Description:

Demonstration against Brittany Division - Breton Reunification

An estimated 2000 demonstrators protested in Nantes city centre against what they saw as the partition of the historic province of Brittany when the department of Loire-atlantique was detached from the province during the early years of the Second World War by Marshall Petain. 

For those campaigning for Breton re-unification, that act of what they regard as treachery was compounded when Loire-atlantique was made part of Pays de la Loire region when the French regions came into being about 30 years ago. 

Although mostly good natured, this demonstration saw some demonstrators, believed to be members of the organisation Breizh=44 (signifying that Loire-atlantique, department number 44, is part of Brittany) break off from the main march to confront police and daub slogans. At least one arrest was made. 

Attendance on the march was well down from the last similar march held in September 2008 which saw about 10,000 marching through the streets of Nantes.

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