Abstract
This study deals with the circumstances of the emergence and development of the regionalist movement in Brittany before 1914. It focuses on the ancient and recent causes of breton regionalism and tries to briefly characterize it.
We devote the first part to the older history of Brittany from which the Breton regionalists adopted the main arguments for their movement. The second part of the study describes the processes in the 19th century that led directly to the foundation of Union régionaliste bretonne in 1898 considered to be the beginning of the Breton regionalist activities.
The study provides an introduction to the topic and offers an explanation of the growth and later on the failure of the Breton regionalism. The study's aim is to introduce this topic to the Czech scholars and to contribute to the study of nationalism and regionalism in the Czech historiography.