 Azkue, Sabino Arana and Miguel de Unamuno all applied but Azkue was awarded the position.In the following period, he initiated many initiatives related to orthographic issues and the teaching of Basque, including the two magazines "Euskalzale" and "Ibaizabal".Although he considered himself a Basque patriot (or abertzale) and although he was in contact with nationalist figures such as Sabino Arana and Ramón de la Sota, he is not considered to have been a Carlist and frequently disagreed with Arana and de Soto, particularly on Basque linguistic issues.