Gwenn ha du (terrorism)

Gwenn ha Du (Breton for "white and black") was a paramilitary group founded at the end of 1930 in Paris by Célestin Lainé. It advocated Breton nationalism through "direct action" and published a secret manual aimed at instructing readers in terrorism. The phrase "Gwenn ha du" is the nickname for the Breton flag, which is in these colours.

In July 1932, Gwenn ha Du decided to destroy a monument it found particularly offensive: a statue created by Jean Boucher marking the union of Brittany and France in 1532. Its unveiling some twenty years earlier triggered the first protest by Breton Nationalists. Célestin Lainé made a bomb in his bedroom, consisting of a condensed milk carton filled with nitroglycerine. In the early hours of August 7, he set the bomb behind the head of the King of France's statue in the facade opposite the mayor's office. At 4:00 a.m., the bomb detonated, shattering the bronze statue and all glass within 100 metres. On August 7, the group claimed responsibility for the attack, which was intended to coincide with the 400th anniversary celebration of the union, taking place in Vannes under the guidance of French prime minister Édouard Herriot. L'Humanité, the French Communist Party newspaper, spoke out the day after, protesting that Herriot didn't mention that all Celtic civilisation was wiped out, the refusal to acknowledge the Breton language and culture. The authorities arrested six militants on August 11; the six remained imprisoned for fifty days.

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