Welsh nationalism

Welsh nationalism (Welsh: Cenedlaetholdeb Cymreig) emphasises the distinctiveness of Welsh language, culture, and history, and calls for more self-determination for Wales, which may include more devolved powers for the Welsh Assembly or full independence from the United Kingdom.

Conquest

The medieval kingdoms of Wales

Through most of its history before the Anglo-Norman Conquest, Wales was divided into several kingdoms. From time to time, rulers such as Hywel Dda and Rhodri the Great managed to unify many of the kingdoms, but their lands were divided on their deaths. Incursions from the English and Normans also amplified divisions between the kingdoms. In the 12th century, Norman king Henry II of England exploited differences between the three most powerful Welsh kingdoms, Gwynedd, Powys, and Deheubarth, allowing him to make great gains in Wales.[1] He defeated and then allied with Madog ap Maredudd of Powys in 1157, and used this alliance to overwhelm Owain Gwynedd. He then turned on Rhys ap Gruffydd of Deheubarth, who finally submitted to him in 1171, effectively subjugating much of Wales to Henry's Angevin Empire.[1] By 1282, only Gwynedd stood out, whose ruler was accorded the title Prince of Wales. Following the defeat of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd by Edward I Wales lost its last independent kingdom and became subject to the English crown, either directly or indirectly. It retained some vestiges of distinction from its neighbour however, retaining the Welsh language, law, and culture.

Until the victory of Henry VII at Bosworth in 1485, the Welsh on many occasions revolted against English rule in an attempt to gain their independence. The greatest such revolt was that of Owain Glyndŵr, who gained popular support in 1400, and defeated an English force at Plynlimon in 1401. In response, the English parliament passed repressive measures that included denying the Welsh the right of assembly. Glyndŵr was proclaimed Prince of Wales, and sought assistance from Charles VI of France, but by 1409 his forces were scattered under the attacks of King Henry IV of England and further repressive measures imposed on the Welsh. Glyndŵr himself vanished, and his final resting place remains a mystery.

Annexation

Throughout the period of conquest the Welsh poets kept alive the dream of independence. In what was known as the canu brud (prophetic poetry), the idea of the coming of a messiah-like figure, known as Y Mab Darogan (The Son of Destiny), who would not only remove the English yoke but win back the whole of the Great Britain for the Britons (i.e. the Welsh). In the Welsh-born Henry VII the Welsh believed that "the Son of Destiny" had come and there were no more revolts or talk of revolt – the people of Wales became as loyal as any of the King's other subjects.

During the reign of Henry VIII the Laws in Wales Acts were passed, formally integrating Wales into the English legal system. The repressive measures against the Welsh that had been in place since the revolt of Owain Glyndŵr over a century earlier were removed. It also gave political representation at the Westminster Parliament for Wales. Wales continues to share a legal identity with England to a large degree as the joint entity known simply as England until 1967 and England and Wales since then. The laws also finished the partitioning of Wales into counties that was begun in 1282 and established local government on the English model. The laws had the effect of making English the language to be used for all official purposes, thus effectively excluding non-English speakers from formal office.

On the whole the Welsh who had a way of expressing an opinion welcomed these moves and saw them as further proof that Henry VII and his descendants were the long-awaited sons of destiny and that Wales had regained what it had lost at the conquest of 1282. Patriotism, or a non-politicised form of nationalism, remained a strong force in Wales with pride in its language, customs and history common amongst all levels of society.

Revolutionary ideas

Along with the rest of Europe the effects of the French Revolution were felt in Wales. It brought to the forefront a small minority of Welsh people who sympathised with revolutionary ideas: people such as Richard Price (1723–1791), Iolo Morganwg (1747–1826), and Morgan John Rhys (1760–1804).

In the meantime, counter-revolutionary ideas flourished amongst the leaders of the Welsh Methodist revival, but the consequences of turning Wales into a nation with a nonconformist majority was to create a new sense of Welshness.

Nineteenth century

The rapid industrialisation of parts of Wales, especially Merthyr Tydfil and adjoining areas, gave rise to strong and radical Welsh working class movements which led to the Merthyr Rising of 1831, the widespread support for Chartism, and the Newport Rising of 1839.

With the establishment of the Presbyterian Church of Wales nonconformism triumphed in Wales, and gradually the previously majority of conservative voices within it allied themselves with the more radical and liberal voices within the older dissenting churches of the Baptists and Congregationalists. This radicalism was exemplified by the Congregationalist minister David Rees of Llanelli who edited the radical magazine Y Diwygiwr (The Reformer) from 1835 until 1865. But he was not a lone voice: William Rees (also known as Gwilym Hiraethog) established the radical Yr Amserau (The Times) in 1843, and in the same year Samuel Roberts also established another radical magazine, Y Cronicl (The Chronicle). Both were Congregationalist pastors.

The growth of radicalism and the gradual politicisation of Welsh life did not see any successful attempt to establish a separate political vehicle for promoting Welsh nationalism. But voices did appear within the Liberal Party, which made great gains in Wales in the nineteenth century with the extension of the franchise and the tacit support of Welsh nonconformity. An intended independence movement established on the pattern of Young Ireland, Cymru Fydd, was established in 1886 but was short lived.

For the majority in Wales, however, the important question was not one of independence or self-government, but of the disestablishment of the Church of England in Wales. Nevertheless, their non-political nationalism was strong enough to establish national institutions such as the University of Wales in 1893, and the National Library of Wales and the National Museum of Wales in 1907.

Treachery of the Blue Books

This feeling of difference was exacerbated by the results of the publication of the "Reports of the commissioners of enquiry into the state of education in Wales" in 1847. The reports found the education system in Wales to be in a dreadful state, although the Commissioners were exclusively English-speaking while the education system was then largely conducted in Welsh. However, they concluded that the Welsh as a people were dirty, ignorant, lazy, drunk, superstitious, lying, and cheating because they were Nonconformists and spoke Welsh. Very quickly, because of its blue covers, the report was labelled Brad y Llyfrau Gleision, or in English, "The Treachery of the Blue Books".

Influence of European nationalism

Two nineteenth-century figures are associated with the beginnings of Welsh nationalism in the specific political sense, Michael D. Jones (1822–1898) and Emrys ap Iwan (1848–1906). Inspired by the Revolutions of 1848 and the growth of Irish nationalism they saw that Wales was different from England in having its own language which the majority of its residents spoke and in holding to a nonconformist form of the Christian religion which faced many disabilities in the face of the state church.

20th and 21st centuries

The Senedd, home to the National Assembly for Wales

Nationalism grew as an influence in twentieth-century Wales. At various times both the Labour Party and the Liberal Party took up the cause of Welsh home rule, or devolution. It was with the establishment of Plaid Cymru (The Party of Wales) in 1925, however that Welsh independence from the UK was first advocated.

The election of a Labour Government in 1997 included a commitment to hold a referendum on the establishment of a Welsh Assembly. The referendum was narrowly won, with Plaid Cymru, the Liberal Democrats and much of Welsh civic society supporting the Labour Government's proposals.

A 2007 survey by BBC Wales Newsnight found that 20% of Welsh people surveyed favoured Wales becoming independent of the United Kingdom.[2]

The Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan renewed his call, in 2009, for the National Assembly to be granted full law-making powers, calling for a 'greater degree of self-determination' for Wales.[3]

A recent poll taken by you gov suggest up to 17% would vote for independence.[4] Another poll by Face for Business suggest support could be as high as 28% . These are a stark contrast to the last two polls conducted by icm for the BBC which said support is as low as 5% and 3% respectively.[5]

Plaid Cymru

Main article: Plaid Cymru

Plaid Cymru was founded in the 1920s by Saunders Lewis and existing organisations Byddin Ymreolwyr Cymru and Y Mudiad Cymreig. Plaid Cymru returned its first Member of Parliament, Gwynfor Evans, in 1966 in the Carmarthen by-election, and today has three such representatives, along with fifteen Members of the 60 strong Welsh Assembly. Traditionally, support for the party is concentrated in rural Welsh-speaking areas of north and west Wales, whence all its MPs hail. In the late 1960s and 1990s the party enjoyed brief surges in support.

Other nationalist parties and movements

Violent nationalism

Though mainstream nationalism in Wales has been constitutional, there have been violent movements associated with it. In 1952 a small republican movement, Y Gweriniaethwyr (The Republicans), were the first to use violence when they made an unsuccessful attempt to blow up a pipeline leading from the Claerwen dam in mid Wales to Birmingham.[8]

In the 1960s two movements were established in protest against the drowning of the Tryweryn valley and the 1969 investiture of Charles, Prince of Wales: Mudiad Amddiffyn Cymru ('Movement for the Defence of Wales', also known as MAC) and the Free Wales Army (also known as FWA, in Welsh 'Byddin Rhyddid Cymru'). MAC were responsible for numerous bombing attacks on water pipelines and power lines across Wales. On the eve of the investiture two members of MAC, Alwyn Jones and George Taylor, died as the bomb they were planting on the railway line to be used by the Royal Train exploded.

The late 1970s and the 1980s saw an organisation calling itself Meibion Glyndŵr (the sons of Glyndŵr) responsible for a spate of arson attacks against holiday homes throughout Wales. In the 1970s, a Welsh Socialist Republican Army arose, whose initials in Welsh spelt out the English word "DAWN".[9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Carpenter, David (2003). The Struggle for Mastery. Oxford University Press. pp. 213–.
  2. ↑ "Welsh firmly back Britain's Union". BBC News. 16 January 2007. Retrieved 15 July 2009.
  3. ↑ "WalesOnline - News - Wales News - Archbishop of Wales Barry Morgan supports further Welsh devolution". WalesOnline website. Media Wales Ltd. 2009-07-13. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
  4. ↑ "scot-vote-boosts-welsh-independence-support". |first1= missing |last1= in Authors list (help)
  5. ↑ http://ffb.co.uk/sme-advice/236-huge-rise-in-support-for-welsh-independence''. Face for Business http://ffb.co.uk/sme-advice/236-huge-rise-in-support-for-welsh-independence. |first1= missing |last1= in Authors list (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. ↑ Martin Shipman (8 January 2014). "Campaign launched against 'national disgrace' of Welsh town hall that flies the Red Dragon below the Union Flag". Western Mail (Cardiff). Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  7. ↑ "Home". Plaid Glyndŵr website. 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  8. ↑ Gruffydd, Gethin (2007-02-13). "Welsh Republican Movement 1946 – 1956: Time Line". Alternative Welsh Nationalist Archive. Retrieved 2010-09-08.
  9. ↑ see: Williams, Gwyn A. 'When was Wales?'

Sources/bibliography

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