Wales And War

In Britain, Wales has gained a reputation as a nation wedded to pacifism, but this view ignores the long history of Welsh involvement in armed conflict. The essays assembled in Wales and War examine the reactions of Welsh people to a series of conflicts from the Napoleonic Wars to the conflict in the Falklands. The impact of Britain's imperial economy on Welsh support for and participation in war, as well as the role played by geography, are among the range of illuminating topics considered in this collection. Featuring work from a new generation of historians, Wales and War is an innovative addition to our understanding of British history.

This study is the first thorough analysis of the extent of the opposition to the Great War in Wales, and is the most extensive study of the anti-war movement in any part of Britain. It is, therefore, a significant contribution to our understanding of people’s responses to the conflict, and the difficulty of mobilising the population for total war. The anti-war movement in Wales and beyond developed quickly from the initial shock of the declaration of war, to the civil disobedience of anti-war activists and the industrial discontent excited by the Russian Revolution and experienced in areas such as the south Wales coalfield in 1917. The differing responses to the war within Wales are explored in this book, which charts how the pacifist tradition of nineteenth-century Welsh Nonconformity was quickly overturned. The two main elements of the anti-war movement are analysed in depth: the pacifist religious opposition, the Fellowship of Reconciliation, and the Nonconformist dissidents who were particularly influential in north and west Wales; and the political opposition concentrated in the Independent Labour Party and among the radical left within the South Wales Miners’ Federation.

The story of Wales from the end of the Roman period to the conquest by Edward I in 1283 is unknown to most, but recent historiography has opened up the source material and allowed for a modern, critical reappraisal. The development of the country is traced within the context of the rest of post-Roman western Europe in a study that is a valuable resource for anyone with an interest in military history and the history of Wales in relation to its neighbours in Britain and on the continent.

The first book aimed at the general reader that deals comprehensively with Wales and the First World War in English and includes extracts from diaries and letters not previously published.

A scholarly analysis of the Welsh people's ideological, political and cultural experience of the Spanish Civil War, dealing with not only the war years themselves but also the background and aftermath. 4 black-and-white photographs, a bibliography and index.