Welsh Socialist Republican Movement | |
---|---|
Founded | 1979 |
Dissolved | 1982 |
Split from | Plaid Cymru |
Merged into | Communist Party of Britain |
Ideology | Welsh nationalism Marxism-Leninism |
Religion | Protestantism |
The Welsh Socialist Republican Movement (Mudiad Sosialaidd Gweriniaethol Cymru) was a short-lived nationalist political movement [1] [2] which was born out of frustration with Plaid Cymru's failure to oppose the first referendum on Welsh Devolution in 1979 in order to map out a specific policy of arguing for Independence. It was also an attempt to develop a Welsh Socialist alternative to Plaid Cymru and it produced pamphlets and a newspaper called Y Faner Goch (The Red Flag).
In the early 1980s, following undercover police operations targeting student circles in Aberystwyth and Bangor, several WSRM members were arrested and prosecuted under the Explosive Substances Act 1883 [3] for conspiracy to cause explosions and possession of explosives. [4]
After its collapse around half a dozen members joined what would become the Communist Party of Britain, [5] some returned to Plaid Cymru, and others became active in issue-orientated movements. [6]
The socialist remnants published a couple more copies of Y Faner Goch ("The Red Flag") [7] and then reformed in the late 1980s to create Cymru Goch (Red Wales), a small socialist political party that lasted another 20 years, publishing Y Faner Goch until 2003 and establishing The Red Poets' Society, an annual poetry magazine that is active today.
Cymru Goch was a left-wing Welsh nationalist political party, founded in 1986 and fought for what it described as a Free Socialist Wales.
The flag of Wales consists of a red dragon passant on a green and white field. As with many heraldic charges, the exact representation of the dragon is not standardised in law.
Welsh nationalism emphasises and celebrates the distinctiveness of Welsh culture and Wales as a nation or country. Welsh nationalism may also include calls for further autonomy or self-determination, which includes Welsh devolution, meaning increased powers for the Senedd, or full Welsh independence.
Robert Griffiths is a Welsh communist activist and the current general secretary of the Communist Party of Britain. He was elected by the party's executive committee in January 1998 to replace Mike Hicks.
Meibion Glyndŵr was a Welsh nationalist group which carried out more than 200 arson attacks against English-owned holiday cottages in Wales. The organisation was founded in 1979, during a period of increasing nationalist sentiment in Wales. During this period, significant elements of Welsh public opinion were opposed to the purchase of holiday cottages in Wales by English people, perceiving it as being a major cause in increasing Wales' house prices. Members of Meibion Glyndŵr were responsible for setting fire to several English-owned properties in Wales from 1979 to the mid-1990s, with only one person connected to the group being arrested.
The Free Wales Army was a Welsh nationalist paramilitary organisation formed in Lampeter in Ceredigion by Julian Cayo-Evans in 1963. Its objective was to establish an independent Welsh republic.
Gwynoro Glyndwr Jones is a Welsh politician who served as a Labour Member of Parliament. He was a schools inspector for 18 years; he has also been a broadcaster, political commentator and journalist. As a politician, he is best remembered for his long struggle to hold the mainly Welsh-speaking constituency of Carmarthen for the Labour Party against Plaid Cymru leader Gwynfor Evans, about which he wrote a book in the Welsh language.
The Welsh Republican Movement was a Welsh nationalist political party.
Welsh independence is the political movement advocating for Wales to become a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom.
Plaid Cymru originated in 1925 after a meeting held at that year's National Eisteddfod in Pwllheli, Caernarfonshire. Representatives from two Welsh nationalist groups founded the previous year, Byddin Ymreolwyr Cymru and Y Mudiad Cymreig, agreed to meet and discuss the need for a "Welsh party". The party was founded as Plaid Genedlaethol Cymru, the National Party of Wales, and attracted members from the left, right and centre of the political spectrum, including both monarchists and republicans. Its principal aims include the promotion of the Welsh language and the political independence of the Welsh nation.
John Gwyn Griffiths was a Welsh poet, Egyptologist and nationalist political activist who spent the largest span of his career lecturing at Swansea University.
David James Davies (1893–1956), known as D. J. Davies, was a Welsh economist, industrialist, essayist, author, political activist, pilot, and an internationalist. Davies was a world traveller before returning home to Wales.
"Yma o Hyd" is a Welsh language folk song by Dafydd Iwan. The song was released during Iwan and Ar Log's "Taith Macsen" tour in 1983. Since then it has continued to gain popularity at cultural and sporting events.
Gethin ap Gruffydd is a Welsh political and cultural activist, born in Merthyr Tydfil.
Unionism in Wales is the political view that supports a political union between Wales and the other countries of the United Kingdom. As well as the current state of the UK, unionism may also include support for Federalism in the United Kingdom and a United Kingdom Confederation.
David Eirwyn Morgan was a minister, journalist and Welsh nationalist politician.
Trefor Richard Morgan was a Welsh nationalist activist. He was a businessman who set up an insurance company and also supported efforts around Welsh language schooling.
Ithel Davies was a Welsh political activist and barrister.