Modern history of Wales

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History  Wales
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The modern history of Wales starts in 1800 and continues until the present day. In the 19th century,

Partly as a result of these disturbances, a government inquiry was carried out into the state of education in Wales. The inquiry was carried out by three English commissioners who spoke no

Socialism gained ground rapidly in the industrial areas of South Wales in the latter part of the century, accompanied by the increasing politicisation of religious Nonconformism. The first Labour MP, Keir Hardie, was elected as junior member for the Welsh constituency of Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare in 1900.^[7] In common with many European nations, the first movements for national autonomy began in the 1880s and 1890s with the formation of Cymru Fydd, led by Liberal Party politicians such as T. E. Ellis and David Lloyd George.^[8]

Agrarianism

Rumblings in the 1880s indicated that agrarian unrest was a distinct possibility in Wales. David Lloyd George and T. E. Ellis brought Irish reformer Michael Davitt to Wales in 1886 to campaign for reforms. Welsh reformers often compared their plight to Ireland, even though their situation was much better. Incomes were higher in Wales, and the relationships between tenant and landowner were generally friendly. There was no question of a tension between politically deprived Catholic tenants and privileged Protestant landowners. Reform languished in Wales as farmers showed little enthusiasm; reformers were divided among themselves; economic conditions improved in the 1890s, and a few moderate reforms Satisfied the Land League.^[9]

Religion

Another movement which gained strength during the 1880s was the campaign for disestablishment. Many felt that since Wales was now largely nonconformist in religion, it was inappropriate that the Church of England should be the established church in Wales. The campaign continued until the end of the century and beyond, with the passing of the Welsh Church Act 1914, which did not come into operation until 1920, after the end of the First World War.^[10]

Population

The 19th century brought about a large increase in population as Wales, like the rest of the UK, largely attributable to high birth rates and the

Another aspect of demographic change in the late 19th century was immigration, principally into the industrial districts of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire. Wales was the only area of the British Isles to experience net immigration from 1860 to 1914.[12] Between 1881 and 1891, Glamorgan received a net inflow of more than 48,000 people from England.^[14]

20th century

Economics

The first decade of the 20th century was the period of the coal boom in South Wales, when population growth exceeded 20 per cent.^[12] By 1911, Glamorgan and Monmouthshire contained 63 per cent of the Welsh population, compared to a third sixty years earlier.^[12] Demographic changes affected the language frontier; the proportion of Welsh speakers in the Rhondda valley fell from 64 per cent in 1901 to 55 per cent ten years later, and similar trends were evident elsewhere in South Wales.^[14]

Politics

In the early part of the century Wales still largely supported the Liberal Party, particularly when David Lloyd George became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the First World War. However the Labour Party was steadily gaining ground, and in the years after World War I replaced the Liberals as the dominant party in Wales, particularly in the industrial valleys of South Wales.^[15]

The Welsh Language Act 1967 repealed a section of the Wales and Berwick Act and thus "Wales" was no longer part of the legal definition of England. This essentially defined Wales as a separate entity legally (but within the UK), for the first time since before the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542 which defined Wales as a part of the Kingdom of England. The Welsh Language Act 1967 also expanded areas where use of Welsh was permitted, including in some legal situations.^[29][30]

Plaid Cymru made gains in the two General Elections held in 1974, winning three seats. There was increased support for devolution within the Labour party and a Devolution Bill was introduced in late 1976.^[31] However a referendum on the creation of an assembly for Wales in 1979 led to a large majority for the "no" vote.^[32] The new Conservative government elected in the 1979 General Election had pledged to establish a Welsh-language television channel, but announced in September 1979 that it would not honour this pledge. This led to a campaign of non-payment of television licences by members of Plaid Cymru and an announcement by Gwynfor Evans in 1980 that he would fast unto death if a Welsh language channel was not established. In September 1980 the government announced that the channel would after all be set up, and S4C was launched in November 1982.^[33] The Welsh Language Act 1993 gave the Welsh language equal status with English in Wales with regard to the public sector.^[34] In a

In May 1997, a

The period following the Second World War saw a decline in several of the traditional industries, in particular the coal industry. The numbers employed in the

The Revival of 1904–1905 was the largest Christian revival in Wales during the 20th century. The upsurge of religious enthusiasm had a dramatic effect on the people, and triggered revivals in several other countries.^[45] J. Edwin Orr states:

The movement kept the churches of Wales filled for many years to come, seats being placed in the aisles in Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in Swansea for twenty years or so, for example. Meanwhile, the Awakening swept the rest of Britain, Scandinavia, parts of Europe, North America, the mission fields of India and the Orient, Africa and Latin America.^[46]

The post-1945 years saw the erosion of some Welsh traditions, such as religious non-conformity and Sunday closing, but the increasing reassertion of Welsh distinctiveness.^[13]

Demographics

Population

Over the course of the 20th century, the population of Wales increased from just over 2,012,000 in 1901 to 2.9 million in 2001, but the process was not linear – 430,000 people left Wales between 1921 and 1940 largely owing to the economic depression of the 1930s.^[47] English in-migration became a major factor from the first decade of the 20th century, when there was a net gain of 100,000 people from England. In this era, most incomers settled in the expanding industrial areas, contributing to a partial Anglicisation of some parts of south and east Wales.

Over the century there has also been a marked increase in the proportion of the population born outside Wales; at the time of the 2001 Census 20% of Welsh residents were born in England, 2% were born in Scotland or Ireland, and 3% were born outside the UK.^[48] Whereas most incomers settled in industrial districts in the early 20th century, by the 1990s the highest proportions of people born outside Wales were found in Ceredigion, Powys, Conwy, Denbighshire and Flintshire.

Welsh language

The proportion of the Welsh population able to speak the Welsh language fell from just under 50% in 1901 to 43.5% in 1911, and continued to fall to a low of 18.9% in 1981.^[48] The results of the 2001 Census showed an increase in the number of Welsh speakers to 21% of the population aged 3 and older, compared with 18.7% in 1991 and 19.0% in 1981. This compares with a pattern of steady decline indicated by census results during the 20th century.^[49]

In the 2011 census it was recorded that the proportion of people able to speak Welsh had dropped from 20.8% to 19% (still higher than 1991). Despite an increase in the overall size of the Welsh population this still meant that the number of Welsh speakers in Wales dropped from 582,000 in 2001 to 562,000 in 2011. However this figure was still much higher than 508,000 or 18.7% of people who said they could speak Welsh in the 1991 census.^[50]

The April 2020 to March 2021Annual Population Survey reported that 29.1% of people aged three and over were able to speak Welsh which equates to 883,300 people.^[51] For October 2020 to 30 September 2021, the Annual Population Survey showed that 29.5% of people aged three or older were able to speak Welsh which equates to approximately 892,500 people.^[52]

21st century

The results of the 2001 Census showed an increase in the number of Welsh speakers to 21% of the population aged 3 and older, compared with 18.7% in 1991 and 19.0% in 1981. This compares with a pattern of steady decline indicated by census results during the 20th century.^[53]

In Cardiff the

In 2006 the Government of Wales Act gained

In the 2016 referendum, Wales voted in support of leaving the European Union, although demographic differences became evident. According to Danny Dorling, professor of geography at the Oxford University, "If you look at the more genuinely Welsh areas, especially the Welsh-speaking ones, they did not want to leave the EU,"[57]

In 2011, the International Standards Organisation, officially changed the status of Wales from a principality to a country following lobbying from Plaid Cymru AM at the time, Leanne Wood.^[58]

In May 2020, the

In 2016, YesCymru was launched. A non party-political campaign for an independent Wales which held its first rally in Cardiff in 2019.^[60] Support for Welsh independence has reached as high as 40% in 2021.^[61]

Notes