MORNING SERIAL
Wales: England’s Colony?
The Conquest, Assimilation and Re-creation of Wales
AS A Welshman and a Nonconformist, Lloyd George was always regarded by the British establishment as an outsider and he was frequently sneered at by his political rivals for his background. His Welshness did not stop him reaching the top of politics’ greasy pole but it did not make his ascendancy easy. From the Acts of Union to the present day, the Welsh and Wales have often been looked down upon by many over the border. In any political sense there may not have been a colonial relationship but in a cultural sense there was an inequality that might be described in such terms. Yet the survival of the Welsh language and a sense of history meant Welsh identity survived Wales’ assimilation. Indeed, from the late 19th century, it underwent a revival and reformation. It is to that story that the next section now turns.
III Re-creation
IN 1886, Basil Jones, the bishop of St David’s, remarked that Wales was little more than “a geographic expression”. With this he revealed how out of touch Anglicans could be with what was happening in Wales.
Conquest, annexation and centuries of assimilation had not destroyed Welsh identity. In many ways, this is the most remarkable feature of Welsh history. The resilience of Wales is certainly an idea that is much celebrated. This is evident in the huge popularity of Dafydd Iwan’s 1983 song “Yma o Hyd”, which declares that, despite everyone and everything, the Welsh are still here.
But this perspective suggests that Welsh identity has been a rather static concept, whereas it has actually undergone repeated processes of reinvention and redefinition. At the end of the 19th century, this happened again and Wales was once more recreated, despite its assimilation into Britain. In this, it was not unique. The 19th century was a great period of nation building across Europe. As in other nations, the Welsh “re-creation” was a selective process and involved more than a touch of invention and sleight of hand in choosing what Wales meant.
> Wales: England’s Colony? by Martin Johnes is published by Parthian in the Modern Wales series www.parthianbooks.com