in Wales came to a head in 1894, when David Lloyd George, who was a leader of the Welsh
home rule movement, Cymru Fydd , along with other Liberal MPs protested the Liberal Party
over the issue. Regrettably for Lloyd George, this backfired, with criticism in South Wales
against the proposal, making an embarrassment out of Cymru Fydd . 9 Disestablishment was
enacted in Wales in 1919, however by that time other issues became more important in the
politics of Wales, particularly class. 10 Overall, what this demonstrates is the different role
and influence religion had on the success of Home Rule, with religion having a unifying effect
for both Scotland and Wales, in contrast to Ireland, where it was influential in the promotion
and success of the home rule movement.
Religion was not the only factor which influenced the success seen by home rule
movements. The political climate too, may be seen as influential for different reasons in the
nations. In Ireland’s case, religion and political status were closely related, and contentions
arose, as previously discussed, but were not the same with Scotland and Wales. In fact,
some elements, both for and against home rule in Scotland and Wales, were influenced by
Irish Home Rule itself. It was seen that, compared to other countries on the European
continent and Ireland, there were no parties that individually represented each nation until
after the First World War. 11 This may be explained by how Scottish and Welsh agitation led
to better representation within the union over the course of the nineteenth and twentieth
centuries.
9 Simon Brooks, Why Wales Never Was: The Failure of Welsh Nationalism (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2017), p. 102 10 Hugh Kearney, The British Isles: a History of Four Nations (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995), p. 272 11 Keith Robbins, Nineteenth-Century Britain: Integration and Diversity; the Ford Lectures Delivered in the University of Oxford 1986-1987 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988), p. 98
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