--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I can remember when I was a bit of an ETA…" description: "\"“I can remember when I was a bit of an ETA fan myself. It was in 1973, when a group of Basque militants assassinated Adm. Carrero Blanco. The admiral w..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28b/christopher-hitchens-117_1970s_i-can-remember-when-i-was-a-bit-of-an-et_2488094.jpg" --- # I can remember when I was a bit of an ETA fan myself. It… ![“I can remember when I was a bit of an ETA fan myself. It was in 1973, when a group of Basque militants assassinated Adm. Carrero Blanco. The admiral was a stone-faced secret police chief, personally groomed to be the successor to the decrepit Francisco Franco. His car blew up, killing only him and…” quote by Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28b/christopher-hitchens-117_1970s_i-can-remember-when-i-was-a-bit-of-an-et_2488094.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28b/christopher-hitchens-117_1970s_i-can-remember-when-i-was-a-bit-of-an-et_2488094.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28b/christopher-hitchens-117_1970s_i-can-remember-when-i-was-a-bit-of-an-et_2488094.jpg) > ““I can remember when I was a bit of an ETA fan myself. It was in 1973, when a group of Basque militants assassinated Adm. Carrero Blanco. The admiral was a stone-faced secret police chief, personally groomed to be the successor to the decrepit Francisco Franco. His car blew up, killing only him and his chauffeur with a carefully planted charge, and not only was the world well rid of another fascist, but, more important, the whole scheme of extending Franco's rule was vaporized in the same instant. The dictator had to turn instead to Crown Prince Juan Carlos, who turned out to be the best Bourbon in history and who swiftly dismantled Franco's entire system. If this action was 'terrorism,' it had something to be said for it. Everyone I knew in Spain made a little holiday in their hearts when the gruesome admiral went sky-high.”” [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The killing of a key Francoist figure accelerated Spain’s transition to democracy, showing violent acts can unintentionally foster political change. **In simple terms:** A violent act helped end a dictatorship. Key Takeaway Recognize unintended consequences of political violence. Themes politics history revolution violence change Mood reflective critical historical Type analytical controversial When to use this quote - Spanish political reform - study of terrorism - comparative authoritarian studies Key Concepts authorism power vacuums democratic transition Questions to Reflect On - Can violent means ever be justified for political ends? - What are the long‑term effects of such actions? A Different Perspective Violence can cause collateral harm and moral dilemmas. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [1970s](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/zz-1970s-440/) [1973](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/zz-1973-445/) [Assassinated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assassinated/) [Assassinated Adm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assassinated-adm-936498/) [Assassination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assassination/) [Basque-people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/basque-people-15206/) [Blanco Admiral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blanco-admiral-936499/) [Dictatorship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dictatorship/) [Fascism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fascism/) [Francisco franco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/francisco-franco/) [Franco Rule](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/franco-rule-936497/) [Spain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spain/) [Terrorism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/terrorism/) ## Related quotes > [“It was baking hot in the square when we came out after lunch with our bags and the rod-case to go to Burguete. People…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/it-was-baking-hot-in-the-square-when-we-came-out-after-lunch-with-our/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [ \[Francisco\] Franco's army was mainly Moorish. They were recruiting people from Morocco to come to Spain. There was an uprising in Morocco at the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/francisco-franco-s-army-was-mainly-moorish-they-were-recruiting/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [ For example, it's often forgotten that \[Albert \] Camus was extremely hostile \[farouche\] towards the \[Francisco\] Franco regime, and right to the end. He… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-camus/for-example-it-s-often-forgotten-that-albert-camus-was-extremely/) [Catherine Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-camus/) > [I had relatives in New York City who I stayed with. And in those days, the area from Union Square down Fourth Avenue had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/i-had-relatives-in-new-york-city-who-i-stayed-with-and-in-those-days/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [ You can read it in history books now, but they often suppress the fact that the U.S. government tolerated \[Nazi\]. It's really remarkable because… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/you-can-read-it-in-history-books-now-but-they-often-suppress-the-fact/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [ \[Francisco Franco\] said they should resort to guerrilla war. Which has a history in Spain. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/francisco-franco-said-they-should-resort-to-guerrilla-war-which-has-a/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [ There's an interesting question, whether the anarchists had alternatives \[in Spain\]. If they did tend to support the government that had been destroyed, what… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/there-s-an-interesting-question-whether-the-anarchists-had/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [ \[Camillo\] Berneri proposed that the anarchists should link up with the effort of Northern Africa to overthrow the Spanish government, carry out land reform,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/camillo-berneri-proposed-that-the-anarchists-should-link-up-with-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [ I also learned from reading the left-wing press about the \[Franklin\] Roosevelt administration's indirect support for Francisco Franco, which was not well known, and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/i-also-learned-from-reading-the-left-wing-press-about-the-franklin/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [I think in many ways, the Spanish Civil War was the first battle of World War II. After all, where else in the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-hochschild/i-think-in-many-ways-the-spanish-civil-war-was-the-first-battle-of/) [Adam Hochschild](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-hochschild/) > [ I will not call myself a pacifist for the very simple reason that if something like a \[Francisco\] Franco should arise in Spain again,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-bookchin/i-will-not-call-myself-a-pacifist-for-the-very-simple-reason-that-if/) [Murray Bookchin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-bookchin/) > [It was reported in the left-wing press in the late 1930s that the Texas Company (Texaco), headed by the Nazi sympathizer Torkild Rieber, diverted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/it-was-reported-in-the-left-wing-press-in-the-late-1930s-that-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [“They dream of the happiness of stretching out one's legs and of the relief one feels after going to the toilet. In Orotukan the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/they-dream-of-the-happiness-of-stretching-out-one-s-legs-and-of-the/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [“Should we wrap it all up and simply say that they arrested the innocent? 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Don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/it-s-much-worse-to-see-a-woman-drunk-than-a-man-i-don-t-know-quite/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [It's true that obscenity is a matter of taste and in the eye of the beholder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/it-s-true-that-obscenity-is-a-matter-of-taste-and-in-the-eye-of-the/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [I worked out early on to give up things I couldn't do well at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/i-worked-out-early-on-to-give-up-things-i-couldn-t-do-well-at-all/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [Writing is what's important to me, and anything that helps me do that - or enhances and prolongs and deepens and sometimes intensifies argument…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/writing-is-what-s-important-to-me-and-anything-that-helps-me-do-that/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) [Explore all 1,241 Christopher Hitchens quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) ## More 1970s quotes > [As someone who came to New York in the 1970s, I was, like so many of my friends, a certified member of what we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graydon-carter/as-someone-who-came-to-new-york-in-the-1970s-i-was-like-so-many-of-my/) [Graydon Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graydon-carter/) > [The 1970s, the decade of my teenage years, was a transitional period in American youth culture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-allin-cornell/the-1970s-the-decade-of-my-teenage-years-was-a-transitional-period-in/) [Eric Allin Cornell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-allin-cornell/) > [Back in the 1970s, it was mostly all-black audiences coming into the theaters. So, we presented stories they could relate to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudy-ray-moore/back-in-the-1970s-it-was-mostly-all-black-audiences-coming-into-the/) [Rudy Ray Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudy-ray-moore/) > [I'm a product of the 1970s.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-rushin/i-m-a-product-of-the-1970s/) [Steve Rushin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-rushin/) > [Once, bit-fetching was the job mainly of children. 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We had all the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denny-laine/wings-was-one-of-the-first-bands-in-the-1970s-to-do-stadium-tours-as/) [Denny Laine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denny-laine/) > [The whole idea of making 'James' was to make an action film in the style of the 1970s and '80s.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-gopal-varma/the-whole-idea-of-making-james-was-to-make-an-action-film-in-the/) [Ram Gopal Varma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-gopal-varma/) > [All I know about 1970s New York City is that it's where I grew up, and you always have an umbilical connection to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luc-sante/all-i-know-about-1970s-new-york-city-is-that-it-s-where-i-grew-up-and/) [Luc Sante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luc-sante/) > [I have lived my whole life just outside Youngstown, Ohio. 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We all have hundreds of photos on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicola-walker/i-don-t-really-have-a-treasured-possession-but-i-do-love-my-family-s/) [Nicola Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicola-walker/) > [My family had been involved in gangs since the 1970s.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-cabral/my-family-had-been-involved-in-gangs-since-the-1970s/) [Richard Cabral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-cabral/) > [When I was in high school in the early 1970s, we knew we were running out of oil; we knew that easy sources were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-safina/when-i-was-in-high-school-in-the-early-1970s-we-knew-we-were-running/) [Carl Safina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-safina/) > [When I was younger, I remember families like mine who had to deal with the disastrous policies of the 1970s.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-scheer/when-i-was-younger-i-remember-families-like-mine-who-had-to-deal-with/) [Andrew Scheer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-scheer/) [Browse all 189 1970s quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/zz-1970s-440/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I can remember when I was a bit of an ETA fan myself. It was in 1973, when a group of Basque militants assassinated Adm. Carrero Blanco. The admiral was a stone-faced secret police chief, personally groomed to be the successor to the decrepit Francisco Franco. His car blew up, killing only him and his chauffeur with a carefully planted charge, and not only was the world well rid of another fascist, but, more important, the whole scheme of extending Franco's rule was vaporized in the same instant. The dictator had to turn instead to Crown Prince Juan Carlos, who turned out to be the best Bourbon in history and who swiftly dismantled Franco's entire system. If this action was 'terrorism,' it had something to be said for it. 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