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Disestablishment, Cymru Fydd and Plaid Cymru |
| During the second half of the 19th Century there was a national revival in Wales. Nationalist movements were set up and the University of Wales was established. On the political scene there were calls from certain Liberals and Nationalists for specific bills for Wales and many prominent politicians spoke in favour of a measure of Home Rule for Wales. |  |
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Disestablishment of the Church There were calls for the Disestablishment of the Anglican Church in Wales following the establishment of the Liberation Society in 1844. By the 1860s all nonconformist churches, under the leadership of people such as Thomas Gee and Henry Richard, were campaigning for the disestablishment of the Church. The Disestablishment question was raised in the House of Commons in 1870, but it failed to make much of an impact. |
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The Tithe War during the 1880s led to further calls for Disestablishment. The Disestablishment bill was introduced to Parliament in 1894 and was backed by Liberal Members of Parliament such as David Lloyd George. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| This bill was given its second reading in 1895 but the Conservative Party, who strongly opposed Disestablishment, came to power for ten years. Another opportunity for Disestablishment campaigners arose when the Liberals won the 1906 General Election. Disestablishment was introduced again in the House of Commons in 1912 and 1913, and in 1914 the House of Lords failed to block the bill and Disestablishment became law. The bill came into force in Wales in 1920, after its postponement during the First World War. |  |
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Cymru Fydd (Young Wales) The Cymru Fydd movement was founded in 1886 by some of the London Welsh, including J. E. Lloyd, O. M. Edwards, T. E. Ellis, Beriah Gwynfe Evans and Alfred Thomas. Its main objective was to gain self-government for Wales. The movement lost some of its impetus following the withdrawal of T. E. Ellis to join the Government in 1892 and after Lloyd George's failure to unite Cymru Fydd and the North and South Wales Liberal Associations in 1896. |
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Plaid Cymru Following the failure of Cymru Fydd and the advances made by the Labour Party in the 1922 General Election, some people felt that a movement was needed to support the idea of self-government for Wales and to put the aspirations of the Welsh people first. |
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The National Party was founded in Pwllheli on 5 August 1925 with only six people present at the first meeting, namely Lewis Valentine, H. R. Jones, Moses Gruffydd, D. E. Williams, Saunders Lewis and Fred Jones. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| This new party was in fact the amalgamation of two movements, 'Plaid Genedlaethol Cymru' (Nationalist Party of Wales), founded by leading nationalists in the North such as Lewis Valentine, and 'Y Mudiad Cymreig' (the Welsh Movement) in south Wales which was a secret nationalist movement. |  |
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The new party's main aim from 1930 was to secure Dominion status for Wales. The original idea of boycotting Westminster was forgotten and from then on the National Party (subsequently known as Plaid Cymru) began nominating candidates for Parliamentary Elections. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Disestablishment, Cymru Fydd and Plaid Cymru | ||
| Parliament for Wales Campaign | ||
| Referenda and a National Assembly for Wales | ||
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