It was formed in 1930, upon the reunification of the ultraconservative "Aberri" group and the moderate majority "Comunión Nacionalista Vasca" in the Basque Nationalist Party, by those who refused to support the traditional clerical ideology of the party. Its support was restricted to urban middle class and, as such, was a minority party. ANV played a minor role during the Republic, when it usually aligned with left and republican parties (being even part of the Popular Front in 1936) and in the Civil War. It was a part of the Basque Government in Exile from 1936 to 1979, and of the Spanish Republican government in Exile from 1938 until 1946, represented by a minister without portfolio, Tomás Bilbao.