  Separatism is examined in a long-run perspective. Accordingly, many political
or economic factors which may be crucial in dealing with short-term episodes
can be safely disregarded. Extending an approach pioneered by J. Jenkins, the
paper assesses the role of spatial and historical factors. It shows that the
means used to stage a separatist struggle are to a notable extent borrowed from
former historical episodes, an analysis which supports and illustrates Charles
Tilly's thesis of restricted repertoires of action. The purpose of the present
paper is to introduce the model, to make it plausible and to demonstrate its
potential usefulness by examining a number of critical examples. A more
systematic analysis is carried out in a follow-up paper by using a data set
that includes about 40 cases of separatist struggles.
