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The Celts had fled westwards under
sustained invasions from Romans, Vikings and
Anglo-Saxons. The Anglo Saxon English kings had not ruled
Wales, and at the Norman invasion was a collection of
small kingdoms. It took the Normans some 200 years to
gain control of the whole of Wales. The 8 royal castles
like Harlech (left) kept a lid on rebellion in the
meantime. The last major Welsh uprising was by Owain
Glyndwr between 1400 and 1408 |
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Finally the Act of Union in 1536
"incorporated, united and annexed" Wales to
England. Since then English law and government has rules
in Wales. A solution that appears to have satisfied most
Welsh people. Until the middle of the 18th century Wales
remained a rural backwater. Population was sparse, and
the topography meant that farming was not a viable
proposition on any scale.Then the exploitation of coal
and iron brought the Industrial revolution to Wales |
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The need for labour in the south Wales
coalfields brought an influx of English into this area
which brought about an erosion of the Welsh language,
though Welsh continued to be spoken extensively in North
Wales. Today the mining of Welsh coal has all but
disappeared, but the language continues to be spoken
reasonably widely as a second language. |
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| Wales has been governed from
London via the Welsh Office, under a cabinet minister.
Following the referendum on limited devolution in 1997,
the Welsh were seen to be virtually equally spilt on the
subject, with the more rural "Welsh" areas
being for devolution, and the more industrial areas being
against it. |
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