The Breton Liberation Front (, or FLB) was a paramilitary organisation founded in 1963 whose aims were to seek greater autonomy for the region of Brittany (Breton language Breizh) separate from the rest of France. Brittany is a province in northwest France, and formed an independent Duchy of Brittany until the treaty of union in 1532. The group allegedly had strong allies with ETA (separatist group) as their struggles were almost the same. History Breton Nationalism had been a significant force in the early 20th century through the Breton National Party, but it has been discredited by its association with collaborationism in World War II. The FLB represented a new wave of nationalist politics associated with anti-colonialist ideology. The group claimed that Brittany was oppressed by France acting as a colonial power. Citizens of Brittany, or, Bretons, retain their own national identity including an independent language from that of France, music and other cultural details. Bretons are considered an ethnic Celtic group with their roots in Brittonic-speaking people from what is today Devon and Cornwall in Britain. The group was linked to surviving members of earlier nationalist groups, notably Yann Goulet, who was operating from Ireland. The first known FLB attack occurred in June 1966 when a municipal tax office in Saint-Brieuc was bombed, and a note signed by the FLB claimed that they would continue to carry out a campaign of violence against these "occupying symbols of Brittany." In the following years, the FLB carried out attacks against administrative structures, such as electrical installations, police barracks and statues—mainly by bombing them. The number of attacks peaked in 1968. However, the FLB ensured that no physical injuries or deaths would result from their attacks, which they wished to remain purely symbolic. In this they followed the model of the earlier group Gwenn ha du. They thus gained a reputation in the international community as the "smiling terrorists." There are even reports that the only two known FLB victims during this period were two FLB members themselves, who were killed while trying to defuse a bomb they were afraid may hurt civilians. Factions in the FLB emerged in the early 1970s, leading to the creation of the militant Breton Revolutionary Army (Armée révolutionnaire bretonne, or ARB). This group acted separately from the FLB and proved to be the durable faction that still exists today. There were several Breton liberation groups that