Description
Book SynopsisThis 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.
Trade Review"This ground-breaking study is the first comprehensive account of the political, religious and moral opposition to the war in Wales. Drawing on a wide range of compelling evidence, the book concludes that this was a coherent anti-war movement, with far-reaching consequences, not simply a series of discrete activities."--Sir Deian Hopkin, chair of the Wales First World War commemoration committee; This book is a valuable contribution to the understanding of those who sacrificed so much to oppose the most horrific of conflicts and the communities from which they came. - Wayne David MP, Arts and Culture
Table of ContentsSeries editors’ foreword Acknowledgements List of tables list of abbreviations Introduction 1. Religious Opposition to the War in Wales 2. Political Opposition to the War in Wales – the Independent Labour Party, the Russian Revolution and the ‘Advanced Men’ 3. The Organisation of Opposition – the National Council for Civil Liberties and the No-Conscription Fellowship 4. Conscientious Objectors in Wales Conclusion Bibliography Index
