Disappearance of Basque institutions: The case of Lapurdi's Biltzar. When the Estates General met in 1789, in Euskal Herria the notebooks of complaints were drawn up by estates. Lapurdi's Biltzar is the most representative example. He represents the Third Estate and the Garat Brothers, jurists, who will go to Paris to defend the interests and demands of Lapurdi. At first they are not going to defend Lapurdi's own institution, since at first it does not see itself at risk. The complaint notebook addresses four main issues collected in its entry: "Escaldun Francesen botuac i anen dire lehenic Nacionearen Constitucearen, Erresumaco Tresoren, eta Justiciaren Partitcearen gainean: Objet handi eta important horietz mint atu ondoan baicic, ez dituzte nahi adiarazi laohurdireb onetan eguinen tuzten bere galde particularrak: Laphurdic Erresumaco frontera edo azquen muguerri be ak la, mere i duen arren, Gobernamenduak behar dio on begui at arri, eta samur bat uez".
But on the night of August 4, when the abolition of privileges is claimed, and on August 11 when the Lapurtarras receive the decree, they realize that the institutional organization of Lapurdi is abolished and that, consequently, , the Biltzar is dissolved. Article 10 of the Decree reads as follows: "... tous les privil ges particuliers des provinces, principaut s, pays, cantons, villes et communaut s d'habitants, soit p cuniaires, soit de toutes autres natures, sont abolis sans retour et demeureront confoncus dans le droit commun de tous les Français". The Lapurtarras accepted the Constitution and General Law and took part in the signing of the pediment. According to them, there was no contradiction with the institutional organization of the "Escual Na ione". According to the members of the Biltzar, the French nation was a kind of federation within which different nations lived, and the revolution would reinforce this identity. Later, in the time of Robespierre, the idea of the federation would be taken as monarchical and therefore counterrevolutionary. It must be made clear that, in the case of the Biltzar, federalism cannot be mixed with feudalism, the Biltzar has always positioned itself against feudalism. The abolition of privileges brings with it the confusion feudalism and federalism and the revolutionary process of the Lapurtarras falls into a trap. The demand of the Lapurtarras is not understood in Paris and the Basque institutions of Lapurdi, Behenafarroa and Zuberoa will disappear.
After the Biltzar lost its identity, the Lapurtarras adapted to the situation and made their contribution to the new administrative division that was taking place throughout France from November 1789. They proposed the creation of a department made up of by Lapurdi, Behenafarroa and Zuberoa, separated from Béarn and Las Landas. The proposal is presented in the National Assembly by the representatives of the Basque provinces. The proposal is rejected by the National Assembly on January 12, 1790 and it is decided to create a department that will unite the Basque provinces and Béarn, a proposal that has the support of Béarn representatives. On February 26, 1790, against the will of the Basques, the department of the low-pyrenees was created ( D partement des Basses-Pyr n es in French).
In the first years of the revolution, official documents were translated into Basque. This is the case of the complaints notebook that was made in both languages. The language criterion was also one of the arguments put forward by the Garat brothers to reject unity with Béarn in the discussion on the department in the National Assembly. But, from 1793, the French government's language policy changes. The French revolution begins to take on a marked nationalist character. Two documents presented before the Convention this. The first was presented by the priest Gr goire in June 1794 and the second by Mr. Barre in July. The Gr goire document says the following: "chez les basques, peuple doux et brave, a great name is accessible to fanaticism, it seems that language is an obstacle to the propagation of lum res (...) without pouvoir assigner l'poque Fixe laquelle ces idiomes (Basque, Breton) auront enti rement disparu, on peut augurer qu'elle est prochaine.(...) Mr. Bar re mixes language and character: Le fd ralisme et la superstition parlent bas-breton ; l'migration et la haine de la R publique parlent allemand; la contre-r volution parle l'italien, et le fanatisme parle le basque. Brisons ces instruments de dommage et d'erreur.(...)". The Convention will take measures to promote the teaching of French with the intention of reinforcing French nationalism.