A Shattered Union: Cymru Am Byth!
Prologue
It was once the most powerful and expansive empire in the world; not a corner of the earth could avoid its influence. Many histories have recorded just how such a small island nation came to be the world's foremost power. The 1800s were the glory days for the British Empire, when Parliament and Queen could rest easily in their knowledge that the sun would never set on their holdings. That seemed the rational belief, at least.
How quickly the empires of men fall. It is much easier to defeat a nation's army and achieve initial conquest than to defeat the will of a people to be free. Britain discovered this the hard way during the progress of the Great War. While victorious over the Central Alliance, Britain's struggle had exhausted its military and the will of its public to continue fighting. Conflict continued to plague the Empire all the same.
Ireland rose in rebellion during the war, and fought a bitter guerilla war against British troops from the Easter Rising until the cease-fire of 1924. The resulting Treaty of Ulster recognized a free Republic of Ireland, minus the protestant-dominated north. While they struggled to fight the Irish rebels, other colonies rose up - India in particular. These initial rebellions were quelled, but the die was cast.
Britain's relative prosperity in the 1920s came to a halt with the global economic depression. Seeing London weakened considerably, the oppressed peoples of the British Empire rose up in rebellion once more. In 1932, with suspected Soviet support, the People's Republic of India was formed. Having lost their crown jewel, the British were rocked, and ill-prepared still for the risings to come. Pakistan was granted independence the same year as a buffer against the revolutionaries in Delhi. Egypt revolted in 1934 and gained independence after being recognized by Italy, Germany, and the Soviet Union.
Elsewhere in Africa, the revolutionary fire that had brought Indian independence fueled similar movements in many of Britain's colonies. Only in Sierra Leone did a non-socialist government rise to power, as they formed a fascist government instead. All this by 1935. The government of Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin was incapable of dealing with the rapid collapse and the still crippling state of the economy at home; Empire and miltary buildup had to be sacrificed for Britain's survival.
Yet the situation had grown too dire to be saved. The long-standing Union itself was threatened by the growing popularity of nationalist movements, especially in Scotland. Scotland declared its independence in November 1935, and was recognized by the United States and historical ally France, making any English action to subdue the Scots nigh impossible if saving face was also desired. When George V, King of England, recognized Scotland as well, the Union's dissolution began.
But our story does not concern far-flung colonies or even the land of the Scots. Rather, it is about another people long held down by British rule. A people who had become the punch line of many a joke in the United Kingdom. There came a point where, at last, a free and independent homeland was finally viable; if Ireland and Scotland could be free, why not their land as well?
Artillerymen near the new border.
So it was that on January 10, 1936, these people chose to leave the Union as well. Troops formerly of the British army swore allegiance to their homeland rather than to the government of London. They took to arms and fortified the border with England, marking the end of what remained of the collapsing Union. Over Cardiff, the Union Jack was torn down from every flagpole, and replaced with a new banner.
Their rallying cry was heard across the land: "Cymru Am Byth!"
This, then, is the story of the rebirth of a people. The story of Wales.
Can we have a world map?
