], and other towns, such as [[Nantes]] and [[Rennes]], had also suffered.

In 1956, Brittany was legally reconstituted as the [[Region of Brittany]], although the region excluded the ducal capital of [[Nantes]] and the [[Loire-Atlantique|surrounding area]]. Nevertheless, Brittany retained its cultural distinctiveness, and a new cultural revival emerged during the 1960s and 1970s. Bilingual schools were opened, singers started to write songs in Breton, and ecological catastrophes such as the [[Amoco Cadiz oil spill]] or the [[MV Erika|Erika oil spill]] and water pollution from intensive pig farming favoured new movements to protect the natural heritage.